7.

8 SPHERICAL CONTACT

Cross-sections oflWo spheres in contact are shown in Figure 7-13. The dotted lines in-
dicate the possibilities of one being a flat plane or a concave cup. The difference is only
in the magnitude or the sign of its radius of curvature (convex +, concave -). Figure

·7.11a shows the general semi-ellipsoidal pressure distribution over the contact patch.
For a sphere-on-sphere, it wiu be a hemisphere with a circular contact patch (a b). =

Contact Pressure and Contact Patch in Spherical Contact

Thecontact pressure is a maximum Pmaxat the center and zero at the edge. The total
,applied load F on the contact patch is equal to the volume of the hemisphere:

F='!:.1ta2pmax (7.8a)
3

M.l T. CE!

(aJ Unloaded

FIGURE 7 -13
~ . -- --
,.'.-'lOCI Zone of Two Spheres or Cylinders
7.7 SURFACE FATIGUE

All the surface-failure modes discussed above apply to situations in which the rela~"'
motions belWeen the surfaces are essentially pure sliding. When IWOsurfaces are
pure-rolling contact, or are primarily rolling in combination with a small percental .
of sliding, a different surface failure mechanism comes into play, called surface f8ti~;
Many applications of this condition exist such as ball and roller bearings, cams Wlm
roller followers, nip rolls, and spur or helical gear-tooth contact. All except th~ ~I
teeth and nip rolls typically have essentially pure rolling with only about 1% shdJDg.
Gear teeth have significant sliding at portions of their tooth interface and this will change

the stress state significantly compared to the pure rolling cases, as we shall see. O:~
types of gears such as spiral bevel, hypoid, and worm sets have essentially pure
ing at their interfaces and one or more of the wear mechanisms discussed .above lid'::
~~
apply. Nip rolls (such as those used to roll sheet steel) can be run with or withoutS ;~
ing depending on their purpose. -1,1
, The stresses introduced in tWomaterials contacting at a rolling interface are highly
"dependenton the geometry of the surfaces in contact as well as on the loading and ma-
terialproperties" The general case allows any three-dimensional geometry on each con-
18ctingmember and, as would be expected, its calculation is the most complex. 1Wo
special-geometrycases are of practical interest and are also somewhat simpler to ana-
lyze. These are sphere-an-sphere, and cylinder-on-cylinder. In all cases, the radii of
curvatureof the mating surfaces will be significant factors. By varying the radii of
ClllVatureof one mating surface, these special cases can be extended to include the sub-
(UCSof sphere-an-plane, sphere-in-cup, cylinder-an-plane, and cylinder-in-trough. It
jsoolynecessary to make the radii of curvature of one element infinite to obtain a plane,
ud negative radii of curvature define a concave cup, or concave trough surface. For
example,some ball bearings can be modeled as sphere-on-plane and some roller bear-
ingsas cylinder-in-trough.

As a ball passes over another surface, the theoretical contact patch is a point of zero
dimension. A roller against a cylindrical or flat surface theoretically contacts along a
Hoeof zero width. Since the area of each of these theoretical contact geometries is zero,
my applied force will then create an infmite stress. We know that this cannot be true
as the materials would instantly fail. In fact, tbe materials must deflect to create suffi-
:ientcontact area to support the load at some finite stress. This deflection creates a semi-
ellipsoidal pressure distribution over the contact patch. In the general case, tbe contact
Itchis elliptical as shown in Figure 7-lIa. Spberes will have a circular contact patcb
d cylinders create a rectangular contact patcb as sbown in Figure 7-llb.

cia) Ellipsoidal pressure distribution in general contact- (b) Ellipsoidal-prism pressure distribution
tOt"spherical contact a = b in cyfindrical contact

'/CURE 7-11
lie Distributions and Contact
--
Zones 01 Spherical, Cylindrical, and General Hertzian Contact
 \
494 MACHINE DESIGN An Integrated Approach

where a is the half-width (radius) of the contact patch. This can be solved for the maxi-
mum pressure:

(7.8b)

The average pressure on the contact patch is the applied force divided by its area:

F F
--=-Z
Pa1'8- area
na
(7.8el-J
1

j,
and substituting equation 7.8e in 7.8b gives:

(7.8d) j
;

We now define material collstants for the two spheres

I- vf 1- v~
ml=- mz=- (7.9a) ,
E) Ez .~

where E" Ez and v" Vz are the Young's moduli and Poisson's ratios for the materials ,

of sphere I and sphere 2, respectively. .'.

The dimensions of the contact area are typically very small compared to the radii of'
~M,"re ofili,"","". wh;,h,1Io~ "" red;;'" .. '00';"=<1,oo,,~, o~, ili,".,!
tact area despite the small deformations occurring there. We can define a geometry eon- 4j
stant that depends only on the radii R]1and1Rz ofI the two spheres, .;.]
B=- -+-
2 ~ ~( ) (7.9b) .\
~
.

To accou'nt for the case of a sphere-on-plane, Rz becomes infinite making I/Rz zero. For 1
a sphere-in-cup, R2 becomes negative. (See Figure 7-13.) Otherwise Rz is finite and ~
positive, as is RI' 1
~1
The contact patch radius a is then found from
~t
1t m, +mz (7.9c) .
a ="4Pmax s-
Substitute equation 7.8b in 7.9c:

a = ~/0.375 ml + mz F
B
 495

The pressure distribution within the hemisphere is

. Chop'" \RFACE ""UR'
Z
I'
(7.10)
pmax~
(_ .
; \x
We can normalize the pressure p to the magnitude of Pavg and the patch dimension x or o I I I I I II I I I I
y to the patch radius a and then plot the normalized pressure distribution across the patch, -<lOa
which will be an ellipse as shown in Figure 7-14.

FIGURE 7-14

",.StaticStress Distributions in Spherical Contact Pressure Distribution

Across Contact Patch
The pressure on the contact patch creates a three-dimensional stress state in the mate-
rial. The three applied stresses ux, uY' and Uz are compressive and are maximal al the
sphere's surface in the center of the patch. They diminish rapidly and nonlinearly with
depth and with distance from the axis of contact. They are called Hertzian stresses in
bonor of their original discoverer. A complete derivation of these equations can be found
in reference 19. Note that these applied stresses in the x, y, and z directions are also the
principal stresses in this case. If we look at these stresses as they vary along the z-axis
(with z increasing into the material) we find

(7.11a)

(7.11b)

Poisson's ratio is taken for the sphere of interest in this calculation. These normal, (and
principal) stresses are maximal at the surface, where z = 0:

",. Uz""" = -Pmax (7.11c)

1+2v
(7.11d)
.~ ux..., =uYmax=-~Pmax
'!'here is also a shear stress induced from these normal stresses:

3
Pmax (1-2v) z 3 z
(7.12a)
t13=-
. 2 [
-+(I+v)
2
r-??
( "a2 +z2 J(-- r-??
2 "a2 +z2 J]
thich
ceo is not maximum at the surface but rather at a small distance Z@tmar below the sur-
 '-

496 MACHINEDESIGN -
A,'oI'g"'"A,,\
0.4
0.2
stress
O Z
Pmax : , , Ii
.2
.4
.6
.8
-1.0 --:-- .,..
0 1 2 3 4 5
normalizeddepth z Ia
FIGURE 7-15 1P'8II" ___ "I!J a :!t
NormalizedStressDistribution Along the z axis in Static SphericalContact - xyz Stressesare Prindpal

t
13m..
= Pmax
2 [ (1-2V)
2
+~(I+V)~2(I+V)
9 ] (7.12b)

(7.12c)
Z@t_ = a~2+2V
7-2v

Figure 7-15 shows a plot of the principal normal and maximum shear stresses as a
function of depth z along a radius of the sphere. The stresses are normalized to the maxi-
mum pressure Pmax, and the depth is normalized to the half-width a of the contact patch.
This plot provides a dimensionless picture of the stress distribution on the centerline
under a spherical contact. Note that all the stresses have diminished to <10% of Pmax
within z = Sa. The subsurface location of the maximum shear stress can also be seen.

If both materials are steel, it occurs at a depth of about 0.63a and its magnitude is about
0.34 Pmax. 'f.he shear stress is about 0.11 Pmax at the surface on the z axis.

The subsurface location of the maximum shear stress is believed by some to be a

significant factor in surface-fatigue failure. The theory says cracks that begin below the
surface eventually grow to the point that the material above the crack breaks out to foern
a pit as shown in Figure 7-12.

Figure 7-16 shows a photoelastic model of the contact stresses in a earn immedi-
ately beneath a loaded roller follower.f20] Experimental photoelastic stress analysis uses
a physical model of the part to be analyzed made from a transparent plastic material
(Lexan in this example) that shows fringes of constant stress magnitude when loaded
and viewed in polarized light. The maximum shear stress can be clearly seen a small
distance into the cam directly under the follower. While this is a cylindrical rather than
a spherical contact, their stress distributions along the centerline are similar, as wilI be
seen in the next section. .
 Chapter 7 SURFACE FAILURE 497

follower

cam

FIGURE 7-16
Photoelastic Analysis of Contact Stresses Under a Cam Follower Source: V.S. Mahkijani. Study of
ContactStresses as Developed on a Radial Carn using Photoelastic Model and Finite Element Analysis. M.S.
Thesis,WorcesterPolytechnic
Institute. 1984

When we move off the centerline of the contact patch on the surface of the sphere,
tbe stresses diminish. At the edge of the patch the radial stress crzis zero but there is a
condition of pure shear stress with the magnitude:

]-2v
(7.13a)
txy =~Pmax
Picturethe Mohr's circle for a pure shear case. The two nonzero principal stresses will
be:t txy,which means that there is also a tensile stress at that point of
]-2v
(7.13b)
crled,e= ~ Pmax
7
 7.9 CYLINDRICAL CONTACT

2' Cylindrical contact is common in machinery. Contacting rollers are often used to pull
web material such as paper through machinery or to change the thickness of a material
.. in the rolling or calendering process. Roller bearings are another application. The cyJ-
~, inders can both be convex, one convex and one concave (cyJinder-in-trough), or in the
~i limit, a cylinder-on-plane. In all such contacts there is the possibility of slidiQg as well
as rolling at the interface. The presence of tangential sliding forces has a significant
effect on the stresses compared to pure rolling. We will first consider the case of two
cylinders in pure rolling and later introduce a sliding component.

Contact Pressure and Contact Patch in Parallel Cylindrical Contact

Ii When two cylinders roll together, their contact patch will be rectangular as shown in
Figure 7-1 lb. The pressure distribution will be a semi-elliptical prism of half-width a.
_ The contact zone will look as shown in Figure 7-13. The contact pressure is a maxi-
' mUmPmaxat the center and zero at the edges as shown in Figure 7-14. The applied load
, F on the contact patch is equal to the volume of the half-prism:

~ J
. F=-1taLpnrax (7.14a)
. 2
I:, "'= Fi. "" '",,' ,,,'" ''''''' ... L ;, me]00"""00'''''']'', .eo,]""", ~;,.
This can be solved for the maximum pressure:

2F
(7.14b)
Pmax = 1taL
The average pressure is the applied force divided by the contact patch area:
F F
(7.14c)
Pavg =~= 2aL
 MACHINE DESIGN An Integrated Approach

Substituting equation 7.& in 7.8b gives

1
4
Pnuv: = X Pavg :; 1.273Pavg
(7.14d)

We now define a cylindrical geometry constant that depends on the radii RJ and R2
of the two cylinders, (Note that it is the same as equation 7.9b for spheres.) I

(7.15a) J
i
To account for the case of a cylinder-on-plane, R2 becomes infinite making I/R2 zero.
For a cylinder-in-trough, R2 becomes negative. Otherwise R2 is fmite and positive, as ..1
is RJ. The contact-patch half-width a is then found from I
a= _,~ mJ +m2!.. (7.15b)
1t B L

where mJ and m2 are material constants as defined in equation 7.9a.

The p~essure distribution within the semi-elliptical prism is

U (7.16)
P=Pnuv:V1--;;r

which is an ellipse as shown in Figure 7-11.

Static Stress Distributions in Parallel Cylindrical Contact

Hertzian stress analysis is for static loading but is also applied to pure-rolling contact.
The stress distributions within the material are similar to those shown in Figure 7-15
for the sphere-on-sphere case. 1\vo cases are possible: plane stress, where the cylin-
ders are very short axially as in some earn roller-followers, and plane strain, where the
cylinders are' long axially such as in squeeze-rollers. In the plane-stress case, one of the
principal stresses is zero. In plane-strain, all three principal stresses may be nonzero.

Figure 7-17 shows the principal stress, maximum shear and von Mises stress dis-
tributions across the patch width at the surface and along the z axis (where they are larg-
est) for two cylinders in static or pure-rolling contact. The normal stresses are all
compressive and are maximal at the surface. They diminish rapidly with depth into the
material and also diminish away from the centerline, as shown in the figure.

At the surface on the centerline, the maximum applied normal stresses are

(7.17a)
 SURFACE FAILURE 501

0.5
- - -.- - - - - - -- - -[~:.:;: ~-;.:: ~r.:.:. -~-.:.:-~ -- - - - - - - - - - - - -- --
stress
Pmax o
:I~..-: t 1:13 ~ x
a
@zla=O

u'max = 0.57 Pmax

@zla=0.7
-1.0
-2 -I o 2
1:13max = 0.30 Pmax
@zla=0.8 nonnaJized width x I a
1.0 "'P , r ,
Ulmax = -0.56 Pmax
, ,
@zla=O U'
0.5
U2max = -1.0 Pmax
@zla=O
stress
Pmax o
./
"--1:13:'":::b:=::E::~::.~t;.~:~;j , z
a
U3max = -1.0 Pmax @xla=O
@zla=O

-1.0

-1.5 ' ,------------.-

o 2 3

nonnalized depth z I a
FIGURE 7-17
Principal, Maximum Shear, and von Mises Stress Distributions for Steel Cylinders in Static Loading or Pure Rolling

These stresses are principal since there is no applied shear stress. The maximum shear
stress 1:13on the z axis that results from the combination of stresses on the Mohr's-circle
plane is beneath the surface as it was in the spherical-contact case. For two steel cyl.
inders in static contact, the peak value and location of the maximum shear stress are I191

(7.17b)
z@~_" = 0.7860

However, note in Figure 7-17 that, on the z-axis, the shear stress is not zero, but is

l
0.22 p- " "doc, "'" d~ "" '''Y greod, "'~ "'" ,,"," 0 < , < ,.
MACHINE DESIGN An Integrated Approach

EXAM PLE 7 -2 .

Stresses in Cylindrical Contact

Problem An overhead crane wheel runs slowly on a steel rail. What is the size of
the contact patch between wheel and rail and what are the stresses?
What is the depth of the maximum shear stress?

Given The wheel is 12-in dia by O.875-in thick and the rail is flat. Both parts
are steel. The radial load is 5 000 lb.

Assumptions The rotational speed is sufficiently slow that this can be considered a
static loading problem.

Solution See the TKSolver file EX07-02.

First determine the size of the contact patch. for which the geometry constant and
material constants are found from equations 7 .15a and 7.9a.

(a)

Note the infinite radius of curvature for R2.

(b)

Note both materials are the same in this example. The material and geometry
constants can now be used in equation 7.15b.

5ooo
(~)
2(3.072E-8)
a= /~ml+m2!:.=
"It B L
1
"It 0.083 ( )
0.875
=0.0518in (c)

where a is the half-width of the contact patch. The rectangular contact patch area is

area = 2aL = 2(0.0518)(0.875) = 0.091 in2 (d)

2 The average and maximum contact pressure are found from equations 7.l4b and c.

P"'R =~= 5000 (e)

area 0.09063 =55169 psi

_ 2F _ 2(5000) . (f)
Pmnx - !taL - 1t(0.051 789)(0.875) = 70 243 pSI

3 The maximum normal stresses in the center of the contact patch at the surface are
then found using equations 7.l7a.
(g)
 \ 0Ymax = -2vPmax= -2(0.28)(70243) = -39 336 psi (h)

4 The maximum shear stress and its location (depth) are found from equations 7.17b.

't13max = 0.304pmax = 0.304(70243) = 2] 354 psi

(i)
Z@t",ax = 0.786a = 0.786(0.05]8) = 0.041 in

5 All the stresses found exist on the Zaxis and the normal stresses are principal. These
stresses apply to the wheel and rail as both are steel.

7.10 GENERAL CONTACT

When the geometry of the two contacting bodies is allowed to have any general curva-
ture, the contact patch is an ellipse and the pressure distribution is a semi-ellipsoid, as
shown in Figure 7- I ]a. Even the most general curvature can be represented as a radius
of curvature over a small angle with minima] error. The size of the contact patch for
most practical materials in these applications is so small that this approximation is rea-
sonab]e. Thus the compound curvature of each body is represented by two mutually
onhogonal radii of curvature at the contact point.

Contact Pressure and Contact Patch in General Contact

The contact pressure is a maximum Pmax at the center and zero at the edge. The total
applied load F on the contact patch is equal to the volume of the semi-ellipsoid:

2
F = -nabpmax (7.]8a)
3
where a is the half-width of the major axis and b the half-width of the minor axis of the
contact patch ellipse. This can be solved for the maximum pressure:

3~ (7.18b)
Pmax ="2 nab

The average pressure on the contact patch is the applied force divided by its area: ,
F F
(7.18c)
PtJI'g = -;,:;;; = nab
and substituting equation 7.8c in 7.8b gives

(7.18d)
 "U lIIu,gratea Approach

We must define two geometry constants that depend on the radii of curvature of the "
bodies,

whereR1 andR1' are the two radii of curvature. of body 1, Rz andRz' are the radii" 0
body 2, and e is the angle between the planes containing Rl and Rz.

The contact patch dimensions a and b are then found from

(7.19d)

where ml and mz are material constants as defined in equation 7.9a and the values of
k. and kb are found from Table 7-5 corresponding to the value of ellfrom equation 7.19c.

The pressure distribution within the semi-ellipsoid is

(7.20)

which is an ellipse as shown in Figure 7-11.

Stress Distributions in General Contact

The stress distributions within the material are similar to tbose shown in Figure 7-17
for the cylinder-on-cylinder case. The normal stresses are all compressive and are maxi-
mal at the surface. They diminish rapidly with depth into the material and away from
.ally the centerline. At the surface on the centerline, the maximum normal stresses arell9]
5.

:actors For Use in Equation 7.19d

20 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

3.778 2.731 2.397 2.136 1.926 1.754 1.611 1.486 1.378 1.284 1.202 1.128 1.061

0.408 0.493 0.530 0.567 0.604 0.641 0.678 0.717 0.759 0.802 0.846 0.893 0.944
otact of Elastic Solids, in MiscelhmUJU>Papers, P. Lcnud, cd. Maanillan 4 0>. Ud.: London. pp. ] 46-162. ] 896.
mon: and S. N. Peuenlco, Natl. Bur. Std. TecJo.Paper 201, ]92],
 SURFACE FAILURE

(7.21a)

(7.21b)

These applied stresses are also the principal stresses. The maximum shear stress at the
surface associated with these stresses can be found from equation 4.5. The largest shear
stress occurs slightly below the surface with that distance dependent on the ratio of the
semiaxes of the contact ellipse. For b / a = 1.0, the largest shear stress occurs at
z =0.63a, and for b / a = 0.34 at z = 0.24a. Its peak magnitude is approximately 0.34
Pma,J19]

At the ends of the major axis of the contact ellipse the shear stress at the surface is[19]

(7.2lc)

At the ends of the minor axis of the contact ellipse the shear stress at the surface is

k3 k3 -1 k4
txz
(
= 1-2v
)
kl [ 1- k4 tan k3 ( )} mar
(7.21d)

The location of the largest surface shear stress will vary with the ellipse ratio k3. For
some cases it is as shown in equation 7.21c, but in others it moves to the center of the
ellipse and is found from the principal stresses in equation 7.21a using equation 4.5.

EXAMPLE 7-3

Stresses in a Crowned Cam Follower

Problem A crowned earn roller-follower has a gentle radius transverse to its

rolling direction to eliminate the need for critieal alignment of its axis
with that oflhe earn. The cam's radius of curvature and dynamic load
vary around its circumference. What is the size of the contact patch
between earn and follower and what are the worst-case stresses?

Given The roller radius is 1 in with a 2O-in crown radius at 90° to the roller
radius. The cam's radius of curvature at the point of maximum load is
3.46 in and it is Oat axially. The rotational axes oflhe earn and roller
are parallel, which makes the angle between the two bodies zero. The
force is 250 Ib, normal to the contact plane.
.

(0)
0.992
't
Xl
=(I-O.56)~
(0.992f [
I- 0.124tan-I

0.992 ( 0.124)]
121679=5528 si
p

7.11 DYNAMIC CONTACT STRESSES

The equations presented above for contact stresses assume that the load is pure rolling.
When rolling and sliding are both presenl, the stress field is distorted by the tangential
loading. Figure 7-18 shows a photoelastic study of a earn-follower pairl20J loaded stati-
cally (a) and dynamically with sliding (b). The distonion of the stress field from the
sliding motion can be seen in part b. This is a combination of rolling contact with rela-
tively low velocity sliding. Increased sliding causes more distonion of the stress field.

Effed of a Sliding Component on Contad Stresses

Smith and Lui[I81 analyzed the case of parallel rollers in combined rolling and sliding
and developed the equations for the stress distribution beneath the contact point. The
sliding (frictional) load has a significant effect on the stress field. The stresses can be
expressed as separate components, one set due to the normal load on the rolls (denoted
by a subscript n) and the other set due to the tangential friction force (denoted by a sub-
script I). These are then combined to obtain the complete stress situation. The stress
field can be two-dimensional in a very shon roll, such as a thin plate earn or thin gear,
assumed to be in plane stress. If the rolls are long axially, then a plane strain condition
will exist in regions away from the ends giving a three-dimensional stress state.

The contact geometry is as shown in Figure 7-llb with the x axis aligned to the di-
rection of motion, the z axis radial to the rollers and the y axis axial to the rollers. The
stresses due to the normal loading Pmax are

(7.22a)
crz
" = -~[a~
1t - xa]Pmax

I 2
't,rz.=-n-z aPmax
and those due to the frictional unit forcefmax are

j
..J
 \
follower

earn

..",

~ -..:.c
. .
~_:-!t

(a)
.,
_--

__.

Static loading (b) Dynamic loading

FIGURE 7-18
..
Photoelastic Stud of Stressesfor Two Cylinders in Contact in Static (a) and Dynamic Pure Rolling loading (b)
'!
Mahkijani,Study a ContactStresses
asDevelopedon a RadialCamusingPhotoelasticModel andFiniteElementAnalysis,I
PolytechnicIn,titute, 1984

where the factors a and ~ are given by

1ft.\.1. r£t!~n? f.\l

(7.22c)

(7.22d)
The tangential unit force fmax is found from the normal load and a coefficient (
tionl.l.

fmax =I.lPmax c
The independent variables in these equations are then the coordinates x, z
cross section of the roller, referenced to the contact point, the half-width a of thl
tact patch, and the maximum normal load Pmax at the contact point.

Equations 7.22 define the behavior of the stress functions below the surfac
when z = 0, the factors (X and ~ become infinite and these equations fail. Other j
are needed to account for the stresses on the surface of the contact patch.

when z=O

az"= ax"
. ga
if Ixl$a then ax =-Pmax 1-- 2 else ax =0
2

.
(7.

if x~a thenax, =-2fmax(~-~;: -I)

(7.~
if x$-a thenax, =-2fmax(~+~:: -I)
x
'f Ixl$ a then a x,=-2fmax ~
az, =0
(7.2

The total stress on each Cartesian plane is found by superposing the componel
due to the normal and tangential loads:

ax =ax. +ax,
az =az. +az, (7.24

t.Xl =txz" +'txz,

For short rollers in plane stress, ay is zero, but if the rollers are long axially Ihen a plar
strain condition will exist away from the ends and the stress in the y direction will bl
 I..napter I )UK"'A'-~ rAILUI\C

(7.24b)

where v is Poisson's ratio.

These stresses are maximum at the surface and decrease with depth. Except at very
low ratios of tangential force to norma! force, « about 119)[18J,[21) the maximum shear
stress occurs at the surface as well, unlike the pure rolling case. A computer program
was written to evaluate equations 7.22 and 7.23 for the conditions at the surface and plot
_ them. (See the file CONTACT.EXE) The stresses are all normalized to the maximum
normal load PmIlXand the locations normalized to the patch ha!f-width a. A coefficient
=
of friction of 0.33 and steel rollers with v 0.28 were assumed for the examples. The
magnitudes and shapes of the stress distributions will be a function of these factors.

Figure 7-19a shows the x direction stresses at the surface, which are due to the nor-
ma! and tangential loads, and a!so shows their sum from the first of equations 7.24a.
Note thai the stress component ax, due to the tangential force is tensile from the con-
tact point to and beyond the trailing edge of the contact patch. This should not be sur-
prising as one can picture that the tangential force is attempting to pile up material in
front of the contact point and stretch it behind that point, just as a carpet bunches up in
front of anything you try to slide across it. The stress component ax. due to the nor-
ma! force is compressive everywhere. However, the sum of the two ax components has
a significant norma!ized tensile value of twice the coefficient of friction (here 0.66 P~
and a compressive peak of about -1.2 PmllJ<'Figure 7-19b shows all of the applied
stresses in x, y, and z directions across the surface of the contact zone. Note that the
stress fields on the surface extend beyond the contact zone when a tangential force is
present, unlike the situation in pure rolling where they extend beyond the contact zone
only under the surface. (See Figure 7-17 and program CONTACT.EXE).

1.0 1.0 -- -~-- r - - - --

0.5 0.5
stress stress
x
PmIlX o a
PmIlX o
@z/ a =0 @ z/a=O
"'{}.5 ...{}.5

-1.0 -1.0

-1.5 u_._.___. -1.5

-2 -I 2 -2 -1
(a) Normal and tangential components of ax (b) All applied stresses

~URE 7-19
AppliedTangentialand Normaland ShearStressesat Surfacefor Cylindersin CombinedRollingand Slil
 Chapter 7 SURFACE FAILURE 511

(7.24b)

where v is Poisson's ratio.

These stresses are maximum at the surface and decrease with depth. Except at very
low ratios of tangential force to normal force, « about 1/9)[18],[21]the maximum shear
stress occurs at the surface as well, unlike the pure rolling case. A computer program
was written to evaluate equations 7.22 and 7.23 for the conditions at the surface and plot
them. (See the file CONTACT.EXE) The stresses are all normalized to the maximum
normal-load Pmax and the locations normalized to the patch half-width a. A coefficient
of friction of 0.33 and steel rollers with v =0.28 were assumed for the examples. The
magnitudes and shapes of the stress distributions will be a function of these factors.

Figure 7-19a shows the x direction stresses at the surface, which are due to the nor-
mal and tangential loads, and also shows their sum from the first of equations 7.24a.
Note that the stress component aX, due to the tangential force is tensile from the con-
lact point to and beyond the trailing edge of the contact patch. This should not be sur-
prising as one can picture that the tangential force is attempting to pile up material in
front of the contact point and stretch it behind that point, just as a carpet bunches up in
front of anything you try to slide across it. The stress component ax. due to the nor-
mal force is compressive everywhere. However, the sum of the two ax components has
a significant normalized tensile value of twice the coefficient of friction (here 0.66 Pmax)
-
and a compressive peak of about I .2 Pmax. Figure 7-19b shows all of the applied
stresses in x, y, and z directions across the surface of the contact zone. Note that the
stress fields on the surface extend beyond the contact zone when a tangential force is
present, unlike the situation in pure rolling where they extend beyond the contact zone
only under the surface. (See Figure 7-17 and program CONTACT.EXE).

1.0 1.0
_u___;__ l --.- --- u

0.5 0.5 -- -- -j- ----.!-------

~

slress
x
slress I x
PlrIlJX
o a
Pmax 0
a
@z/a=O @ z/a=O
...{J.5 ...{J.5

-1.0 + : -1.0
:
-1.5 ----.---
Iax:
- - ~- - - - - - - - - -- -.'
~
'

-2 -I o ] 2 -) 2
(a) Normal and tangential components of ax (b) All applied stresses at surface of contact patch

E.!.-GURE7-19
AppliedTangentialand Normaland Shear Stressesat Surfacefor Cylinder5in CombinedRollingand Slidingwith" = 0.33
 512 MACHINE DESIGN An Integrated Approach

\. 1.0
cr'max= 0.73 Pmax

@x I a =0.2
0.5
tl3max =0.40 Pmax stress
@xla= 0.4 Pmax x
o a
cr1max = -0.59 Pmax @zla=O
@xla =0.3 -0.5

cr2max ;;, -0.72 Pmax

-1.0
@xla = 0.3
cr3max = -1.38 Pmax

@xl a = 0.3
normalized width x I a
FIGURE 7-20

~ ~rincipaland vo:;i:;;Stresses AcrossContact Zoneat Surfacefor Cylindersin CombinedRollingand Slidingwith 11=0.33

Figure 7-20 shows the principal stresses, maximum shear stress, and von Mises
stress for the plane-strain, applied-stress state in Figure 7-19. Note that the magnitude
of the largest compressive principal stress is about 1.38 Pmax and the largest tensile prin-
cipal stress is 0.66 Pmax at the trailing edge of the contact patch. The presence of an
applied tangential shear stress in this example increases the peak compressive stress by
40% over a pure rolling case and introduces a tensile stress in the material. The prin-
cipal shear stress reaches a peak value of 0.40 Pmax at x / a =0.4. All the stresses shown
in Figures 7-19 and 7-20 are at the surface of the rollers.

0.3
0.2
0.1
stress
o
::. .~;~~r E.. ..:. a
X

Pmax 0.5 Pmax

-0.1
@ z Ia =0.5 for any J.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
-4
normalized width x I a
FIGURE 7-21
,"'~._-~----
Shear Stresses Below Surface at z I a = 0.5 for Cyflnders in Combined Rolling and Sliding-Plotted with 11= 0.33
 Chapter 7 SURFACEFAILURE 513

CJ'max = 0.73 Pmax

@zla=O
\
=0.40 Pmax
't13max
@zla=O
stress
Pmax I,: :~~~;:f=;~J-~~;;L~:~:~;
.. 'tn: ,

CJlmax = -0.59 Pmax

@zla=O
@ x I a = 0.3

-0.5 ~: ,, ,, ,,
,, ,, ,,
CJ2max = -0.72 Pmax , , ,
-1.0 ~- - - - - - - - - - - - - -;. - - - - - - - - - - - - - -:
@zla=O - - ~- - - - ~ - ~. - - - - - - - - - -

CJ3max= -1.38 Pmax -1.5 , ,---------------.

@zla=O o 2 3 4
normalized depth zIa
FIGURE 7-22
Principal and von Mises Stresses Below Surface at x I a = 0.3 for Cylinders in Combined Rolling and Sliding with II =0.33

Beneath the surface, the magnitudes of the compressive stresses due to the normal
load reduce. However, the shear stress 'txZndue to the normal loading increases with
depth becoming a maximum beneath the surface at l =0.5a, as shown in Figure 7-21.
Note the sign reversal at the midpoint of the contact lOne. There are fully reversed shear
stress components acting on each differential element of material as it passes through
the contact lOne. The peak-to-peak range of this fully reversed shear stress in the Xl
plane is greater in magnitude than the range of the maximum shear stress and is con-
sidered by some to be responsible for subsurface pitting failures.!I?1

Figure 7-22 plots the principal stresses, maximum shear stress, and von Mises stress
(calculated for 11= 0.33 and a plane-strain condition) versus the normalized depth l / a
taken at the X / a =0.3 plane (where the principal stresses are maximum as shown in Fig-
ure 7-20). All the stresses are maximum at the surface. The principal stresses dimin-
ish rapidly with depth but the shear and von Mises stresses remain nearly constant over
the firsl Ia of depth.

At the surface, the maximum shear stress is relatively uniform across the patch
width with a peak of 0.4 at x / a = 0.4 when 11 = 0.33, as shown in Figure 7-20. This
'tmaxpeak location moves versus the patch centerline with increasing depth but its mag-
nitude varies only slightly with depth. Figure 7-23 plots the largest peak value of the
shear stress 't 13 occurring at any value of x across the patch zone, and so is a compos-
ite plol of the peak shear stress value in each l plane. For 0 < 11< 0.5 the peak value
remains within 60-80% of its largest value over the first a of depth and is still 58-70%
of its peak value at l / a = 2.0. As the coefficient of friction is increased to 0.5 or greater,
the normalized maximum shear stress value becomes equal to 11and is constant across
the contact-patch surface.
514 MACHINE DESIGN

\
An Integrated Approach

t13 peak values over x

0.5 key 11
stress ~

Pmax h. 0.50
z ----
o o 0.33
o 2 3 4 -.- 0.00
normalized depth zI0
FIGURE 7-23
Peak Values of Maximum Shear Stress at all Values of x I a for Cylinders in Combined Rolling and Sliding with 0 :;;11:;;0.5

The limited variation of tmax over small z depths may explain why some pilling fail-
ures appear to start at the surface and some below it. With a relatively uniform-mag-
nitude maximum shear stress over the entire near-surface region, any inclusion in that
region of the material creates a stress concentration and serves as a crack initiation point.
The fact that the peak value of the maximum shear stress occurs at slightly different
transverse locations at different depths within the contact zone is irrelevant since an in-
clusion at any particular depth will pass through that location once per revolution and
be exposed to the peak stress value.

The stress functions can be calculated and ploued at any depth using the computer
program CONTACf.EXE or the TKSolver file SUBSURF provided on disk. These pro-
grams solve and plot the general equations 7.22, 7.23, and 7.24 for any user-specified
roller geometry, materials, load, and coefficient of friction, at any specified range of lo-
cations below and along the surface.

EXAMPLE 7-4

Stresses in Combined Rolling and Sliding of Cylinders

Problem A pair of calendering rolls are run together with a combination of
roIling and sliding. Find the maximum tensile, compressive, and shear
stresses in the rollers.

Given The roller radii are 1.25 and 2.5 in and are each 24 in long. The force is
5000 Ib, nonnal to the contact plane.

Assumptions Both materials are steel. The coefficient of friction is 0.33.

Solution See the TKSolver file EXONI4.

The contact-patch geometry is found in the same way as was done in Example 7-2.
Find the material constants from equalion 7.90.

I-v; _1-0.282 =3.072£-8 (0)

ml =m2 =T- 3£7
 Chapter 7 SURFACE FAILURE 515

The geometry constant is found from equation 7.15a

(b)

and the patch half-width from equation 7.15b.

2 nil +nl2 F 2 5000 .

a=.1---=
1t B
- 2(3.072E-8)
L J( 1t) 0.600 (- )=000.
24
37m (c)

where a is the half. width of the contact patch. The rectangular contact-patch area is
then

area = 2aL = 2(0.002 3)(24) = 0.176 9 in2 (d)

2 The average and maximum contact pressure can now be found from equations 7.14b
and c.

5000 =28 266 psi (e)

Povg=~-F _ 0.1769

2F 2(5000) =35 989 psi (f)

Pmax = 1tOL = 1t(0.0037)24

The tangential pressure is found from equation 7.22f:

fmax = ILPmax = 0.33(35 989) = II 876 psi (g)

3 With IL= 0.33. the principal stresses in the contact zone will be maximal on the
surface (z = 0) at x = O.3a from the centerline as shown in Figures 7-20 and 7-22.
The applied-stress components are found from equation 7.23a for the nonnal force
and equation 7.23b for the tangential force.

(h)
Ox, =- 2fmax::'
a = -2(1 1876)(0.3) = -7126 psi

(i)
0z, = 0 tXZII =0

(j)
'txz, = -fmax~l- :~ = -I I 876"./J-0.32 = -I I 329 psi
MACHINE DESIGN An Integrated Approach

4 Equations 7.24a and 7.24b can now be solved for the total applied stresses along the
x, y. and z axes.

ax =ax. +ax, =-34331-7126=-41457psi (k)

a, = a,. + a" = -34 331+ 0 = -34 33] psi (I)

txz = txz. + txz, = 0 -11329 = -11329 psi (m)

5 Since the rollers are long, we expect a plane-strain condition to exist. The stress in
the third dimension is found from equation 7.24b:

a)' = v(ax + a,) = 0.28(-41 457 + 34331) =-21 221 psi (n)

6 Unlike the pure-rolling case, these stresses are not principal because of the applied
shear stress. The principal stresses are found from equation 4.4 using a cubic root-
finding solution (TKSolver file STRESS3D or program MOHR.EXE).

a) =-21221 psi
a2 = -26 018 psi (0)

a3 =-49 771 psi

The maximum shear stress is found from the priocipal stresses using equation 4.5.

(p)

7 The principal stresses are maximum at the surface as seen in Figures 7-20 and 7-22.

7.12 SURFACE FATIGUEFAILUREMODELS-DYNAMIC CONTACT

There is still some disagreement among expert.~ as to the actual mechanism of failure
that results in pilling and spalling of surfaces. The possibility of having a maximum
shear stress at a subsurface location (in pure rolling) has led some to conclude that pits
begin at or near that location. Others have concluded that pining begins at the surface.
It is possible that both mechanisms are at work in these cases since failure initiation
usually begins at an imperfection, which may be on or below the surface. Figure 7-24
shows both surface and subsurface cracks in a case-hardened steel roll subjected to heavy
rolling loads,l221

An extensive experimental study of pilling under rolling contact was done by

Way123]in 1935. Over 80 tests were made with contacting, pure-rolling, parallel roll-
ers of different materials, lubricants, and loads, run for up to 18 million cycles, though
most samples failed between O.5E6 and I.5E6 cycles. The samples were monitored for
the appearance of minute surface cracks, which inevitably presaged a pilling failure
within less than about 100 000 additional cycles in the presence of a lubricant.
 SURFACE FAILURE 517

surface crack
\:~" 7,
surface crack
urface

subsurface crack

7-24
II-~'_!"!-.."~':''''----
'graph (1OOx)of Surface and Subsurface Cracks in a Carburized and Hardened Roll (HRC
jected to a Heavy Rolling Load Source: J. D. Graham, Pitting of Gear Teeth, in C. Upson,
If Mechanical Wear, U. Mich. Press, 1961, p.137, with permission.

~r and smoother surfaces better resisted pitting failure. Highly polished

id not fail in over 12E6 cycles. Nitrided rolls with very hard cases on a soft
longer-lived than other materials tested. No pitting occurred on any samples
;ence of a lubricant even though dry-running produced surface cracks. The
arts would continue to run dry with no failure for as many as 5E6 cycles un-
Jbricant was added. Then the surface cracks would rapidly enlarge and turn
1 characteristic arrowhead shape within 100 000 additional cycles.

uggested explanation for the deleterious effect of the lubricant was that once
riented surface cracks form, they are pumped full of oil on approaching the
nd then are pressed closed within the roll-nip, pressurizing the fluid trapped
k. The fluid pressure creates tensile stress at the crack tip causing rapid crack
:! subsequent break-out of a pit. Higher-viscosity lubricants did not eliminate
letal contact but did delay the pitting failure indicating that the fluid must be
dily enter the crack to do the damage.

eached a number of conclusions regarding how to design rollers to delay sur-

.e failure.l23]

) oil (though he was quick to point oul that this is nOIa practical solulion as it
,Ies other types of wear as discussed in previous sections). 1''',.~

se the viscosity of the lubricant.

I' "
the surfaces (though this is expensive to do). I~ 5
se the surface hardness (preferably on a softer, tough core).
518 MACHINE DESIGN An Integrated Approach

Table 7-6 Modes of Surface Failure and Their Causes

Mode of Failure Facton; That Promote Occurrance

Inclusion origin Frequency and severity of oxide or other hard inclusions

Geometric stress concentration End-of-contact geometry. Misalignment and
deflections. Possible lubricant-film thickness effects.

Point-surface origin (PSO) Low lubricant viscosity. Thin elastohydrodynamic

film compared to asperities on contact surfaces.
Tangential forces and/or gross sliding.
Peeling (superficial pitting) Low lubricant viscosity. Frequent asperities in
surface finish exceeding elastohydrodynamic-film
thickness. Loss of elastohydrodynamic pressure due
to side leakage or scratches in contact surface.
Subcase Fatigue (on carburized Low core hardness. Thin case depth relative to
components) radius of curvature for elements in contact.
Soun:e: w. E. Uumann and R. L Widner. Propagation ofContacl FatigUe:from Surface and Subsurface Origins.
J. Bo.,;c £og. Tram. ASME. vol. 88: pp. 624-636. 1%6.

No conclusions were drawn with respect to the reasons for the initiation of the ini-
tial cracks 'on the surface. Though, with pure rolling, the shear stresses are not maxi-
mal at the surface, they are nonzero there at some locations(see Figures 7-12 and7-17).
Littman and Widnerl24] performed an extensive analytical and experimental study
on contact fatigue in 1966 and describe five different modes of failure in rolling con-
taCL These are listed in Table 7-6 along with some factors that promote their occurrence.
Some of these modes address the crack initiation issue and others the crack propaga-
tion issue. We will briefly discuss each in the order listed.

INCLUSIONORIGIN describes a mechanism for crack initiation and is similar to

the one discussed in Section 6.1 on fatigue failure. It is assumed that the crack origi-
nates in a shear-stress field at a subsurface or surface location containing a small inclu-
sion of "foreign" matter. The most commonly identified inclusions are oxides of the
material that formed during processing and were captured within iL These are typically
hard and irregular in shape and create stress concentration. Several research-
ersl25I.(261.127]have published photomicrographs of (or otherwise identified) subsurface
cracks starting at oxide inclusions. "These oxide inclusions are often present as stringers
or elongated aggregates of particles. . ., which provide a much greater chance for a point
of high stress concentration to be in an unfavorable position with respect to the applied
stress."128j The propagation of a crack from the inclusion may remain subsurface, or
break out to the surface. In the latter case it provides a site for hydraulic pressure propa-
gation, as described above. In either case, it ultimately results in pitting or spalling.

GEOMETRICSTRESSCONCENTRATION(GSC) was discussed in Chapter 4. This

mechanism can act on a surface when, for example, one contacting part is shorter axi-
ally than the other (common with earn-follower joints and roller bearings). The ends
of the shorter roller create line-contact stress concentration in the mating roller as shown
 Chapter 7 SURFACE FAILURE 519

in Figure 7-25a and pitting or spalling will likely occur at that location. This is one rea-
son for using crowned rollers, which have a large crown-radius of curvature in the yz
plane in addition to their roller radius in the xz plane. If the contact load is predictable,
the crown radius can be sized to provide a more uniform stress distribution across the
axial length of the contact area due to the deflections of the rollers' as shown in Figure
7-25b. However, at lighter loads, there will be reduced contact area and thus higher
stresses at the center and at higher than design loads the stress concentrations at the ends
will return. A partial crown can be used as shown in Figure 7-25c but may cause some
stresS concentration at the transition from straight to crown. Reusner[29] has shown that
a logarithmic curve on the crown as shown in Figure 7-25d will give a more uniform
stress distribution under varied load levels. (a) Straight roller

POINT SURFACE ORIGIN (PSO) is the phenomenon described by Way and dis-
cussed above. Littman et al.[24] consider PSO to be more a manner of crack propaga-
tion than crack initiation and suggest that an inclusion at or near the surface may be
responsible for starting the crack. Handling nicks or dents can also provide a crack
nucleus on the surface. Once present, and if pointing in the right direction to capture
oil, the crack rapidly propagates to failure. Once spalling starts, the debris can create
new nicks to serve as additional crack sites.

PEELING refers to a situation in which the fatigue cracks are at shallow depth and (b) Crowned roller
extend over a large area such that the surface "peels" away from the substrate. Rough
surfaces exacerbate peeling if the surface asperities are larger than the lubricant film
thickness.

SUBCASE FATIGUE alsocalledcasecrushing,occursonlyon case-hardened parts

and is more likely if the case is so thin that the subsurface stresses extend into the softer,
weaker core material. The fatigue crack starts below the case and eventually causes the
case to either collapse into the failed subsurface material or break out in pits or spalls.

Whatever the detailed cause of the start of a crack, once started the outcome is pre-
dictable. So, the designer needs to take all possible precautions to improve the part's (c) Part-crown roller
resistance to pitting as well as to all other wear modes. The summary section to this
chapter will attempt to set some guidelines to this end.

7.13 SURFACE FATIGUESTRENGTH

Repeated, time-varying loads tend to fail parts at lower stress levels than the material
can stand in static-load applications. Bending and axial fatigue strength were discussed
extensively in Chapter 6. The concept of surface fatigue strength is similar except for
one main difference. While steels and a few other materials loaded in bending or axial (d) Logarithmic roller
fatigue show an endurance limit, no materials show an equivalent property when loaded FIGURE 7-25
in surface fatigue. Thus, we should expect that our machine, though carefully designed
Stress Concentrations
to be safe against all other forms of failure will eventually succumb to surface fatigue Beneath Variously
if so loaded for enough cycles. Shaped Rollers
20 MACHINE DESIGN An Integrated Approach

Morrisonl30] and Cram!3!] report separately on an experimental study of the sur-

face-fatigue strength of materials done at USM Corp. from 1932 to 1956. Four wear-
testing machines were operated 24 hours per day for 24 years to gather surface fatigue
strength data on cast iron, steel, bronze, aluminum, and nonmetallic materials. Their
tests included rollers in pure roIling as well as rolling plus varying percentages of slid-
ing. Most of their roll/slide data are done at 9% sliding since that simulates the aver-
age conditions on spur and helical gear teeth. The percent sliding figure is defined as
the relative sliding velocity between the rollers or gear teeth divided by the pitch-line
velocity of the interface.

Previous sections have shown the complexity of the stress state that exists in the
surface and subsurface regions of the contact zones of mating cylinders, spheres, or other
bodies. The discussion of crack initiation mechanisms above indicates that the loca-
tion of an incipient crack is quite unpredictable given the random distribution of inclu-
sions in the material. Therefore it is more difficult to accurately predict the condition
of stress at an expected point of failure in a contact zone than was the case in design-
ing a cantilever beam, for example. This dilemma is resolved by using one, easily cal-
culated contact-zone stress as a reference value to compare to material strengths. The
one chosen is the largest negative (compressive) principal contact stress. In a pure-roll-
ing case, its magnitude will be equal to the applied maximum contact pressure P 1TI4X' But
it will be greater than that value if sliding is present.

To develop allowable surface fatigue strengths, the material is typically run under
controlled loading conditions (i.e., controlled PITI4X) and the number of cycles to fail-
ure recorded and reported along with other loading factors such as percent sliding, lu-
brication, body geometry, etc. This "virtual strength" can be compared to the peak
magnitude of compressive stress in other applications having similar loading factors.
Thus the reported surface fatigue strength has only an indirect relationship to the ac-
tual stresses that may have been present in the test piece and in your similarly loaded
part since the Hertzian stress equations are only valid for static loading.

The expression for the normal, compressive Hertzian static stress in cylindrical
contact is found by combining equations 7.14b and 7.17a:
2F
<1%
=-PITI4X=-1taL (7.25a)

Substitute the expression for a from equation 7.15b, square both sides, and simplify:

(7.25b)

Rearrange to solve for the load F,

(7.25c)

and collect terms in a constant K,

 SURFACE FAILURE 521

F=KL
2B
\ .,

.
Chapte: 7

(7.25d)

(7,25e)

s factor K is termed an experimental load factor and is used to determine the

urance load F at a specified number of cycles or the number of cycles that can
:ted before failure occurs at a given load,

Ie 7-7 shows experimentally determined load factors, K, fatigue strengths, Sc,

ngth factors for a number of materials either running against themselves or
lardened tool steel.[30j See the original reference for a complete listing as some
s were omitted here due to lack of space. Two different loading modes are also
d in separate sections of the table, pure rolling, and rolling with 9% sliding, The
Imn of the table defines the material. In each section, the next two columns give
lue and the surface fatigue strength at IE8 cycles as tested. The next two col-
,ntain strength factors A and ~, which represent the slope and intercept of the
:ram (on log-log coordinates) for the surface fatigue strength of the material as
.."
"'1:;
led by regression on large amounts of test data. These factors can be used in
tion of the statistically fitted S-N line to find the expected cycle life N for the
itress level.

(7.26)
.
K values in Table 7-7 can be used directly in equation 7.25d to calculate an al- I
load F for the selected material at IE8 cycles of stress. For other desired de-
le lives, first calculate the largest-negative (compressive) radial stress for your
'om the appropriate equations as defmed in the preceding sections. Then cal-
from equation 7.25e and use it and the values of A and ~ from Table 7-7 to find
: of N for the application from equation 7.26. Since there is no endurance limit
ce fatigue loading, we can expect pitting to begin after approximately N stress
the level of nominal stress contained in your calculated K factor.

rnatively, a desired number of cycles N can be chosen and an allowable design-

'el O"zfor a chosen material computed from equations 7.25e and 7.26. A safety
~ be applied either by selecting a material with a longer cycle life than required
Jplication or by sizing the parts to have a stress level below the calculated al-
,tress level for a necessary number of cycles.

strength values in Table 7-7 were obtained using rollers in contact, lubricated
.
:ht mineral oil of 280-320 SSU at 100°F. The researchers report that "an or- ".,\I
~sition occurs from pitting fatigue to abrasive wear as percent sliding is in- ,..
, Pitting failures were observed under as high as 300% sliding on some cast In iii,
II! r~
abrasive wear was seen at as low as 9% sliding on hardened steels under high