Mechanical Properties of Coupled Bending and Contact to Hollow Cylindrical Roller Contacts

Abstract

A numerical analysis model of the hollow cylindrical roller is established by coupling the bending of the curved beam and elastic half-space contact theory. Slicing technology is applied to solve the bending deformation of every circle slice. Discrete fast Fourier transform (DC-FFT) and a conjugate gradient method are employed to solve the contact deformation and contact pressure, considering the bending effect in both radial and axial directions. The influence of hollowness on deformation, contact pressure, stiffness, and strain energy for a straight roller contacting a flat plane is studied using the numerical model. The results reveal that with the increase of hollowness, the contact pressure decreases at the end, the edge effect weakens apparently, the contact width and contact deformation increase slightly in the middle part, and the stiffness decreases. The bending deformation and strain energy increase sharply as the hollowness reaches 60%. What's more, the profile of the contact region gradually changes from "outer convex" to "inner concave" at the end, which is also validated by photographing the shapes of the static contact region under various hollowness conditions using an optical interference test.