Analysis and simulation of contact stress and crackgrowth caused by applying loads on the steel ring ofcement producing rotary kilns

Rotary kilns are one of the key and important points in the field of cement production. These furnacesconsist of a long cylinder mounted on rollers by rings, and the furnace rotates with the rotation of theserollers. All the weight caused by the body of the furnace and the materials inside it are supported bythese rings, so the possibility of damage in them is very high. These damages usually occur due to thegrowth and expansion of cracks caused by fatigue loads due to the presence of defects on the ring, whichultimately leads to the failure of the entire ring and the failure of the furnace. In the present research,considering the importance of the problem, assuming a static state and the existence of a crack on thering, at first the forces on the ring, the applied stresses on it, the displacement of critical points and thenthe growth and expansion of the crack in the steel ring of the furnace have been investigated. Is. Thisinvestigation has been done by the finite element method and simulation in Abaqus software. Thesimulation results show that the maximum force from the furnace is applied to the rings with a force of۲۵۴۴ kilonewtons. The effect point of the highest stress applied on the ring under the effect of contactstress is at a distance of ۴.۵ mm from the surface in the shape of a semi-ellipse. Also, the highest shearstress of ۳۱ MPa is obtained. By applying the sum of effects principle on the ring, the stress range is ۱۸۹MPa. The critical length of the crack for the investigated case was ۱۶.۱۳ mm. Therefore, by having acrack with an initial length of ۱۰ mm, a life equal to ۹.۱۵*۱۰۶ cycles is obtained for the ring .