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Rolling bearings are one of the most important and frequently components encountered in domestic and in-dustrial rotating machines. Statistical studies show that these bearings are considered as critical mechanicalparts which represent between 40% and 50% of malfunction in rotating machineries. We performed an electricalmonitoring of a bearing and numerical aspects using smooth contact dynamic are studied. An original elastic2D modelling by discrete elements (DEM) reproduces the dynamic and the mechanical behavior of a bearing. An electromechanical coupling is introduced to provide monitoring solutions. This study proposes anoriginal method of simulating the bearings to analyze dynamic stress in rings and to detect malfunctions (defectsor unusual load) in the impedance of a ball bearing over time. The bearing is seen as a polydisperse granularchain where rolling elements and cage components interact with a Hertzian contact model. Moreover, rings(and housing) are also taken into account using a cohesive model. Indeed, while many studies have beenconducted on bearing simulation using FEM and multibody approaches, this new discrete model gives relevantinformation on physical phenomena in the contact interface. Roller-race contacts are analyzed in detail with anelectromechanical coupling. One of our objectives is to investigate the sensitivity of the electrical measurementdue to the variation of mechanical loading

bearing ; electromechanical coupling ; DEM ; electrical transfer ; contact model, ; roughness