On the methodology of choosing rational shape of bearing rollers based on their fatigue durability criterion

This paper proposes a methodology for the rationalization of the shape of a bearing roller profile based on the fatigue durability criterion. Here, the durability criteria are presented as the von Mises stresses and contact pressures, which are determined by the numerical modeling of the contact interaction between the roller and the inner ring of the bearing based on the finite element method. The proposed methodology implies a uniform search of the design parameters of rollers in the region, where the generatrixes represent the fragments of a power function with a negative integer index of power. The analysis results show that the use of power functions as a profile line provides a uniform distribution of contact pressures along the roller length and minimizes the von Mises stresses. The stress-strain state under roller skew is also studied. The results show that the use of the considered profiles provides a sufficiently uniform stress distribution. Thus, the proposed rationalization method is universal for rationalizing the shape of contacting bodies under various conditions and can significantly simplify the choice of the shape of bearing unit elements.