Jianyu Liu, Xinbin Li, Yajun Xu, Yu Zhang, Yuchen An, Jing Liu
The current research on the contact characteristics of hollow bearings has primarily focused on the structural design of the hollow roller bearings. Compared with hollow roller bearings, deep groove ball bearings (DGBBs) with hollow outer rings exhibit significant mechanical performance advantages. However, previous studies have not addressed the contact behaviors of the bearings with hollow outer rings. To address this gap, this study introduces a finite element method to investigate the contact characteristics of the DGBB with hollow outer ring. Numerical results demonstrate that such hollow configurations can effectively reduce the contact stress between the balls and both rings, which can improve the contact fatigue life. Furthermore, a correlation between the contact characteristics (stress and deformation) and the structural parameters was established，and the effects of hollow position and size on the contact performance were systematically investigated. It was found that appropriate selection of the hollow channel positions and sizes can significantly reduce both surface and subsurface stresses, which can lead to an improved fatigue life of the bearing. Based on these findings, an optimization method for the structural parameters of DGBBs with hollow outer rings is proposed. This approach provides a useful framework for analyzing the contact behavior of the bearing with hollow outer ring and offers guidance for structural design and performance optimization.