Load distribution and stiffness calculation of integral shaft bearings considering mandrel deformation

Due to the high load-bearing and long-life performance requirements of the integral shaft bearings, a three-row rolling element hybrid structure was proposed to improve the overall carrying capacity by line contact at the both sides of bearing. In order to evaluate the bearing performance of the new bearing, a mechanical analysis model considering the influence of the shaft deflection of the bearing was established based on the rolling bearing design method and the flexible beam theory. Then, the influences of external force, external force position and clearance on the loading distribution and stiffness of bearing were studied in detail. The load analysis shows that with the radial force increase, the additional torque generated by the shaft and the maximum contact load of each rolling row increase; with the force acting distance decrease, the additional torque generated by the shaft and the bearing load of each rolling row significantly reduce; when the radial clearance of the roller row increases, the maximum contact load of each rolling row increases, the bearing area decreases, and the load distribution uniformity decreases. The stiffness analysis shows that with the radial force increase, the main stiffness of each rolling row increases significantly; however, the decrease of the load acting distance and the increase of the radial clearance of the roller row will cause the main stiffness to decline to a certain extent.