Modeling angular contact ball bearing without raceway control hypothesis

• Angular contact ball bearing is modeled without raceway control hypothesis.
• Spinning occurs simultaneously for ball/outer and inner raceway contacts.
• Friction coefficient between ball and raceways are obtained simultaneously.
• Bearing characteristic parameters greatly change with the increase of speed.

Modeling study of angular contact ball bearing, which is subjected to a combined action of radial, axial and moment loads, is performed in this paper. The centrifugal force and the gyroscopic moment are especially considered. To analyze the spin-to-roll ratios at both ball-outer and ball-inner raceway contacts simultaneously, the model discards the hypothesis of “raceway control” by introducing a controlling equation of ball pitch angle. The method simplifies the solution procedure involved in determining ball equilibrium equations. Numerical examples verify the model and show its capabilities in predicting the bearing characteristic parameters such as contact angle, contact force and spin-to-roll ratio under various operating conditions. It is also shown that the effect of the centrifugal force is of significant importance that should not be neglected in the design and analysis of rolling bearings, especially at high-speed conditions.