Influence of Contact Geometry on Local Friction Energy and Stiffness of Revolute Joints

Revolute joints (also called pin joints or hinge joints) are used in many different mechanical systems such as robotic arms, door hinges, folding mechanisms, or hydraulic shovels. Since they transmit forces and give a rotational degree of freedom to the connected parts, revolute joints have a major impact on the dynamic behavior of the system into which they are built. Two main characteristics of these elements are their stiffness and their clearance. Both of them change as the wear between the joint’s pin and the rod hole increases during operation. In order to consider these aspects in a multibody simulation an analytical, numerically effective method has been developed to calculate the stiffness of a revolute joint in dependence of the geometry and the wear state. In addition, the calculation algorithm allows for for the analysis of the local friction energy that occurs in the contact zone. In this paper, the calculation approach is presented together with the results for two different steady loaded revolute joints.