Study on simulation of multifield coupled wear in reciprocating electrical contact

Abstract

Purpose Conventional wear models cannot satisfy the requirements of electrical contact wear simulation. Therefore, this study aims to establish a novel wear simulation model that considered the influence of thermal-stress-wear interaction to achieve high accuracy under various current conditions, especially high current. Design/methodology/approach The proposed electrical contact wear model was established by combining oxidation theory and the modified Archard wear model. The wear subroutine was written in FORTRAN, and adaptive mesh technology was used to update the wear depth. The simulation results were compared with the experimental results and the typically used stress-wear model. The temperature of the contact surface, distribution of the wear depth and evolution of the wear rate were analyzed. Findings With the increase in the current flow, the linear relationship between the wear depth and time changed to the parabola. Electrical contact wear occurred in two stages, namely, acceleration and stability stages. In the acceleration stage, the wear rate increased continuously because of the influence of material hardness reduction and oxidation loss. Originality/value In previous wear simulation models, the influence of multiple physical fields in friction and wear has been typically ignored. In this study, the oxidation loss during electrical contact wear was considered, and the thermo-stress-wear complete coupling method was used to analyze the wear process.