Finite Element Analysis of the Contact Problem for a Wire Race Ball Bearing Used in a Rotating Platform

The wire race ball bearings are special type of four-point contact ball bearings, which are mainly used in the cases with special requirements of lower mass and limited space. In this paper, the nonlinear characteristics of contact problem between wires and balls for the wire race ball bearings used in a rotating platform was analyzed. Through using ANSYS software, a finite element model (FEM) of the contact problem was established and simulated. As a comparison, the main parameters of the contact area was synchronously calculated by using the Hertz contact theory for a validation. The results obtained by simulation and theoretical analysis both show that the designed wire race ball bearing is feasible, whose permances are satisfied with the design needs.