Finite Element Simulation Of Cylindrical Interference Connection

Cylindrical interference connection occupies an important position in the mechanical product assembly process and its application is very extensive. According to the geometric features of the connectors, it can be divided into two forms, i.e., thin-walled and thick-walled cylinder interference connections.In the actual working condition, there are more influence factors of interference connection. For the research and application, it is very significant to analyze the influence principles of different factors for the cylindrical interference connection. Magnitude of interference and the coefficient of friction are selected as the influence factor of design parameters, while elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio of connectors are considered as the influence factor of material property. Press-assembly process of sealed cowling for 352226X2-2RZ type wagon bearing is used as the instance of thin-walled cylinder interference connection. Besides, press-assembly process of wheelset which involves of a HESA monobloc steel hub and a RE2 B type axle is applied as the example of thick-walled cylinder interference connection. The elastic and plastic contact analysis models are set up by using the finite element analysis software named ABAQUS and their stress and strain curves are obtained. The influence rules of design parameters and connector material properties on the plastic strain, the maximum contact stress and the maximum equivalent stress are further studied. The variation laws of stress and strain are compared between the thin-walled and thick-walled cylinder interference connections.Analysis results show that:(1) increasing the magnitude of interference can cause the increases of the maximum contact stress, maximum equivalent stress and plastic strain of thin-walled and thick-walled cylinder interference connections. The plastic deformation resistance of thick-walled cylinder interference connection is larger than that of thin-walled cylinder interference connection. The amplitudes of the maximum contact stress and maximum equivalent stress for thick-walled cylinder interference connection are also larger than those of thin-walled cylinder interference connection;(2) increasing the coefficient of friction can enlarge the stresses and strains of thin-walled and thick-walled cylinder interference connection, respectively. When the coefficient of friction is increased, the amplitudes of plastic strain and the maximum contact stress for the thin-walled cylinder interference connection is larger than those of on the thick-walled cylinder interference connection. But the amplitudes of the maximum equivalent stress for the thin-walled cylinder interference connection is smaller than those of the thick-walled cylinder interference connection;(3) the variation of the Poisson’s ratio has less influence on the maximum contact stress, maximum equivalent stress and plastic strain of thin-walled and thick-walled cylinder interference connections;(4) when external load is an axial displacement, increasing elastic modulus can magnify the stresses and strains of thin-walled and thick-walled cylinder interference connections. The amplitude of plastic strain of thin-walled cylinder interference connection is equal to that of thick-walled cylinder interference connection. At the same time, the amplitudes of the maximum contact stress and maximum equivalent stress of the thin-walled cylinder amplitude are larger than those of thick-walled cylinder interference connection.The results of this study not only lays a theoretical foundation for further research on the interference connection, but also provides some guidance for the practical application interference connection.