On the Vibrations Caused by Ball Diameter Differences in a Ball Bearing

In this paper, we deal with the vibrational phenomena of a ball bearing of which the diameters of two adjoining balls are larger than those of the other seven balls. As a result, we make clear that the axial stiffness of test bearing varies chiefly with twice the angular velocity of a retainer. In addition, if the outer race being slightly inclined toward a shaft is fitted on a pedestal, a magnitude of the variation of the stiffness becomes the same as that of a normally mounted test bearing subject to a small thrust load. Furthermore, it is clarified that the resonant phenomena appear at certain rotational speeds at which i times, i=1, 2, 3…, of the angular velocity of retainer is close to a natural angular frequency of the system of a bearing having the diameter differences of balls.