Numerical investigation on thermal deformation of friction pair in hydro-viscous drive

Thermal deformation of friction pair has a significant effect on the working performance of hydro-viscous drive. In order to investigate the combined effect of temperature variation and constraints on the thermo-elastic-plastic deformation of friction pair in hydro-viscous drive during the soft-start, transient thermal deformation model is established for numerical simulation. Thermo-elastic-plastic constitutive equations coupled with thermal strain and mechanical strain are described in detail. Using the constitutive equations derived, indirect coupling numerical method based on the finite element program is developed and used to predict distributions of the temperature, displacement and stress of the disks. The research results show that there are three types of saucer-shaped warping deformation and one type of wave-shaped warping deformation with regard to different constraints. The characteristics of various kinds of displacement and stress are concerned with thermal conductivity and constraints. When the disks are under double constraints, the maximum stress that surpasses the yield stress appears in the disk. When the disks are not under any constraints, minimum stress leads to minimum displacement. To a large extent the deformation size is decided by the location and number of constraints.