Shakedown in elastic contact problems with Coulomb friction

Elastic systems with frictional interfaces subjected to periodic loading are sometimes predicted to ‘shake down’ in the sense that frictional slip ceases after the first few loading cycles. The similarities in behaviour between such systems and monolithic bodies with elastic–plastic constitutive behaviour have prompted various authors to speculate that Melan’s theorem might apply to them – i.e., that the existence of a state of residual stress sufficient to prevent further slip is a sufficient condition for the system to shake down.In this paper, we prove this result for ‘complete’ contact problems in the discrete formulation (i) for systems with no coupling between relative tangential displacements at the interface and the corresponding normal contact tractions and (ii) for certain two-dimensional problems in which the friction coefficient at each node is less than a certain critical value. We also present counter-examples for all systems that do not fall into these categories, thus giving a definitive statement of the conditions under which Melan’s theorem can be used to predict whether such a system will shake down.     

Shakedown limits for an oscillating,elastic rolling contact with Coulomb friction

We examine experimentally and theoretically the effect of frictional shakedown of a three-dimensional elastic rolling contact. Small oscillations of the local normal forces lead to incremental sliding processes within the area of contact. Consequently, this causes a macroscopic slip motion of the two contacting bodies. If the oscillation amplitude is sufficiently small, the frictional slip ceases after the first few loading periods and a safe shakedown occurs. Otherwise the slip motion is continued and the contact fails.     

Brachistochrone on a surface with Coulomb friction

The problem of brachistochronic motion of a particle on a surface with the simultaneous action of gravity and Coulomb friction has been solved. Analytical solutions of the problem in special cases have been found. In the case of a cylindrical surface, it is shown that the solutions found includes, as a special case, all well-known results which refer to the brachistochronic motion of a particle. The results are illustrated with a series of concrete examples.     

Unilaterality and Dry Friction: A Geometric Formulation for Two-Dimensional Rigid Body Dynamics

The dynamics of a rigid body simply supported on a moving rigid ground in the presence of dry friction is investigated. Rigid body kinematics, in terms of generalized coordinates, and features of contact are discussed. According to the contact laws, a variational formulation is adopted to describe the dynamics and to analyze, in the case of contact, the connection between dynamically possible motions and actual evolution of the system. A geometric method is then proposed which allows the dynamic evolution to be determined without any direct evaluation of the contact forces. Though different situations are possible, depending on the instantaneous values of relative position, velocity and active forces, a unique solution is identified. Examples illustrating applications of the theory are presented.     

Existence results for unilateral contact problem with friction of thermo-electro-elasticity

This work studies a mathematical model describing the static process of contact between a piezoelectric body and a thermally-electrically conductive foundation. The behavior of the material is modeled with a thermo-electro-elastic constitutive law. The contact is described by Signorini's conditions and Tresca's friction law including the electrical and thermal conductivity conditions. A variational formulation of the model in the form of a coupled system for displacements, electric potential, and temperature is de- rived. Existence and uniqueness of the solution are proved using the results of variational inequalities and a fixed point theorem.     

The equilibrium state of a structure subject to frictional contact

A structure in frictional contact subject to static loads has not, in general, a unique static equilibrium state. This is because the state, displacements and contact forces, depend on the load history of the structure.In cases where the exact load history is not known it would be of interest to find a state that is in some sense likely and define this as the equilibrium state. In this paper, it is assumed that the state with the smallest potential energy is the most likely one. The implication of this definition of likely state is analysed and shows that the resulting problem basically can be seen as a generalization of the frictionless contact problem to structures where no frictionless state is possible, i.e. structures where non-zero friction forces are necessary to satisfy force equilibrium.The results of several numerical experiments are given. The structures in the experiments are trusses and structures modelled by the finite element method. Both a sequential quadratic programming method and an enumeration method are used to solve the likely-state problem.     

Contact friction analysis and stress oscilation suppression with a simple interface element

A simple interface element for analyzing contact friction problems is developed. Taking nodal displacements and contact stresses as unknowns, this element can simulate frictional slippage, decoupling and re-bonding of two bodies initially mating or having gaps at a common inteface. The method is based on the Finite Element Method and load incremental theory. The geometric and static constrait conditions on contact surfaces are treated as additional conditions and are included in stiffness equations. This simple element has the advantages of easy implementation into standard finite element programs and fast speed for convergence as well as high accuracy for stress distribution in interface. Undesirable stress oscillations are also investigated whenever large stress gradients exist over the contact surfaces. Exact integration or the conventional Gauss integration scheme used to evaluate the interpolation function matrix of the interface element is found to be the source of the oscillations. Eigenmode analysis demonstrates that the stress behavior of an interface element can be improved by using the Newton-Cotes integration scheme. Finally, the test example of a strip footing problem is presented.     

Stability properties of equilibrium sets of non-linear mechanical systems with dry friction and impact

In this paper, we will give conditions under which the equilibrium set of multi-degree-of-freedom non-linear mechanical systems with an arbitrary number of frictional unilateral constraints is attractive. The theorems for attractivity are proved by using the framework of measure differential inclusions together with a Lyapunov-type stability analysis and a generalisation of LaSalle’s invariance principle for non-smooth systems. The special structure of mechanical multi-body systems allows for a natural Lyapunov function and an elegant derivation of the proof. Moreover, an instability theorem for assessing the instability of equilibrium sets of non-linear mechanical systems with frictional bilateral constraints is formulated. These results are illustrated by means of examples with both unilateral and bilateral frictional constraints.     

Two-dimensional modeling of unilateral contact-induced shaft precessional motions in bladed-disk/casing systems

The present work targets shaft whirling motions induced by direct blade/casing unilateral contact occurrences in aircraft engine bladed-disk assemblies. These contact events are favored by increasingly reduced blade-tip clearances and potentially lead to harmful interactions that may threaten the engine structural integrity.A simplified 2D in-plane finite element model representative of the engine fan stage is built, accounting for the flexibility of the shaft through two linear springs attached to the disk center node and the structural coupling provided by the fan frame and the bearings, modeled by an array of linear springs. A linear stability analysis of the reduced-order coupled system reveals two unstable zones in a selected rotational speed range, emanating from the linearly predicted modal coincidence speeds.Through a time-marching strategy, two asymmetric contact initiation mechanisms are investigated: (1) a prescribed casing distortion and (2) a mass imbalance on the bladed-disk. It is shown how the 1-nodal diameter mode of the first modal family of the bladed-disk is dominant when a modal interaction arises from the transient casing distortion and leads to divergent regimes. The presence of the frame/bearings coupling induces a shift in the critical speeds detected, generally characterized by a backward traveling wave in the rotating frame and a forward traveling one in the fixed frame. Further, when a mass imbalance is the excitation source, the suspension modes appear to have a major role and a stable limit cycle is reached regardless of the coupling stiffness with much lower energy levels than in divergent regimes.     

Approximation of thermoelasticity contact problem with nonmonotone friction

The paper presents the formulation and approximation of a static thermoelasticity problem that describes bilateral frictional contact between a deformable body and a rigid foundation. The friction is in the form of a nonmonotone and multivalued law. The coupling effect of the problem is neglected. Therefore, the thermic part of the problem is considered independently on the elasticity problem. For the displacement vector, we formulate one substationary problem for a non-convex, locally Lipschitz continuous functional representing the total potential energy of the body. All problems formulated in the paper are approximated with the finite element method.     

Disk in a groove with friction: An analysis of static equilibrium and indeterminacy

This note studies the statics of a rigid disk placed in a V-shaped groove with frictional walls and subjected to gravity and a torque. The two-dimensional equilibrium problem is formulated in terms of the angles that contact forces form with the normal to the walls. This approach leads to a single trigonometric equation in two variables whose domain is determined by Coulomb's law of friction. The properties of solutions (existence, uniqueness, or indeterminacy) as functions of groove angle, friction coefficient and applied torque are derived by a simple geometric representation. The results modify some of the conclusions by other authors on the same problem.     

Brachistochrone with Coulomb friction as the solution of an isoperimetrical variational problem

The problem of finding the plane supporting curve (brachistochrone) along which a heavy particle released from rest at the given starting point slides with dry (Coulomb) friction and reaches the given destination point in least time, is stated as a variational isoperimetrical problem. The finite parametric equations of the extremal curve are obtained. This curve is the sought-for brachistochrone if the solution of the problem exists. Several numerical examples are given.     

A geometric solution to the general single contact frictionless problem by combining concepts of analytical dynamics and b-calculus

This study presents a systematic approach, leading to a new set of equations of motion for a class of mechanical systems subject to a single frictionless contact constraint. To achieve this goal, some fundamental concepts of b-geometry are utilized and adapted to the general framework of Analytical Dynamics. These concepts refer to the theory of manifolds with boundary and provide a suitable and strong theoretical foundation. First, the boundary is defined within the original configuration manifold of the system by the equality in the unilateral constraint. Then, an appropriate vector bundle is considered, involving only smooth vector fields, even at the boundary. After determining the essential geometric properties (i.e., the metric and the connection) near the boundary, Newton’s law of motion is applied. In this way, the equations of motion during the contact phase are derived as a system of ordinary differential equations. These equations possess a special form inside a thin boundary layer. In particular, the essential dynamics of the systems examined is found to be governed by a single second order ordinary differential equation, which is investigated fully. Moreover, a critical comparison of the present formulation with the classical formulations applied to systems with a frictionless contact is performed. Finally, the effect of the dominant parameters on the dynamics during the contact phase and the steps for the application process to mechanical systems are illustrated by two selected examples, referring to contact of a particle and a rigid body with a plane.     

Impact dynamics of multibody systems with frictional contact using joint coordinates and canonical equations of motion

This paper presents a methodology in computational dynamics for the analysis of mechanical systems that undergo intermittent motion. A canonical form of the equations of motion is derived with a minimal set of coordinates. These equations are used in a procedure for balancing the momenta of the system over the period of impact, calculating the jump in the body momentum, velocity discontinuities and rebounds. The effect of dry friction is discussed and a contact law is proposed. The present formulation is extended to open and closed-loop mechanical systems where the jumps in the constraints' momenta are also solved. The application of this methodology is illustrated with the study of impact of open-loop and closed-loop examples.     

Non-linear dynamics of a mechanical system with a frictional unilateral constraint

We analyze the dynamics of a two-dimensional system constituted by two masses subjected to elastic, gravitational and viscous forces and constrained by a moving frictional mono-lateral surface. The model exhibits a time-varying dynamics capable of reproducing the hopping phenomenon, an unwanted phenomenon observed in many applications such as the motion of a robotic arm on a surface or that of a wiper on a windscreen. The system dynamics, besides being affected by geometrical non-linearities, has a non-smooth nature due to the impact and friction laws involved in the model. The complexity of the resulting equations and of the transition conditions require the problem to be solved numerically. Various periodic motions are found and the effect of varying the system parameters, in particular the friction coefficient, is investigated. Finally, simulations are used to gain some insight the behavior of the windscreen wiper.     

Stability of an equilibrium position of a pendulum with step parameters

A mathematical pendulum affected by parametric disturbance with potential energy being periodic step function is considered. Non-linear equation of the pendulum depends on two parameters characterizing the mean value in time of the parametric disturbance and range of its “ripple”. Values of the parameters can be set arbitrarily. The non-linear problem of stability for two particular solutions of the equation corresponding to a hanging and inverse pendulum is solved.     

Discontinuity-induced bifurcations in systems with impacts and friction: Discontinuities in the impact law

This paper concerns the non-smooth dynamics of planar mechanical systems with isolated contact in the presence of Coulomb friction. Following Stronge [Impact Mechanics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000], a set of closed-form analytic formulae is derived for a rigid-body impact law based on an energetic coefficient of restitution and a resolution of the impact phase into distinct segments of relative slip and stick. Thus, the impact behavior is consistent both with the assumption of Coulomb friction and with the dissipative nature of impacts. The analysis highlights the presence of boundaries between open regions of initial conditions and parameter values corresponding to distinct forms of the impact law and investigates the smoothness properties of the impact law across these boundaries. It is shown how discontinuities in the impact law are associated with discontinuity-induced bifurcations of periodic trajectories, including non-smooth folds and persistence scenarios. Numerical analysis of an example mechanical model is used to illustrate and validate the conclusions.     

Fast evaluation of friction forces in traction-drive contacts including thermal effects

Summary  In automotive traction drives, power is transmitted by friction forces. The friction forces result from the shear stresses developed in lubricated and highly loaded contacts between rolling bodies. Due to the kinematics of a traction drive, shear velocities occur in both the rolling direction and perpendicular to it. Due to these shear velocities and by normal pressure, the lubricant is forced to build up shear stresses. The increase of the shear stresses may be modelled by a nonlinear viscous element. The describing differential equations are coupled by the equivalent shear stress, which defines the nonlinear behaviour of the element. A fast method is described to evaluate the coupled differential equations. By using a known analytical approximation for the equivalent shear stress, the differential equations are decoupled and can be solved analytically. In an iterative procedure the equivalent shear stress is updated, and the complete solution is found. The iterative method is extended to account for thermal effects in the contact. Received 17 June 1999; accepted for publication 26 October 1999