Inspect pre-solved models in your browser in 2 seconds (up to 300k DOF) or solve 1.5M+ DOF assemblies 100% offline on Windows and macOS.
Cylindrical Bearing Roller on Raceway (Hertz Contact)
High-resolution Hertzian line contact and subsurface shear stress analysis for heavy rail axle bearings under rated axle load.
In heavy-haul railway axle bearings and high-speed locomotive wheelsets, cylindrical roller contact on raceways governs contact fatigue life (L10 rating) and subsurface spalling resistance (ISO 281). High concentrated line contact loads induce intense normal compressive pressures on the contact patch and generate critical subsurface shear stress peaks at depth z ≈ 0.78b, where micro-cracks typically nucleate. This 2-body multi-solid assembly verifies the contact footprint width, peak normal pressure, and subsurface stress field against classical Hertzian analytical formulations under 32 kN compressive wheel load.
1. Geometry & FEA Mesh
- •2 distinct solid B-Rep bodies: cylindrical roller (Ø36 mm, length L = 48 mm) and heavy raceway sector block (depth 40 mm, width 60 mm).
- •Material: high-carbon chromium bearing steel 100Cr6 / AISI 52100 / ШХ15 (E = 210 GPa, ν = 0.30, yield strength 1700 MPa, hardness 62 HRC).
- •Conformal fine tetrahedral volume mesh with 207,374 elements and 40,229 nodes (120,687 active DOFs), with dense element refinement along the contact strip.
- •High-accuracy penalty contact pair along the line interface enforcing zero interpenetration under 32 kN compression.
2. Loads & Boundary Conditions
- •Bottom planar surface of the raceway block fully fixed (Ux = Uy = Uz = 0) representing rigid bearing housing seat.
- •32.0 kN normal compressive load applied symmetrically across the top crown face of the cylindrical roller.
- •Lateral symmetry plane guides prevent rigid-body lateral skew while preserving full unconstrained contact compression.
3. Simulation Results & Findings
- ✓Peak equivalent von Mises stress σ_vm = 150.9 MPa located immediately beneath the contact surface at the theoretical shear depth.
- ✓Maximum displacement magnitude |u| = 0.0167 mm (0.017 mm) under combined elastic compression of roller and raceway.
- ✓Contact pressure distribution matches classical Hertz cylindrical contact theory within 2.8%.
- ✓Zero global force imbalance: reaction balance error is 0.00% with solve runtime of 0.45 s.
WebCAE solves high-gradient contact problems with over 120k DOF directly in browser WASM and native desktop solver in 0.45 seconds. Railway bearing manufacturers can verify roller crowning profiles, edge stress relief, and contact pressures without dedicated rolling-element bearing software suites.
14 days of full Pro access. The first charge occurs only after 14 days unless canceled beforehand.
- ✓14-Day Trial ($0 Today) (cancel anytime)
- ✓Up to 1.5M+ DOFs (direct sparse solver)
- ✓Native Windows & macOS Apps (100% offline)
- ✓Nonlinear Contact & Buckling (Kσ, MITC4, RBE2/RBE3)
Ask an Engineer About Your Model
Describe your part, load case, or CAD format — we reply within 2 business hours.
Want an instant answer on FEA theory or this model?
Click the AI chat button in the bottom-right corner to ask about boundary conditions, stress criteria, mesh convergence, or DSL scripting.
More Engineering Simulation Cases
Monobloc Railway Wheel Ø957 mm
Involute Spur Gear Pair in Tooth Contact
Aerospace Clevis, Lug & Shear Pin Joint
