Analysis of the Mechanical Properties of Slewing Bearings Using Finite Element Method

Slewing bearings are the basic structural components widely used in construction machinery industry. Their stress status and distribution have great influence on the service life. A finite element approach for a single-row slewing bearing is established based on the bilinear isotropic model. The stress status at different loading conditions is simulated with the bearing geometric and material parameters. The result shows that the numerical simulation is reasonable in comparison with the analytical result obtained by Hertz’s theory and provides reliable design guideline for slewing bearings.