P3CAN

The below functions can be found in the p3can module of the package.

The below functions are not automatically imported when you import the tribology package. They need to be imported on a sub-module level:

from tribology.p3can.p3can import p3can, generate_input_file

Note: The P3CAN project is currently not maintained!

The P3CAN project aimed to develop a Python 3 implementation of an open source multi-purpose (tribology) contact analyzer, both for research and higher level educational purposes. However, due to its monolithic structure it proved hard to maintain, and it can be hard for new users to understand the code in its entirety.

The P3CAN project precedes the tribology package and many of its functions and functionalities have since been integrated into the package. This work will be continued in the future.

Simply put, P3CAN can be used to calculate parameters such as contact pressure, load distribution and friction energy for various tribological systems.

P3can currently provides implementations of the following tribological systems: - radial roller bearings - axial thrust roller bearings - pin-on-disk - 4-ball - ball-on-3-plates - ring-on-ring

You can run P3CAN by calling it with a program specific input file. Templates for user input files can be generated using the generate_input_file function below.

For more information on the P3CAN project, please refer to its GitHub page: https://github.com/moritzploss/p3can

p3can(in_file='USER_INPUT.py', out_dir=None)

Start a P3CAN simulation run.

Parameters:

• in_file (str, optional) – The file path of the P3CAN input file. The default value is USER_INPUT.py. You can generate in_file templates for different tribological systems using the generate_input_file function.
• out_dir (str) – The directory in which output files will be stored. A folder named results will be created in out_dir. The results folder then contains a simulation-specific folder containing all outputs. Default is the current working directory.

Returns:

sim.res_dir – The path to the simulation-specific results folder. The path is:

out_dir/results/<unique simulation name>

The unique simulation name is automatically generated by P3CAN.

Return type:

str

generate_input_file(temp_type, out_file)

Generate a P3CAN input file based on a user input template.

Parameters:

• temp_type (int) – Specifies which type of user input template will be generated:

  0: complete set of available parameters

  1: template for single row cylindrical roller bearings

  3: template for cylindrical roller thrust bearings

  4: template for ball-on-disk setup

  5: template for pin-on-disk setup

  6: template for 4-ball setup

  7: template for ball-on-3-plates setup

  8: template for ring-on-ring setup

• out_file (str) – The complete file path of the output file.

Returns:

out_file – The complete file path of the output file.

Return type:

str