Simulation and Analysis of Contact Characteristics in Large Thrust Self-Aligning Roller Bearings
CAI Haichao
LI Kangning
XUE Yujun
YE Jun
HU Xiangyi
Abstract：This study investigated the contact characteristics of the main bearing in a drive unit of a 12 m-class super-large vertical shaft drilling rig under harsh operating conditions.A finite element model of a 1.9 m-class thrust self-aligning roller bearing was developed,and transient dynamic analysis was performed on the ANSYS Workbench platform.The effects of axial load,rotational speed,curvature radius ratio,and contact angle on the bearing contact characteristics,as well as the influence of shock loads on the rollers and inner ring,were systematically examined.The results show that rotational speed has little influence on the contact characteristics of the bearing,whereas the axial load is approximately linearly correlated with the maximum equivalent stress on the rollers,inner ring,and outer ring.The contact stress along the roller generatrix exhibits a significant edge effect,with a maximum contact stress of 2 179.2 MPa.When the curvature radius ratio is 1.04 and the contact angle is 48°,the uniformity of the contact stress distribution improves significantly,and the maximum contact stress decreases to 1 720 MPa.When the shock load pulse width is reduced from 40 ms to 20 ms,the velocity and acceleration responses of the rollers increase by 3～4 times,while the axial displacement is primarily positively correlated with the pulse amplitude.
Keywords：thrust self-aligning roller bearingcontact characteristicsvertical shaft drilling rigsimulation analysis
Publication Date：2026-02-25
Online Publishing Date：2026-03-19(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：12( 1-12 )