Effect of wear on the contact stress distribution in sliding bearings with plastic bushes

The contact problem is considered for a thin elastic annular layer compressed by a rigid cylinder with initial contact over a considerable area. Relations for calculating the maximum contact stresses in sliding bearings with plastic bushes are obtained with allowance for the wear of the bush. From an analysis of these relations it follows that, as the bush wear increases, the maximum contact stresses fall appreciably. This offers a partial explanation of the fall in wear rate as the bearing is run in.Bryansk Machine-Building Plant. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 6, pp. 1046–1051, November-December, 1969.