Cage Instabilities in High-Speed Ball Bearings

The dynamic model of the cage in high-speed ball bearing was developed according to the geometry and force relationship between bearing elements. Based on this dynamic model, cage instability was researched through mass center whirl. The effect of clearance ratio, load and bearing rotation speed on cage instability were studied by taking type 7004 angular ball bearing as an example. The results shown that the increase of clearance ratio and radial load makes cage stability lowered, and the cage stability could be enhanced by increasing the axial load and bearing rotation speed.