Multiaxial fatigue life calculation model for components in rolling-sliding line contact with application to gears

摘要

Important components such as gears, rollers, or bearings operate in rolling-sliding contact loading conditions. Determination of their fatigue lives remains a challenging task due to complex states of stress and strain in the contact region, as well as complex contact conditions such as variable loading amplitude and complex geometry of contact. A mathematical model of rolling-sliding line contact combined with a multiaxial fatigue life calculation model based on the Fatemi-Socie critical plane crack initiation criterion is proposed. The developed model was applied to gears' teeth in mesh and compared with fatigue lives of gears reported in the literature. Good agreement was determined confirming the validity of the proposed model. A further advantage is obtaining locations of initiated cracks and the orientation of critical plane(s), which can subsequently be used for the estimation of crack shapes in initial phases of their growth and the damage type that they can be expected to develop into.