Bearing design calculation software

Jon Lawson

Precision bearing manufacturer Schaeffler has released a revised and updated version of its popular bearing design calculation software, BEARINX.

BEARINX version 10 now includes an expanded range of calculation tools for rolling bearings, including the option of taking gearing into detailed consideration. OptiKit, a universal component for the optimisation of any desired parameters, is also included. Input dialogs have also been reorganised for ease of use, and extensive developments have been made in terms of bearing selection. The recently launched TORB range of toroidal roller bearings has also been integrated. These bearings combine the angular adjustment capabilities of a spherical roller bearing with the axial displacement of a cylindrical or needle roller bearing.

The bearing selection function now also includes the option of freely combining different rows of rolling elements in a single bearing. This will be of interest to those designing, for example, asymmetrical double-row bearings, which must support high but different axial loads in both directions.

BEARINX is a high performance bearing design calculation tool, which Schaeffler also provides to its engineers worldwide for designing and configuring bearings for complex machines and systems. Since many customers wish to design their own applications, customer versions of BEARINX are also available. These comprise individual calculation modules taken from the full version of the software, which are made available to customers to allow them to have in-depth involvement in the early stages of the product development process.

The BEARINX range includes the BEARINX-online Easy modules, the BEARINX-online calculations for Schaeffler customers, sales partners and universities, and BEARINX-VIP as a local version for development partners.

The BEARINX customer versions utilise a bearing database in which all of the catalogue bearings from Schaeffler are stored. The bearings’ internal component data are stored invisibly and taken into consideration during the rating life calculation. Calculation results are therefore significantly better than those of a bearing approximation, since the profile data of both the raceways and the rolling elements are taken into consideration.