An elastic-plastic finite element model for the frictionless contact of a deformable sphere pressed by a rigid flat is presented. The evolution of the elastic-plastic contact with increasing interference is analyzed revealing three distinct stages that range from fully elastic through elastic-plastic to fully plastic contact interface. The model provides dimensionless expressions for the contact load, contact area, and mean contact pressure, covering a large range of interference values from yielding inception to fully plastic regime of the spherical contact zone. Comparison with previous elastic-plastic models that were based on some arbitrary assumptions is made showing large differences. ©2002 ASME

Elastic-Plastic Contact Analysis of a Sphere and a Rigid Flat

Advances in engineered surfaces for functional performance

This work presents a finite element study of elasto-plastic hemispherical contact. The results are normalized such that they are valid for macro contacts (e.g., rolling element bearings) and micro contacts (e.g., asperity contact), although micro-scale surface characteristics such as grain boundaries are not considered. The material is modeled as elastic-perfectly plastic. The numerical results are compared to other existing models of spherical contact, including the fully plastic truncation model (often attributed to Abbott and Firestone) and the perfectly elastic case (known as the Hertz contact). This work finds that the fully plastic average contact pressure, or hardness, commonly approximated to be a constant factor of about three times the yield strength, actually varies with the deformed contact geometry, which in turn is dependent upon the material properties (e.g., yield strength). The current work expands on previous works by including these effects and explaining them theoretically. Experimental and analytical results have also been shown to compare well with the current work. The results are fit by empirical formulations for a wide range of interferences (displacements which cause normal contact between the sphere and rigid flat) and materials for use in other applications.

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A Finite Element Study of Elasto-Plastic Hemispherical Contact Against a Rigid Flat

The special mechanical properties of nanoparticles allow for novel applications in many fields, e.g., surface engineering, tribology and nanomanufacturing/nanofabrication. In this review, the basic physics of the relevant interfacial forces to nanoparticles and the main measuring techniques are briefly introduced first. Then, the theories and important results of the mechanical properties between nanoparticles or the nanoparticles acting on a surface, e.g., hardness, elastic modulus, adhesion and friction, as well as movement laws are surveyed. Afterwards, several of the main applications of nanoparticles as a result of their special mechanical properties, including lubricant additives, nanoparticles in nanomanufacturing and nanoparticle reinforced composite coating, are introduced. A brief summary and the future outlook are also given in the final part. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/47/1/013001/pdf

Mechanical properties of nanoparticles: basics and applications

Memento, homo, qui pulvis est et pulverem reverteris.  Genesis 3  Polvos seran, mas polvo enamorado.  Francisco de Quevedo The physics of granular materials in ambient gases is governed by interparticle forces, gas–particle interaction, geometry of particle positions and geometry of particle contacts. At low consolidations these are strongly dependent on the external forces, boundary conditions and on the assembling procedure. For dry fine powders of micron and sub-micron particle size interparticle attractive forces are typically much higher than particle weight, and particles tend to aggregate. Because of this, cohesive powders fracture before breaking, flow and avalanche in coherent blocks much larger than the particle size. Similarly the drag force for micron sized particles is large compared to their weight for velocities as low as 1 mm/s. Due to this extreme sensitivity to interstitial gas flow, powders transit directly from plastic dense flows to fluidization without passing through collisional re...

The relationship between attractive interparticle forces and bulk behaviour in dry and uncharged fine powders

This paper presents an elastic-plastic asperity microcontact model for contact between two nominally flat surfaces. The transition from elastic deformation to fully plastic flow of the contacting asperity is modeled based on contact-mechanics theories in conjunction with the continuity and smoothness of variables across different modes of deformation. The relations of the mean contact pressure and contact area of the asperity to its contact interference in the elastoplastic regime of deformation are respectively modeled by logarithmic and fourth-order polynomial functions. These asperity-scale equations are then used to develop the elastic-plastic contact model between two rough surfaces, allowing the mean surface separation and the real area of contact to be calculated as functions of the contact load and surface plasticity index. Results are presented for a wide range of contact load and plasticity index, showing the importance of accurately modeling the deformation in the elastoplastic transitional regime of the asperity contacts. The results are also compared with those calculated by the GW and CEB models, showing that the present model is more complete in describing the contact of rough surfaces.

An Asperity Microcontact Model Incorporating the Transition From Elastic Deformation to Fully Plastic Flow

A micro-contact and wear model for chemical-mechanical polishing of silicon wafers

This paper present a micro-contact model incorporating asperity interactions in elastic-plastic contact of rough surfaces. The effect of the asperity interactions on the local deformation behavior of a given micro-contact is first modeled based on the Saint-Venant's Principle and Love's Formula. The local contact interference is related in closed form to the local contact load, the global mean pressure and material parameters. This micro-contact model equation is then integrated into the elastic-plastic contact model developed in Zhao et al. (2000) to allow the asperity interactions and plastic deformation to be considered simultaneously. The effects of the asperity interactions on the mean surface separation, the real area of contact and the redistribution of the contact load among contacting asperities of different heights are studied. The results show that the asperity interactions can significantly affect the mean surface separation and microcontact load redistribution. The results also reveal that the effect of asperity interactions can be largely cancelled out by the effect of asperity plastic deformation.

A model of asperity interactions in elastic-plastic contact of rough surfaces

A mathematical model for chemical–mechanical polishing based on formation and removal of weakly bonded molecular species

This paper reports on experiments and theoretical analyses of heat generation and scuffing failure in rolling contacts. The experiments were conducted with dry contacts, and the theoretical analyses were carried out using a deterministic thermal contact model. The research reveals that heat generated by asperity plastic deformation in the direction normal to the contact can be significant in high-load, high-speed contacts under boundary and mixed lubrication conditions. Under near rolling conditions, heat generated by the plastic deformation largely dominates that by the friction and is the main source leading to contact scuffing. This heat generation is shown to be significant compared to frictional heating even at relatively large slide-to-roll ratios. Parametric studies show that the ratio of asperity-plastic-deformation heating to frictional heating is sensitive to slide-to-roll ratio, hardness and surface finish but insensitive to contact load, rolling velocity and fluid/asperity load sharing.

Yongwu Zhao

Papers

An Asperity Microcontact Model Incorporating the Transition From Elastic Deformation to Fully Plastic Flow

A micro-contact and wear model for chemical-mechanical polishing of silicon wafers

A model of asperity interactions in elastic-plastic contact of rough surfaces

A mathematical model for chemical–mechanical polishing based on formation and removal of weakly bonded molecular species

On Heat Generation in Rolling Contacts Under Boundary and Mixed Lubrication