<p>Rolling contact fatigue (RCF) is the primary mode of failure in tribological contacts like rolling-element bearings (REBs), gears, and cam-follower systems. RCF processes have a crack initiation phase followed by a propagation and coalescence phase, resulting in spalls that lead to catastrophic failure. Crack initiation is a highly localized process that is strongly influenced by the inhomogeneity of the material microstructure. Therefore, a microstructure-sensitive model is required to simulate the damage evolution and failure due to RCF loading. This document presents the development of a microstructure-based finite element (FE) framework for RCF, which accounts for the inhomogeneity of bearing steel microstructure by using an explicit definition of polycrystal topology and material anisotropy. The granular topology of the bearing steel microstructure is described using randomly generated Voronoi tessellations. A cubic elastic material definition with a random spatial orientation is specified for each Voronoi grain to simulate the material anisotropy. The Voronoi grains generated using this approach were used to model the critically stressed microstructural volume in RCF loading. A domain size study was conducted to estimate the minimum number of grains that need to be contained by the critically stressed volume such that the macroscopic material response of the polycrystalline aggregate matches the linear elastic material properties of bearing steel. The estimated critically stressed volume was then embedded into a semi-infinite domain for the FE simulation of RCF line contact loading. The RCF domains developed were then subjected to a moving Hertzian pressure over the surface to simulate a bearing load cycle. A boundary averaging scheme was used to estimate the effective stresses along the grain boundaries of the Voronoi cells. Due to the anisotropy of the polycrystalline material, local stress concentrations occur at the grain boundaries as compared to isotropic models. The resolved grain boundary stresses were used to predict critical locations for RCF crack initiation, which closely match observations from RCF bench test data. Since RCF failures typically exhibit subsurface locations for the first crack initiation, the model uses the critical resolved shear stress (RSS) reversal along the grain boundaries and the corresponding subsurface location of the maxima as the driving parameters for RCF fatigue failures. The parameters from the model were fit into a Weibull distribution to estimate the stochasticity in initiation life. The Weibull predictions corroborate well with experimentally measured RCF life scatter. The framework was then extended using a coupled damage mechanics - cohesive element method (DM-CEM) to individually model the crack initiation and propagation phases in RCF. An explicit definition of the grain boundaries was incorporated using cohesive elements. Damage is initiated at the grain boundaries by degradation of the cohesive elements and the rate of damage/degradation is used to characterize the evolution of fatigue life. The rate of damage was calculated at each grain boundary using a fatigue damage law based on the RSS reversal parameter. The model is able to simulate the crack initiation and the propagation/ coalescence phases in RCF, with distinct life estimates for each phase. This model framework is further extended to investigate the effects of lubrication conditions in RCF by integrating an elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) model to simulate the pressure load with the DM-CEM model. Further improvements to the fatigue life predictions using the DM-CEM model are made by coupling it with a crystal plasticity (CP) based submodel approach to predict the crack initiation life in RCF. CP-based metrics are used to correlate the microplasticity developed under RCF loading with the formation of fatigue micro-cracks and the corresponding initiation life estimations. The resulting final spall patterns and RCF life estimates were found to match well with experimental data available in the open literature.</p> <p><br></p>

The use of bearings can be found in virtually all aspects of mechanical systems today. Reliability of these critical components is an important issue. Fatigue performance of bearings is a function of many factors, including service conditions, loading, material properties, environmental factors, and manufacturing processes. Crack nucleation, first spall generation and spall growth in rolling contact fatigue are known to be highly sensitive to the heterogeneity of the microstructure. Yet the current state-of-the-art in the design of high performance bearing materials and microstructures is highly empirical requiring substantial lengthy experimental testing to validate the reliability and performance of these new materials and processes. The approach presented here is designed to determine relative rolling contact fatigue performance as a function of microstructural attributes. A fully three-dimensional finite element modeling allows for end effects to be captured that were not previously possible with two-dimensional plane-strain models, providing for a more realistic assessment of inclusion morphology and arbitrary orientations. The scaling of the finite element models has been optimized to capture the cyclic microplasticity around a modeled inclusion accurately and efficiently. To achieve this, two scales of geometric models were developed to incorporate different sized microstructural phenomena, with both models using traction boundary conditions derived from Hertzian contact stresses. A microstructure-sensitive material model adds additional capability. A hybrid model that includes both martensite and austenite phases with additional internal state variable to track the volume fraction of retained austenite due to stress-assisted transformation were developed. This represents an advance over previous models where transform plasticity and crystal plasticity were not simultaneously accounted for in a homogenized element containing both phases. Important links between microstructural features and fatigue indicator parameters (and relative fatigue performance) were determined. Demonstration cases show the relationship between inclusion orientation and relative fatigue performance, allowing for the identification of critical angles which maximize fatigue and reduce performance. An additional case study showed that increasing initial volume fraction of retained austenite reduces relative fatigue life. The tools developed allow for investigations of the influence of many microstructural aspects on relative fatigue performance with a numerical model that were not previously possible.

The wheel-rail contact is at the core of all research related to vehicletrackinteraction. This tiny interface governs the dynamic performanceof rail vehicles through the forces it transmits and, like any high stressconcentration zone, it is subjected to serious damage phenomena. Thus,a clear understanding of the rolling contact between wheel and rail is keyto realistic vehicle dynamics simulation and damage analysis. In a multi-body dynamics simulation, the demanding contact problemshould be evaluated at about every millisecond for several wheel-rail pairs.Hence, a rigorous treatment of the contact is highly time-consuming.Simplifying assumptions are therefore made to accelerate the simulationprocess. This gives rise to a trade-o between the accuracy and computationaleciency of the contact model in use. Conventionally, Hertz+FASTSIM is used for calculation of the contactforces thanks to its low computational cost. However, the elliptic patchand pressure distribution obtained by Hertz' theory is often not realisticin wheel-rail contact. Moreover, the use of parabolic traction bound inFASTSIM causes considerable error in the tangential stress estimation.This combination leads to inaccurate damage predictions. Fast non-elliptic contact models are proposed by others to tacklethis issue while avoiding the tedious numerical procedures. The studiesconducted in the present work show that the accuracy of these models iscase-dependent. To improve the accuracy of non-elliptic patch and pressure estimation,a new method is proposed. The method is implemented in an algorithmnamed ANALYN. Comparisons show improvements in patch and, particularly,pressure estimations using ANALYN. In addition, an alternative to the widely-used FASTSIM is developed, named FaStrip. Unlike FASTSIM, it employs an elliptic traction boundand is able to estimate the non-linear characteristic of tangential stressdistribution. Comparisons show more accurate estimation of tangentialstress and slip velocity distribution as well as creep forces with FaStrip. Ultimately, an ecient non-elliptic wheel-rail contact model consistingof ANALYN and FaStrip is proposed. The reasonable computationalcost of the model enables it to be used on-line in dynamics simulationand its accuracy can improve the damage predictions. / <p>QC 20160202</p>

O presente trabalho destina-se à discussão sobre o cálculo de vida útil de rolamentos. Mostrando o avanço do processo de cálculo ao longo das décadas até o mais alto grau de desenvolvimento atual. A preocupação do texto é demonstrar de forma simples e objetiva as divergências que existem entre a formulação teórica e a real vida dos rolamentos, no que tange a fadiga de contato. Neste contexto foram realizados testes, em máquina especialmente destinada ao ensaio da fadiga de rolamentos. Variando-se para as duas séries de ensaios, apenas, a temperatura (aproximadamente 85°C e 110°C). Os resultados obtidos indicam que a vida real dos rolamentos apresenta grande divergência se comparada com a vida útil calculada, principalmente, no regime com maior temperatura. Atribui-se a esta disparidade, a ausência de cálculos precisos quanto à correlação da vida útil com o fator l, que é uma forma de se calcular o espaçamento entre as superfícies de contato, e o não emprego do cálculo do fator de carga, na formulação da vida útil de rolamentos. / The present work has the purpose of discussing the life of rolling bearings, describing the evolution of bearing life calculation until its current state of the art. Our focus is to demonstrate, simply and objectively, the inconsistencies occurring between the actual life of rolling bearings and their theoretical fatigue life estimation. For such purpose, tests were developed in a special bearing test rig to assess bearing fatigue. Two test sets were carried out with temperature being the only variation (approximately 85°C and 110°C). Results obtained from these tests suggest that the real life of rolling bearings is indeed very different from calculated bearing life, especially under higher temperature. Such disparity can be attributed to the lack of a precise computation of the relationship between bearing real life and the l factor - which determines the thickness of lubricant separating raceways and balls - as well as to the failure to compute the load factor in bearing life estimation.

Os processos de manufatura, bem como os parâmetros de processamento utilizados produzem diferentes resultados com relação à integridade de uma superfície. Estas alterações se refletem em mudança das propriedades da superfície, as quais podem influenciar o desempenho dos componentes. O presente trabalho estuda o efeito da integridade superficial gerada pelos processos de torneamento e retificação na resistência à fadiga de contato do aço ferramenta AISI H13. A influência do processo de usinagem e dos parâmetros de corte no estado da superfície e subsuperfície, e como estas características afetam o desempenho são determinados. Foram geradas quatro condições diferentes para as superfícies torneadas mediante a combinação de parâmetros de corte. As superfícies retificadas foram produzidas empregando as mesmas condições de retificação, com isso, obteve-se a mesma condição para todos os corpos de prova ensaiados. As características medidas da integridade superficial foram: os parâmetros de rugosidade, tensões residuais, microdureza Vickers da seção transversal e ruído magnético de Barkhausen. Foi determinado o desempenho das superfícies por fadiga de contato de rolamento, num equipamento na configuração esfera-plano. Os corpos de prova foram anéis de AISI H13 temperados e revenidos. A totalidade dos ensaios foi realizada até a ocorrência de lascamento (Spalling). Os ensaios foram realizados com lubrificação e com uma máxima pressão de contato de Hertz de 3,6 GPa. Foi observado que dependendo do nível de integridade superficial induzido pelo processo de usinagem e dos parâmetros selecionados, o desempenho da superfície em fadiga de contato de rolamento foi afetado. Contudo, as melhores condições de desempenho foram dos materiais retificados, e para os materiais torneados o melhor desempenho foi obtido com maiores velocidades de corte. / The manufacturing process and the machining parameters selected lead to different integrity of the surface, and these characteristics will influence the functional performance of the components. This study evaluated and analyzed the effect of surface integrity on the contact fatigue resistance of the H13 hot work tool steel. The surfaces were manufactured by hard turning and grinding process. Therefore, the influences of the machining process and the cutting parameters on the surface and on the subsurface layer were studied. Four different turned surfaces were obtained as a combination of cutting parameters selected for the tests. On the other hand, grinding surfaces were generated using the same machining conditions. The characteristics of surface integrity evaluated were: surface roughness parameters, residual stresses, Barkhausen noise, and microhardness of surface and sub-layers in transverse section. It was also evaluated the performance of the samples by rolling contact fatigue tests conducted in a ball on washer machine. The specimens were rings made of AISI H13 steel, which were quenched and tempered. All tests were performed until the occurrence of spalling. The tests were carried out under lubrication and with a maximum Hertz contact pressure of 3.6 GPa. Monitoring and failure detection were carried out by analyzing the changes in the vibration signal of the test machine sensors. It was observed that the performance of the surface in rolling contact fatigue resistance was affected by the level of the surface integrity, related to the machining process and the machining parameters.

Ces travaux de thèse concernent l’étude des effets des oscillations de faibles amplitudes sur la durée de vie en fatigue de contact pour des composants d’actionneurs de vol. Des outils théoriques et expérimentaux ont pour cela été employés.Un modèle semi-analytique de contact rugueux élasto-plastique a été codé puis utilisé. Celui-ci, couplé au modèle de Dang Van, a permis de réaliser une étude théorique de l’influence du sens de passage de contacts sur la durée de vie en fatigue. Une comparaison en fatigue entre mouvements continus et mouvements oscillants a ainsi pu être faite.Un banc bi-disque a été spécifiquement développé chez UTAS pour pouvoir réaliser des essais de fatigue de roulement aussi bien en mouvements continus qu’en mouvements oscillants. Des essais de lubrification ont été réalisés sur des éprouvettes en XD15NW et en CX13VD afin de caractériser le phénomène de faux effet Brinell. Des essais de fatigue en lubrification optimale ont finalement été réalisés sur les éprouvettes en XD15NW en mouvements continus et en mouvements oscillants, les résultats ont été comparés et mis en vis-à-vis avec ceux de l’analyse théorique. / This PhD thesis is a study of small reciprocating motions effects on contact fatigue life of flight actuator components. Theoretical and practical tools are used for this purpose.A semi-analytical elasto-plastic rough contact code has been implemented and, then, used. This code, associated with Dang Van model, allowed us to perform a theoretical study of rolling direction effect on fatigue life. A comparison has been made between continuous motions and reciprocating motions.A twin-disc test bench has been specifically design at UTAS to allow us to perform rolling fatigue tests with continuous motions or with reciprocating motions. Lubrications tests have been done on XD15NW and CX13VD samples in order to study false brinelling phenomenon. Finally, fatigue tests in ideal lubrication conditions have been done on XD15NW samples with continuous motions and with reciprocating motions, results have been cross-checked each other and cross-checked with theoretical results.

Cam follower systems are generally designed to operate at a fixed speed or a range of fixed speeds. However manufacturing defects, wear, or a change of design goals may require altering the camshaft speed to produce a follower trajectory which is not possible using a fixed speed. The follower trajectory may also be optimized for some performance criteria such as minimizing vibration and wear. Like most real world systems, the differential equations governing a cam follower system are nonlinear. A common approach for controlling a nonlinear system is to first linearize the system about a nominal operating point, then apply linear control laws. In many cases, such as the cam follower system, one can create a trajectory and numerically solve the nonlinear system for the inputs required to follow it. Linearizing about this solution creates a linear time varying system whose states are deviations from the desired solution. The speed trajectory in the cam follower system is periodic, which results in a linear system with periodic coefficients. Repetitive control creates control systems that aim to converge to zero tracking error following a periodic command, or aim to completely cancel the effects of a periodic disturbance. Using the inverse of the steady state frequency response as a compensator has been shown to be very effective for linear time invariant systems. That idea is applied here to linear time periodic systems. The periodic state matrices lend themselves well to frequency domain representations, which can be used to construct a matrix form of the steady state frequency response. The first law studied in this work analyzes a moving window implementation which monitors the output errors and previous commands to create an update to the change in the command for the current time step using the inverse of the steady state frequency response matrix. Asymptotic convergence conditions for zero tracking error are derived. When the number of samples in one period is not an integer number, the moving window method is not feasible without interpolation. Therefore a second method based on the projection algorithm from adaptive control is developed and analyzed. In linear constant coefficient systems, one generally needs to incorporate a frequency cutoff filter to robustify to high frequency model error. The additional intricacies of designing a cutoff filter for periodic systems is considered, aiming to handle the fact that for periodic coefficient systems, addressing error components below the intended cutoff can excite harmonics above the cutoff. The control laws developed in this work are applicable to any nonlinear system which may be linearized about a periodic trajectory. Development of these control laws is motivated by improving the performance of a cam follower system. Additional improvements in cam follower behavior can be done through parameter optimization. This includes optimizing a nonlinear follower spring such that it provides just sufficient force to maintain contact while reducing the load on the cam.

In this thesis, a hierarchical multiscale method was developed to predict rolling contact fatigue lives of mechanical systems. In the proposed multiscale method, the molecular modeling and simulation of lubricant was conducted to investigate the friction between rolling contact surfaces. The calculated friction coefficient was passed to the continuum model of rolling contact components to predict fatigue lives. Molecular dynamics modeling and simulation of thin film lubrication and lubricated contact surfaces were carried out to investigate mechanisms of hydrodynamic lubrication at nano-scale first. Although various lubricant alkane chains were considered in the molecular model, the chain length of eight united molecules were mainly employed in this thesis. In addition, the effects of temperature and nano-particles (debris) on the friction forces were discussed. It was found that the existing of nano-particles (debris) could increase the friction force between contact surfaces with hydrodynamic lubrication. In the continuum model of the developed multiscale method, finite element analysis was employed to predict rolling contact fatigue life of rolling contact components, including bearing and gear-tooth. Specifically, the fatigue crack initiation of bearing was studied, and then the fatigue crack initiation and propagation in gear-tooth. In addition, the enhancement of gear-tooth fatigue life by using composite patches was discussed as well. It should be noted that the friction coefficient used in the continuum model was calculated in the molecular model. It is one-way message passing in the developed multiscale method. Another continuum method was studied and developed in this thesis to provide alternate methods for the continuum model in the proposed multiscale framework. Peridynamics method has advantages in modeling and simulation of discontinuities, including cracks, over the conventional finite element methods. The applications of Peridynamics in predicting fatigue crack initiation and propagation lives were discussed in this thesis.

The potential for significant performance increases, using ceramic materials in un-lubricated rolling element bearing applications, has been the subject of research over the past two decades. Practical advantages over steel include increased ability to withstand high loads, severe environments and high speeds. However, widespread acceptance has been limited by the inability to predict wear life for ceramic bearing applications. In this thesis, the rolling contact wear of 52100 bearing steel and Over-aged Magnesia-Partially-Stabilised Zirconia (OA-Mg-PSZ) ceramic are examined using a newly developed rolling contact wear test rig. The new wear test rig simulates the system geometry of an un-lubricated hybrid (ceramic and steel) ball bearing. The new wear test rig is versatile in that it allows low cost samples to be utilised resulting in a larger number of samples that can be tested. Wear samples of 52100 bearing steel and OA-Mg-PSZ produced by the new wear test rig were examined for mass loss and wear depth. The wear behavior of both the steel and ceramic material showed a dependence on operating variables time and load. Load was varied between 300N to 790N. Typical mass loss after 1 hour of testing 52100 bearing steel at 790N was 0.03 grams as compared to OA-Mg-PSZ which was 0.001 grams. The rolling contact wear of the OA-Mg-PSZ was an order of magnitude lower than that of the 52100 bearing steel. The wear mechanism for 52100 bearing steel was typical of plastic deformation and shearing near and below the surface of rolling contact. Once cracks extend to reach the surface, thin flat like sheets are produced. In OA-Mg-PSZ the wear mechanism initially is that of plastic deformation on the scale of the surface asperities with asperity polishing occurring followed by lateral cracks and fatigue spallation. Results obtained using the new rolling contact wear test rig led to the establishment of a new equation for wear modeling of 52100 bearing steel and OA-Mg-PSZ ceramic materials.

Rolling contact fatigue is a damage process that may arise in mechanical applications with repeated rolling contacts. Some examples are: gears; cams; bearings; rail/wheel contacts. The resulting damage is often visible with the naked eye as millimeter sized surface craters. The surface craters are here denoted spalls and the gear contact served as a case study. The work focused on the asperity point load mechanism for initiation of spalls. It was found that the stresses at asperity level may be large enough to initiate surface cracking, especially if the complete stress cycle was accounted for. The gear contact is often treated as a cylindrical contact. The thesis contains experimental and numerical results connected to rolling contact fatigue of cylindrical contacts. At the outset a stationary cylindrical contact was studied experimentally. The stationary test procedure was used instead of a rolling contact. In this way the number of contact parameters was minimized. The cylindrical contact resulted in four different contact fatigue cracks. The two cracks that appeared first initiated below the contact. The other two cracks developed at the contact surface when the number of load cycles and the contact load increased. The influence of a surface irregularity (asperity) was studied numerically with the Finite Element Method (FEM). Firstly, the stationary contact was modelled and investigated numerically. At the cylindrical contact boundary a single axisymmetric was included. The partially loaded asperity introduced a tensile surface stress, which seen from the asperity centre was radially directed. Secondly, FE simulations were performed where a single axisymmetric asperity was over-rolled by a cylindrical contact. The simulations were performed for pure rolling and rolling with slip. For both situations, tensile forward directed stresses in front of the asperity were found. The presence of slip and a surface traction greatly increased the stresses in front of the asperity. Finally, when rolling started from rest with applied slip, the distance to steady-state rolling was determined for elastic similar cylindrical rollers. / QC 20100702