T1, T2, T3 Cage Testing and Analysis
2020-11-14

Characteristics of three types of cages as shown in Table 1. below.
Cage Designation | T1 | T2 | T3 |
---|---|---|---|
Guidance | Outer ring guided | Rolling element guided | Mixed guided / Outer ring guided |
Material | Phenolic | Nylon | PEEK |
Noise at low RPM | ○ | ○○○ | ○○○ |
Restriction to rolling element (lower restriction the better) |
○○○ | ○ | ○○ |
Max. DmN | > 1,600,000 | ≈ 900,000 | ≈ 1,600,000 |
○○○:Great ○○:Acceptable ○:Weak |
Table 1.
Base on the characteristics, TPI has done cage deformation analysis under 15000 rpm as shown in Figure 1, 2, 3.
Figure 1. T1 Cage
Figure 2. T2 Cage
Figure 3. T3 Cage
Conclusion of cage deformation analysis as below,
- Outer ring guidance takes advantage in high speed rotation.
- As the rotating speed increased, T3 cage has become outer ring guided from mixed guided.

Figure 4.
Conclusion of cage investigation after bearing run-in test as below,
- Sample with T1 and T3 cage performed as well under DmN value 1.6M.
- Scratch between rolling element and ball pocket was found in sample with T2 cage.
- Scratch between outer ring and cage was found in sample with T3 cage.