Abstract
Roller bearing endurance tests have been run on groups of bearings with L10 and L50 lives established by Weibull analysis. Bearing roller path surface finish, shaft speed, lubricant viscosity and lubricant temperature were varied. Relevant tapered roller and cylindrical roller bearing life data was selected from prior tests for comparison. Weibull plots show the effect of the variables on life and a graph comparing the ratio of L10 test life to the calculated life and the ratio of elastohydrodynamic lubricant film thickness to composite rolling contact surface finish is given. An empirical equation to predict the effect of varying lubricant and surface finish conditions on fatigue life is given.