A Study on the Vibration Characteristics of Cage-Less Ball Bearings Following Local Damage to the Grooves

When the magnetic field of a magnetic levitation bearing is lost, the cage-less ball bearing acts as a backup bearing to support the falling spindle. To ensure uniform distribution of the rolling elements in the cage-less ball bearing, researchers have designed local functional grooves on the outer ring raceway. However, the periodic motion of the rolling elements causes damage to these grooves, leading to discrete failure of the rolling elements and resulting in vibration during bearing operation. Therefore, this paper investigates the dynamic characteristics of the rolling elements and the factors influencing bearing vibration following damage to the local functional grooves in caged ball bearings. A vibration model for bearings with damaged functional grooves is established, and the research is conducted through theoretical analysis, numerical simulation, and experimental validation.