El propósito de este artículo es proporcionar suficientes fundamentos de rodamientos para que aquellos que son responsables de la aplicación, operación, mantenimiento y reparación de motores eléctricos puedan tomar las medidas necesarias para minimizar las fallas prematuras de los rodamientos y mejorar la posibilidad de que los rodamientos duren hasta el " "final de la vida útil", que normalmente se denomina vida útil del rodamiento L10.

The purpose of this article is to provide enough rolling element bearing fundamentals so those who are responsible for the application, operation, maintenance and repair of electric motors can take the necessary steps to minimize premature bearing failures and enhance the possibility of bearings lasting until the "end of life" predictions, which is normally referred to as L10 bearing life.

When machine vibration increases, one of the first questions asked is: "Is a failing bearing causing the vibration?" In the case of rolling element bearings, it is not difficult to separate vibration caused by a failing bearing from other common faults such as unbalance, misalignment, looseness, etc. But sorting out vibration from a failing rolling element bearing (here-after called "bearing vibration") from process sources such as flow induced and background vibration can be more demanding. The secret is to identify the frequency at which a flaw on a roller or raceway will impact the mating bearing component. These are commonly known as bearing fault frequencies.

Topics covered include:

• Simple to complex steps in identifying bearing vibration
• "Locate rpm" function
• Occurance of sidebands

Much of what is discussed in this article applies to all rolling bearings, both ball and roller. Our focus, though, will be on issues that relate mostly to ball bearings used in electric motors. The intent is to address some of the fundamentals of rolling bearing enclosures, internal clearances and fits. We deal with rolling bearings every day, but we don't always consider some of these fundamentals until there is a bearing-related problem.