Influence of Surface Parameters on the Elastoplastic Contact Behavior of Fractal-Regular Surfaces

Abstract

In a recent paper (2004, “Elasto-Plastic Normal Contact of Three-Dimensional Fractal Surfaces Using Halfspace Theory,” J. Tribol., 126, pp. 28–33) the author developed a halfspace model for the elasto-plastic normal contact of rough surfaces. This model is now used to study the influence of intrinsic surface parameters on constitutive contact laws, such as load-gap relation and load-area relation, for a specific type of surface topography known as fractal-regular surfaces. Numerical investigations show that the fractal dimension has only minor influence on the load-gap relationship, which is mostly determined by the dimensionless ratio between the transition length and the rms values of the height data. Due to the fractal nature of the surfaces at the small wavelength limit, initial deformation will always be in the plastic range. The load-area relation becomes then completely independent of the geometric surface parameters and is determined by material properties alone, at least if the predicted plastic deformation occurs at a length scale larger than the atomic scale.