Adjustment


Adjustment
Adjustment
The purpose of this summary is to give an overview. More information can be found in the SKF
General Catalogue, Service Manuals or obtained from SKF’s application engineering services.
Contents
• Basics
• Preparing the mounting
• Choosing the appropriate adjustment value – clearance or preload
• Measuring and assembly methods
• Effects during the initial operating phase after adjustment
• Thermal effects
• Control methods to verify a correct adjustment
Basics
Taper roller bearings are always mounted
and adjusted relative to another bearing
location in order to function and to accom-
modate combined external axial and radial
loads († fig 1).
Adjustment creates equilibrium of loads in
the bearing arrangement. It can be achieved
only under well-defined adjustment condi-
tions and properly selected forces. An opti-
mal distribution of internal loads over each
roller is the goal. This condition keeps down
detrimental roller contact stress peaks and
makes taper roller bearings operate at pure
rolling conditions in the raceway. This results
in low friction and temperature. The optimum
adjustment positively affects both the func-
tion and the service life of the bearing. Oper­-
a­ting temperatures and loads influence the
adjustment, which must be considered dur-
ing the adjustment.
Axial preload is produced by displacing
one bearing ring axially in relation to the
other by an amount corresponding to the
desired preload force. The preload path
method is frequently used when the compo-
nents of a bearing arrangement are pre-
assembled. For example, this is achieved in a
pinion bearing arrangement by fitting a
spacer between a shaft shoulder and one of
the bearing inner rings or between the inner
rings of the bearings († fig 2).
Preparing the mounting
• It is recommended to inspect the surfaces
of the bearing seats when replacing the
bearing. If the seats are worn and are out-
side (OEM) specifications, replacing the
shaft or housing is necessary. Reworking
can be a risk.
• Consult any mounting and adjustment
specifications issued by the OEM.
• Always check the designation (marking)
on both cup and cone. Should they differ,
both designations must be used for order-
ing.
• For paired single bearing sets operating
either in a face-to-face or back-to-back
arrangement, make sure that the respec-
tive bearings and spacers are kept to­­-
get­her in the original sequence/position.
• Replacement of paired single bearings
requires an exact specification of the
adjustment value when ordering, as this
information cannot be read from the
de­signation of the disassembled bearings.
• At disassembly make sure that the bearing
seats are not damaged. If you intend to
reuse the bearing, do not damage the
bearing cages or raceways.
• During assembly make sure that the bear-
ing ring and roller raceways are not dam-
aged nor canted. Never apply a force to
the cage.
• When all bearings have been mounted on
an assembly, a run-in of the bearings is
needed to settle the rollers in their home
position.
• Revolve the bearing assembly 10–20 times
under a light load. Only then can the
ad­justment process with abutment height
measuring start.
Choosing the appropriate
adjustment value
– clearance or preload
Preload is a means to achieve a stiff bearing
arrangement. This is important for the
accommodation of tilting moments and
enhances the accuracy of the shaft guidance
and axial position. Preload improves the
running accuracy with a positive impact on
noise, vibrations and speed capability. Typical
applications taking advantage of high bear-
ing stiffness are pinions and hydraulic pumps
and motors. Increasing the preload will gen-
erate higher operating temperatures in the
bearing but has a beneficial effect on the
gear mesh: reducing friction, noise and tem-
perature in the gears. The majority of the
friction and noise is generated by the gear
mesh and therefore the target is to achieve
a lower total temperature balance of both
bearings and gears.
Preload on bearings has limits:
• Excessive preload does not add stiffness.
• A bearing must be specifically designed to
accommodate medium to heavy preload.
SKF taper roller bearings offer a superior
preload capability. For heavy preload, SKF
supplies special high performance bear-
ings with the manufacturer specific desig-
nation suffix CL7C.
• Bearings of many manufacturers are not
well suited for preload and risk generating
excessive temperatures at preload as their
roller/flange contact is not optimized.

Adjustment

Fig. 1

Equilibrium for the complete bearing arrangement

23 23

2" 2"

QR = External radial load

QA = Internal induced axial load

Bearing arrangement

Fig. 2

Adjustment using preload path

Spacer ring between the shaft shoulder

and one of the bearing inner rings

Ka
da1

Preload


Adjustment
Clearance
Many applications operate successfully under
clearance. Clearance is easy to adjust, but
optimum operation and service life will not
be reached as the internal load distribution
is irregular with load and friction concentra-
tions. Excessive clearance implies a clear
risk, as the shaft will be badly guided with a
negative impact on the gears. The service life
of the bearing drops as well due to partially
unloaded rollers in the bearings. Light
preload during operation is a safe balance of
temperature, service life and noise. For light
preload the performance variant TQ-line is
suitable.
Measuring and assembly methods
The “Push-Pull” method is the common
adjustment method during replacement. It is
an individual adjustment method where the
elastic deflection of the system is measured
as axial movement, when applying a meas-
ur­ing force in opposite directions.
Axial deflection is measured for preload and
axial displacement is measured for clearance.
Nominal preload (or clearance) values are
determined for the defined loading situation,
taking into account the operating conditions
as well as thermal expansion effects. The
actual dimen­sions of both bearings and the
adjacent components are reflected in the
axial movement. This is the advantage of the
“Push-Pull” method. The bearing arrange-
ment is set by the application of nuts, shims,
sleeves or spacers.
For the specialists
The measuring force has to be higher than
the desired preload and is selected to com-
pletely unload one of the bearings during the
measuring process. The adjusted preload is
identified by evaluation of the system’s stiff-
ness characteristics. To determine preload
forces, indirect measurement methods have
to be applied by using the elastic deflection
characteristics of the bearing system. The
relationship of the axial bearing force and the
corresponding axial bearing deflection can
be determined in adequate system tests and
used as basic information for the adjustment
specifications. The deflection characteristics
represent the elastic system properties of
the bearing arrangement with adjacent com-
ponents (shaft, housing, spacer, adjustment
nut and locking device).
Effects during the initial operating Control methods to verify
phase after adjustment a correct adjustment
• The adjacent parts to the bearing and Observing the temperature and vibration/
components of the assembly will settle in noise in the start-up operation after having
the initial operating phase after assembly. mounted the bearings gives good indication
The amount of settling depends on the of the correct adjustment:
quality of surfaces and geometry/dimen-
sions. • Temperature peaks during the first hours
• The contact surfaces of the bearing will of operation are normal, but must not be
smoothen. The extent varies between the excessive (risk of bearing failure).
different bearing manufacturers and • The operating temperature must reach a
depends on their processes. For low per- steady state at an acceptable level, prefer-
formance taper roller bearings, extensive ably below the initial peak value.
wear will occur. • Loud noise and vibrations are indicators of
• Wear causes short-term excessive heat, excessive clearance.
but even if the bearing has survived, there • After dismantling the gearbox, the gear
remains an uncontrolled loss of preload. mesh contact patterns can be checked.
As the adjustment is out of control, there This can give indications as to the impact
is a high risk of excessive clearance during of the bearing adjustment.
operation and its negative consequences
on the service life of the bearing. More information about adjustment can be
found at www.skf.com or at www.skf.com/trb.
The settling effects lead to a loss of the ini-
tially set preload. This cannot be avoided.
Keeping this loss within limits, thus making it
predictable, is the goal of SKF. The adjust-
ment is based on an indirect measuring
method. Therefore tolerance spread impacts
on the actually installed adjustment value.
The bigger the spread, the lower the chances
of reaching the goal († fig 3).
If the targeted adjustment is not met, the
re­sulting performance and service life differ-
ences are significant. SKF taper roller bear-
ings show a significant benefit compared to
others in their small spread in dimensions
and assembly behaviour. This results in
improved reliability of the system arrange-
ment. In this respect there are distinct differ-
ences between different bearing brands.
Thermal effects
An increase in the operating temperature
leads to thermal expansion, depending on
the material of the housing and shaft. They
can superimpose on each other or compen-
sate for each other. Depending on the kind
of bearing arrangement and materials this
needs to be considered when setting the tar-
get for the adjustment value. During the
start-up period a temporary excessive clear-
ance or preload may occur until a tempera-
ture balance is established. This may restrict
the optimum adjustment for normal oper­
ation.

Adjustment

Fig. 3
The achievable adjustment value under operation depends on the preload capability and the adjustment spread

Service life index

SKF CL7C design
  Low performance normally
goes hand in hand with
SKF TQ-Line   bigger adjustment spread.

  Premium brand
(normal performance)
 

Few manufacturers Non optimized

 
supply taper roller
bearings with a high
preload capability.  

high medium  medium high

Running-
Preload Clearance in
In operation
Spread

Preload and adjustment


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the SKF Group.

© SKF 2005
The contents of this publication
are the copyright of the publisher
and may not be reproduced (even
extracts) unless permission is gran­
ted. Every care has been taken to
ensure the accuracy of the in­for­
ma­tion contained in this pub­li­ca­
tion but no liability can be accep­
ted for any loss or damage whether
direct, indirect or con­se­quential
arising out of the use of the in­for­
mation contained herein.

0003 EN · 5 dec 2005 · JA

Printed in Sweden.

www.skf.com