A finite element study of the deformations, forces, stress formations, and energy losses in sliding cylindrical contacts

This work presents the results of a finite element analysis (FEA) used to simulate two-dimensional (2D) sliding between two interfering elasto-plastic cylinders. The material for the cylinders is modeled as elastic-perfectly plastic and follows the von Mises yield criterion. The FEA provides trends in the deformations, reaction forces, stresses, and net energy losses as a function of the interference and sliding distance between the cylinders. Results are presented for both frictionless and frictional sliding and comparisons are drawn. The effects of plasticity and friction on energy loss during sliding are isolated. This work also presents empirical equations thatt relate the net energy loss due to sliding under an elasto-plastic deformation as a function of the sliding distance. Contour plots of the von Mises stresses are presented to show the formation and distribution of stresses with increasing plastic deformation as sliding progresses. This work shows that for the plastic loading cases the ratio of the horizontal force to the vertical reaction force is non-zero at the point where the cylinders are perfectly aligned about the vertical axis. In addition, a “load ratio” of the horizontal tugging force to the vertical reaction force is defined. Although this is analogous to the common definition of the coefficient of friction between sliding surfaces, it just contains the effect of energy loss in plasticity. The values of the contact half-width are obtained for different vertical interferences as sliding progresses.