An Efficient Numerical Model of Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication for Transversely Isotropic Materials

An elastohydrodynamic lubrication model for a rigid ball in contact with a transversely isotropic half-space is constructed. Reynolds equation, film thickness equation, and load balance equation are solved using the finite difference method, where the surface vertical displacement or deformation of transversely isotropic half-space is considered through the film thickness equation. The numerical methods are verified by comparing the displacements and stresses with those from Hertzian analytical solutions. Furthermore, the effects of elastic moduli, entertainment velocities, and lubricants on fluid pressure, film thickness, and von Mises stress are analyzed and discussed under a constant load. Finally, the modified Hamrock–Dowson equations for transversely isotropic materials to calculate central film thickness and minimum film thickness are proposed and validated.

Non-Linear Constitutive Equations for Transversely Isotropic Materials Belonging to the С∞ and С∞h Symmetry Groups

Transversely isotropic materials feature infinite-order symmetry axes. Depending on which other symmetry elements are found in the material structure, five symmetry groups may be distinguished among transversely isotropic materials. We consider constitutive equations for these materials. These equations connect two symmetric second-order tensors. Two types of constitutive equations describe the properties of these five material groups. We derived constitutive equations for materials belonging to the C∞ and C∞h symmetry groups in the tensor function form. To do this, we used corollaries of Curie's Symmetry Principle. This makes it possible to obtain a fully irreducible form of the tensor function.

Mechanical Behavior Modeling of Hyperelastic Transversely Isotropic Materials Based on a New Polyconvex Strain Energy Function

In this paper, the mechanical behavior of incompressible transversely isotropic materials is modeled using a strain energy density in the framework of Ball’s theory. Based on this profound theory and with respect to physical and mathematical aspects of deformation invariants, a new polyconvex constitutive model is proposed for the mechanical behavior of these materials. From the physical viewpoint, it is assumed that the proposed model is additively decomposed into three parts nominally representing the energy contributions from the matrix, fiber and fiber–matrix interaction where each of the parts should be presented in terms of the invariants consistent with the physics of the deformation. From the mathematical viewpoint, the proposed model satisfies the fundamental postulates on the form of strain energy density, specially polyconvexity and coercivity constraints. Indeed, polyconvexity ensures ellipticity condition, which in turn provides material stability and in combination with coercivity condition, guarantees the existence of the global minimizer of the total energy. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed strain energy density function, some test data of incompressible transverse materials with pure homogeneous deformations are used. It is shown that there is a good agreement between the test data and the obtained results from the proposed model. At the end, the performance of the proposed model in the prediction of the material behavior is evaluated rather than other models for two representative problems.