Effects of axial preload of ball bearing on the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of a rotor-bearing system

This research studies the effects of axial preload on nonlinear dynamic characteristics of a flexible rotor supported by angular contact ball bearings. A dynamic model of ball bearings is improved for modeling a five-degree-of-freedom rotor bearing system. The predicted results are in good agreement with prior experimental data, thus validating the proposed model. With or without considering unbalanced forces, the Floquet theory is employed to investigate the bifurcation and stability of system periodic solution. With the aid of Poincarè maps and frequency response, the unstable motion of system is analyzed in detail. Results show that the effects of axial preload applied to ball bearings on system dynamic characteristics are significant. The unstable periodic solution of a balanced rotor bearing system can be avoided when the applied axial preload is sufficient. The bifurcation margins of an unbalanced rotor bearing system enhance markedly as the axial preload increases and relates to system resonance speed.