Application of Flores model considering variable recovery coefficient in dynamics analysis of ball bearings

Purpose This paper aims to select an appropriate contact force model and apply it to the interaction model between the balls and the cage in the rolling bearings to describe the elastic–plastic collision phenomena between the two. Design/methodology/approach Taking the ball–disk collision mode as an example, several main contact force models were compared and analyzed through simulation and experiment. In addition, based on the consideration of yield strength of materials and initial collision velocity, a variable recovery coefficient model was proposed, and its validity and accuracy were verified by the ball–disk collision experiments. Then, respectively, the Flores model and the Hertz model were applied to the interaction between the balls and the cage, and the dynamics simulation results were compared. Findings The results indicate that the Flores model has good regression of recovery coefficient, indicating good applicability for both elastic and elastic–plastic contacts and can be applied to the contact collision situations of various materials. Under certain working conditions, there are significant differences in the dynamics results of rolling bearings simulated using the Flores model and Hertz model, respectively. Originality/value This paper applies the Flores model with variable recovery coefficients to the dynamics simulation analysis of ball bearings to solve the elastic–plastic collision problem between the rolling elements and the cage that cannot be reasonably handled by the Hertz model. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-04-2024-0138/