Finite element modeling of elasto-plastic contact between rough surfaces

This paper presents a finite element calculation of frictionless, non-adhesive, contact between a rigid plane and an elasto-plastic solid with a self-affine fractal surface. The calculations are conducted within an explicit dynamic Lagrangian framework. The elasto-plastic response of the material is described by a J₂ isotropic plasticity law. Parametric studies are used to establish general relations between contact properties and key material parameters. In all cases, the contact area A rises linearly with the applied load. The rate of increase grows as the yield stress σ_y decreases, scaling as a power of σ_y over the range typical of real materials. Results for A from different plasticity laws and surface morphologies can all be described by a simple scaling formula. Plasticity produces qualitative changes in the distributions of local pressures in the contact and of the size of connected contact regions. The probability of large local pressures is decreased, while large clusters become more likely. Loading-unloading cycles are considered and the total plastic work is found to be nearly constant over a wide range of yield stresses.     

Statistical model of nearly complete elastic rough surface contact

In the area of homogeneous, isotropic, linear elastic rough surface normal contact, many classic statistical models have been developed which are only valid in the early contact when real area of contact is infinitesimally small, e.g., the Greenwood–Williamson (GW) model. In this article, newly developed statistical models, built under the framework of the (i) GW, (ii) Nayak–Bush and (iii) Greenwood’s simplified elliptic models, extend the range of application of the classic statistical models to the case of nearly complete contact. Nearly complete contact is the stage when the ratio of the real area of contact to the nominal contact area approaches unity. At nearly complete contact, the non-contact area consists of a finite number of the non-contact regions (over a finite nominal contact area). Each non-contact region is treated as a mode-I “crack”. The area of each non-contact region and the corresponding trapped volume within each non-contact region are determined by the analytical solutions in the linear elastic fracture mechanics, respectively. For a certain average contact pressure, not only can the real area of contact be determined by the newly developed statistical models, but also the average interfacial gap. Rough surface is restricted to the geometrically-isotropic surface, i.e., the corresponding statistical parameters are independent of the direction of measurement. Relations between the average contact pressure, non-contact area and average interfacial gap for different combinations of statistical parameters are compared between newly developed statistical models. The relations between non-contact area and average contact pressure predicted by the current models are also compared with that by Persson’s theory of contact. The analogies between the classic statistical models and the newly developed models are also explored.     

Elastic contact between a cylindrical surface and a flat surface - A non-Hertzian model of multi-asperity contact

Contact between curved rough bodies is an important engineering problem. The paper addresses the problem in its simplest form where a smooth rigid cylinder presses down an elastic half space bounded by a plane of uniformly spaced cylindrical asperities. Keeping the separation between the bodies unchanged the problem is inverted and solved using the method of complex variables. As the asperities deform as well as move as rigid bodies, contact lengths and positions develop non-symmetrically with respect to the initial axes of symmetry of the asperities. The resulting local contact pressures are non-Hertzian and the normal load for a given contact area is greater than that estimated using a priori Hertzian pressure profiles.     

考虑粗糙结合面弹塑性接触的黏滑摩擦建模

提出一种同时考虑粗糙面上微凸体弹性变形和塑性接触的切向黏滑摩擦建模方法。采用Hertz弹性理论和Mindlin解描述弹性接触微凸体的切向载荷和相对变形的关系;采用AF(Abbott-Firstone)塑性理论和Fujimoto模型描述塑性接触微凸体切向载荷和相对变形的关系。再利用GW(Greenwood-Williamson)模型统计分析方法建立粗糙表面切向载荷和相对变形之间的关系。将模型与仅考虑微凸体弹性接触情况的模型进行对比,并研究了不同塑性指数对切向载荷和相对变形关系的影响。结果表明：与完全弹性接触模型相比,本文模型引入了塑性接触理论,能够更好地描述粗糙表面切向载荷和相对变形关系,并且考虑不同接触条件下弹性变形微凸体和塑性变形微凸体对切向接触载荷的贡献,在微滑移阶段,主要由弹性接触变形影响,而在进入宏观滑移阶段之后,切向行为主要由塑性变形影响。界面切向载荷由黏着和滑移接触作用共同决定,随着切向变形的增加,滑移接触力逐渐增加,而黏着接触力先增加后减少,反映了界面由微滑移逐渐向宏滑移演化的过程。随着塑性指数的增加,粗糙面上发生塑性接触的微凸体数目逐渐增加,切向黏滑行为主要受到塑性接触特征的控制。     

Contact mechanics of microscopically rough surfaces with graded elasticity

The well-known Greenwood and Williamson contact theory for microscopically homogeneous rough surfaces is generalized by considering functionally graded elastic rough surfaces. In particular, two distinct cases giving rise to a non-constant Young’s modulus with depth are considered: (I) an initially plane layered (or graded) solid which is non-uniformly eroded, so that the final product is a rough surface with asperities having an elastic modulus depending on the height; (II) an initially homogeneous rough surface which receives a surface treatment or a chemical degradation which modify the elastic properties of the asperities as a function of the depth from the exposed surface. These Functionally Graded Surfaces (FGS) can be observed both in biological systems and in mechanical components. The effects of graded elasticity on the relationship between real contact area versus applied load, and on the plasticity index are quantified and illustrated with numerical examples. It will be shown that the contact response may differ up to one order of magnitude with respect to that of a homogeneous surface. Comparison between Case I and Case II also shows that, for special surface properties, the two types of grading can provide the same mechanical response.     

Analyses of steady quasistatic crack growth in plane strain tension in elastic-plastic materials with non-isotropic hardening

Steady state crack propagation problems of elastic-plastic materials in Mode I, plane strain under small scale yielding conditions were investigated with the aid of the finite element method. The elastic-perfectly plastic solution shows that elastic unloading wedges subtended by the crack tip in the plastic wake region do exist and that the stress state around the crack tip is similar to the modified Prandtl fan solution. To demonstrate the effects of a vertex on the yield surface, the small strain version of a phenomenological J₂, corner theory of plasticity (Christoffersen, J. and Hutchinson, J. W. J. Mech. Phys. Solids,27, 465 C 1979) with a power law stress strain relation was used to govern the strain hardening of the material. The results are compared with the conventional J₂ incremental plasticity solution. To take account of Bauschinger like effects caused by the stress history near the crack tip, a simple kinematic hardening rule with a bilinear stress strain relation was also studied. The results are again compared with the smooth yield surface isotropic hardening solution for the same stress strain curve. There appears to be more potential for steady state crack growth in the conventional J₂ incremental plasticity material than in the other two plasticity laws considered here if a crack opening displacement fracture criterion is used. However, a fracture criterion dependent on both stress and strain could lead to a contrary prediction.     

Constitutive modelling of cyclic plasticity of metal particulate-reinforced brittle matrix composites under compression-compression loading

The Mori-Tanaka approach is used to modelling metal particulate-reinforced brittle matrix composites under cyclic compressive loading. The J₂-flow theory is considered as the relevant physical law of plastic flow in inclusions. Ratchetting of the composite is prevented by the strong constraint exerted by the matrix on the inclusions, even under the assumption of evanescent kinematic hardening. However, the weakening constraint power of the matrix caused by microfracture damage around inclusions is closely coupled with the plasticity of inclusion and leads to ratchetting even when the plastic deformation of inclusions is described by an isotropic hardening rule. A detailed parametric study has revealed that ratchetting is followed by either plastic or elastic shakedown, depending on the load amplitude, composite parameters and the mean length of microcracks.     

Unloading an elastic-plastic contact of rough surfaces

A statistical model for the unloading of elastic-plastic contact of rough surfaces is presented for a single load-unload cycle. The hystereses of load-separation and load real contact area behavior are analyzed for a wide range of surface roughness and loading conditions. The residual topography of the unloaded rough surfaces is also analyzed and the new distribution functions of asperity heights and summit radii of curvature along with a corresponding GW residual plasticity index are presented. A new modified plasticity index (MPI) is suggested which considers the energy dissipation due to unrecovered plastic deformations. This MPI varies from zero for purely elastic contacts to unity for purely plastic contacts and hence, can better define the level of plasticity of contacting rough surfaces compared to the original GW plasticity index.     

A novel nonlinear contact stiffness model of concrete–steel joint based on the fractal contact theory

The heavy-duty machine tool is usually assumed in the concrete foundation, in which the machine tool-foundation joints have a critical effect on the working accuracy and life of heavy-duty machine tool. This paper proposed a novel contact stiffness model of concrete–steel joint based on the fractal theory. The topography of contact surface exist in concrete–steel joint has a fractal feature and can be described by fractal parameters. Asperities are considered as elastic, plastic deformation in micro-scale. However, the asperities of concrete surface will be crushed when the stress is larger than their yield limit. Then, the force balance of contact surfaces will be broken. Here, an iteration model is proposed to describe the contact state of concrete–steel joint. Because the contact asperities cover a very small proportion (less than 1%), the load on crushed asperities is assumed carried by other no contact asperities. This process will be repeated again and again until the crushed asperities are not being produced under external load. After that, the real contact area, contact stiffness of the concrete–steel joint can be calculated by integrating the asperities of contact surfaces. Nonlinear relationships between contact stiffness and load, fractal roughness parameter G, fractal dimension D can be revealed based on the presented model. An experimental setup with concrete–steel test-specimens is designed to validate the proposed model. Results indicate that the theoretical vibration mode shapes agree well with the experimental variation mode shapes. The errors between theoretical and experimental natural frequencies are less than 4.18%. The presented model can be used to predict the contact stiffness of concrete–steel joint, which will provide a theoretical basis for optimizing the connection characteristic of machine tool-concrete foundation.     

A Simplified Model for Calculating Hydrodynamic Lubrication Film Thickness in Elastoplastic Line Contacts

The present paper proposes a simplified model for calculating hydrodynamic lubrication film thickness in elastoplastic line contacts. According to the Saint-Venant’s principle, the pressure in the contact is taken as uniformly distributed, this gives the contact surface elastic deformations in the inlet zone far away from the contact center close to real ones while gives those close to the contact center greater than real ones. This treatment is validated for hydrodynamic lubricated elastic contacts for relatively light loads and high rolling speeds. It gives the film thickness at the contact center a little higher than that calculated based on the real elastic model. The treatment is extended to a hydrodynamic lubricated elastoplastic line contact. The contact surfaces in the inlet zone are assumed as elastic and their deformations are calculated based on the uniform pressure distribution in the elastoplastic contact area. An inlet zone analysis is taken for obtaining the calculating equation of the hydrodynamic film thickness at the contact center. The equation overestimates the central film thickness but gives a satisfactory film thickness prediction for the heavy load which gives significant plastic deformations in the elastoplastic contact. It is found that when the load is lighter than 0.6 w _pc , the contact can be taken as elastic when calculating the central film thickness, while when the load is heavier than 0.6 w _pc , the contact can be taken as fully plastic; Here w _pc is the critical load for the contact fully plastic deformation. The plastic deformation in an elastoplastic line contact is found to reduce the hydrodynamic lubrication film thickness in the contact. This reduction is greater for higher rolling speeds and heavier loads. However, it is significantly dropped with increasing surface hardness.     

Effect of yield surface vertex on crack-tip fields in mode III

An asymptotic crack-tip analysis of stress and strain fields is carried out for an antiplane shear crack (Mode III) based on a corner theory of plasticity. Because of the nonproportional loading history experienced by a material element near the crack tip in stable crack growth, classical flow theory may predict an overly stiff response of the elastic plastic solid, as is the case in plastic buckling problems. The corner theory used here accounts for this anomalous behavior. The results are compared with those of a similar analysis based on the J₂ flow theory of plasticity.     

粘着摩擦系数的分形几何研究

计及作用于接触斑点上的切向力，通过比较作用于接触斑点上的法向弹性载荷与法向塑性载荷，确定了区分弹性接触与塑性接触区域的临界接触斑点面积．总的粘着摩擦系数被表示为弹性接触区与塑性接触区的粘着摩擦系数的组合．假设屈服压力及局部粘着摩擦系数不依赖于接触斑点且等于塑性接触区中的平均值，则总的粘着摩擦系数可用简单的表达式描述．分形几何参数及归一接触面积对于粘着摩擦系数的效应已通过算例表明，研究中，分别考虑了忽略与计及接触斑点的微粒间的相互作用，两种情况的结果完全不同．     

粗糙表面的弹塑性接触研究

建立了综合载荷作用下粗糙表面弹塑性接触的确定性模型,考虑了微凸峰接触的弹塑性变形阶段,数值求解得到实际接触面积、压力分布和微凸峰塑性形变.分析了实际接触面积与法向载荷的关系,并研究了点接触的椭圆参数对上述关系的影响.建立了结点增长模型,分析了结点增长与滑动摩擦系数的关系以及滑动摩擦系数随椭圆参数的变化.结果表明:随着法向载荷增大,实际接触面积与法向载荷之间的非线性关系愈加显著;椭圆参数越大,实际接触面积越小,选择较小的椭圆参数可降低平均接触压力;结点增长的速率随滑动摩擦系数增大而增大;表面剪切作用力使最大Mises应力值升高,疲劳裂纹的发生源向表面靠近;重载时选择较小的滚动轴承沟曲率半径系数有利于减小摩擦功耗.     

弹塑性微凸体侧向接触相互作用能耗

传统的结合面研究多基于光滑刚性平面与等效粗糙表面接触假设,忽略了结合面上微凸体侧向接触及相邻微凸体之间的相互作用,这导致理论模型与实际结合面存在较大出入.针对承受法向静、动态力的机械结合面,从微观上研究了微凸体侧向接触及相互作用的接触能耗.将法向静、动态力分解为法向分力和切向分力,获取弹性/弹塑性/塑性阶段考虑微凸体侧接触及相互作用的加、卸载法向分力-变形和切向分力-位移的关系.通过力的合成定理,从而获取加、卸载法向合力与总变形之间的关系,由于法向分力产生的塑性变形及切向分力产生的摩擦,导致加载、卸载法向合力-总变形曲线存在迟滞回线.通过对一个加、卸载周期内的法向合力-总变形曲线积分,获得一个周期的微凸体接触能耗,包括应变能耗及摩擦能耗.仿真分析表明:微凸体在3个阶段的能耗均随变形的增大而非线性增大.微凸体侧向接触角度越大,能耗越大,且在弹性阶段最为明显.在弹性阶段,仅存在侧向的摩擦能耗,故结合面在低载荷作用下必须采用双粗糙表面假设.在塑性阶段,由于微凸体接触能耗为应变能耗,且接触角对其能耗影响甚微,故结合面在大载荷作用下可采用单平面假设对其进行研究.相对于KE和Etsion模型,本文提出的模型与Bartier的实验结果更吻合.     

Effects of pre-stress on crack-tip fields in elastic,incompressible solids

A closed-form asymptotic solution is provided for velocity fields and the nominal stress rates near the tip of a stationary crack in a homogeneously pre-stressed configuration of a nonlinear elastic, incompressible material. In particular, a biaxial pre-stress is assumed with stress axes parallel and orthogonal to the crack faces. Two boundary conditions are considered on the crack faces, namely a constant pressure or a constant dead loading, both preserving an homogeneous ground state. Starting from this configuration, small superimposed Mode I or Mode II deformations are solved, in the framework of Biot's incremental theory of elasticity. In this way a definition of an incremental stress intensity factor is introduced, slightly different for pressure or dead loading conditions on crack faces. Specific examples are finally developed for various hyperelastic materials, including the J₂-deformation theory of plasticity. The presence of pre-stress is shown to strongly influence the angular variation of the asymptotic crack-tip fields, even if the nominal stress rate displays a square root singularity as in the infinitesimal theory. Relationships between the solution with shear band formation at the crack tip and instability of the crack surfaces are given in evidence.     

Effect of strain hardening in elastic–plastic transition behavior in a hemisphere in contact with a rigid flat

An axisymmetrical hemispherical asperity in contact with a rigid flat is modeled for an elastic–plastic material on the lines of the Kogut–Etsion Model (KE Model) and the Jackson–Green Model (JG Model). The present work extends the previous KE and JG works, accounting for the effect of realistic material behavior in terms of the varying yield strengths and the isotropic strain hardening behavior. The predicted results show that the transition behavior of the materials from the elastic–plastic to the fully plastic case is influenced by the yield strength and the tangent modulus (E_t) and such transition do not take place at specific values of interference ratios as suggested by the KE model. New empirical relations are proposed to determine the contact load and the contact area based on the analysis. Numerical results from the finite element modeling are also validated with an experimental ball on flat configuration approach.     

Multiaxial constitutive model accounting for the strength-differential in Inconel 718

The nickel-base alloy Inconel 718 exhibits a strength-differential, that is, a different plastic flow behavior in uniaxial tension and uniaxial compression. A phenomenological viscoplastic model founded on thermodynamics has been extended for material behavior that deviates from classical metal plasticity by including all three stress invariants in the threshold function. The model can predict plastic flow in isotropic materials with or without a flow stress asymmetry as well as with or without pressure dependence. Viscoplastic material parameters have been fit to pure shear, uniaxial tension, and uniaxial compression experimental results at 650°°C. Threshold function material parameters have been fit to the strength-differential. Four classes of threshold functions have been considered and nonproportional loading of hollow tubes, such as shear strain followed by axial strain, has been used to select the most applicable class of threshold function for the multiaxial model as applied to Inconel 718 at 650 °C. These nonproportional load paths containing corners provide a rigorous test of a plasticity model, whether it is time-dependent or not. A J₂J₃ class model, where J₂ and J₃ are the second and third effective deviatoric stress invariants, was found to agree the best with the experimental results.     

Role of elasticity in elastic–plastic fracture: Analytical bi-linear crack-tip fields and finite element analysis

A solution for Model-I plane strain crack tip fields in a bi-linear elastic–plastic material is presented. The elastic–plastic Poisson's ratio is introduced to characterize the influence of elastic deformation on the near tip constraint. Attention is focused on the distribution of elastic/plastic strain energy in the sensitive region of the forward sector ahead of a crack tip. The present study shows that the elastic strain energy can be higher than the plastic strain energy in this sensitive sector while large amount of the plastic strain energy develops outside this sector around the crack tip. The effect of elastic deformation in this sensitive region on the structure of crack-tip fields is considerable and the assumption in some important solutions for crack-tip fields reported in literature that the elastic deformation is small and can be ignored is therefore not physically reasonable. Besides, finite element analysis is carried out to validate the analytical solution and good agreement between them is found. It is seen that the present solution with T-stress can properly describe the crack-tip fields under various constraints for different specimens and an analytical relation is established between the critical value of J-integral, J_c, and T-stress for elastic–plastic fracture.     

The influence of the statistical properties of self-affine surfaces in elastic contacts: A numerical investigation

In the last years, an increasing number of papers has been published in the field of contact mechanics between rough fractal surfaces. The increase in research is motivated by the wide variety of natural and industrial processes that involve formation of rough surfaces and interfaces, characterized by self-similarity or self-affine properties on multiple scales. In this paper, the contact between a linear elastic half-space and a rough self-affine fractal rigid surface is studied by employing a numerical method recently developed by the authors (Putignano et al., 2012). The paper aims at investigating the influence of surface parameters as fractal dimensions, mean square slope and mean square roughness on the relation between the contact area, the load and the average separation. The results show that, for relatively small loads, the real contact area–load relationship coefficient of proportionality $\kappa$ takes the universal value $\kappa =2$ independent of the statistical properties and fractal dimension D_f of the rough surface. This universal constant is just in between the two values predicted respectively by Bush et al. (1975) and Persson (2001). We also find that the average separation vs. load relation is affected by the fractal dimension D_f of the rough surface, as higher D_f lead to an increase of the average separation. Finally, in this work, we also study the behavior of the power spectral densities of the elastically deformed surface and of the distribution of local separations. We find that the trend of this quantities is in agreement with recent theoretical predictions.     

A finite element investigation of the effect of crack tip constraint on hole growth under mode i and mixed mode loading

In this work, the effect of constraint on hole growth near a notch tip in a ductile material under mode I and mixed mode loading (involving modes I and II) is investigated. To this end, a 2-D plane strain, modified boundary layer formulation is employed in which the mixed mode elastic K–T field is prescribed as remote boundary conditions. A finite element procedure that accounts for finite deformations and rotations is used along with an appropriate version of J₂ flow theory of plasticity with small elastic strains. Several analyses are carried out corresponding to different values of T-stress and remote elastic mode-mixity. The interaction between the notch and hole is studied by examining the distribution of hydrostatic stress and equivalent plastic strain in the ligament between the notch tip and the hole, as well as the growth of the hole. The implications of the above results on ductile fracture initiation due to micro-void coalescence are discussed.