Numerical Analysis of Stresses on Angular Contact Ball Bearing under the Static Loading with Respect to Race Thickness

Abstract A 3-dimensional Abaqus model of the angular contact ball bearing (ACBB) was modeled to investigate the influence of race thickness on the bearing performance. It was found that the ability to support higher contact stress increased with race thickness. However, large deformations were found to occur on outer race with thickness t = T1 and only small deformations were observed on outer race with t = T3. The large deformations induce higher shear stresses on thin races than on thick races. These stresses cause spall growth in bearings and propagates into a network of cracks. As a result of these findings, thin races are prone to failure compared with thick races.