1.The life of a rolling bearing is measured in revolutions (or hours of operation at a given speed),

Definition: Bearing up to this life shall have initial fatigue damage (spalling or defect) on any of its bearing rings or rolling bodies. However, whether in laboratory tests or in actual use, it can be obviously seen that the actual life of bearings with the same appearance under the same working conditions is very different. In addition, there are several different definitions of bearing “life”, one of which is the so-called “working life”, which means that the actual life of a bearing can be achieved before damage is caused by wear, damage is usually not caused by fatigue, but by wear, corrosion, seal damage and other reasons.

2.Why do bearings wear and damage

Most bearings are broken for many reasons – exceeding the original estimated load, ineffective sealing, too tight fit caused by too small bearing clearance, etc. Each of these factors has its own special damage pattern and will leave special damage traces. Therefore, by examining the bearing of the damaged shaft, the possible cause can be found in most cases. In general, one-third of the bearing damage is due to fatigue damage, another third due to poor lubrication, and the other third due to contaminants entering the bearing or improper installation and treatment.

However, these patterns of damage are also industry-specific. In the pulp and paper industry, for example, more than half of bearings are damaged by poor lubrication or pollution than by material fatigue.