Calculation Method and Experimental Study on Circumferential Total Clearance of Cageless Bearings

This paper addresses the issue of the frequent collision and grinding of rolling elements in cageless bearings during operation by proposing a method to calculate the total circumferential clearance. The calculation is based on the maximum orbital speed difference in the bearing rolling elements to determine the minimum clearance needed to prevent collision. The study analyzes the impact of the rolling element diameter, bearing pitch diameter, contact angle, and number of rolling elements on the total circumferential clearance. The discussion then focuses on optimizing the number of rolling elements in cageless bearings. The optimization results demonstrate that the proposed calculation reduces collisions between rolling elements and bearing stress. Additionally, a total circumferential clearance test was conducted on a logarithmic spiral bearing, showing significant improvements in wear, average temperature, and temperature rise when designed according to the method presented in this article. These findings offer valuable insights into the design of cageless bearings.