The main objective of this paper is to determine the effect of outer race defect of deep groove ball bearings for (SKF 6004) through experimental and numerical methods. Three-dimensional finite element model of the housing and outer race is simulated using commercial package ABAQUS/CAE. Angular position of the local defect on the outer race which changes from 0 to 315 with angular intervals 45 is investigated through the dynamic finite element model. Experimental results are obtained using bearing test rig to validate the simulated results. A good agreement is found between the results obtained by the finite element model and the experimental results.

Multiple defects are introduced on the outer race of vehicle gearboxes. The effect of the number of outer race defects in deep groove ball bearings are investigated using experimental and numerical methods. A three-dimensional model of the housing and outer race is developed using ABAQUS. Firstly, single defect located at 0˚and two defects located at 0˚ and 67.5˚ are analyzed. Then the number of defects was increased to three and the locations of the local defects are 0˚, 67.5˚ and 225˚. Finally the model with four defects located on the outer race at the angular positions 0˚, 67.5˚, 225˚ and 270˚, was investigated. The simulated data were also used to validate the experimental results.