An assessment of mean time between failures for a group of rolling bearings

Rolling bearings are usually considered to be non-repaired items the reliability of which is characterized by mean time to failure, or so called basic rating life. Reliability describes these parameters well in case the bearings are used in operation up to the very time the failure occurs, or during the time corresponding with basic rating life. In case of railway applications the bearings are often used in large groups and are preventively replaced after much shorter operating time as compared with their basic rating life. In the article there is a model which enables us to describe the bearings reliability in this specific case and to specify a number of failures which might be expected from a group of bearings during operating time, or to determine mean operating time between failures of bearings.