Vibration response of rigid rotor in unloaded rolling element bearing

Rolling element bearings appear in nearly 90% of all rotating machinery. Their dynamic performance is often the limiting factor in the performance of the machines that use them. The specific construction of a bearing has a decisive influence on its dynamic behaviour. The paper defines a new vibration model of a rigid rotor supported by rolling element bearings. By application of the defined model, the parametric analysis of the influence of internal radial clearance value and number of rolling elements influence on rigid rotor vibrations in unloaded rolling element bearing was performed. The defined vibration model and parametric analysis were verified experimentally. The results of experimental analysis are also presented in this paper. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.