Initiation of rolling contact fatigue from asperities in elastohydrodynamic lubricated contacts
Abstract: Rolling contacts are utilized in many technical applications, both in bearings and in the contact between gear teeth. These components are often highly loaded, which makes them susceptible to suffer from rolling contact fatigue. This work focuses on the rolling contact fatigue mechanism of pitting. In order to attain a better understanding of why pitting initiates and grows, detailed simulations of rolling contacts have been performed. In particular the contact between two gears in a truck retarder was here used as a case study. The investigated contact experienced elastohydrodynamic lubrication conditions since the load was high enough to causes the surfaces in contact to deform and the viscosity of the lubricant to increase significantly.In Paper A it was investigated if surface irregularities in the size of the surface roughness are large enough to cause surface initiated fatigue. The investigation focused on the pitch line since small surface initiated pits were found here even though there was no slip present. Since there were pits present at the pitch line, it is important that the theories of pitting can explain the development of pits also in the absence of slip. The conclusion of the work was that surface irregularities of the size of normal surface roughness are enough to cause surface initiated fatigue at the pitch line.In Paper B it was investigated why pits are more likely to initiate in the dedendum of pinion gears than in the addendum. In both areas slip is present but in different directions. In the dedendum the friction from slip is against the rolling direction which enhances the risk for pitting. The investigation was performed by studying the effect of the temperature rise in the contact caused by the slip. The conclusion drawn was that the temperature rise in the contact explained why pitting was more common in the dedendum than in the addendum.
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