Contact Stresses Between Elastic Cylinders: A Comprehensive Theoretical and Experimental Approach

Abstract

The purpose of the paper has been to present a comparison of theoretical predictions and experimental data for contact stresses between two bodies lubricated in contact. The theoretical analysis is based on a three-dimensional linear elastic solution to the problem and combines Boussinesq force-displacement relationships for a half-space with a modified flexibility method. The experimental approach involves the direct measurement of contact pressures between profiled rollers using a thin-film pressure transducer. Pressure measurements and predictions were made for three roller designs under various conditions of loads and misalignments. The agreement between theory and experiments is very good.