Analysis of the Behavior and Resonant Noise of Needle Roller Bearings Used for Idler Gears in Transmission Applications

There has not been any established theory regarding the behavior of needle roller bearings used for idler gears in transmission or transfer case applications. This type of bearing tends to produce loud noises because they generate self-exciting vibration when certain operating conditions (such as temperature, relative number of revolutions of the gear and shaft, etc.) are overlapped and when the resonant vibration of the gear-shaft series coincides with that of the housing series. The theory introduced here shows the analysis of the behavior of an idler needle roller bearing itself while an experimental verification of the mechanism to oroduce noises is also attempted.