Chapters
This is a static copy of the chapter for search engines. The interactive version has animated figures, check questions, and buttons that load the example into the calculator.
Open the interactive version →-
01
A bearing does not break — it wears out statistically
Almost every other component in this collection has a strength you check against: a stress, a limit, a safety factor.…
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02
From revolutions to hours
L₁₀ comes out in millions of revolutions, which is the honest unit — a bearing does not know what time is.…
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03
The equivalent load: turning two forces into one
The life equation takes a single number P, but a real bearing sees a radial force and an axial force at once.…
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04
The static check, which is a different failure
Fatigue life assumes the bearing turns. A bearing that is stationary, or barely moving, under a large load fails another way entirely: the balls press…
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05
Choosing a bearing type
The type is decided by the load direction and by how much misalignment the housing will give it — usually before any number is computed.…
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06
Sizing one, in the order that works
Get the loads. From the gear, the belt, the payload and the arm's own weight.…
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07
How the calculator works, and what it does not do
Where the numbers come from Everything here is ISO 281 as reproduced in NTN's published lifetime-calculation note: the basic rating life and its expon…