In order to study the influence of residual stress on rolling contact, a simplified 2-D finite element model of cylindrical roller bearing was established. Then different residual stresses were applied to the model, followed by elastoplastic analysis. The effects of the characterization parameters of residual stress i.e. gradient, magnitude and depth on rolling contact were analyzed. The results showed that residual compressive stress can reduce the elastic contact stress and the plastic strain, while the residual tensile stress with the same magnitude of residual compressive stress can increase them more significantly. The parametric study showed that: residual compressive stress with a smaller gradient and residual tensile stress with a zero gradient lead to smaller plastic strains; plastic strain rises with the increasing of residual compressive stress and the decreasing of residual tensile stress; deepening residual compressive stress a proper depth can reduce plastic strain thus increasing rolling contact fatigue life while the deepening of residual tensile stress will result in larger plastic strain and fatigue damage.
