
Bearing Fatigue (L10 Life) Info Sheet
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Fatigue life or L10 Life is the number of revolutions that 90% of a sample batch of identical bearings would be able to achieve before failure. It should be noted that fatigue life is only an estimate. It should also be noted that since only 90% of the sample batch is expected to survive to the fatigue life, this must mean that 10% would be expected to fail before they reach the fatigue life.
All bearings will fail at some stage. In critical applications, it’s best to err on the side of
caution when designing bearings into the application. We also recommend testing prior to a final design.
Theoretical fatigue life of ball bearings can be expressed as (C/P) 3 where C is the basic
dynamic load rating for the bearing from the catalogue, and P is the actual applied radial load or radial equivalent load (see below).
The radial equivalent load is used in situations where the inner ring is stationery and the
outer ring is rotating, or where there is a thrust load involved...
This excerpt is from the Bearing fatigue Information Sheet.