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Prediction of Roller Skewing in Tapered Roller Bearings

a b b
Daniel Nelias , Ioan Bercea & Viorel Paleu
a
LaMCoS, INSA-Lyon CNRS UMR5259 , Villeurbanne , F69621 , France
b
Gheorghe Asachi Technical University , Iasi , Romania
Published online: 03 Apr 2008.

To cite this article: Daniel Nelias , Ioan Bercea & Viorel Paleu (2008) Prediction of Roller Skewing in Tapered Roller Bearings,
Tribology Transactions, 51:2, 128-139, DOI: 10.1080/10402000701730486

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 Tribology Transactions, 51: 128-139, 2008
Copyright C Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers
ISSN: 1040-2004 print / 1547-357X online
DOI: 10.1080/10402000701730486
Prediction of Roller Skewing in Tapered Roller Bearings
DANIEL NELIAS
LaMCoS, INSA-Lyon
CNRS UMR5259
Villeurbanne F69621, France
and
IOAN BERCEA and VIOREL PALEU
Gheorghe Asachi Technical University
Iasi, Romania
Downloaded by [Aston University] at 07:48 06 September 2014
The paper proposes a comprehensive model to predict the
skew movement of a roller in tapered roller bearings. Numerical
solutions are given on a LM48548/LM48510 bearing. The effect
of the shaft speed, ring misalignment, and lubricant temperature
on the roller skew angle is presented and compared to the exper-
imental data available in the literature. The results indicate that
the skew angle depends rst on the misalignment angle between
the cup and the cone. The roller skew is also greatly inuenced
by the traction at the roller-ange contact, the skew angle in-
creasing with the traction at this contact, and by the geometry of
the roller end.
KEY WORDS
Tapered Roller Bearing; Skewing; Skew Angle
INTRODUCTION
The prediction of the roller skew angle in roller bearings is
of prime interest for bearing designers. The present work con-
cerns tapered roller bearings (TRB), which are widely used for
heavy axially and radially loaded applications. Increasingly com-
plex models have been proposed since the 1970s, starting from the
pioneering work of Andreason (1) and Witte (2) in 1973. They
both proposed a quasi-static model for low speed applications i.e.
in which the centrifugal force and the gyroscopic torque acting on
each roller were neglected. This model was improved by Liu (3)
in 1976 by including, for each rolling element, the centrifugal load
and gyroscopic torque. A more general model based on a matrix
approach was later proposed by De Mul, et al. (4). The presence
of an elastohydrodynamic lubricant (EHL) film at the contacts
between roller and rings and the effects on the running torque,
load distribution or EHL film thickness was considered by Aihara
(5), Zhou and Hoeprich (6), Cretu, et al. (7), and Yamashita, et al.
Presented at the 61st STLE Annual Meeting in Calgary, Canada
May 7-11, 2006
Manuscript received November 15, 2006
Final manuscript approved October 2, 2007
Review led by Mike Hoeprich
128
(8). The theoretical and experimental investigations by Hatazawa,
et al. (9-11) clarified the regimes of lubrication encountered in
TRB. An extension of these models to double row TRB was pro-
posed by Bercea and co-workers (12-15), who studied in details
the load distribution and the internal dissipation shared between
the rows or bearings in case of several bearings supporting a flex-
ible shaft. However, in all these models, the phenomenon of the
roller skew was ignored.
Meantime Gupta (16) proposed a dynamic model with 6 de-
grees of freedom to simulate the dynamics of various types of
rolling element bearings, later applied to TRB (17). It was shown
that the skew movement of the roller was due to the unbalanced
moment about the x-axis. This unbalanced moment may be caused
by one of many physical conditions, including imperfect geome-
try, variation of the surface finish, or of the contact forces along
the length of the roller. In addition to the tangential forces at
the roller/raceway interface, the friction at the flange/roller end
contact also produces a skew moment, which may become signif-
icant. In (17) Gupta assumed that the coefficients of friction at
the roller-race and roller-flange interfaces were identical and he
found that the skew angle did not exceed 0.06 deg. for the specific
application studied. The effect of the geometrical discrepancy on
the friction losses and the effect of roller skew on the pressure
distribution were investigated by Raczynski (18). In his model the
coefficient of friction was assumed to be independent of the slid-
ing rate, and he found a skew angle ranging from 0.01 to 0.04 deg.
More recently, Yang, et al. (19-21) have successfully measured
the roller skew angle by detecting the location of both ends of
the roller using contact potential difference (CPD) probes. They
measured skew angle between 0.15 and 0.6 deg., depending on
the load, the speed, and the lubricant viscosity or temperature. It
was assumed that the main parameter governing the skew move-
ment is the friction coefficient between the flange and the roller
end.
The objective of this investigation was to develop a comprehen-
sive model to predict the roller skew angle in tapered roller bear-
ings. The traction at the flange-roller end contact and the variation
of the tangential forces along the roller axis will be carefully con-
sidered, and the numerical results compared to the experimental
 Skew Movement in Tapered Roller Bearings 129

NOMENCLATURE Rm = maximum dividing radius of bearing

U = dimensionless speed parameter
a = semi-major axis of the projected ellipse at the roller-flange T = contact moment
contact W = dimensionless load parameter
b = semi-minor axis of the projected ellipse at the roller-flange ux ,uz = roller displacement along the x and z-axis, respectively
contact Z = number or roller
D = mean roller diameter z = instantaneously axis of skewing
Dw = large roller diameter X,Y,Z = inertial coordinate system
E = Youngs modulus x,y,z = roller coordinate system
fp, fr, fs, fd = sliding force, rolling force and drag force at roller-raceway p = viscosity-pressure coefficient
slice = tapered angle
Fc = centrifugal load = tapered angle of inner ring raceway
Ff = friction force at the flange-roller end contact f = temperature-viscosity coefficient
Fp = pressure force on roller slice i , o , f = elastic deformation at inner, outer and flange contact,
Fs = viscous friction forces at roller-raceway contact respectively
Ft = thrust force on roller x , x , z = inner ring displacement along the X, Y and Z-axis,
Fx, Fy, Fz = bearing external forces respectively
G = dimensionless material parameter x = tangential skew angle
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h = height of flange-roller end contact y = radial skew angle

hof = central film thickness at roller-flange contact f = shear rate of lubricant at roller-flange contact
Lg = distance from the bearing apex to the roller end x , y = tilted angle of inner ring around X and Y-axis, respectively
m = roller mass = flange opening angle
md = drag moment in roller-raceway slice = friction coefficient
mr = elastic rolling resistances in raceway-roller slice = lubricant viscosity
Mb = moment of blocking at the flange-roller end contact o = viscosity at atmospheric pressure
Mq = restoring moments at roller-raceway contact = half angular extent of spherical roller end
Ms = moment of skewing = angular coordinate
Mx, My = bearing external moments = angular velocity
Mc = gyroscopic couple = radius
Jz = polar moment of inertia for roller o = Eyring shear stress
K = load-deflection factor
kt = thermal conductivity MATRIX AND VECTOR NOTATIONS
La = effective roller length A = matrix transformation
L = roller slice length n = unit vector
Q = contact load r = raceway initial position vector
q = contact force per unit length r = raceway final position vector
pmax = maximum or Hertzian pressure at flange-roller end contact w = roller initial position vector
R = crown radius of roller w = roller final position vector
Rg = radius from the roller center of gravity to the bearing axis rb = position vector of the roller frame with respect to inertial
Rs = sphere radius of roller end frame

ones of Yang, et al. The effects of the roller-end geometry and of
the misalignment between the rings will also be analyzed.
Problem Formulation
Consider a lubricated tapered roller bearing with its outer ring
rigidly mounted in a supporting housing.
Roller Skew Angle
It will be assumed that each taper roller is in a steady-state
motion. This motion consists of a rotation about its own axis, a
revolution around the bearing axis, and a skew rotation around
the instantaneous axis of skew.
The rotational velocities may vary from one roller to another.
Therefore as a taper roller revolves around the circumference it
experiences a change in rotational velocities. The forces accompa-
nying this change are ignored. The model presented here is, there-
fore, for the steady-state motion of the rollers. The skew motion is
due to the unbalanced moment around the x axis (Fig. 1) and 
is the angle that the lines of Msi , Mso make with the radial line.
This unbalanced moment may be caused by one or many physi-
cal factors, such as friction force between the roller end and the
flange, variation of contact forces along the roller length, variation
of surface finish along the roller length, and imperfect geometry.
The last two conditions are largely random in nature and will not
be considered here. This analysis will be focused on the friction at
the roller end-flange contact and variation of contact forces as the
mechanism for generating the skew angle. Finally the effect of the
ring misalignment will be investigated.
Reference Systems
For the analysis, the following reference systems are consid-
ered. The reference system (X, Y, Z) is fixed to the bearing outer
ring that is assumed to be stationary. The Z-axis is along the ge-
ometrical axis of the ring, see Fig. 2. The origin of the inertial
 130 D. NELIAS ET AL.
Fig. 1Moments of reaction on a roller.
coordinate system is chosen at the intersection between the bear-
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ing centerline and the line that is perpendicular to the outer ring
raceway and bisects the inner ring raceway.
Another coordinate system (x, y, z) is introduced for each roller
location, having the origin at the center of the big end of the roller,
the x-axis perpendicular to the roller centerline, the y-axis in the
tangential plane, and the z-axis along the roller centerline. The
angular position of a roller in the system (X, Y, Z) is denoted by .
Variables
While the bearing is under the action of the load vector F =
{Fx, Fy, Fz, Mx, My}T , the 5 degrees-of-freedom result in the 3
translations x , y , and z and 2 rotation angles x and y of the
inner ring. At each conjunction the normal contact loads generate
frictional forces and moments. Rollers response to a particular set
of bearing operating conditions is defined in terms of 4 degrees-
of-freedom relatively from their initial positions, i.e. 2 translations
Fig. 2Reference systems.
ux and uz in the x and z directions, respectively, and 2 rotations
x (skew angle) and y (tilt angle) around the x and y directions,
respectively. Often, the quantities x and y are known as radial
and tangential skew angles, respectively.
Thus, the problem has 5 unknowns (x , y , z , x , y ) for the
inner ring and 4 unknowns (ux , uz , x , y ) for each roller. The
elastic contact deformations will be expressed in terms of these
variables. The objective of this paper is to investigate the lubricated
bearing equilibrium and a special attention will be addressed to
the effect of the operating conditions and bearing geometry on
the roller skew.
Assumptions
The following assumptions are made:
1. The inner ring rotates with the shaft at a constant angular ve-
locity while the outer ring is stationary.
2. The bearing is under a static external load.
3. Under external load, only the bearing inner ring can be dis-
placed; the outer ring is considered fixed in space.
4. Excepting the local contact zones, the elastic deformation of
the bearing rings is neglected.
5. The pressure distribution at the roller/raceway and roller/
flange contacts is given by the Hertz theory.
6. After some time of running, the bearing components and lu-
bricant achieve the same temperature.
Geometrical Relationships
The main design parameters of a tapered roller bearing are
described in Fig. 3, i.e. the large roller diameter (Dw), the nominal
roller length (L), the sphere radius of roller end (Rs), the semi-
cone angles of outer and inner raceways ( and , respectively),
the semi-cone angle of roller (), and the inner ring flange angle
().
The conical raceway surfaces of the cone, cup, and roller have
a common apex at point O. The position of the flange/roller end
Fig. 3Characteristic geometrical dimensions of the tapered roller bear-
ing.
 Skew Movement in Tapered Roller Bearings 131
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Fig. 4Schematic diagram showing interference at the roller/outer raceway due to the roller skew.

contact is located by the distance h. the inner ring/roller, outer ring/roller, and roller end/flange con-
D tacts, respectively. The subscript w refers to a point of the roller
h= Rs sin( ) [1] surface.
2
r Initial position vectors
Slice Position Angle
Figure 4 presents schematically the angular position of the dif- The following vectors that define the initial position of the
ferent roller slices for a skewed roller. The geometrical center of contact points on the raceways and flange are expressed in the (X,
the roller slice that contains the xskew -instantaneous axis of skew- Y, Z)-inertial frame.
ing is noted Oskew . The geometrical centers of the first (at z = 0) and
(a) For inner ring raceway
last (at z = L) slices are noted O0 and OL , respectively. In the (x, y,
z)-roller coordinate system the roller skew angle x produces for rix

each slice an angular shift  from the central slice which varies ri (, z) =
riy

linearly with the distance between the slice center and the roller riz
center:
x (z zskew ) (Rw z sin w cos ) cos( )
(z) = [2]
Rm z sin =
(Rw z sin w cos ) sin( ) [4a]
The position angle of the roller end-flange contact is given by: e + z w sin

x zskew (b) For outer ring raceway

f = [3]
Rm
rox
where z represents the coordinate along the roller centerline in
ro (, z) = roy


the roller frame (x, y, z) and Rm represents the maximum dividing
radius of bearing. roz

(Rw z sin + w cos ) cos( )
Contact Deformations Considering Roller Skew
=
(Rw z sin + w cos ) sin( ) [4b]
Position Vectors . In this section are described both the initial
e + z + w sin
(nominal) and final vectors of position for the surface points com-
ing into contact under load. In what follows r and r will repre- (c) For inner ring flange
sent the initial and final position vectors, respectively, for surface
rfx
points on the raceways. Similarly and correspond to the ini-
tial and final position vectors, respectively, for the homologous rf () =
rfy

points on the roller surface. The subscripts i, o, and f, refer to rfz

 132 D. NELIAS ET AL.

(Rw Rs cos sin + Rs sin ) cos( f ) (d) For roller to inner ring raceway

=
(Rw Rs cos sin + Rs sin ) sin( f ) [4c] ux 0 0 y

e + Rs cos cos Rs cos wi = wi +
0 + 0 0 x
[5d]
uz y x 0
where represents the angular extent of the spherical roller end:

wix w + ux + z y

Dm wi =
wiy =
z x [5e]
= sin1
2Rs
wiz z + uz + w y
The initial position vectors of the roller surface points are ex-
(e) For roller to outer ring raceway
pressed in the (x, y, z)-roller coordinate system as follow:

w + ux + z y

(d) For roller to inner ring raceway wox
z x

wix w wo =

woy = [5f]
z + uz w y

wi (z) = woz
wiy = 0 [4d]
wiz
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z
(f) For roller to flange ring raceway
(e) For roller to outer ring raceway

wfx wfx + ux + wfz y
wox w
wf =
wfy =
wfz x
[5g]
wo (z) = woy = 0

[4e]
wfz wfz + uz wfx y
woz z
In the (X, Y, Z)-inertial coordinate system the final position vec-
(f) For roller to inner ring flange tors of the roller surface points, i.e. rw,i,o,f , are found by the fol-
lowing transformation:
wfx Rs sin( )

wf =
wfy = 0
[4f] rw,i,o,f = rb + A w,i,o,f [6]
wfz Rs (cos cos( )) where rb is the position vector of the (x, y, z)-roller frame with
r Final position vectors respect to the (X, Y, Z)-inertial frame and A represents the matrix
transformation from the (x, y, z)-frame to the (X, Y, Z)-frame.
In the (X, Y, Z)-inertial coordinate system the final position
vectors of the surface points on the raceways and flange are: Rw cos

rb =
Rw sin , and
(a) For inner ring raceway
e

rix x 0 0 y
cos cos sin sin cos
ri =
riy = ri + y + 0 0 y

A= cos sin cos sin sin

riz z y x 0
sin 0 cos

rix + x + riz y
Contact Deformations and Loads . The elastic deforma-
ri = riy + y riz x
[5a]
tion achieved at the line contact, as well as the one at the roller
riz + z rix y + riy x end-flange contact, are obtained by projection on the unit vector
(normal to contacting surfaces) of the difference between the cor-
The transformation matrix in Eq. [5a] was deduced using the
responding final position vectors of coincident roller and raceway
small angle approximation.
points.
(b) For outer ring raceway
i (, z) = (ri rw,i ) ni [7a]
ro = ro [5b]
o (, z) = (rw,o ro ) no [7b]
since the outer ring is considered fixed in space.
(c) For inner ring flange f () = (rf rw,f ) nf [7c]

rfx rfx + x + rfz y where ni,o,f represents the unit vectors lying on the inner, outer

rf =
rfy = rfy + y rfiz x
[5c] and flange raceways, respectively.

rfz rfz + z rfx y + rfy x cos cos( )

In the (x, y, z)-roller coordinate system the final position vec- ni =
cos sin( )
[8a]
tors of the roller surface points are defined by: sin
 Skew Movement in Tapered Roller Bearings 133

cos cos( ) Forces and Moments of Friction Acting
on Rolling Elements
no =
cos sin( )
[8b]
The resultant forces and moments acting on a taper roller are
sin
presented in Fig. 5.

sin cos( f )
RollerRaceway Contacts
nf =
sin sin( f ) [8c]
Each roller is divided into n slices of width L = La/n. The
cos forces and moments (see Fig. 5) acting on each slice are the
The roller-raceway and roller-flange contacts are assumed following: hydrodynamic fluid pressure forces (fp), rolling forces
Hertzian. The load distribution along the roller/raceway contact (fr), sliding forces (fs), drag force (fd) and drag moment (md). The
is obtained by the slicing technique. The relationship between the unknowns are the viscous friction forces fs which are determined
normal load and the elastic deflection at the roller/raceway con- from the force and moment equilibrium, momentarily neglecting
tacts is given by: the roller end/flange contact (Zhou and Hoeprich (6), Houpert
(22)), as follows:

s
Qi,o = qi,o L [9] 1 mri + mro + md fd
k=1
fsi = fri (fpi fpo ) + + [13a]
2 D 2
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where L is the slice length and q is the contact load on a single 1 mri + mro + md fd
fso = fro + (fpi fpo ) + [13b]
slice given by: 2 D 2
Ki,o 10/9 The forces and moments that appear in Eqs. [13a and b] are
qi,o = [10] calculated on each roller slice as presented below.
La i,o
where K is the load deflection factor for line contact, i.e. Ki = r Fluid pressure forces
8/9
Ko = 7.86 104 La for bearing steel.
Fluid pressure forces, fp, tending to translate each roller slice
The roller/flange contact load is calculated from Eq. [11].
relative to the raceways are calculated according to Harris and
3/2
Qf = Kf f [11] Mindel (23):

where Kf represents the load deflection factor for point contact, fpi.o = 18.4 (1 i.o ) G0.3 U0.7 /
i.o L E Ri.o [14]
3/2 1/2
for bearing steel Kf = 2.154 105 f where is a
where is the ratio of the roller diameter to the bearing pitch
coefficient dependent on contact geometry and f is the curvature
diameter.
sum. When the length of contact ellipse (2a) is greater than the
length of the contact (Lf ), then the roller/flange contact is treated r Rolling friction forces
as linear.
The rolling friction forces, fr, are calculated according to
The moments due to the normal load distribution are calcu-
Houpert (24):
lated with respect to the roller center of gravity.
/
 fri.o = 0.04 U0.44
i.o Wi.o L E Ri.o
0.37
[15]
La
Ti.o = qi [(zc z) cos + w sin ] dz [12] r Viscous drag force
0

where zc is the abscissa of the roller center of gravity given in the The viscous drag force, fd, is estimated by the following equation
(x, y, z)-roller coordinate system. proposed by Harris and Mindel (23):

Fig. 5Loads acting on a taper roller.

 134 D. NELIAS ET AL.

1 The abscissa zskew , which defines the position of the instan-

fd = Cd lam D L (dw c )2 [16]
8 taneous axis of skewing in the (x,y,z)-roller frame (see Fig. 5),
where lam is the effective density of the lubricant-air mixture in is obtained by a linear interpolation between points (zo , ro ) and
the bearing cavity, D is the roller slice diameter, and Cd is the (zi , ri ) corresponding to the centers of the tangential force dis-
drag coefficient depending on the equivalent viscosity of the air- tributions along the roller-raceway contacts:
oil mixture and on the frontal area of the roller slice. ro
zskew = zo + (zi zo )
ri + ro
r Drag moment where zi,o are defined by Eq. [20] and ri,o represent the roller
The drag moment acting over the rotating surface of disk, md, diameters at the abscissa zi,o .
is calculated according to Rumbarger, et al. (25): r Thrust force
D For the roller-raceway interface, the rate of the axial slip is
md = w Aw [17]
2 expressed by:
where w is the wall shear stress being a function of the fluid prop- difference in axial velocity
erties, flow type (laminar or turbulent flow-examined by Reynolds Si.o =
average rolling speed
and Taylor numbers) and of the roller-cage clearance, Aw is the
w ri.o sin(x )
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cylindrical surface area of the disk, and D is the diameter of the = = 2 sin(x ) sign(x ) [23]
disk. In addition to the fluid drag acting on the cylindrical surfaces,
1
2
w ri.o
the roller ends were considered as an additional source of drag. It follows that the axial traction coefficient is:
r Elastic rolling resistances z = min(2 B sin(x ), z max ) [24]

The elastic rolling resistances at the raceway-roller slice con- where z max represents the maximum value of the traction co-
tact, mr, are calculated according to Aihara (5). efficient (asymptotic value) and B represents the traction slope.
Consequently the thrust force acting on a roller, see Fig. 5, is given
1.76 102 1 by:
mri.o = (GUi.o )0.658 W0.31 R2i.o L [18]
1 + 0.29L0.78
i.o
p
Fti.o = Qi.o min(2 B sin(x ), z max ) [25]
r Resultant of the viscous friction forces

The result of the viscous friction forces, Fs, at the roller/raceway
contacts are determined by summing the contribution of each slice:
good agreement with the analysis of Oh (26) who found the same
Fsi.o = fsi.o [19]
It is assumed that the abscissa of the resultant friction force, ex-
pressed in the coordinate frame (x,y,z) linked to the roller, coincide
with the center of pressure, i.e.:
For a given set of operating condition, Eq. [25] shows that the
thrust frictional force is proportional to the skew angle. This is in
trend for a needle bearing.
Roller EndFlange Contacts
It is possible to achieve a better control of the roller and to
 minimize the roller skew by optimizing the geometry of the contact
qi.o L z
zi.o = [20] between the roller spherical end and the flange. Lubrication of
Qi.o
the roller-flange contact is also a critical point which may not only
r Skewing moments influence the skew movement but also affect the bearing life.
The skewing moments, Msi and Mso , result from the asymmetric r Friction force
distribution of friction force at the roller/raceway contact.

The following assumptions are made:
Msi.o = (z zi.o ) fsi.o sign(x ) [21]
1. The lubricant viscosity is expressed by a Barus law:
r Restoring moments
= o exp(p p) [26]
The roller skew is resisted by the restoring moments provided by
the shifted normal load at each slice of the roller-raceway con-
tact, see Fig. 4. For example, when the roller is skewed, the normal 2. The lubricant film thickness is computed by the Hamrock and
forces at the roller-outer raceway contact increase and the tangen- Dowson formula (27), which is written as:
tial components of these forces tend to restore the roller to the

hof = 3.61U0.68 G0.53 W0.063 [1 0.61 exp 0.751k0.64
f ]Rf
initial position. A point of equilibrium will be reached when the
[27]
skewing moment equals the reaction or restoring moment due to
3. The relation between the shear rate and the shear stress is
the curvatures of the contacting surfaces. These restoring moments
described by the Ree-Eyring model:
are given by:  

o f
Mqi.o = qi.o L (z zskew ) sin((z)) sign(x ) [22] f = sinh [28]
o
 Skew Movement in Tapered Roller Bearings 135

in which the representative stress o is assumed to be uniform Quasi-Static Equilibrium of a Single Roller
within the contact. The shear stress distribution in the Herztian r The summation of the forces along the x-axis of the roller
conjunction can be deduced: frame:
  
1 f o
f = o sinh exp(p pmax .f 1 rf )
2
[29]
o (Qi Qo ) cos + Qf sin( ) + (Qi + Qo )

with r the non-dimensional radius from the center of the ellip- z sin sign(x ) + Fc cos = 0 [35a]

tical contact, i.e. rf = ( xa )2 + ( by )2 . r Summation of forces along the z-axis of the roller frame:
The average shear stress can be obtained by integrating Eq. [29] (Qi + Qo ) sin + Qf cos( ) + (Qi Qo )
over the elliptical contact area. The average friction coefficient
f can be obtained by dividing the average shear stress f by the cos sign(x ) Fc sin = 0 [35b]
average contact pressure pf : r Summation of moments around the y-axis passing through the
    roller center of gravity:
2 o 1
f o
f = sinh1 exp(p pmax .f 1 r2f ) 2 r dr
pf 0 o (To Ti ) + Qf (Rs cos zc ) sin( )
[30]
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Subsequently the friction force at the flange-roller end contact can + (Qi ri + Qo ro ) cos sign(x ) z Mg = 0 [35c]
be written as: r Summation of the moments around the skew axis of the
Ff = Qf f [31] roller:

r Blocking Moment (Msi Mso ) cos + (Mqi + Mqo ) cos + (Fsi (zi zskew )

Fso (zo zskew )) cos + Ff (zskew wfz ) Mb = 0

The contact point at the roller-flange interface is shifted by the
quantity g, see Fig. 6, due to the roller skew. It produces a supple-
mentary moment called the moment of blocking.
Mb = Ff g sign(x )
Centrifugal and Gyroscopic Effects
At moderate and high rotating speeds the centrifugal force and
the gyroscopic moment acting on a roller are no more negligible.
[35d]
Quasi-Static Equilibrium of the Outer Ring
[32]
The analysis of the bearing equilibrium is performed through
the bearing cup, see Fig. 7, resulting in the following set of
equations:
r Summation of forces along the X-axis of the inertial frame:

The centrifugal force is expressed as: Fx = [(Qo cos Fto sin ) cos + Fso sin ]
j
Fc = Rg c2 m [33]  2
Z
= [(Qo cos Fto sin ) cos + Fso sin ] d
where Rg is the radius from the roller center of gravity to the 2 0

bearing axis and m is the mass of the roller. [36a]

The gyroscopic couple about the axis passing through the cen-
ter of gravity is:

Mc = Jz c w sin( ) [34]

where Jz is the polar moment of inertia of the roller about its

D2
own axis, Jz = m 8m , Dm being the mean roller diameter i.e. Dm =
D L sin().

Tapered Roller Bearing Balance

The rolling element bearing is assumed to be in a quasi-static
equilibrium, that is well adapted to a thrust loaded TRB. The
dynamic effects as those resulting from the interactions of the
rolling elements with the cage (Stacke, et al. (28); Ghaisas, et al.
(29)) are not considered here. Rings and housing are assumed
rigid except at the local contacts with the rollers. For the effects of
the bearing flexibility on the internal load distribution the reader
may refer to Cavallaro, et al. (30). The TRB balance is reached
by solving a set of non-linear equilibrium equations for the rollers
and the outer ring. Fig. 6Roller skew angle.
 136 D. NELIAS ET AL.

TABLE 1SPECIFICATIONS OF TAPERED ROLLER BEARING LM48548/ TABLE 2LUBRICANT PARAMETERS (SHELL TURBO 33)
LM48510
Viscosity at atmospheric pressure o = 0.084 Pas
Roller large end diameter Dw = 7.506 mm
Eyring stress o = 4.36106 Pa
Roller axial length Lw = 12.61mm Pressure-viscosity coefficient p = 1.97108 Pa1
Radius of roller end sphere Rs = 104 mm Viscosity = o (p 4.76 102
Crown radius of roller R = 2680 mm (T 30 C))Pa.s
Cup raceway half angle = 14.083 deg Thermal conductivity kt = 0.12 W/m.K
Cone raceway half angle = 10.583 deg Temperature-viscosity coefficient f = 0.047 K1
Flange opening angle = 11.033 deg
Number of rollers Z = 19
Youngs modulus E = 2.11011 Pa r Summation of the moments around the Y-axis of the inertial
Poisson ratio = 0.30
frame:
 2  La 
Z
My = qo (rox sin + roz cos cos ) dx d
r Summation of forces along the Y-axis of the inertial frame:
2 0 0
 2

Z
Fy = [(Qo cos Fto sin ) sin Fso cos ] + Fty(rox sin roz sin sin )d
Downloaded by [Aston University] at 07:48 06 September 2014

2 0
j
 2
 Z
Z 2 + (Fso roz Mo ) sin d [36e]
= [(Qo cos Fto sin ) sin Fso cos ]d 2 0
2 0
where Mo is the resulting moment on the outer raceway which
[36b] includes the skewing moment Mso and the restoring moment Mqo .
r Summation of forces along the Z-axis of the inertial frame:
The set of non-linear equations [35-36] is solved numerically by
the Newton-Raphson iterative scheme.

Fz = (Qo sin + Fto cos )

Numerical Analysis
j
 2
The numerical analysis was performed for the 30 mm bore
Z
= (Qo sin + Fto cos )d [36c] tapered roller bearing with geometrical details and material prop-
2 0
erties given in Table 1. The rheological properties of the lubricant
r Summation of moments around the X-axis of the inertial frame: are listed in Table 2. The roller profile is described by Eq. [37].

 2  La  Rw (z 0.5 La)2
Mx =
Z
qo (roy sin roz cos sin )dx d w = z tan() [37]
2 0 sin( ) 2R
0
 2 The operating conditions in terms of load, speed, and temperature
Z
+ Fty(roy sin + roz cos sin )d are similar to those specified by Yang, Danyluk and Hoeprich
2 0
 2 (20, 21) in their experimental investigations. They used a bearing
Z type LM501300 and two different greases as lubricant: SHC15 and
+ (Fso roz Mo ) cos d [36d]
2 0

Fig. 7Outer ring loading.

 Skew Movement in Tapered Roller Bearings 137

Fig. 8Skew angle vs. shaft speed for different axial loads.

Fig. 10Skew angle vs. roller position for different radial loads.

SHC460. Since the details of the bearing internal geometry were

not given in Yang, Danyluk and Hoeprich (20, 21) a different
Figure 11 shows the distribution of the normal load at the roller-
bearing type with a well known geometry was chosen in the present
flange contact.
Downloaded by [Aston University] at 07:48 06 September 2014

numerical analysis.
The roller-rib lubrication regime corresponding to results given
Figure 7 shows the effect of the shaft speed upon the roller skew
in Figs. 8-11 was found to be elastohydrodynamic. It should be re-
angle for three thrust loads: 10, 15, and 20 kN, with a lubricant at
called that the roller end/flange contact is assumed here to be in
room temperature (22 C). An increase of the skew angle both with
fully flooded EHL regime, i.e. without starvation, thus the rib fric-
the shaft speed and with the load is observed. A maximum skew
tion always increases with speed and film thickness. At a lower
angle of 0.5 deg. is found. The increase of the roller skew with the
thrust load when this contact is operating in the hydrodynamic
thrust load could be attributed to the subsequent increase of the
regime a different behavior could be probably observed. At low
traction coefficient at the roller end / flange interface which oper-
rotational speed some metallic contacts between asperities may
ates under the EHL regime, hence increasing the skewing torque
also occur. In the papers by Yang, et al. (19-21) the roller/rib con-
more quickly than other internal forces and moments within the
junction was often starved and in boundary lubrication, maybe
bearing. Figure 9 shows the effect of the lubricant temperature on
also with the rib ellipse truncation and consequently higher roller
the roller skew for a thrust load of 15 kN. It is found that the skew
end friction. These issues are not addressed in the present study
angle decreases when the temperature increases; in other words
but should be of the first order of importance in the prediction
the skew angle increases with the lubricant viscosity. It should be
of the roller skew since they do significantly affect the traction
mentioned that the numerical results presented in Figs. 8 and 9 are
coefficient.
qualitatively very similar to the experimental data by Yang, et al.
The geometry of the roller end is a key parameter of the TRB
(19-21).
design. A roller end with a spherical shape is a good solution
Figure 10 shows the distribution of the skew angle among the
to control the location of the contact point with the flange, i.e.
rollers in presence of a radial load of 0, 0.5, 1, and 4 kN applied
both for controlling the skew angle and the sliding speed, and to
in the direction of roller #1. The dashed line corresponds to a
distribute the load on a given contact area. Figure 12 presents
purely axial load, resulting in a uniform skew angle of 0.3 deg.
the geometry of this contact for different sphere radius, Rs, nor-
The axial load, the lubricant temperature, and the shaft speed
malized by the distance between the bearing apex and the roller
are kept constant at 15 kN, 40 C, and 2500 rpm, respectively. An
end, Lg (see Fig. 3). Figure 12a corresponds to a small sphere ra-
increase of the skew angle in the loaded zone is observed, whereas
dius (Rs  Lg), leading to a contact area with a small ellipticity
this angle decreases in the unloaded zone. Looking at the load
distribution within the bearing it was found that the skew angle is
strongly linked to the normal load at the roller end-flange contact.

Fig. 9Skew angle vs. shaft speed for different lubricant temperatures. Fig. 11Roller end-flange contact load vs. roller position.
 138 D. NELIAS ET AL.

Fig. 12Shape of the contact area at the roller end-flange contact depending on the radius Rs of the roller spherical end.
Downloaded by [Aston University] at 07:48 06 September 2014

ratio. Such design helps the formation of a lubricant film at the The misalignment between the rings is sometimes assumed to
inlet of the point contact. The side effect is that the contact pres- be one of the root causes of skewing. Figure 14 presents the ef-
sure may become relatively high for heavily thrust loaded bear- fect of a misalignment y on the skew angle for the most loaded
ings. Figure 12c where Rs = Lg reflects an optimum solution in roller. Two shaft speeds are considered, 1,000 and 2,500 rpm
terms of the load distribution since it leads to a conformal con- in Figs. 14a and b, respectively, as well as three lubricant tem-
tact along the direction of the entrainment speed. However, this peratures. It should be noted that the maximum angle of mis-
design does not favor the formation of the lubricant film con- alignment of 0.5 deg results in a torque of 190 Nm. A very
versely to the situation of Fig. 12a. A compromise is illustrated significant increase of the maximum skew angle with the ring
by Fig. 12b, with a sphere radius Rs lower than Lg but not too misalignment is found, up to 1.75 deg at 2,500 rpm at room
small. temperature.
Figure 13 presents the effect of the local geometry at the roller
end-flange contact when changing the sphere radius, i.e. the Rs/Lg
ratio. It is found that the skew angle tends to 0 when the contact
geometry becomes linear (i.e. Rs = Lg). A sharp increase of the
skew angle when decreasing the sphere radius is also observed, up
to 1.8 degree at 2,000 rpm when Rs/Lg = 0.6. As discussed earlier
it is also well known that an increase in the Rs/Lg ratio will also
affect the lubricant film formation in the inlet zone leading to a
decrease of the film thickness. It can be concluded that, even if the
skew angle may be easily controlled by optimizing the geometry
of the roller end, a compromise between the skew control and the
film forming should be carefully chosen.

Fig. 14Effect of ring misalignment on roller skew angle a) at 1,000 rpm,

Fig. 13Effect of the Rs/Lg ratio on the roller skew angle (T = 40 C). b) at 2,500 rpm.
 Skew Movement in Tapered Roller Bearings
CONCLUSION
An analytical approach was proposed to determine the skew
angle in the tapered roller bearing. The analysis is based on a
quasi-static bearing equilibrium model. The results were first qual-
itatively compared to experimental data available in the literature
and a quite good agreement was found. The effect of operating
conditions was first investigated. It is found first that the skew an-
gle increases with the lubricant viscosity, the shaft speed, and the
axial load. The skew angle distribution among the rollers in case
of a combined axial and radial loading was correlated with the
normal load at the roller end-flange contact. Assuming a spher-
ical shape of the roller end it was also concluded that this local
geometry plays a significant role in the skew control. However, a
compromise between the skew control and the film forming should
be carefully chosen since what is optimum for skew control is not
optimum for the film thickness at the roller end-flange contact and
Downloaded by [Aston University] at 07:48 06 September 2014
vice-versa. Finally it was shown that the misalignment between the
rings also plays a very significant role for the skew movement. Such
a model or methodology could be applied to optimize the internal
geometry of a tapered roller bearing.
The first point to look at in order to improve the model is the rib
contact. An extension to the boundary lubrication and the hydro-
dynamic regime also considering starvation and possible roller end
ellipse truncation would probably permit, with the model, to cover
a wider range of operating conditions and bearing geometries.
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