Accurate and efficient modeling of the hysteretic behavior of sliding bearings

This paper presents a uniaxial phenomenological model for the simulation of the hysteretic behavior typically exhibited by sliding bearings deforming along one of their transverse directions under the effect of an axial compressive load. The proposed hysteretic model is able to take into account the dependency of the device restoring force on the velocity of sliding, on the bearing pressure, and on the condition of the sliding interface. Furthermore, it allows for a considerable reduction of the computational effort of nonlinear dynamic analyses since the model hysteretic variable is evaluated by solving an algebraic equation. The numerical accuracy and computational efficiency of the proposed model are assessed by means of numerical simulations.