 Bearing axial setting tolerance

A bearing axial setting tolerance specifies the permitted difference between the realized axial reference position of an assembly and its bearing nominal axial setting. It consumes some of the available bearing axial travel margin. The setting tolerance must therefore be included when deciding whether all required thermal and operating changes remain inside the physical travel limits. The bearing manufacturer's locating/non-locating arrangement discussion explicitly includes relative displacement and accumulated dimensional variation.^[ref]

Let physical travel be $[a,b]$, required displacement changes be $[d_{\min },d_{\max }]$, and setting error be $\eta \in [{\eta }_{\min },{\eta }_{\max }]$. To retain a prescribed margin $m_{\mathrm{req}}\ge 0$ for every allowed combination, the nominal setting must satisfyThe lower bound follows from the smallest possible realized position $x_0+d_{\min }+{\eta }_{\min }$; the upper bound follows from the largest. This is a worst-case guarantee over the stated ranges and needs no assumption that the errors are statistically independent.

For an original example, take $[a,b]=[-0.30,0.30]\mathrm{mm}$, required changes $[-0.17,0.23]\mathrm{mm}$, setting error $[-0.02,0.04]\mathrm{mm}$ and required margin0.05mm. The admissible nominal-setting interval is $[-0.06,-0.02]\mathrm{mm}$. Choosing $x_0=-0.04\mathrm{mm}$ gives worst-case operating endpoints $-0.23$ and $+0.23\mathrm{mm}$, leaving0.07mm at each end. The asymmetric error range has shifted the balanced nominal setting relative to a symmetric tolerance assumption.

A bearing axial tolerance stack combines the contributing dimensions and their signs before applying this range calculation. Two separate bounded errors of $\pm 0.01$ and $\pm 0.02\mathrm{mm}$ can add to $\pm 0.03\mathrm{mm}$ in the worst case. Taking a square root of summed squares would answer a statistical uncertainty question under additional assumptions; it would not reproduce that deterministic bound. The distinction between a bound and standard uncertainty matters when a guaranteed clearance or reserve is specified.

The resulting interval can be empty. That outcome identifies incompatible travel, operating-change, tolerance and reserve requirements; adjusting the nominal setting alone cannot resolve it. A nonempty interval addresses axial geometry but does not establish acceptable friction, elastic loading or contact conditions after an end stop engages.