The contact characteristics of angular contact ball bearings are closely related to the thermal failure of high-speed spindle systems. This paper establishes a closed-loop iterative model for analyzing the ball–race contact characteristics of machine tool spindle bearings at different combined loads and oil supply temperatures, based on a five-degree-of-freedom quasi-static analysis model and the finite difference method. Additionally, the accuracy of the proposed model is verified by comparing the measured values of temperature rise with the predicted values. Based on the verification of the accuracy of the model, the contact characteristics of machine tool spindle bearings under strong asymmetric loads and high-temperature lubrication oil are discussed in detail. The results show that at elevated temperatures, the internal loads of angular contact ball bearings operating under combined loads become concentrated, which will lead to reduced fatigue life of the bearings and even thermal seizure.

This paper explores the cage whirl state under different operating conditions based on the cylindrical roller bearing dynamics model. The stability and whirl characteristics of the cage whirl are evaluated by considering the rotation and force of the cage and roller. The results demonstrate that the cage whirl state is divided into three types according to the cage whirl orbit: disordered whirl, local periodic whirl and regular circular whirl. With disordered whirl, the whirl speed and whirl radius of the cage are unpredictable, and the force of the cage changes frequently. With local periodic whirl, the rotation speed, whirl speed and the force on the cage change periodically or stay constant. In the case of a regular circular whirl, the force on the cage should be considered to evaluate the stability of the cage whirl. In addition, the collision force between the roller and cage determines whether the cage whirl speed is stable or not, and the bearing slipping has no obvious effect on cage whirl stability.

With the continuous advancement in bearing speed, bearing assembly clearance (pocket, radial, and guide clearances) has a particularly significant impact on dynamic characteristics of bearing. In order to improve its performance, it is necessary to generate an optimized design for assembly clearance based on dynamic analysis. In this paper, a dynamic model of cylindrical roller bearing has been put forth based on the variable step fourth-order Runge–Kutta method, while the simulation results have been verified by a high-speed bearing cage motion testing machine. Considering pocket, radial, and guide clearances as independent variables and maximum impact force, whirl deviation ratio, and minimum power loss as the objectives, a multiobjective optimized model of cylindrical roller bearing has been developed using central composite experimental design (CCD) and response surface method. After optimization, the maximum impact force was reduced by 9.26%, the whirl deviation ratio was reduced by 2.87%, and power loss was reduced by 1.45%.

This paper investigates a method to dynamically model compound faults on the inner and outer rings of an angular contact ball bearing as well as their effects on its dynamic behavior. Gupta’s dynamic modeling method is used to consider changes in the deformation and direction of the contact load when the ball passes through the damaged area and to develop a dynamic model of compound faults in the angular contact ball bearing. The step‐changing fourth‐order Runge–Kutta method is used to solve the dynamic compound fault model. The time‐domain signal of vibration responses in the case of a single fault in the inner and outer rings exhibited a certain periodicity, and the frequency of faults in the envelope spectrum was clear. By comparison, the periodicity of compound faults was not clear. The signals of compound faults were decomposed by the dual‐tree complex wavelet transform to identify their characteristic frequency. Errors occurred between the characteristic frequency of the theoretical fault and its simulated value. They increased with the rotational speed and decreased with an increase in axial load, whereas the influence of radial load on them was minor. For compound faults on the inner and outer rings of an angular contact ball bearing, this study provides a modeling method that can describe changes in the deformation and direction of the contact load when the ball passes through the damaged area of the inner and outer rings. The work here can provide an important foundation for fault identification in angular contact ball bearings.