Abstract
The dynamic motion of a lightly loaded ball bearing is studied in order to show and to gain an understanding of the different mechanisms involved in transitions to chaotic behaviors. By varying a control parameter, different routes to chaos are described. The most widely known is the subharmonic route, which is characterized by an increasing number of subharmonics of the driving frequency. Alternance of period doubling and tripling has been noticed, as the ball pass frequency is around the first resonance of the bearing. The second route is a quasi-periodic route. It is characterized by competition between the second resonance of the bearing and the ball pass frequency. It results in an increasing number of combinations of two incommensurate frequencies.
During the quasi-periodic sequence, mode locking occurs each time the two frequencies are locally commensurate.