Investigation of the roller swaging process for self-lubricating spherical plain bearings assembly

Abstract Roller swaging is an assembly process of self-lubricating spherical plain bearings, which provides a lightweight reliable joint by means of the plastic deformation with a small forming load requirement. The precise process control of the roller swaging is of great significance to ensure the assembly reliability and a good performance of the self-lubricating spherical plain bearing. In present investigation, the forming load analytical equations for various process parameters was proposed by a plane strain analysis considering the existence of a rigid end, which is a key mechanical factor that causes the metal flow in the roller swaging process. The effects of the feed distance, roller angle, feed speed and friction coefficient on the forming load are assessed in detail. What’s more, the metal flow in the roller swaging was revealed by a 3D elastic-plastic finite element model. The forming load was also obtained from the finite element model during the roller swaging process. Finally, the roller swaging assembly experiments were conducted with a roller swaging apparatus in laboratory conditions, and the good agreements are highlighted among theoretical calculation, FE simulation and experiment measured.