How does the vibration of the bearing occur?

In general, the rolling bearings in SKF bearings do not generate noise themselves. The “bearing noise” that is usually felt is actually the sound effect of the vibration of the SKF bearing directly or indirectly to the surrounding structure.

This is why many times the noise problem can be seen as a vibration issue that involves the entire bearing application. The excitation due to the change in the number of loaded rolling elements. When a radial load is applied to a bearing, the number of rolling elements carrying the load will change slightly during operation, ie: 2-3-2-3... This causes a shift in the direction of the load. The resulting vibrations are unavoidable but can be relieved by axial preloading and applied to all rolling elements (not suitable for cylindrical roller bearings in SKF bearings).

When the waviness of the component is closely fitted between the bearing ring and the bearing housing or the transmission shaft, the bearing ring may deform in conformity with the shape of the adjacent component. If deformation occurs, vibration may occur during operation. Therefore, it is important to machine the bearing housing and driveshaft to the required tolerances.

Local damage Due to handling or installation errors, a small part of the bearing raceways and rolling elements may be damaged. In operation, rolling over damaged bearing components generates a specific vibration frequency. Vibration frequency analysis identifies damaged bearing components. Vibration behavior in applications In many applications, the stiffness of the bearing is the same as the stiffness of the surrounding structure. Due to this feature, it is possible to reduce the vibration in the application as long as the correct selection of the bearing (including the preload and play) and its configuration in the application.

There are three ways to reduce the vibration of SKF bearings:

1. Remove critical excitation vibrations from the application.

2. Suppress the critical excitation vibration between the excitation component and the resonance component.

3. Change the stiffness of the structure to change the critical frequency.