A coupled finite element EHL and continuum damage mechanics model for rolling contact fatigue

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of elastohydrodynamic lubrication pressure on the rolling contact fatigue life of non-conformal contacts. In order to achieve the objectives a finite element elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) model was coupled with a continuum damage me...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tribology international 2017-03, Vol.107, p.173-183
Main Authors: Paulson, Neil R., Sadeghi, Farshid, Habchi, Wassim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Contact pressure
Continuum damage mechanics
Crack propagation
Damage mechanics
Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication
Fatigue failure
Fatigue life
Finite element analysis
Finite element method
Lubrication
Materials fatigue
Mathematical analysis
Pressure distribution
Rolling contact
Rolling contact fatigue
Stress concentration
Studies
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Summary:The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of elastohydrodynamic lubrication pressure on the rolling contact fatigue life of non-conformal contacts. In order to achieve the objectives a finite element elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) model was coupled with a continuum damage mechanics model. The coupled finite element damage mechanics and EHL (DMEHL) model was then used to investigate the effects of speed and damage variable on the fatigue life of non-conformal contacts. The results demonstrate that the damage variable has a significant effect on pressure distribution within the contact and depending on the level of damage; the pressure distribution can significantly deviate from the undamaged EHL pressure. The results also demonstrated that speed has a significant effect on fatigue and failure. A parametric study was conducted to examine the effects of the damage variable on the progression of fatigue and evolution of the EHL pressure profile. The results demonstrate that the critical damage value is important to fatigue and can drastically affect the EHL pressure profiles. •A coupled finite element EHL and damage mechanics model was created.•The proposed EHL model of RCF was compared to RCF models using Hertzian pressure assumptions.•Results show RCF lives for a Hertzian pressure assumption will predict shorter lives than a full EHL pressure prediction.
ISSN:0301-679X
1879-2464
DOI:10.1016/j.triboint.2016.11.024