MANE-4030: Elements of Mechanical Design: Worksheet #7

2/14/11: Contact stresses and deflections

Suppose a 50 mm diameter stainless steel ball (E=190 GPa, =0.3) is in contact with a
plastic surface (E=3 GPa, =0.4). If the steel ball is pressed against the plastic surface
with a normal force of F= 100 N, what is the normal approach, , and maximum
pressure, p
max
, for the following surface geometries for the plastic: (a) cup of diameter
52mm (conforming geometry, like in ball and socket joint), (b) flat plate (non-
conforming), (c) sphere of diameter 20 mm (non-conforming).

(a) Can these different cases by considered generalizations of sphere-on-sphere or
cylinder-on-cylinder contact (the only cases discussed in your book)?


(b) What is the appropriate diameter to use for the plastic in each case? (Hint: for a
convex geometry, i.e. outer contact,

d > 0, for a concave geometry, i.e. interior
contact,

d < 0, and for a flat surface,

d ).

(c) Find the appropriate equation and solve for .

(d) Find the equation for p
max
and any equation(s) needed for the parameters in the
equation for p
max
, and solve for p
max
.

(e) Make any observations concerning the results for the three cases and discuss the
trends.


EMD worksheet solutions #7
Feb. 14, 2011
(a) Yes, sphere-on-sphere.
(b) cup: d = 52mm; at plane: d ; sphere: d = 20mm.
(c) Normal approach equation for sphere on sphere:

s
= 1.04
3

F
2
_
1
d
1
+
1
d
2
___
1
2
1
E
1
_
+
_
1
2
2
E
2
__
2
= 9.6988 10
6
m
4/3 3
_
1
d
1
+
1
d
2
where
1
d
1
+
1
d
2
=
1
0.05

1
0.052
= 0.76923m
1
sphere on cup
1
d
1
+
1
d
2
=
1
0.05
+
1

= 20m
1
sphere on at
1
d
1
+
1
d
2
=
1
0.05
+
1
0.02
= 70m
1
sphere on sphere
Resulting in for cup:
s
= 8.89 10
3
mm, for at:
s
= 0.0263mm, for sphere:
s
= 0.0400mm.
(d) Using the following equations,
p
max
=
3F
2a
2
a =
3

_
3F
__
1
2
1
E
1
_
+
_
1
2
2
E
2
__
8
_
1
d
1
+
1
d
2
_
we obtain: a
cup
= 2.403mm, a
flat
= 0.811mm, a
sphere
= 0.534mm resulting in
for the cup p
max
= 8.27MPa, for the at plane p
max
= 72.6MPa, for the sphere p
max
= 167MPa.
(e) Observations: As the second surface goes from being more conforming (in the case of the cup)
to more non-conforming (as in the case of the sphere, with the at plane in between), the contact
area shrinks, the maximum contact pressure increases, and the normal approach increases.
1