Raceway modifications for rolling bearings

The service life of rolling bearings depends on the contact stresses that occur between the rolling elements and the raceways. The contact stresses are calculated from the contact loads, which in turn depend on the external loads acting on the bearing and the precise internal geometry of the bearing.

In roller bearings, contact conditions depend to a large extent on the distribution of contact stresses over the length of the rollers, which is usually controlled by modifications to the rolling elements. Modifications to the raceways provide another means of controlling the distribution of contact stresses.

The use of raceway modifications can be particularly useful when dealing with manufacturing deviations or assembly errors that are discovered during final inspection or assembly. In such cases, it can be quite expensive to purchase a completely new bearing with appropriately modified rolling elements. Alternatively, the raceways can be ground to achieve a better stress distribution.

In this case, an engineer can use Kisssoft to design the best possible raceway modifications under the given circumstances and simulate the effect of these modifications.

Raceway modifications can be applied to cylindrical roller bearings starting with the 2022 release. In the future, the other rolling bearing types will also be equipped with this possibility..