What is Bearing Failure And its Types

1. 8 Common Bearing Problems and Prevention Lubrication has the potential to be both a blessing and a pain in the neck. It comes as no surprise that concerns with bearing lubrication are the root of problems 1-3. One of the main causes of bearing issues is lubrication. The majority of individuals are aware that a bearing's balls should never contact its raceway directly. Knowing how much or how little lubricant a bearing needs is difficult. Let's quickly go through the science behind bearing lubrication first. Skidding will always result from the relative motion between the ball and the racetrack in a ball bearing because the raceway is curved. In order to avoid metal-on-metal skidding, a protective coating of lubricant must be present between the balls and raceway. 1. Due to less lubrication Direct metal-to-metal contact will happen in the absence of sufficient lubrication, resulting in friction that generates harmful heat. Looking at the bearing and noticing discolouration on the ball and raceway will usually reveal this issue. Due to the expansion of the bearing ring brought on by heat, which increases the stress placed on the bearing, it may also manifest as an overloading failure. If you're using grease as lubrication, be careful to look at the grease's speed rating. The oil won't have enough time to re-adhere with the thickening after the ball (or another rolling element) passes over it, which will result in the bearing overheating if your bearing rotates faster than the grease rating. 2. The Grease Rating is Exceeded by Your Bearing If you're using grease as lubrication, be careful to look at the grease's speed rating. The oil won't have enough time to re-adhere with the thickening after the ball (or another rolling element) passes over it, which will result in the bearing overheating if your bearing rotates faster than the grease rating. The system as a whole could collapse catastrophically if a bearing overheats. Don't forget to check the grease life as well. When the grease's shelf life has run out, it will begin to break down and stop forming that repeating oil film as the balls roll over it. https://adarshbearings.com/

2. 8 Common Bearing Problems and Prevention 3. The Grease Rating is Exceeded by Your Bearing The viscosity of the grease may significantly drop at excessive system temperatures, making it impossible for the grease to remain where it is needed in the bearing. On the other hand, if the system temperature is too low, the viscosity may become too thick, putting additional strain on the bearing as it tries to push through and separate the oil and thickener when the balls pass over the grease. By selecting a lubricant that maintains a sufficient, thick coating at the operating temperature of your application, you may guard the bearing from lubrication problems. When choosing the lubrication, take into account the system life, temperatures, viscosity, and speed to maximise the lubricant's lifespan. 4. Bearing Pollution Contamination is another typical reason for bearing failure. When debris enters the bearing racetrack while it is running and gets wedged between the balls and the raceway, contamination occurs. Craters develop on the raceway as the balls continue to roll over the particles, which causes machine vibration and excessive heat production. Look at the raceways and see if you can notice an indentation or a crater to identify bearing contamination. Around the crater, sharp edges are typically left by hard contamination, whereas smoother edges are typically left by soft contamination. A "comet tail" might also be visible on one of the crater's sides. This resulted from the ball striking the crater's edge before flattening it as it travelled back out. Maintain Bearing Cleanliness Here are some suggested practises to prevent contamination if your application operates in "dirtier" environments: Buy bearings that have seals or shields. https://adarshbearings.com/

3. 8 Common Bearing Problems and Prevention Include a non-contact labyrinth seal in the design of your application. To further shield the bearing from contamination, labyrinth seals are installed in front of the bearing. Pressurize the bearing compartment to force any pollution that may have entered the raceways out if clean pressurised air is available. 5. Unbalanced Bearings In overloaded bearings, plastic deformation results from excessive bearing loads, which raises the pressure between the balls and the bearing raceway. Here's how to determine the source of the excessive load if it affects your application: The inner and outer bearing raceways both deform uniformly under excessive axial load. Systems with a spinning shaft and excessive radial load will exhibit consistent deformation in the inner raceway. This results from the shaft spinning past the bearing's pinch point while the outer raceway is still. On the outside race, where the deformation is most visible and right at the pinch point, you should be able to see a load zone. What Causes Bearings to Overload Excessive loads, as we discussed before, are the main cause of overloaded bearings, but there are also other, less prevalent causes, such as: ● incorrect bearing installation results in increased loading ● axial forces produced by the rolling element (if rotating at very high speeds) ● shaft inequalities ○ Shaft imbalances resemble radial loads but are reversed in their properties. Given that the radial load is stationary with respect to the inner race, the https://adarshbearings.com/

4. 8 Common Bearing Problems and Prevention load effected zone will be in the inner race. Due to the radial load spinning around it, the outer race will sustain consistent damage. Similar signs of contamination and overload can be seen. Both problems leave craters on the raceway's surface, which raise the temperature or generate excessive vibration. Fixing Unbalanced Bearings Depending on the cause, the following advice will help you fix the issue if you believe you have an overloaded bearing: If high axial or radial loads are the cause of overloading, add bearings or alter bearing size to relieve pressure on each individual bearing. An angular contact bearing can be optimised for a particular type of load by adjusting the contact angle. Change to ceramic balls if overloading is caused by fast rotational speeds because they have a lower ball weight. A bearing with smaller balls, such as our KH line of angular contact ball bearings, should also be purchased. The centrifugal forces at very high speeds will be reduced by these alternatives. 6. Unstable Bearings When there is insufficient force between the rolling elements and raceways, underloading damage can occur. This can cause the balls in the bearing to skid and slide across the racetrack, which generates excessive heat. High-speed applications are more likely to experience this form of damage. Here's how to tell whether this is occurring to your application: If you can see multiple distinct circumferential lines (sometimes known as "Saturn rings") on the balls of the bearing, you may have a problem with underloaded bearings. https://adarshbearings.com/

5. 8 Common Bearing Problems and Prevention By correctly preloading your bearings, you can avoid underloaded bearing damage. Preloading a bearing entails exerting an axial force against the raceway that is independent of the application force to prevent skidding. Among other techniques, this can be accomplished via wave springs or bearing offsets. 7. Damaged Bearing Cage Damage to the bearing cage is typically caused by another issue in the application. Underloading and rapid acceleration, for instance, can result in the rolling elements banging against the sides of the cage pockets. If underloading is the problem, increasing preload can help reduce the relative movement of the rolling element in the cage pocket. For rapid accelerations, a stronger cage material, such as brass or bronze, can be used. High temperatures can make some cages, especially those made of phenolic material, dry up and become brittle. When a ball (or other rolling object) strikes a brittle cage, it may be damaged or even fail. Finding and analysing the source of the cage damage is a crucial first step in preventing further cage damage. Cage damage can also result from any of the previously discussed problems, such as contamination and excessive loading. These issues can cause the balls to bounce around in the cage's ball pocket and cause catastrophic damage to the cage. 8. Damage to Bearings from Micro-Fretting Bearing micro-fretting can appear as microscopic rust spots on the surface but is actually produced by brown oxidation that forms as a result of the friction induced by the rubbing. It happens in bearings when the fit between the outer ring and the housing or the inner ring and the shaft is too large. By reducing the slip fit or switching to a press-fit between the two mating components, you can fix bearing micro-fretting. The bearing ring can also be prevented from slipping by applying an axial clamping force. https://adarshbearings.com/

6. 8 Common Bearing Problems and Prevention Conclusion: The likelihood of bearing issues and failures is higher than you might think. Hopefully, these eight typical bearing problems and their fixes will help your application from experiencing a bearing failure. Contact us if you want an engineer to assist you in determining the cause of a bearing failure. For your application, our engineers can provide assistance or carry out a bearing failure study. https://adarshbearings.com/