• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.324-331
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• 2020

Wedging in a frictional elastic system is defined if the state of stick exists after the external loading on the system is removed. This paper presents a method to determine the critical coefficient of wedging for an elastic frictional system by considering the separation state. Wedging is always possible if the coefficient of friction exceeds a critical value known as the critical wedging coefficient. This method requires two concepts: a necessary and sufficient condition for wedging, which can be interpreted as positive spanning sets of constraint vectors existing in the wedged system, and the minimal positive basis that enables a minimum wedging coefficient. The algorithm based on the positive spanning concept is repeatedly executed after eliminating nodes from the contact stiffness matrix, for which the separation states are impending. The simulation results show that once a node enters the separation state, it never returns to the contact state again and the critical wedging coefficient reduces during repeated algorithm execution. The benefit of this method is that the computation time permits handling models with large numbers of contact nodes. The algorithm can also numerically find the critical wedging coefficient, thereby contributing to fastening and assembly performance improvements in mechanical systems.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.359-364
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• 2020

Numerical investigation of the groove trap effect with variation in the groove-edge radius of curvature is presented here. The trap effect is evaluated in a two-dimensional sliding bearing using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This simulation is based on the discrete phase model (DPM) and standard k - ε turbulence model using commercial CFD software, FLUENT. The numerical results are evaluated by comparisons with streamlines and particle trajectories in the grooves. Grooves are applied to various lubrication systems to improve their lubrication characteristics, such as load carrying capacity increment, leakage reduction, frictional loss reduction, and preventing three-body abrasive wear due to trapping effect. This study investigates the grove trapping effect for various groove-edge radius of curvature values and Reynolds numbers. The particle is assumed to be made of steel, with a circular shape, and is injected as a single particle in various positions. One-way coupling is used in the DPM model because the single particle injection condition is applied. Further, the "reflect" condition is applied to the wall boundary and "escape" condition is used for the "pressure inlet" and "pressure outlet" boundaries. From the numerical results, the groove edge radius is found to influence the groove trap effect. Moreover, the groove trap effect is more effective when applying the groove edge radius.