Bimaterial Micro-Structured Annulus With Zero Thermal Expansion Coefficient

This paper mainly concentrates on the design and analysis of the annulus with zero thermal expansion coefficient (ZTE) aiming to solve the heat generation and deformation in high speed bearing. First, a fork-like lattice cell inspired by the basic triangular cell is put forward and further applied to construct an annulus. The stretch-dominated lattice cell utilizes the Poisson’s contraction effect to achieve the tailorable thermal expansion coefficient (CTE). The thermal behaviors differences between the continuous interfaces and lattice cells will lead to the internal stress. Thus, the CTE of the annulus consisting of the lattice cell can be tailored to zero even negative values through the offset between the thermal-strain and force-strain. Then a theoretical model is established with some appropriate assumptions to reveal the quantitative relations among the geometrical parameters, material properties and equivalent CTEs thoroughly. The prerequisites for realizing a zero CTE are further derived in terms of material limitations and geometric constraints. Finally, FEA method is implemented to verify and analyze the thermal behaviors of annulus. The proposed annulus design characterized by the CTE tunability, structure efficiency and continuous interfaces is hopefully to be applied in the high speed bearings, adapters between the shaft and collar and fastener screws.