Numerical Investigation of Stresses in the Inelastic Range in a Rolling Contact

An automobile component moving in a rolling contact is modeled as a disk rolling on a rigid track. Elastic-plastic finite element method is employed to determine the stresses and strains in the disk near the point of contact as a function of the rolling history. It is shown that unloading due to rotation of the previously yielded elements can be easily handled by the direct stiffness tangent modulus approach. Stresses at shakedown and elastic-plastic steady state are computed.