Asperity contact theories: Do they predict linearity between contact area and load?

During the last few years, the scientific community has been debating about which theory of contact between rough surfaces can be considered as the most accurate. The authors have been attracted by such a discussion and in this paper try to give their personal thought and contribution to this debate. We present a critical analysis of the principal contact theories of rough surfaces. We focus on the multiasperity contact models (which are all based on the original idea of Greenwood and Williamson (GW) [1966. Proc. R. Soc. London A 295, 300]), and also briefly discuss a relatively recent contact theory developed by Persson [2001. J. Chem. Phys. 115, 3840]. For small loads both asperity contact models and Persson's theory predict a linear relation between the area of true contact and the applied external load, but the two theories differ for the constant of proportionality. However, this is not the only difference between the two approaches. Indeed, we show that the fully calculated predictions of asperity contact models very rapidly deviates from the predicted linear relation already for very small and in many cases unrealistic vanishing applied loads and contact areas. Moreover, this deviation becomes more and more important as the PSD breadth parameter α (as defined by Nayak) increases. Therefore, the asymptotic linear relation of multiasperity contact theories turns out to be only an academic result. On the contrary, Persson's theory is not affected by α and shows a linear behavior between contact area and load up to 10–15% of the nominal contact area, i.e. for physical reasonable loads. The authors also prove that, at high separation, all multiasperity contact models, which take into account the influence of summit curvature variation as a function of summit height, necessarily converge to a (slightly) improved version of the GW model, which, therefore, remains one of the most important milestones in the field of contact mechanics of rough surfaces.     

Adhesion and friction of an elastic half-space in contact with a slightly wavy rigid surface

The paper deals with the estimation of the pressure distribution, the shape of contact and the friction force at the interface of a flat soft elastic solid moving on a rigid half-space with a slightly wavy surface. In this case an unsymmetrical contact is considered and justified with the adhesion hysteresis. For soft solids as rubber and polymers the friction originates mainly from two different contributions: the internal friction due to the viscoelastic properties of the bulk and the adhesive processes at the interface of the two solids. In the paper the authors focus on the latter contribution to friction. It is known, indeed, that for soft solids, as rubber, the adhesion hysteresis is, at least qualitatively, related to friction: the larger the adhesion hysteresis the larger the friction. Several mechanisms may govern the adhesion hysteresis, such as the interdigitation process between the polymer chains, the local small-scale viscoelasticity or the local elastic instabilities. In the paper the authors propose a model to link, from the continuum mechanics point of view, the friction to the adhesion hysteresis. A simple one-length scale roughness model is considered having a sinusoidal profile. For partial contact conditions the detached zone is taken to be a mode I propagating crack. Due to the adhesion hysteresis, the crack is affected by two different values of the strain energy release rate at the advancing and receding edges respectively. As a result, an unsymmetrical contact and a friction force arise. Additionally, the stability of the equilibrium configurations is discussed and the adherence force for jumping out of contact and the critical load for snapping into full contact are estimated.     

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.     

Non-slipping adhesive contact between mismatched elastic spheres: A model of adhesion mediated deformation sensor

A generalized JKR model is established for non-slipping adhesive contact between two dissimilar elastic spheres subjected to a pair of pulling forces and a mismatch strain. We discuss the full elastic solution to the problem as well as the so-called non-oscillatory solution in which tension and shear tractions along the contact interface is decoupled from each other. The model indicates that the mismatch strain has significant effect on the contact area and the pull-off process. Under a finite pulling force, a pair of adhering spheres is predicted to break apart spontaneously at a critical mismatch strain. This study suggests an adhesion mediated deformation sensing mechanism by which cells and molecules can detect mechanical signals in the environment via adhesive interactions.     

The role of binder mobility in spontaneous adhesive contact and implications for cell adhesion

The standard view of mechanical adhesive contact is as a competition between a reduction in free energy when surfaces with bonding potential come into contact and an increase in free energy due to elastic deformation that is required to make these surfaces conform. An equilibrium state is defined by an incremental balance between these effects, akin to the Griffith crack growth criterion. In the case of adhesion of biological cells, the molecules that tend to form surface-to-surface bonds are confined to the cell wall but they are mobile within the wall, adding a new phenomenon of direct relevance to adhesive contact. In this article, the process of adhesive contact of an initially curved elastic plate to a flat surface is studied for the case in which the binders that account for adhesion are able to migrate within the plate. This is done by including entropic free energy of the binder distribution in the total free energy of the system. By adopting a constitutive assumption that binders migrate at a speed proportional to the local gradient in chemical potential, the transient growth of an adhesion zone due to binder transport is analyzed. For the case of a plate of very large extent, the problem can be solved in closed form, whereas numerical methods are invoked for the case of a plate of limited extent. Results are presented on the rate of growth of an adhesion zone in terms of system parameters, on the evolution of the distribution of binders and, in the case of a plate of limited extent, on the long-term limiting size of the adhesion zone.     

防护模型在接触爆炸作用下的破坏

根据大型舰船的多层防护结构,制作了具有多层隔舱的模型,在外层板中心分别进行了3种药量的接触爆炸。通过分析破口的形状、破坏程度来研究舰船多层防护的作用。通过试验得出,多层防护的空舱对爆轰产物和爆炸冲击波具有良好的膨胀衰减作用,液舱则对粒子流、爆轰产物和冲击波的衰减作用明显。舰船的多层防护体系对减小爆炸冲击的损伤具有重要作用。     

Matched asymptotic expansions for twisted elastic knots: A self-contact problem with non-trivial contact topology

We derive solutions of the Kirchhoff equations for a knot tied on an infinitely long elastic rod subjected to combined tension and twist, and held at both endpoints at infinity. We consider the case of simple (trefoil) and double (cinquefoil) knots; other knot topologies can be investigated similarly. The rod model is based on Hookean elasticity but is geometrically nonlinear. The problem is formulated as a nonlinear self-contact problem with unknown contact regions. It is solved by means of matched asymptotic expansions in the limit of a loose knot. We obtain a family of equilibrium solutions depending on a single loading parameter (proportional to applied twisting moment divided by square root of pulling force), which are asymptotically valid in the limit of a loose knot, ε→0. Without any a priori assumption, we derive the topology of the contact set, which consists of an interval of contact flanked by two isolated points of contacts. We study the influence of the applied twist on the equilibrium.     

On the contact width in generalized plain strain JKR model for isotropic solids

Adhesive contact model between an elastic cylinder and an elastic half space is studied in the present paper, in which an external pulling force is acted on the above cylinder with an arbitrary direction and the contact width is assumed to be asymmetric with respect to the structure. Solutions to the asymmetric model are obtained and the effect of the asymmetric contact width on the whole pulling process is mainly discussed. It is found that the smaller the absolute value of Dundurs＇ parameter 13 or the larger the pulling angle O, the more reasonable the symmetric model would be to approximate the asymmetric one.     

Adhesive contact of an elastic semi-infinite solid with a rigid rough surface: Strength of adhesion and contact instabilities

The effect of adhesion on the contact behavior of elastic rough surfaces is examined within the framework of the multi-asperity contact model of Greenwood and Williamson (1966), known as the GW model. Adhesive surface interaction is modeled by nonlinear springs with a force–displacement relation governed by the Lennard–Jones (LJ) potential. Constitutive models are presented for contact systems characterized by low and high Tabor parameters, exhibiting continuous (stable) and discontinuous (unstable) surface approach, respectively. Constitutive contact relations are obtained by integrating the force–distance relation derived from the LJ potential with a finite element analysis of single-asperity adhesive contact. These constitutive relations are then incorporated into the GW model, and the interfacial force and contact area of rough surfaces are numerically determined. The development of attractive and repulsive forces at the contact interface and the occurrence of instantaneous surface contact (jump-in instability) yield a three-stage evolution of the contact area. It is shown that the adhesion parameter introduced by Fuller and Tabor (1975) governs the strength of adhesion of contact systems with a high Tabor parameter, whereas the strength of adhesion of contact systems with a low Tabor parameter is characterized by a new adhesion parameter, defined as the ratio of the surface roughness to the equilibrium interatomic distance. Applicable ranges of aforementioned adhesion parameters are interpreted in terms of the effective surface separation, obtained as the sum of the effective distance range of the adhesion force and the elastic deformation induced by adhesion. Adhesive strength of rough surfaces in the entire range of the Tabor parameter is discussed in terms of a generalized adhesion parameter, defined as the ratio of the surface roughness to the effective surface separation.     

Sliding contact problems involving inhomogeneous materials comprising a coating-transition layer-substrate and a rigid punch

This paper proposes a semi-analytical model for the two-dimensional contact problem involving a multi-layered elastic solid loaded normally and tangentially by a rigid punch. The solid is comprised of a homogeneous coating and substrate joined together by a graded elastic transition layer whose material properties exhibit an exponential dependence on the vertical coordinate. By applying the Fourier transform to the governing boundary value problem, we formulate analytic expressions for the stresses and displacements induced by the application of line forces acting both normally and tangentially at the origin. The superposition principle is then used to generalise these expressions to the case of distributed normal and tangential tractions acting on the solid surface. A pair of coupled integral equations are further derived for the parabolic stamp problem which are easily solved using collocation methods.     

A unified treatment of axisymmetric adhesive contact problems using the harmonic potential function method

A unified treatment of axisymmetric adhesive contact problems is provided using the harmonic potential function method for axisymmetric elasticity problems advanced by Green, Keer, Barber and others. The harmonic function adopted in the current analysis is the one that was introduced by Jin et al. (2008) to solve an external crack problem. It is demonstrated that the harmonic potential function method offers a simpler and more consistent way to treat non-adhesive and adhesive contact problems. By using this method and the principle of superposition, a general solution is derived for the adhesive contact problem involving an axisymmetric rigid punch of arbitrary shape and an adhesive interaction force distribution of any profile. This solution provides analytical expressions for all non-zero displacement and stress components on the contact surface, unlike existing ones. In addition, the newly derived solution is able to link existing solutions/models for axisymmetric non-adhesive and adhesive contact problems and to reveal the connections and differences among these solutions/models individually obtained using different methods at various times. Specifically, it is shown that Sneddon’s solution for the axisymmetric punch problem, Boussinesq’s solution for the flat-ended cylindrical punch problem, the Hertz solution for the spherical punch problem, the JKR model, the DMT model, the M-D model, and the M-D-n model can all be explicitly recovered by the current general solution.     

A model for chemical-mechanical polishing of a material surface based on contact mechanics

A new contact-mechanics-based model for chemical-mechanical polishing is presented. According to this model, the local polish rate is controlled by the pressure distribution between features on the wafer and the polishing pad. The model uses an analysis based on the work by Greenwood to evaluate this pressure distribution taking into account pad compliance and roughness. Using the model, the effects of pattern density, applied down-force, selectivity, pad properties, etc. on the evolution of the wafer surface can be readily evaluated. The interaction between individual pad asperities and the wafer pattern is investigated in detail. It is shown that the pressure distribution between an asperity and the wafer surface is discontinuous at edges of features that have different nominal polish rates and that this pressure discontinuity dominates the polish rate and dishing of narrow features.The model is implemented as an algorithm that calculates the evolution of the profile of a set of features on the wafer during the polishing process. The model can be applied to chemical-mechanical polishing used for oxide planarization, metal damascene or shallow trench isolation.     

A model for computational investigation of elasto-plastic normal and tangential contact considering adhesion effect

With the rapid development of Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS), we enter a field in which the surface effects have dominated many of the micro-scale phenomena, and the adhesive contact is one of the focuses. In this paper, a feasible model for finite element computation is presented via a macroscopic and microscopic combination approach, in which the adhesive forces are simulated by some non-linear spring elements considering the softening stage. Two basic problems concerning the adhesion effect were considered; through specific quantitative analysis, the results show a consistency with the current elastic continuum theories of adhesion and a brief investigation into the effects of adhesion on plastic deformation and tangential contact will be carried out as well. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10172050, 90205022) and Key Grant Project of Chinese MoE (0306)     

薄片炸药与固体靶冲量耦合的计算模型

薄片炸药可用于模拟强脉冲X射线辐照下空间结构的响应,其与固体靶的冲量耦合作用是进行模拟载荷设计的基础。本文中基于有限元模拟技术,研究不同直径薄片炸药的边界稀疏作用和安装支座的反射作用对薄片炸药与固体靶冲量耦合的影响,结果表明:边界稀疏作用对薄片炸药的比冲量起到减弱的作用,由边界稀疏作用引起的薄片炸药比冲量的变化量和薄片炸药直径的倒数近似成线性关系;薄片炸药安装支座的反射作用对薄片炸药的比冲量起到增强的作用,由支座反射作用引起的薄片炸药比冲量的变化量和薄片炸药直径的平方近似成反比;随着薄片炸药直径的增加,薄片炸药比冲量趋于定值,边界稀疏作用和支座反射作用可以忽略;存在一个临界直径,当薄片炸药的直径为临界直径时,薄片炸药的边界稀疏作用和支座反射作用达到平衡,其比冲量大小和薄片炸药的直径为无穷大时的比冲量值相等。     

A multi-scale constitutive model for the sintering of an air-plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coating, and its response under hot isostatic pressing

A micromechanical model is developed for the sintering of an air-plasma-sprayed, thermal barrier coating, and is used to make predictions of microstructure evolution under free sintering and under hot isostatic pressing. It is assumed that the splats of the coating are separated by penny-shaped cracks; the faces of these cracks progressively sinter together at contacting asperities, initially by the mechanism of plastic yield and subsequently by interfacial diffusion. Diffusion is driven by the reduction in interfacial energy at the developing contacts of the cracks and also by the local contact stress at asperities. The contact stress arises from the remote applied stress and from mechanical wedging of the rough crack surfaces. Sintering of the cracks leads to an elevation in both the macroscopic Young's modulus and thermal conductivity of the coating, and thereby leads to a degradation in thermal performance and durability. An assessment is made of the relative roles of surface energy, applied stress and crack face roughness upon the sintering response and upon the evolution of the pertinent mechanical and physical properties. The evolution in microstructure is predicted for free sintering and for hot isostatic pressing in order to provide guidance for experimental validation of the micromechanical model.     

混凝土板在接触爆炸作用下的震塌和贯穿临界厚度计算方法

采用刚塑性模型描述介质的动力学行为,结合不可压缩条件和质量守恒条件及边界条件,构造塑性区的动力学许可速度场;利用极限平衡原理推导动力学许可速度场所对应的介质抗力的量纲一表达式;根据初始条件和边界条件,求解运动方程,分别得到爆炸震塌的临界厚度和爆炸贯穿的临界厚度,并推得能够反映爆炸源参数和材料参数综合性质的量纲一冲击因子。将推得的计算公式与经验公式对比分析,证明本文计算结果合理,推导的计算公式揭示了经验公式的物理本质,且具有较为广泛的适用范围。     

Elastic–plastic contact force history and response characteristics of circular plate subjected to impact by a projectile

A new elastic–plastic impact–contact model is proposed in this paper. By adopting the principle of minimum acceleration for elastic–plastic continue at finite deformation, and with the aid of finite difference method, the proposed model is applied in the problem of dynamic response of a clamped thin circular plate subjected to a projectile impact centrally. The impact force history and response characteristics of the target plate is studied in detail. The theoretical predictions of the impact force and plate deflection are in good agreements with those of LDA experimental data. Linear expressions of the maximum impact force/transverse deflection versus impact velocity are given on the basis of the theoretical results. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10532020).     

A frictional receding contact plane problem between a functionally graded layer and a homogeneous substrate

This paper investigates the plane problem of a frictional receding contact formed between an elastic functionally graded layer and a homogeneous half space, when they are pressed against each other. The graded layer is assumed to be an isotropic nonhomogeneous medium with an exponentially varying shear modulus and a constant Poisson’s ratio. A segment of the top surface of the graded layer is subject to both normal and tangential traction while rest of the surface is devoid of traction. The entire contact zone thus formed between the layer and the homogeneous medium can transmit both normal and tangential traction. It is assumed that the contact region is under sliding contact conditions with the Coulomb’s law used to relate the tangential traction to the normal component. Employing Fourier integral transforms and applying the necessary boundary conditions, the plane elasticity equations are reduced to a singular integral equation in which the unknowns are the contact pressure and the receding contact lengths. Ensuring mechanical equilibrium is an indispensable requirement warranted by the physics of the problem and therefore the global force and moment equilibrium conditions for the layer are supplemented to solve the problem. The Gauss–Chebyshev quadrature-collocation method is adopted to convert the singular integral equation to a set of overdetermined algebraic equations. This system is solved using a least squares method coupled with a novel iterative procedure to ensure that the force and moment equilibrium conditions are satisfied simultaneously. The main objective of this paper is to study the effect of friction coefficient and nonhomogeneity factor on the contact pressure distribution and the size of the contact region.