Generally, rolling bearings have a certain clearance in the working state. However, in order to achieve a specific purpose, when configuring the bearing, the bearing obtains a certain internal load through a certain adjustment method, and is used in a negative clearance state, which is called pretightening. For rolling bearings, proper preloading has the following benefits:
1. Improve rotation accuracy. After the bearing is pre-tightened, the internal backlash is eliminated, each rolling body bears a certain preload, and supports the ring from all directions, which can improve the rotation accuracy, so that the shaft can be correctly positioned in the axial and radial direction, and improve the rotation accuracy of the shaft.
2. improve the stiffness. The contact between the rolling body and the raceway is elastic contact, and the rolling body can be regarded as a spring. A bearing with a clearance is supported only by a few springs in the direction of the force. The bearing after preloading has spring support in all directions, and there is a certain amount of preload, and the number of rolling loads is more than when there is a game, so the stiffness can be improved. In ball bearing, the relation between the contact deformation and load between ball and channel is nonlinear, and the contact stiffness increases with the increase of preload.
3. improve the life of bearings. After preloading, the number of loaded rolling elements increases, the load on each rolling element is reduced, and the load can be distributed more evenly on each rolling element, so the life of the bearing can be improved.
4. improve bearing damping and reduce noise. The preloading can establish a stable oil film between the rolling element and the raceway, improve the damping between the rolling element and the raceway, improve the dynamic characteristics of the supporting structure and reduce the noise.
5. Compensate for wear during operation. The bearing will increase the clearance due to wear during operation, which can be compensated by pre-tightening.