A new approach for analyzing internal load and fatigue life of deep groove ball bearing in high-speed gearbox system

The study of the bearing fatigue life in high-speed gearboxes is an integral part of high-speed gear transmission research. There is still a lack of research on the analysis and calculating the bearing internal dynamic load and fatigue life considering gear engagement and centrifugal force simultaneously. Therefore, the paper proposes a new approach to acquire the internal load and fatigue life of the deep groove ball bearing in a high-speed gearbox system. Firstly, the modeling method of the gear mesh, flexible shaft, high-speed deep groove ball bearing, and housing is established, constructing the gearbox system dynamic model, which has the ability to calculate the bearing internal load. Then, the calculation method for analyzing the fatigue life of bearings is given based on the linear damage theory. The results show that the gear engagement and centrifugal force have meaningful effects on bearing internal loads and fatigue life, especially at high speeds. Both of them should be considered when evaluating the bearing life. The calculation method and model proposed in this paper provide a new technical approach for service performance evaluation and reliability design of high-speed deep groove ball bearing.