Thermal Analysis of Sliding Contact in Systems With Rotary Motion

Many devices involve sliding contact where a rotating component slides over a stationary component. Examples include disk brakes, cam/valve lifters, and laboratory pin-on-disk machines. An essential feature of these devices is that a wear track forms on the rotating component that is cyclically exposed to frictional heating, temperature fluctuations, and enhanced chemical film formation. The objective of this paper is to develop a theoretical model and solution methodology to examine the thermal effects produced by friction between sliding contacts in systems with rotary motion. A new methodology based on a combination of control volume finite difference and the cellular automata concepts is developed. The method involves a cascading sequence of simple, explicit rules of evaluation, rather than complicated partial differential equations. Results using the general model developed in this study are presented in dimensionless form to show the importance of critical operating parameters. Implications for applications such as disk brake and cam/valve lifters are suggested.