The development of pivot bearing with multiple degrees of freedom 3rd report: Examination for specification to improve bearing stiffness by finite element method analysis and its inspection by experiment

This paper deals with the examination of specifications to improve the performance of a pivot bearing with two degrees of freedom by finite element method (FEM). As the target of estimation for performance of the bearing, we evaluated the contact pressure and the stiffness. As the results of FEM considering the number of grooves and the contact angle of the planetary ball, a large effect was obtained in the case that the number of rows of planetary balls was 2. The effect was confirmed by measuring axial displacement. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier Inc.