AE-2009-009

Impact On Bearing Life Of Axial Piston Motors

When Operated In Series

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 Application Engineering Notes are publications intended to share circuits, products, and other useful information not otherwise
found in Danfoss publications. AE Notes are written to inform and aid the reader in the successful application of Danfoss products.

Executive Summary
This AE Note discusses the degradation of motor bearing life from motors being in series. Motors in
series have higher system pressures on both the high and low system pressure sides to achieve the
same torque. This causes extra piston force on the shaft. That extra force greatly reduces the life on the
motor bearings.

Bearing life in an axial piston motor is fundamentally dependent on shaft load and speed. The higher
the load on the bearing and the faster the shaft speed, the more damage you accumulate in the bearing.
There are other application factors to consider that will reduce the life: oil viscosity, temperature,
cleanliness, misalignment, vibration, and etc.

We will first take a look at the basic mechanics behind the bearing life calculations.

A typical L10 life equation (hours) from any bearing manufacturer would look like this:

Where:
C = Bearing dynamic load rating (lbs)
P = Bearing load (lbs)
p = 3 for a ball bearing, 10/3 for a roller bearing
n = Rotating speed (RPM)

Adjustments are made to the L10 life calculation based on the above mentioned application factors. For
the purposes of this discussion, these application factors are not considered.

From the above equation, one can see that the load on the bearings has the most influence on the
bearing life. The reduction in life due to the load is exponential. If you double your bearing load, given
the same speed, you will reduce your life by approximately 10 times on a roller type bearing and by 8
times on a ball bearing.

The other component to bearing life is shaft speed. Shaft speed has an inverse, linear, relationship on
bearing life; as can be seen in the above equation. So, if you double the speed, given the same load, you
will cut your bearing life in half.

Disclaimer: This document may contain proprietary information of Danfoss. Neither receipt nor possession thereof confers any right to reproduce, use, or
disclose, in whole or in part, without written authorization from Danfoss. Further, neither these documents nor any attachments are a warranty of any
sort by Danfoss or a guarantee of machine suitability for its intended purpose. It remains the responsibility of the machine manufacturer to ensure overall
machine functionality and overall machine safety.

AE-2009-009 Revision: B Page 2 of 8

 From a hydraulic standpoint, the loading on the shaft bearings is a result of system pressure in the
rotating kit. The radial load imposed on the shaft from the rotating kit (which is then reacted by the
shaft bearings) is a function of both the high and low pressure loop and the swashplate angle. Any
external shaft load (such as side load from a gear or misalignment) will also impose additional radial
loads on the bearings. For the purposes of this discussion, we assume that there are no external shaft
loads.

The reaction forces on the bearing are shown in the diagram below. Each bearing carries a portion of
the shaft load dependent on geometry.

The total force on the shaft (lbs) from a 9 piston rotating group is represented by the following equation:

Where:
Ap = area of one cylinder block piston (in^2)
θ = swashplate angle (deg)
Phigh = pressure on the high side of the system loop (psig)
Plow = pressure on the low side of the system loop (psig)

Having understood how the bearings are loaded in an axial piston motor, we can now examine how the
loading is dependent on the hydraulic circuit.

Disclaimer: This document may contain proprietary information of Danfoss. Neither receipt nor possession thereof confers any right to reproduce, use, or
disclose, in whole or in part, without written authorization from Danfoss. Further, neither these documents nor any attachments are a warranty of any
sort by Danfoss or a guarantee of machine suitability for its intended purpose. It remains the responsibility of the machine manufacturer to ensure overall
machine functionality and overall machine safety.

AE-2009-009 Revision: B Page 3 of 8

 The shaft bearings in a motor that is plumbed in series in a closed loop hydrostatic circuit will experience
higher loading as compared to running the motor in parallel. When you plumb the motor in series, the
pressure in the system loop of the first motor (or first few motors) in series is relatively “high” on both
sides. The last motor to receive flow in a series circuit sees system pressure in the high loop, and charge
pressure in the low loop.

If you plumb the motors in parallel, then all motors will see the same loading in the bearings. That is, all
motors see the same pressure in the high side of the loop, and all motors see the same low pressure in
the low side of the loop.

Running a motor in series and at maximum displacement is the worst case scenario for bearing life.
From the above equation, a higher swashplate angle (i.e. higher displacement) results in a higher shaft
load. With a fixed motor, you have no choice with the swashplate angle, it is always at maximum. With
a variable motor, you must be aware of the operating conditions and at what angle your motor is
operating.

Example circuits: Both of the following circuits show two motors performing the same amount of work.
The first circuit is two motors in series, the second circuit is two motors in parallel. The illustrations are
intended to show how the pressures are distributed across the motors in the two different circuits. For
the purposes of this discussion, pressure drop through the hoses is considered negligible.

Two motors in series – the first motor sees 5300 psig on the B loop and 2800 psig on the A loop. The
second motor in series sees 2800 psig on the B loop and 300 psig on the A loop.

Both motors are working at 2500 psid. However, the shaft on the first motor in series is seeing “high”
pressure from both sides of the loop, thus the bearing load will be higher in this motor than in the
second motor.

Disclaimer: This document may contain proprietary information of Danfoss. Neither receipt nor possession thereof confers any right to reproduce, use, or
disclose, in whole or in part, without written authorization from Danfoss. Further, neither these documents nor any attachments are a warranty of any
sort by Danfoss or a guarantee of machine suitability for its intended purpose. It remains the responsibility of the machine manufacturer to ensure overall
machine functionality and overall machine safety.

AE-2009-009 Revision: B Page 4 of 8

 Two motors in parallel – both motors see 2800 psig on the B loop, and only 300 psig on the A loop.

Both motors are working at 2500 psid. The shaft in both motors sees the same loading, “high” on one
side of the loop and “low” on the other. Both motors would have theoretically the same bearing life.

Disclaimer: This document may contain proprietary information of Danfoss. Neither receipt nor possession thereof confers any right to reproduce, use, or
disclose, in whole or in part, without written authorization from Danfoss. Further, neither these documents nor any attachments are a warranty of any
sort by Danfoss or a guarantee of machine suitability for its intended purpose. It remains the responsibility of the machine manufacturer to ensure overall
machine functionality and overall machine safety.

AE-2009-009 Revision: B Page 5 of 8

 To illustrate this point in an actual application, let’s consider a machine that can be operated in various
modes. The exact motor does not matter for this exercise, as the area of the piston will cancel out as we
calculate relative values.

1st gear - high tractive effort mode - all motors are at maximum angle (18º in this example), the motors
are in parallel, and speeds are relatively low. Assume the following
operating parameters on the motors:
System B pressure = 1300 psi
System A pressure = 300 psi
Fshaft ∝ tan(18) * (5*1300 + 4 *300) ∝ 2500
Speed = 300 RPM

2nd gear - travel mode in a field – all motors are at maximum angle (18º in this example), the motors are
in series, and speeds are relatively high. Assume the following operating parameters on the first motor
in series:
System B pressure = 1700 psi
System A pressure = 1200 psi
Fshaft ∝ tan(18) * (5*1700 + 4 *1200) ∝ 4320
Speed = 2000 RPM

Disclaimer: This document may contain proprietary information of Danfoss. Neither receipt nor possession thereof confers any right to reproduce, use, or
disclose, in whole or in part, without written authorization from Danfoss. Further, neither these documents nor any attachments are a warranty of any
sort by Danfoss or a guarantee of machine suitability for its intended purpose. It remains the responsibility of the machine manufacturer to ensure overall
machine functionality and overall machine safety.

AE-2009-009 Revision: B Page 6 of 8

 3rd gear – over the road travel mode - all motors are at minimum angle (8º in this example), the motors
are in series, and speeds are relatively high. Assume the following operating parameters on the first
motor in series:
System B pressure = 2700 psi
System A pressure = 1800 psi
Fshaft ∝ tan(8) * (5* 2700 + 4 *1800) ∝ 2910
Speed = 4000 RPM

Now, assume the vehicle operates 100% of the time in one mode. Using 1st gear as the baseline, let’s
assign it an index value of 100 for life. Using the ratio of the shaft loads and speeds, the relative
difference in the bearing life between the conditions can be determined.

Based on the above parameters, the relative life of the bearings is as follows:

Life index operating in 1st gear continuously = 100

Life index operating in 2nd gear continuously = 2.4

This represents a 97.6% reduction in life compared to operating in 1st gear continuously

Life index operating in 3rd gear continuously = 4.5

This represents a 95.5% reduction in life compared to operating in 1st gear continuously.

Note the difference between 2nd and 3rd gear. Even though the system pressures are much lower in
2nd gear and the speed is half as much as 3rd gear, the resultant force on the shaft has a large impact
on the life calculations.

Realistically, the machine will never operate 100% of the time in one mode or continuously at these
pressures. However, this gives you a feel for the relative difference between the operating modes in
terms of how quickly damage is accumulated in a bearing under various loading conditions.

Disclaimer: This document may contain proprietary information of Danfoss. Neither receipt nor possession thereof confers any right to reproduce, use, or
disclose, in whole or in part, without written authorization from Danfoss. Further, neither these documents nor any attachments are a warranty of any
sort by Danfoss or a guarantee of machine suitability for its intended purpose. It remains the responsibility of the machine manufacturer to ensure overall
machine functionality and overall machine safety.

AE-2009-009 Revision: B Page 7 of 8

 Attachments:
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Revision History:
Revision Date Description
B 25Sep2017 Rebranded
A 01Dec2011 Initial release

Disclaimer: This document may contain proprietary information of Danfoss. Neither receipt nor possession thereof confers any right to reproduce, use, or
disclose, in whole or in part, without written authorization from Danfoss. Further, neither these documents nor any attachments are a warranty of any
sort by Danfoss or a guarantee of machine suitability for its intended purpose. It remains the responsibility of the machine manufacturer to ensure overall
machine functionality and overall machine safety.

AE-2009-009 Revision: B Page 8 of 8