Vibrations of a deformable ball rolling on a lubricated rigid half-space

Abstract

The problem of vertical vibrations of a deformable ball rolling on a lubricated rigid half-space has been stated and numerically solved. It is assumed that the force, which causes the ball’s elastic deformation in the zone of lubricated concentrated contact, is applied to the ball. The problem’s mathematical model is reduced to the system of nonstationary integrodifferential equations and inequalities with initial and boundary conditions. The computational algorithm of the problem’s solution was based on Newton’s method and application of an implicit scheme to approximate nonstationary equations. Vibrational solutions, which describe the behavior of the system consisting of the ball and the lubrication layer both under excitation of the initial conditions and under the excitation force, have been obtained. It is shown that as opposed to the traditional elastohydrodynamic lubrication theory approach, in which contacting bodies are considered as massless ones, taking the ball’s mass and corresponding inertia into account makes it possible to extend the category of obtained solutions and investigate vibrational processes in the contact zone. The results may be used to analyze processes occurring in lubricated concentrated contacts of gears and rolling bearings.