Search Results

One of the great challenges of engineering teams nowadays is to overcome long and costly project experimentation phases. One effective way of decreasing such project demands is to come up with a firsthand prototype with high success probability. In order to do so, the project team should rely on robust numerical models, which can represent most of the real-life product behaviors, for instance system dynamics. For rolling element bearings, such dynamic models have to consider the dynamic interactions between its components, i.e., rolling elements and raceways. The only vibration transmitting points on rolling element bearings are the lubricated contacts. Therefore, in order to represent the full bearing dynamic behavior on a numerical model, an efficient transient contact model, which depicts the actual contact behavior, is fundamental.

The purpose of this software we developed was to make na analyses of the quality of mechanical components using reliability calculus. The computer program is a powerful tool, for it deals with failure tests, commonly used in practice to obtain the mean life, which is a fundamental parameter in advanced techniques of maintenance. Moreover, the work intends to make accessible concepts related to the reliability of systems and components in Mechanic Engineering, making possible a better understanding and familiarity. The subject is of great application in the great industries and projects with high levels of precision and security. What will determine the satisfaction of the customer after a component, and in consequence, its retention is the performance of its technique characteristics in the period of its life.

In a large part of the mechanical elements used in machines and equipment, the preponderant failure mode is not that of fatigue of the element itself, but certainly the fatigue of a small point where the contact occurs. The prime example of this are the roller bearings, that they fail not by “breaking”, but by surface fatigue at contact points or on the tracks where there is contact between the rings and the rolling bodies. The optimization of the contact geometry, the material and the lubrication used can allow us to have larger admissible loads or lower system's costs where there is great influence of the contact fatigue. To make this optimization easier, a software was developed for a Windows platform, including the whole contact theory, the life calculations under surface fatigue and the lubricating fluid film thickness. In an interactive way, the user can change the data entrances such as material or geometry until an ideal solution is found for its problem.