Enhanced modelling of planar radial-loaded deep groove ball bearings with smooth-contact formulation

Bearings are mechanical components designed to restrict the relative rotary motion between moving parts and transmit loads with low friction. Their performance directly impacts the durability, efficiency and reliability of various machinery. Therefore, bearing failures can lead to economic costs, repair/stoppage times, accidents and regulatory compliance issues. In the context of Industry 4.0, the development of detailed and reliable computational models for simulating bearings’ dynamics plays a crucial role in establishing digital twins and implementing advanced predictive maintenance strategies. This work focuses on modelling radial-loaded deep groove ball bearings under the multibody systems dynamics framework and the components of the bearing (inner and outer rings, rolling elements, and cage) are treated as separate bodies. A smooth contact approach is utilised to characterise the contact/impact phenomena, providing flexibility and efficiency in monitoring the whole contact event. In this sense, suitable normal and friction contact force models are used to describe those interactions between the contacting bodies. The main contribution of this work relies on the modelling strategies to represent the cage/rolling element interaction. Having that in mind, several multibody models of radial-loaded deep groove ball bearings are developed considering different modelling assumptions, resulting in dynamic analyses with various levels of complexity. The underlying simplifications are described, and their main advantages and shortcomings are discussed. The simulation results demonstrated the significant impact of accurately selecting the modelling parameters. The promising results of this study pave the way for future investigations, extending to other geometries of rolling contact bearings and working conditions.