A new method for determining the preload in a wire race ball bearing

This paper explores a numerical method to calculate the frictionless three-dimensional non-conforming contact problem associated with a wire race ball bearing used in a certain aircraft simulating rotary table, for challenging the conventional method on the determination of the preload magnitude. A computer program based on the Hertz elastic contact theory and a mathematical model of two critical loading conditions was performed in MATLAB® by using an example of a wire race ball bearing having an approximately 900 mm diameter. The normal contact forces, the contact deformation, the maximum contact pressure, the semi-major axes and the semi-minor axes of contact ellipses of the ball-wire race were computed. The analytic results show that the overturning moment, the pitting corrosion and the shear failure due to combined stresses can be avoided by controlling preload values in the range 11.3–169.9 μm. The experimental results are closely in agreement with the theoretical results, and verify the availability of the numerical method. The research provides theoretical support for the development and further application of wire race ball bearings with large diameters.