Statistical Model on Nearly Complete Elastic Rough Surface Contact
Yang Xu (Auburn University), Robert L. Jackson (Auburn University), Dan Marghitu (Auburn University)
Contact Mechanics
Tue 10:45 - 12:15
Barus-Holley 163
In the area of elastic rough surface contact, many classic statistical models have been developed which are only valid at relatively low loads when the real contact area is a small portion of the nominal contact area, e.g., the Greenwood-Williamson (GW) model. In this article, a newly developed statistical model, built under the framework of the GW model, extends the range of application of the classic statistical models to the nearly complete contact case. 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". 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. Not only can the contact load and area be determined by the newly developed statistical model, but also the average interfacial gap. Numerical solutions of the contact load, non-contact area and average interfacial gap for different combinations of statistical parameters are compared. The analogy between the original GW model and the newly developed model is also explored.