On the Computer Formulations of the Wheel/Rail Contact Problem

In this investigation, four nonlinear dynamic formulations that can be used in the analysis of the wheel/rail contact are presented, compared and their performance is evaluated. Two of these formulations employ nonlinear algebraic kinematic constraint equations to describe the contact between the wheel and the rail (constraint approach), while in the other two formulations the contact force is modeled using a compliant force element (elastic approach). The goal of the four formulations is to provide accurate nonlinear modeling of the contact between the wheel and the rail, which is crucial to the success of any computational algorithm used in the dynamic analysis of railroad vehicle systems. In the formulations based on the elastic approach, the wheel has six degrees of freedom with respect to the rail, and the normal contact forces are defined as function of the penetration using Hertzs contact theory or using assumed stiffness and damping coefficients. The first elastic method is based on a search for the contact locations using discrete nodal points. As previously presented in the literature, this method can lead to impulsive forces due to the abrupt change in the location of the contact point from one time step to the next. This difficulty is avoided in the second elastic approach in which the contact points are determined by solving a set of algebraic equations. In the formulations based on the constraint approach, on the other hand, the case of a non-conformal contact is assumed, and nonlinear kinematic contact constraint equations are used to impose the contact conditions at the position, velocity and acceleration levels. This approach leads to a model, in which the wheel has five degrees of freedom with respect to the rail. In the constraint approach, the wheel penetration and lift are not permitted, and the normal contact forces are calculated using the technique of Lagrange multipliers and the augmented form of the system dynamic equations. Two equivalent constraint formulations that employ two different solution procedures are discussed in this investigation. The first method leads to a larger system of equations by augmenting all the contact constraint equations to the dynamic equations of motion, while in the second method an embedding procedure is used to obtain a reduced system of equations from which the surface parameter accelerations are systematically eliminated. Numerical results are presented in order to examine the performance of various methods discussed in this study.     

Vibration analysis of rotating fully-bonded and delaminated sandwich beam with CNTRC face sheets and AL-foam flexible core in thermal and moisture environments

Abstract

In the present study, the high-order free vibration analysis of rotating fully-bonded and delaminated sandwich beams; with and without vertical contact; containing AL-foam flexible core and carbon nanotubes reinforced composite (CNTRC) face sheets subjected to thermal and moisture field are investigated by using generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM). The compressible core and face sheets of sandwich beam, respectively, are composed of Aluminum alloy foam with variable mechanical properties in the thickness direction and CNTRC with temperature dependent material properties. In this study, the high-order sandwich panel theory (HSAPT) for AL-foam flexible core and Euler-Bernoulli beam theory for CNTRC face sheets are considered. By employing Hamilton’s principle, the governing partial differential equations of motion and associated boundary and continuity conditions for various types of regions (fully-bonded, delaminated with contact, delaminated without contact) are derived and then discretized by using GDQM. The final formulations lead to 14 partial differential equations for the entire structure including five equations for fully-bonded two-headed parts of AL-foam cored sandwich beam (AL-FCSB) and four equations for delaminated middle part of AL-FCSB beam which are combined in axial and transverse deformations. A parametric study is performed to investigate the influence of some important parameters such as existence of delaminated region, type of delaminated region (with or without contact), longitudinal position of delaminated region, slenderness ratio, face sheet thickness ratio, CNT volume fraction, temperature rise, moisture concentration, rotating speed, and hub radius. The obtained results reveal that the 1st frequency of delaminated AL-FCSB beam, whether with or without vertical contact, is less remarkably than ones of fully-bonded AL-FCSB beam which its value for the case of delaminated ‘with contact’ is larger than that of ‘without contact’. Moreover, the 1st frequency variation of the delaminated AL-FCSB beam is symmetrical with regard to the longitudinal position of the debonded region such that the 1st natural frequency declines with moving the debonded region toward the center of the beam. The study of vibration behavior of rotating sandwich beams is very important in design of rotating structural systems, specially damaged ones, such as airplanes, helicopter rotor blades, and robot arms. One of the most important types of damage encountered in mentioned cases is the decomposition of two layers or delamination. Working these rotating structures in the media, are always along with variations of temperature and humidity and hence their mechanical properties may be changed due to the environment conditions.

Communicated by S. Velinsky     

Evaluation of Conformal and Non-Conformal Contact Parameters Using Digital Photoelasticity

Experimental studies to exploit photoelastic data of conformal geometries to extract contact parameters are non-existent because closed-form stress field equations were not available until recently. In this paper, the explicit equations recently reported in the literature for a flat punch with rounded edges are generalized so that a single set of equations can be used for a flat punch with rounded edges and Hertzian contacts with arbitrary radii of curvatures. The generality of the governing equations is verified by plotting isochromatics for conformal and non-conformal contact situations. A generic method to evaluate unknown contact parameters from the whole-field isochromatic data for conformal and non-conformal geometries is implemented. The methodology is initially verified using theoretically generated isochromatic data and is then used to experimentally evaluate two contact situations. In view of high-fringe gradient zones, the suitability of various digital photoelastic methods is compared. A novel four-step phase shifting technique is proposed in which isochromatic and isoclinic data can be evaluated using the minimum number of images.     

十二次对称二维准晶中的无摩擦接触问题

利用积分变换的方法讨论了在一个刚性压头作用下十二次对称二维准晶的无摩擦接触问题. 通过引入位移势函数,将数量巨大而复杂的偏微分方程转化为两个独立的双调和方程,应用Fourier分析与对偶积分方程理论解决了十二次对称二维准晶材料的无摩擦接触问题,得到了相应的接触应力解析表达式,结果表明：如果接触位移是一常数,则接触应力在接触区域边缘具有-1/2阶奇异性;反之,如果接触应力在接触区域边缘具有-1/2阶的奇异性,则接触位移一定为一常数,这为准晶材料的接触变形提供了重要的力学参数.     

A Newton method for three-dimensional fretting problems

The present paper concerns the numerical treatment of fretting problems using a finite element analysis. The governing equations resulting from a formal finite element discretization of an elastic body with a potential contact surface are considered in a quasi-static setting. The constitutive equations of the potential contact surface are Signorinis contact conditions, Coulombs law of friction and Archards law of wear. Using a backward Euler time discretization and an approach based on projections, the governing equations are written as an augmented Lagrangian formulation which is implemented and solved using a Newton algorithm for three-dimensional fretting problems of didactic nature. Details concerning the implementation are provided.     

Frictional contact problem for a rigid cylindrical stamp and an elastic layer resting on a half plane

The frictional contact problem for a layer resting on a homogeneous half plane is handled using linear elasticity theory in this study. The layer is in contact with a rigid cylindrical stamp that is on the layer and applies a concentrated force in the normal and tangential directions. Friction between the component couples of layer–stamp and layer–half plane is taken into account. The problem is reduced to a system of singular integral equations, in which the contact pressures and the contact areas are the unknowns, and it is treated using Fourier transforms and the boundary conditions for the problem. The system of singular integral equations is solved numerically using the Gauss–Jacobi integration formula with equilibrium and consistency conditions. Numerical results for the contact pressures and the contact areas are given as a solution for both the frictional and the frictionless cases. This work is the first study that investigates the effect of friction on the receding contact problem of a layer and a half plane with two contact areas.     

Effect of anisotropy on thermoelastic contact problem

This paper is concerned with the stationary plane contact of an insulated rigid punch and a half-space which is elastically anisotropic but thermally conducting. The frictional heat generation inside the contact region due to the sliding of the punch over the half-space surface and the heat radiation outside the contact region are taken into account. With the help of Fourier integral transform, the problem is reduced to a system of two singular integral equations. The equations are solved numerically by using Gauss-Jacobi and trapezoidal-rule quadratures. The effects of anisotropy and thermal effects are shown graphically.     

Formation of heterogeneous spatial structures in a boundary lubrication layer during friction

This paper presents a synergetic model describing the boundary friction of two atomically smooth solid surfaces separated by an ultrathin lubricant layer. The model is constructed using the Lorenz system of equations, which is parameterized by shear stresses, shear strains, and the lubricant temperature. Given the spatial inhomogeneity of these parameters, it is shown that a structure with two types of domains is formed during friction on the contact plane. Time dependences of the fractal dimensions of the domain distributions over the contact plane are calculated, and it is shown that there exists a time when the fractal dimensions take minimum values. During the evolution, the system tends to a homogeneous state in which the shear stresses over entire contact area have a constant value which determines the relative velocity of motion of the friction blocks.     

Energy relaxation method for chemical non‐equilibrium flow computations

In this paper, an algorithm for chemical non‐equilibrium hypersonic flow is developed based on the concept of energy relaxation method (ERM). The new system of equations obtained are studied using finite volume method with Harten–Lax–van Leer scheme for contact (HLLC). The original HLLC method is modified here to account for additional species and split energy equations. Higher order spatial accuracy is achieved using MUSCL reconstruction of the flow variables with van Albada limiter. The thermal equilibrium is considered for the analysis and the species data are generated using polynomial correlations. The single temperature model of Dunn and Kang is used for chemical relaxation. The computed results for a flow field over a hemispherical cylinder at Mach number of 16.34 obtained using the present solver are found to be promising and computationally (25%) more efficient. The present solver captures physically correct solution as the entropy conditions are satisfied automatically during the computations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

纤维增强复合材料圆柱型界面裂纹分析

以裂纹面上的位错函数为未知量将圆柱型界面裂纹问题化成一组奇异积分方程的求解问题．应用Ｍｕｓｋｈｅｌｉｓｈｖｉｌｉ的奇异积分方程理论，分析了圆柱型界面裂纹尖端应力场．针对裂纹尖端分别存在和不存在接触区两种情况，确定了裂纹尖端应力场的奇异性．利用数值方法计算了圆柱型界面裂纹尖端接触区尺寸对剪应力强度因子的影响．     

An Augmented Formulation for Mechanical Systems with Non-Generalized Coordinates: Application to Rigid Body Contact Problems

In computational multibody algorithms, the kinematic constraintequations that describe mechanical joints and specified motiontrajectories must be satisfied at the position, velocity andacceleration levels. For most commonly used constraint equations, onlyfirst and second partial derivatives of position vectors with respect tothe generalized coordinates are required in order to define theconstraint Jacobian matrix and the first and second derivatives of theconstraints with respect to time. When the kinematic and dynamicequations of the multibody systems are formulated in terms of a mixedset of generalized and non-generalized coordinates, higher partialderivatives with respect to these non-generalized coordinates arerequired, and the neglect of these derivatives can lead to significanterrors. In this paper, the implementation of a contact model in generalmultibody algorithms is presented as an example of mechanical systemswith non-generalized coordinates. The kinematic equations that describethe contact between two surfaces of two bodies in the multibody systemare formulated in terms of the system generalized coordinates and thesurface parameters. Each contact surface is defined using twoindependent parameters that completely define the tangent and normalvectors at an arbitrary point on the body surface. In the contact modeldeveloped in this study, the points of contact are searched for on lineduring the dynamic simulation by solving the nonlinear differential andalgebraic equations of the constrained multibody system. It isdemonstrated in this paper that in the case of a point contact andregular surfaces, there is only one independent generalized contactconstraint force despite the fact that five constraint equations areused to enforce the contact conditions.     

Contact-impact formulation for multi-body systems using component mode synthesis

The efficiency and accuracy are two most concerned issues in the modeling and simulation of multi-body systems involving contact and impact. This paper proposed a formulation based on the component mode synthesis method for planar contact problems of flexible multi-body systems. A flexible body is divided into two parts： a contact zone and an un-contact zone. For the un-contact zone, by using the fixed-interface substructure method as reference, a few low-order modal coordinates are used to replace the nodal coordinates of the nodes, and meanwhile, the nodal coordinates of the local impact region are kept unchanged, therefore the total degrees of freedom （DOFs） are greatly cut down and the computational cost of the simulation is significantly reduced. By using additional constraint method, the impact constraint equations and kinematic constraint equations are derived, and the Lagrange equations of the first kind of flexible multi-body system are obtained. The impact of an elastic beam with a fixed half disk is simulated to verify the efficiency and accuracy of this method.     

Analysis of heat conduction in a disk brake system

In this paper, the governing heat equations for the disk and the pad are extracted in the form of transient heat equations with heat generation that is dependant to time and space. In the derivation of the heat equations, parameters such as the duration of braking, vehicle velocity, geometries and the dimensions of the brake components, materials of the disk brake rotor and the pad and contact pressure distribution have been taken into account. The problem is solved analytically using Green’s function approach. It is concluded that the heat generated due to friction between the disk and the pad should be ideally dissipated to the environment to avoid decreasing the friction coefficient between the disk and the pad and to avoid the temperature rise of various brake components and brake fluid vaporization due to excessive heating.     

The axisymmetric partial slip contact problem of a graded coating

In this paper, the axisymmetric contact problem with the partial slip condition for a functionally graded coated half-space which is indented by a rigid spherical indenter is considered. The material properties are assumed to vary along the thickness of the coating. A series of linear functions of the thickness are used to model the functionally graded coating with the arbitrarily varying shear modulus. The contact problem is formulated in terms of a set of Cauchy singular integral equations by employment of Hankel integral transforms technique and transfer matrix method. By using the uncoupled solution and the coupled solution,the coupled equations are solved. The effect of the coating’s gradient on the normal and radial tractions in the whole contact region is presented. The results show that the contact tractions and the size of the stick zone can be altered by adjusting the gradient of the coating. This may have potential applications in the resistance of contact deformation and damage.     

Thermal buckling and post-buckling response of imperfect temperature-dependent sandwich FGM plates resting on elastic foundation

Post-buckling behaviour of sandwich plates with functionally graded material (FGM) face sheets under uniform temperature rise loading is considered. It is assumed that the plate is in contact with a Pasternak-type elastic foundation during deformation, which acts in both compression and tension. The derivation of equations is based on the first-order shear deformation plate theory. Thermomechanical non-homogeneous properties of FGM layers vary smoothly by the distribution of power law across the thickness, and temperature dependency of material constituents is taken into account. Using the non-linear von-Karman strain-displacement relations, the equilibrium and compatibility equations of imperfect sandwich plates with FGM face sheets are derived. The boundary conditions for the plate are assumed to be simply supported in all edges. The governing equations are reduced to two coupled equation in terms of stress function and lateral deflection. Employing the single mode approach combined with Galerkin technique, an approximate closed-form solution is presented to calculate the critical buckling temperature and post-buckling equilibrium path of the plate. Presented numerical examples contain the influences of power law index, sandwich plate geometry, geometrical imperfection, temperature dependency, and the elastic foundation coefficients.     

Thermally induced local slip of contacting solids in vicinity of surface groove

The thermoelasticity stick–slip contact problem for semi-infinite solids, one of which possesses a surface groove, is considered. The local slip of boundaries occurs in the vicinity of arisen intersurface gap due to different thermal deformations of the opposite faces caused by the temperature jump. By making use of complex potentials method, the corresponding plane contact problem is reduced to a set of three singular integral equations. The analytical solution is constructed for certain shape of the groove. The contact normal and tangential stresses are analyzed along with the parameters of the gap and slip zones, and their dependencies on mechanical and thermal loading.     

Discontinuous solutions of the shallow water equations on a rotatable attracting sphere

The shallow water equations on a rotatable attracting sphere represent a system of hyperbolic equations on a compact manifold. These equations are derived in a spherical coordinate system from the integral laws of mass and total momentum conservation with account for the Coriolis and centrifugal forces. An analysis of the stability of discontinuous solutions with discontinuous waves and contact discontinuities is made using the closing law of total energy conservation, which represents a convex extension of the basic conservation-law system. The classes of stationary, one-dimensional (latitude-dependent only) exact solutions with contact discontinuities and discontinuous waves are constructed. Within the framework of the one-dimensional equations the test problem of wave flows resulting from the simultaneous break of two dams confining a fluid at rest in the vicinities of the poles is numerically modeled.     

An improved contact-impact algorithm for explicit integration FEM

Although the penalty algorithm is simple and direct in concept, it has a defect that the contact forces are badly dependent on the chosen penalty factor. An improved contact-impact algorithm for the explicit integration FEM is proposed in the present paper. Based on the fact that bodies cannot penetrate into each other on the contact faces, a set of equations with the additional unknown contact forces on the slave nodes can be formed in a new system configuration. By solving these equations, the correct contact forces could be obtained without using the penalty factor.     

Quasistatic periodic contact problem for a viscoelastic layer,a cylinder,and a space with a cylindrical cavity

This paper considers the contact problem of interaction of a rigid die, a rigid band, and a rigid insert with a viscoelastic layer, a viscoelastic cylinder, and viscoelastic space with a cylindrical cavity, respectively. It is assumed that the die, band, and insert move at a constant velocity along the boundaries of the viscoelastic bodies. In the first stage, the displacement of the boundaries of the above-mentioned bodies is determined as a function of the applied normal loads ignoring friction in the contact area. In the second stage, integral equations are derived to determine contact pressure in the contact problems. In the third stage, approximate solutions of the integral equations are constructed using a modified Multhopp-Kalandia method.     

Numerical and experimental study of free convection above a sinusoidal horizontal plate

A numerical and experimental analysis is performed to study the laminar free convection above a horizontal plate facing upward subjected to an uniform heat flux. The surface of the plate, in contact with the fluid, is described by a sinusoidal profile. The natural convection equations are discretized, using an implicit finite difference technique, based on the finite volume approach. The SIMPLE algorithm assumes the linkage between velocities and pressure fields. The top and the lateral boundaries of the space, where free convection is developing, are determined by using an iterative procedure. The temperature fields of the fluid, over the plate, are visualized by an experimental device, which can realize a simultaneous measurement of the temperature and the position. Qualitative information about the natural convection flow above the plate is obtained by using a laser tomography technique. The numerical results show that the flow and the heat transfer are strongly affected by the amplitude, the period of the sinusoidal profile and the type of fluid. Comparisons between numerical and experimental results show a good qualitative agreement.