Determination of stress intensity factors for cracked bridge roller bearings using finite element analyses

- The behaviour of a cracked bridge roller bearing is studied using FEM.
- KI and KII are calculated for the relevant load and angle of rotation.
- The FE results are compared to approximate SIF solutions reported earlier.

In this work, the finite element method is employed to gain an understanding of the behaviour of a cracked bridge roller bearing in service. The cracked roller is considered as a two-dimensional edge-cracked disk subjected to a radial compressive line load. The crack parameters KI and KII are calculated for the relevant load configuration and angle of disk rotation. The calculated data are also used to check the accuracy of approximate SIF solutions reported earlier (Schindler, 1990; Schindler and Morf, 1994). For plain Mode I loading very good agreement is found between the obtained results and data presented in Schindler and Morf (1994).