As the need for super high speed components (pumps, motors, etc) continue to grow rapidly, so does the need to make measurements at speeds higher than ever before. Bearings are a major component in any rotating system. With continually increasing speeds, bearing failure modes take new unconventional forms that often are not understood. Such measurements are impossible if bearings fail to perform.
This paper will address the dynamic modes a bearing passes through and the potential failure modes associated with each. A review of the state of the art of current failure modes will be given, and then a hypothesis on some new failure modes associated with particular speeds will be discussion. The paper will also describe an apparatus that was designed especially to study these phenomena. Range of speed studied is 0- 60,000 rpm.
Preliminary measurements indicated that this range breaks into three different zones: low (0-15,000 rpm), moderate (15,000-25,000 rpm) and high (25,000- 60,000 rpm). Each zone has its own unique possible failure characteristics. More emphasis will be given to the middle zone where natural frequencies of bearing outer race play a major role.
