Wear Simulation of a Spherical Hinge Joint with a Thin Composite Coating

A spatial quasi-static contact problem for a spherical hinge joint is considered. On one of the sliding surfaces, a thin polymer composite cover is coated. The polymer matrix is based on a C-2 phenylone and fillers in the form of fine F4MB fluoroplastic powders, tungsten-molybdenum blue, and a C-52 cylinder oil. To solve the problem, the finite-element method and the ANSYS software package were used. The Archard model was employed for describing the wear process. The stress-strain state of the joint was investigated, and the linear wear of the coating at the initial stage of interaction of faces was determined under the same loading conditions and coating thickness. It was found that, at the initial moment of time, the contact pressure and the equivalent stress in the interaction zone increased, which was associated with the “running-in” stage, when the contact was formed when the die unwinded. With reaching a stable rotation mode and a gradual increase in the area of contact patch, due to wear, these values decreased. The amount of wear at the initial stage changed almost linearly and directly depended on the wear factor. The volumetric wear was obtained for different coatings, which allowed us to calculate the rate and intensity of wear.