Study on thermal induced preload of ball bearing with temperature compensation based on state observer approach

The internal contact feature and thermal induced dynamic preload is essential for ball bearing, which is one of the key issues for thermal instability and stuck problems at high rotation speed. This paper presented a thermo-mechanical coupling model for angular contact ball bearing with preload and temperature compensation, for the purpose of dynamic preload monitoring. Based on the verified thermal balance equations, thermal deformation and thermal induced preload were achieved and feedback to the original local approach of heat generation calculation. Then, the nonlinearity and uncertainty heat transfer characteristic was considered via a state observer to verify the calculation process. The state variable of bearing’s temperature rise was defined and a state observer with proportional-integral term was designed. The difference between experimental data and calculation result was feedback by the observer to control the heat transfer and preload solving process. Thus, the real-time temperature rise, thermal deformation, and dynamic preload of bearing’s internal assemblies were obtained.