Contact Problems in Hydraulic Components

Nonlinear analysis has been applied both statically and dynamically for the solution of contact problems between bearing block and casing irregularly shaped surfaces of an external gear pump. The importanc~ of modelling the time-dependent response of the component to time varying loads, evaluating the peak stress amplitude and having a numerical accuracy and confidence level of the stationary solution forced us to use a transient dynamic analysis, simulating the contact by means of 2-D interface or gap elements. Particular anention has been paid on a number of numerical problems relevant to the physical situation of every model improvement, for example the definition of integration parameters of the algorithm, ~ damping of the structure, the high amount of memo!)' and CPU tilne required. The critical issues of the numerical software application such as complexity, reliability, effectiveness have been emphasized.