International Journal of Innovative Research in Engineering & Science

ISSN 2319-5665
(July 2014, issue 3 volume 7)

CONTACT STRESS ANALYSIS OF DEEP GROOVE BALL BEARING 6210

USING HERTZIAN CONTACT THEORY
Shailendra Pipaniya1, Akhilesh Lodwal2
1
Research Scholar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Engineering and
Technology Devi
Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore-452017(M.P.), India
2

Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Engineering and
Technology, Devi
Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore-452017(M.P.), India
Abstract
When curved surfaces are in contact, the theoretical contact area of two spheres is a point
and the theoretical contact area of two parallel cylinders is a line. As a result, the pressure
between two curved surfaces should be infinite. The infinite pressure at the contact should
cause immediate yielding of both surfaces. In reality, a small contact area is being created
through elastic deformation, thereby limiting the stresses considerably. These contact stresses
are called Hertz contact stresses. Example of curved surfaces in contact is ball bearing.
Where static loads are encountered with bearings that are not rotating, resistance to plastic
deformation becomes important. A limiting static capacity is commonly defined as the load
corresponds to a hertzian contact pressure of approximately 4200 N/mm2 at the center of the
contact area. This paper determines the contact stress between the inner race and ball of
Single row Deep groove ball bearing using analytical and finite element analysis. The
calculation procedure consists of calculation of maximum contact pressure at different loads
and comparison of results with finite element analysis to predict the contact pressure between
inner race and ball of Single row Deep groove ball bearing.
Keywords: Hertzian contact pressure. Deep groove ball bearing, inner race, ball.
1. Introduction
Ball bearings are commonly used machine elements. They are employed to permit rotary
motions of, or about, shafts in simple commercial devices and also used in complex
engineering mechanisms. Deep groove ball bearings are the most widely used bearings in
industry and their market share is about 80% of industrial rolling element bearings. A deep
groove ball bearing can support a thrust load of about 70% of its radial load. [1] The radial
load and axial load capacity increases with the bearing size and the number of balls.
The contact stress refers to the localized stress that develop as two curved surfaces come in
contact under the effect of radial load as in case of ball and raceways of ball bearing. Hertz
theory considers the elastic deformation and stress distribution near the contact of the rolling
elements and races. Under load, due to an elastic deformation, the line or point contact
becomes a contact area, this area is very small, resulting in a very high maximum contact

International Journal of Innovative Research in Engineering & Science

ISSN 2319-5665
(July 2014, issue 3 volume 7)

pressure of the order of 15 GPa. The calculations of the maximum contact pressure and
deformation at the contact area of the rolling clement and raceways are according to Hertzs
contact theory. A Contact stress analysis of ball bearing diameter > 400 mm was carried out
by Pandiyarajan et all.[2] The comparison of the total deformation of thrust ball bearing &
contact stress b/w ball & raceways & its effect on fatigue life of thrust ball bearing done by
Prabhat Singh et all. [3]
2. Rolling Contact Stresses
Calculation of stresses and corresponding deformation at a contact point between rolling
elements and raceways employs elasticity relations established by Hertz in 1881.Hertzs
theory considers the contact of two bodies with curved surfaces under force W. There is a
theoretical point or line contact between the rolling elements and races. But due to elastic
deformation, the contact area between two curved bodies in point contact has an elliptical
shape. In machinery that involves severe shocks and vibrations, the contact stresses can be
very high.
In the United States, the standard bearing material is SAE 52100 steel hardened to 60 RC.
This steel has a high content of carbon and chromium. It is manufactured by an induction
vacuum melting process, which minimizes porosity due to gas released during the casting
process. The allowed limit of rolling contact stress for SAE 52100 is 4.2 Gpa.[4] Failure from
contact stresses generally falls into two categories:
Localized deformations by yielding or distortions, and
Fracture by progressive spreading of a crack (fatigue).[5]
These failures results in undesirable noise and vibrations in rotating ball bearing.
3. Mathematical modelling
The contact area between two curved bodies in point contact has an elliptical shape. (Fig.1)

Figure 1. Contact areas in ball bearing

According to Hertzs theory, the equation of the pressure distribution in an ellipsoidal contact
area in a ball bearing is
P = ( 1- x2/a2 y2/b2 )Pmax

International Journal of Innovative Research in Engineering & Science

ISSN 2319-5665
(July 2014, issue 3 volume 7)

Here, a and b are the small radius and the large radius, respectively, of the ellipsoidal contact
area, as shown in figure 2. The maximum pressure (or stress) at the centre of an ellipsoidal
contact area is given by the following Hertz equation.
Pmax = 3 W/ 2 a b

Figure 2. Pressure distribution in an elliptical contact area

Here, W = Wmax is the maximum load on one spherical rolling element. The maximum
pressure is proportional to the load, and it is lower when the contact area is larger. For ball
bearings, the maximum load, Wmax, on most heavily loaded ball can be estimated by the
equation.
Wmax = 5W/ no. of ball [6]
3.1 Geometry of Ball Bearing

Figure 3. Geometry of ball Bearing.

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International Journal of Innovative Research in Engineering & Science

ISSN 2319-5665
(July 2014, issue 3 volume 7)

4. Tables
Table 1. Geometric parameters of ball bearing used in analysis.[7]
Ball bearing model

6210 Deep Groove ball

bearing

Ball diameter

12.7 mm

Bore diameter (d)

50 mm

Inner raceway
diameter (d1)

57.291 mm

Outer raceway
diameter (D2)

82.709 mm

Outside diameter (D)

90 mm

No. of balls (n)

10

Inner race groove

radius (rgi)

6.6 mm

Outer race groove

radius (rgo)

6.6 mm

Width (B)

20 mm

Table 2. Ball bearing material used in analysis.

Ball bearing material

AISI 52100 chrome

alloy steel

Modulus of elasticity

203300 Mpa

Poissons ratio

0.3

Density

7833.413 kg/m3

5. Methodology
Maximum pressure (P max) at the centre of ellipsoidal contact area is calculated by Hertzian
elliptical contact theory using different loads (W) whose results given in Table 3.

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International Journal of Innovative Research in Engineering & Science

ISSN 2319-5665
(July 2014, issue 3 volume 7)

Table 3. Analytic results

Load (Newton)

Pmax ( Mpa)

500 N

1979.3449

1000 N

2493.049

2000 N

3141.1175

3000 N

3595.349

4000 N

3956.4198

5000 N

4261.9308

6000 N

4528.2940

These results are compared with the finite element analysis of ball and inner raceway. The 3Dimensional Modelling has been done through modelling software Pro-e the commercial
software ANSYS Workbench used as a FEA tool in this analysis work. The following figures
followed by meshing of model are images of contact stress analysis of ball and raceways at
different loads.

Figure 4. Meshing of model

1. AT 500 N

Figure 5. Contact stress at 500 N

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International Journal of Innovative Research in Engineering & Science

ISSN 2319-5665
(July 2014, issue 3 volume 7)

2. AT 1000 N

Figure 6. Contact stress at 1000N

3. AT 2000N

Figure 7. Contact stress at 2000 N

4. AT 3000 N

Figure 8. Contact stress at 3000 N

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International Journal of Innovative Research in Engineering & Science

ISSN 2319-5665
(July 2014, issue 3 volume 7)

5. AT 4000N

Figure 9. Contact stress at 4000 N

6. AT 5000 N

Figure 10. Contact stress at 5000 N

7. AT 6000N

Figure 11. Contact stress at 6000 N

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International Journal of Innovative Research in Engineering & Science

ISSN 2319-5665
(July 2014, issue 3 volume 7)

6. Results
The calculated values of contact stress (Pmax) should be less than allowable stress 4.2 Gpa for
AISI 52100 Chrome alloy steel for proper functioning of ball bearing. Maximum contact
stress based on Hertzian contact theory is calculated at different loads corresponding FEA is
performed in order to justify the results of calculated stresses. The comparison of calculated
stresses with FEA results are given in Table 4 followed by a graph.
Table 4 Comparison of both results
Load (N)

Analytic
contact
stress (Pmax)
in Mpa

500
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000

1979.3449
2493.049
3141.1175
3595.349
3956.4198
4261.9308
4528.2940

FEA
contact
stress
(Pmax) in
Mpa
1747.7
2354.8
3398.3
3794
3916.5
4499.9
4620.3

Percentage
error %

13.25
5.87
8.19
5.5
1.02
5.58
2.03

5000
4500
4000

Load in N

3500
FEA results

3000
2500

Analytic
results

2000
1500
1000
500

60
00

40
00

20
00

50
0

contact stress in Mpa

Both the results are compared and plotted which coincides satisfactorily.
7. Conclusions
Results indicate that at 5000 N contact stresses at contact of inner raceway and ball crosses
the limit of allowable limit contact stress. This analysis is used to study the failure behavior to
increase the service life of ball bearing. The future work of this paper will be the calculation
of contact stress using different ball bearing materials and different sizes of bearings.

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International Journal of Innovative Research in Engineering & Science

ISSN 2319-5665
(July 2014, issue 3 volume 7)

Acknowledgements
I am very much thankful to all the faculty and staff members of Mechanical Engineering
Department of IET DAVV, Indore. I am also thankful for the department to provide
experimental facilities in the department.
References
[1] Michael M. Khonsari, E. Richard Booser, Applied Tribology Bearing Design and
Lubrication, John Wiley and Sons Ltd , England 2008.
[2] Pandiyarajan. R, Starvin.M.S, Ganesh.K.C, Contact Stress Distribution of Large
Diameter Ball Bearing Using Hertzian Elliptical Contact Theory Procedia Engineering
38 (2012) 264-269.
[3] Prabhat Singh, Prof. Upendra Kumar Joshi, Fatigue Life Analysis of Thrust Ball
Bearing Using Ansys, International Journal of Engineering Sciences and Research
Technology, 2277-9655 January 2014.
[4] TEDRIC A. HARRIS, Rolling Bearing Analysis, 4th edition , John Wiley and Sons Inc.,
New York, 2001.
[5] Bernard J. Hamrock, William J. Anderson, Rolling Element Bearings, Lewis Research
Centre, NSA Reference Publication, June 1983.
[6] Avraham Harnoy, Bearing Design in Machinery, 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc.
[7] DYNAROLL Corporation, 12840 Bradley Avenue Sylmar, CA 91342
[8] Yongming Liu, Brant Stratman, and Sankaran Mahadevan, Fatigue crack initiation life
prediction of railroad wheels, International Journal of Fatigue 28, 2006, p 747-756.
[9] Tatjana Lazovic, Mileta Ristivojevic, Radivoje Mitrovic, Mathematical Model of Load
Distribution in Rolling Bearing. FME Transactions (2008) 36, 189-196.
[10] V B Bhandari, Design of Machine Elements, 2nd edition Tata McGraw Hill
Publication, chapter 15.

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