The Micro-Temperatures of the Peaks and Valleys of Sliding Rough Surfaces

Abstract

The surface micro-temperature of sliding, rough bodies is an important factor affecting contact properties, such as chemical reactions of automatic injectors for medicine and chemical processes and surface failure of micro-and macro-devices. In this work, the Finite Element Method is used to analyze the micro-temperature of the peaks and valleys of multiplying asperity sliding contact surfaces. The affecting parameters include pressure, roughness, sliding speed, Peclet number, and thermal conductivity of rough surfaces. Analysis results showed that the effects of the studied parameters are different to those of peak and valley temperatures. While pressure increased, the increasing rate of the temperature rise parameter of valleys was larger than those of peaks. The temperature rise of peaks increased as roughness increased. On the contrary, the temperature rise of valleys decreased as roughness increased. Sliding speed and thermal conductivity played the most important roles in affecting the maximum micro-temperature rise. The temperature rise difference between peaks and valleys was almost proportional to thermal conductivity, and was inversely proportional to sliding speed for all cases. This transient thermal analysis enables precision control of interface micro-temperature for micro-moving devices.