The 11th Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Conference

The 14th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting of International Foundation for Production Research
Melaka, 7 10 December 2010

Rolling Element Bearing Fault Detection with a Single Point Defect on
the Outer Raceway Using Finite Element Analysis

Prof. Dr. Zahari Taha
1
, Nguyen Trung Dung
2,*

1
Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering and Technology Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, 26300 Kuantan, Pahang,
Malaysia
ztrmotion@gmail.com
2
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, 70000 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
dung_ck02@yahoo.com/ tdungnguyen@hcmut.edu.vn


Abstract - In this paper, a method based on finite element analysis is presented for defect detection in rolling
element bearing with a single point defect on outer raceway of the bearing using vibration analysis in the
frequency domain. A load mechanism is also proposed to simulate the nodes excitation force as external loading.
Finite element models of housing and outer raceway of the bearings are created and vibration response
analyzed using commercial finite element software ABAQUS. The identification of bearing defects is obtained
by extracting characteristic defect frequency from the vibration signal of the defective bearing. Finally,
experiments are conducted to validate the simulation results.
Keywords: frequency domain, vibration analysis, bearing defect detection, finite element analysis

1. INTRODUCTION
Among mechanical components, researchers pay great
attention to rolling element bearings because of their
significant industrial importance. Rolling element bearings are
frequently used in rotating machinery due to their carrying
capacity and low-friction characteristics. Proper functioning of
these appliances depends on the smooth and quiet running of
the bearings. In industrial applications, these bearings are
considered as critical mechanical components and a defect in
such a bearing causes malfunction and may even lead to
catastrophic failure of the machinery. Defects in bearings may
arise during use or during the manufacturing process such as
crack damage, spalling, corrosion, fatigue failure, etc.
Therefore detection of these defects is important for condition
monitoring as well as quality inspection of bearings. There are
different methods used for detection and diagnosis of bearing
defects which are classified as vibration and acoustic
measurements, temperature measurements and wear debris
analysis. Among these, vibration analysis is the most common
method used in monitoring applications since a local defect
produces successive impulses at every contact of defect and
the rolling element, and the housing structure is forced to
vibrate at its natural modes.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Two approaches have been adopted by researchers for
creating localized defects on bearings to study their vibration
response. One is to run the bearing until failure and monitor
the changes in their vibration response. Usually the failure is
accelerated by either over-loading, over-speeding or using lack
of lubricants of the bearings. The other one is to intentionally
create defects in the bearings by different techniques such as
acid etching, spark erosion, electrical discharge machining
(EDM), scratching or mechanical indentation, and then
measure their vibration response and compare it with that of
good bearings. The former approach of life tests is quite
time-consuming. On the other hand, the testing of bearings
with simulated defects is much quicker but preparation of the
defective bearings requires special techniques. Several


The 11th Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Conference
The 14th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting of International Foundation for Production Research
Melaka, 7 10 December 2010

techniques have been applied to measure and analyze the
vibration response of bearings with localized defects. These
techniques are not totally independent but support one another
in some cases.
A. Frequency-Domain Approach
Frequency-domain or spectral analysis of the vibration
signal is perhaps the most widely used approach of bearing
defect detection [1]. The interaction of defects in rolling
element bearings produces pulses of very short duration
whenever the defect strikes or is struck because of the
rotational motion of the system. These pulses excite the
natural frequencies of bearing elements and housing structures
and result in an increase in the vibrational energy at these high
frequencies. Therefore, monitoring the increase in the level of
vibrations in the high-frequency range of the spectrum is an
effective method of predicting the condition of rolling element
bearings.
Each bearing element has a characteristic rotational
frequency. These characteristic defect frequencies can be
calculated from kinematic considerations which are the
geometry of the bearing and its rotational speed. Assuming no
skidding of rolling elements, the outer raceway defect
frequency is given by the following expressions for a bearing
with a stationary outer raceway [2].
The rotational speed of the cage (cage frequency)
c
f is:
1 cos
2
s b
c
m
f d
f
d
o
| |
=
|
\ .
(1)
Where f
s
is the rotational speed of the inner ring, d
m
is the
pitch diameter of bearing, d
b
is the rolling element diameter,
and is the contact angle.
The rate at which balls pass a point in the groove of the
outer raceway (also called the ball-pass-outer-raceway
frequency or outer raceway defect frequency) is:
1 cos
2
s b
bpor c
m
Zf d
f Zf
d
o
| |
= =
|
\ .
(2)
where Z is the number of balls or rollers.
In some studies, it has been mentioned that noise or
vibration from other sources is presented in the vibration
signal from the bearing. Therefore, in order to improve the
signal-to-noise ratio and make the spectral analysis more
effective, some signal processing techniques have been
reported. One of the most popular ones is envelope analysis or
the high-frequency resonance technique (HFRT) which helps
in the identification of bearing defects by extracting
characteristic defect frequencies from the vibration signal of
the defective bearing. A review of this technique has been
presented by [3]. Each time a defect strikes its mating element,
a pulse of short duration is generated that excites the
resonances periodically at the characteristic frequency related
to the defect location. By demodulating one of these
resonances, a signal indicative of the bearing condition can be
recovered. The process of extraction of demodulated spectra
by the HFRT is shown in Fig. 2.1.

Figure 2.1 The process of extraction of demodulated
spectra by HFRT [4].
B. Load Distribution
The loads carried by the ball and roller bearings are
transmitted through the rolling elements from one ring to the
other. As mentioned in [2], the relationship between load and
deflection is:
n
Q Ko = (3)
in which n = 1.5 for ball bearings and n = 1.11 for roller
bearings, Q is the ball or roller normal load, o is
deformation, and K is load-deflection factor.


The 11th Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Conference
The 14th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting of International Foundation for Production Research
Melaka, 7 10 December 2010

For a rigidly supported bearing subjected to radial load,
the radial deflection at any rolling element angular position is
given by:
1
cos
2
r d
P

o o = (4)
in which
r
o is the ring radial shift, occurring at 0 = and
P
d
is the diametrical clearance.

Figure 2.2 Rolling element load distribution for different
amounts of clearance [2].
Eq. (6) may be rearranged in terms of maximum deformation
as follows:
( )
max
1
1 1 cos
2

o o
c
(
=
(

(5)
where is the load distribution factor given by:
1
1
2 2
d
r
P
c
o
| |
=
|
\ .
(6)
Thus, for ball bearings under pure radial load and zero
clearance, we have:
max
4.37
cos
r
F
Q
Z o
= (7)
3. DEVELOPMENT OF MODEL

Figure 3.1 SFK 1206 ETN9 bearing geometry.









Figure 3.2 Bearing outer raceway structure after partition
into 64 parts.
To monitor the condition of a bearing, a SKF 1206 ETN9
self-aligning ball bearing is used in this study. Fig. 3.1 shows
the geometry and dimensions of bearing. The finite element
method is adopted to observe the dynamic response of the
structure. Fig. 3.2 is the outer raceway structure of the bearing
which is partitioned into 64 parts.
48.5
185
2
2
5
0
8
9
31 39
92.5
52
x
y
Clamped surfaces

Figure 3.3 Bearing housing structure.
Also, the finite element model of the housing is created
and shown in Fig. 3.3. The housing and outer raceway
structures are discretised into 71846 and 14091 4-node linear
tetrahedron elements, respectively. The material of housing
structure and outer raceway is isotropic steel with the
properties as, E = 209 GPa, = 0.3, = 7800 kg/m
3
.


The 11th Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Conference
The 14th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting of International Foundation for Production Research
Melaka, 7 10 December 2010


Figure 3.4 Finite Element Model of Assembly Structure
Fig. 3.4 shows the finite element models of both housing and
outer raceway after meshing. In order to simulate the dynamic
loading model for finite element vibration analysis, the radial
load acting on each node along the inner circumference of the
loading zone of the outer raceway have to be developed. It is
assumed that there is no diametrical clearance in the bearing,
hence the loading zone would be -90
0
< < 90
0
. According to
[5], the optimum number of elements along the circumference
of the bearings outer raceway and the result is 64 elements.










Figure 3.5 Radial load acting on one node.
r
F
Node No. 16
Node No. 17
Node No. 18
Defect position

Figure 3.6 Radial load model at initial position.
Fig. 3.5 and 3.6 show the radial load acting on one node
and the model at the initial position, respectively. The radial
loading models are created at 33 nodes in the loading zone. If
a ball passes a defect, the excitation force will be dramatically
amplified by a factor of 6 as proposed in [6]. The shaft
rotation speed is assumed as f
s
= 1000 RPM = 16.67 Hz. Thus,
the rotational speed of the cage (cage frequency) is calculated
as:
1 cos 411.111
2
6.852
s b
c
m
f d
f RPM
d
Hz
o
| |
= =
|
\ .
=

The outer raceway defect frequency is:
14 6.852 95.928
bpor c
f Zf Hz = = =
If there is a peak at 95.928
bpor
f Hz = , it can be
concluded that there is a defect on the outer raceway of the
bearing.
4. EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
A test rig is designed to conduct the experiments for
bearing defect detection. Fig. 4.1 below shows the
experimental diagram.
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8

1. Lathe machine spindle
2. Shaft
3. Accelerometer sensor
4. Bearing housing
5. Bearing
6. Load
1
t
2
t
3
t
4
t
5
t
6
t
1
Q
2
Q
Point P


The 11th Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Conference
The 14th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting of International Foundation for Production Research
Melaka, 7 10 December 2010

7. Data Acquisition (DAQ)
8. Computer
Figure 4.1 Experiment set-up diagram.

Figure 4.2 The shaft, bearing housing, load and the
accelerometer on the lathe machine.

Figure 4.3 The vibration module, DAQ and computer.
The vibration module and DAQ used are NI 9233 and NI
cDAQ-9172. The software used to obtain the data and analyze
it in NI SignalExpress 1.0. A defect is created intentionally on
the outer raceway of the bearing with the size of 2 mm in
diameter and depth using Electrical Discharge Machining
(EDM).







Figure 4.4 The artificial defect on the outer raceway (the
defect area is circled).
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION



















Figure 5.1 Simulation acceleration responses at point P in
time domain.
Table 1 Time parameters of acceleration response of outer
raceway defected bearing
Type of
bearing
RMS
Peak Level
Peak to
Peak
Max Min
Healthy 1143.44 3565.08 -3583.62 7148.7
Defected 1664.73 6022.4 -5847.92 11870.3
Difference (%) 45.59% 68.93% 63.18% 66.05%










Figure 5.2 Simulation acceleration responses at point P in
frequency domain.
s
f
bpor
f
Defected
Defected
Time (s)
a

(
m
m
/
s
2
)

Healthy
Time (s)
a

(
m
m
/
s
2
)



The 11th Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Conference
The 14th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting of International Foundation for Production Research
Melaka, 7 10 December 2010












Figure 5.2 Simulation acceleration responses at point P in
frequency domain (cont.).
























Figure 5.3 Zoomed simulation acceleration responses at point
P in frequency domain.




















Figure 5.4 Experimental acceleration responses at point P in
frequency domain.



















Figure 5.5 Zoomed experimental acceleration response at
point P in frequency domain.
s
f
s
f
bpor
f
2
s
f
s
f
s
f 2
s
f
bpor
f
2
s
f
s
f
bpor
f
Healthy
Defected
Defected
Healthy
Defected
Healthy
s
f
2
s
f
s
f
Healthy


The 11th Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Conference
The 14th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting of International Foundation for Production Research
Melaka, 7 10 December 2010

Fig. 5.1 5.5 and Table 1 show the comparison of
vibration responses between the outer raceway defected
bearing and the healthy bearing model in time and frequency
domains, respectively. It is observed that there is a big
difference between defected and healthy bearing vibration
signals in time domain and a peak at the outer raceway defect
frequency f
bor
= 95.928 Hz. Therefore, it can be concluded that
there is a defect on the outer raceway of the bearing.
It is observed that in both simulation and experiment, the
defect on the bearing can be detected. However, the squared
magnitudes are different and the one in simulation is slightly
larger (2E+06 in simulation compare with 1.17E+06 in
experiment as shown in Fig. 5.6). This is because the finite
element model used is simplified. Also, the outer raceway
model is partitioned into 64 parts and the dynamic loads are
developed on 33 nodes in the load zones only. Moreover, the
amplification factor of 6 (for the excited force when the
impact occurs) is probably pretty big.
6. CONCLUSION
In this study, the finite element model of a bearing and
housing structure has been developed using the commercial
finite element method software ABAQUS. Also, a dynamic
loading distribution is developed to simulate the load
distribution on the outer raceway due to load transfer from the
shaft through the balls. Moreover, the impulse force due to
impact between the defect and the bearing components is
proposed by amplifying the excitation force on the defected
area with a factor of 6. Then the models are analyzed to obtain
the vibration signal in the frequency domain and the vibration
signal of defected bearing is compared with the one of healthy
bearing for defect detection. Experiments were conducted to
validate the simulation results of the software. The simulation
and experiment are found to be in good agreement.
Vibration analysis is a powerful method for bearing defect
detection. With this method, it is possible to predict the
condition of a bearing.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to give my sincere gratitude and
appreciation to my supervisor, Prof. Zahari Taha, who has
been an excellent adviser with continuous encouragement and
guidance in completing the research. Also, I would like to give
my thanks to ASEAN University Network / Southeast Asia
Engineering Education Development Network
(AUN/SEED-Net) and JICA for supporting me with their
financial support in this research. Special thanks to Mr. Amir
Radzi and Mr. Norhafidzan for their valuable advices and
supports throughout the research. Many thank to the CPDM
members, the staff of Engineering Design and Manufacture
Department, Engineering Faculty, University of Malaya for
their supports, kindness, and helpfulness. An immeasurable
debt of gratitude also goes to my colleagues for their advices
and helping me on the difficult moments.
REFERENCES
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acoustic measurement methods for the detection of defects in
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469480.
[2] Tedric A. Harris, Rolling bearing analysis, Fourth
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SONS, INC, 2001.
[3] P.D. McFadden and J.D. Smith, Vibration monitoring
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[4] N. Tandon, A. Choudhury, A review of vibration and
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[5] Kadarno Purwo, Vibration Analysis of Defected Ball
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The 11th Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Conference
The 14th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting of International Foundation for Production Research
Melaka, 7 10 December 2010

[10] Zeki Kral, Hira Karagulle, Vibration analysis of
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