Nonlinear contact and impact of revolute joints

The contact deformation model of revolute joint is established based on Hertz theory, and the simulation model is developed based on finite element method (FEM). The results obtained from two models are compared. The error of Hertz model is evaluated by comparison with corresponding FEM, which changes with the contact depth and the clearance of revolute joint. Then the error correction function is established, which is related with the contact depth and clearance. The comparisons of the Hertz model, FEM, and error correction model show that correction model is accurate to calculate the deformation of the contact depth. However, the displacement of the part of revolute joint contains the contact depth and the global deformation of the circle structure of the tang or clevis. The displacement of middle area of clevis and tang can be modeled by establishing force equilibrium equations. The displacement of the curved structure is closed to the corresponding results of the FEM. The impact characteristic is obtained by simulating the course of the impact and contact in one period. The results of impact simulation are basically agreed with the experimental data.