New approach for bearing life cycle control

This paper presents a new approach for the control of the life cycle of bearings in machine tools. A new simulation tool has been developed using the well-known ISO 281 standard as a reference. This new tool improves the accuracy of the estimations in two fields: model-based and feature based prognostics. On the one hand, the tool is able to provide accurate end-of-life estimations thanks to the determination of accurate component loads for a defined manufacturing cycle. In addition, this new tool is able to be embedded in monitoring devices in order to use real machine tool usage data and calculate Remaining Useful Life of the analysed component. This last application can be combined with vibration monitoring of the bearing in order to detect unexpected component degradation.