Connector - Bearing

A Bearing connector simulates the interaction between a shaft and a housing  through a bearing. You have to model the geometries for the shaft and the housing. You can define a bearing connector between split cylindrical faces of a shaft, and cylindrical or spherical faces of a housing.

Type

• Bearing

• Selection (Cylindrical Face ) . Select a full cylindrical face or concentric cylindrical faces of smaller angles. This selection corresponds to the shaft.

• Selection (Cylindrical or spherical face or circular edge on shell ) . Select a cylindrical face, spherical face, or circular shell edge. This selection corresponds to the housing.

• Allow self-alignment . Define self-aligning bearing connectors that allow an unrestricted off-axis shaft rotation. You can define radial and axial direction stiffnesses for a self-aligning bearing.

Stiffness

• Units.

• Rigid. The selected face cannot translate or deform. The selection is free to rotate about its axis.

• Flexible. Specify the stiffness:

• Radial . Resists lateral deformation.

• Axial . Resists axial displacement.

• Stabilize shaft rotation. Select this option to prevent rotational instability (caused by torsion) that can lead to numerical singularities.

Symbol Settings

• Edit color. Select a color for the symbols.

• Symbol Size . Set the size of the symbols.

• Show preview. Toggles the display of the connector symbols in the graphics area.

Notes

• Available for static, frequency, and buckling studies.

• Use the Split Line tool to define the cylindrical faces for the shaft. For example, use the Split Line tool to create the following highlighted face to apply a nearing connector.

• Self-Aligning Bearings. The program internally defines a resistance along the circumferential direction of the cylindrical face. Self-aligning bearing connectors allow an unrestricted off-axis shaft rotation.

• When to use a Bearing Connector. A bearing fixture assumes that the components supporting the shaft are much more rigid than the shaft and can be considered ground. When this assumption is not valid and the flexibility of the supporting parts must be included, you should use a bearing connector formulation to simulate the connection. You need to model not only the shaft but also the housing.

Related Topics

Connectors PropertyManager

Summary of Connectors