Rolling bearings accomplishes a smoother force transmission between relative components of high production volume systems. An impending fault may cause system malfunction and its maturation lead to a catastrophic failure of the system that increases the possibility of unscheduled maintenance or an expensive shutdown. These critical states demand a robust failure diagnosis scheme for bearings. The present paper demonstrates a novel way to develop a dynamic model for the rotor-bearing system using dimensional analysis (DA) considering significant geometric, operating, and thermal parameters of the system. The vibration responses of faulty spherical roller bearings are investigated under various operating conditions for validation of the developed model. Multivariable regression analysis is performed to expose the potential of the approach in the detection of the bearing failure. Results obtained unveil the simple and reliable nature of the dynamic modeling using DA. © 2020 by ASME.