Assessment of the Tribological Contact Between Sliding Surfaces Via an Entropy Approach

Abstract

The interaction observed between two surfaces in contact with one another is part of a number of physical processes, such as wear. In this paper, we present a numerical study of the asperities between two surfaces in contact with each other. The real contact area between two surfaces varies due to the multiple roughness scales caused by the stochastic nature of asperities. In our research, we employ a tribological system comprising two partitions: C1 is the contact set (CS), where the two surfaces are in direct contact with each other, and C2 is the noncontact set, where the two surfaces are not in contact with each other. Here, we have developed a new numerical model to describe the CS using ε-entropy to prove the existence of a minimum value for entropy in sliding contact scenarios. In this system, the lower and upper bounds of entropy are determined through the Kolmogorov approach using the aforementioned model. Using this model, we conclude that the ε-entropy value is bound between ln 2 and 2·ln 2 for a tribological system comprising two partitions. Additionally, we conclude that a correlation between the stochastic tribological contact behavior and the rate of entropy change is the key parameter in thermal nonequilibrium scenarios.