An Elliptical Elastic-Plastic Microcontact Model Developed for an Ellipsoid in Contact With a Smooth Rigid Flat

Abstract

The determination of the elastoplastic deformation regime arising at the microcontact of a deformable ellipsoid and a rigid smooth flat was the main purpose of this study. One-eighth of an ellipsoid and a flat plate were taken as the contact bodies in the finite element analysis, and a mesh scheme of multisize elements was applied. Two observed phenomena regarding the contact pressures and the equivalent von Mises stresses formed at the contact area are given in order to identify the inception of the fully plastic deformation regime of an ellipsoid with an ellipticity ke. If the ellipticity (k) of an elliptical contact area is defined as the length ratio of the minor axis to the major axis, it is asymptotic to the ke value when the interference is sufficiently increased, irrespective of the ke value. The dimensionless interference regime associated with the elastoplastic deformation regime is narrowed by increasing the ellipticity of the ellipsoid (ke). Significant differences in the microcontact parameters such as the contact pressure, the contact area, and the contact load were found to be a function of the interference and the ke parameter of an ellipsoid. The interferences corresponding to the inceptions of the elastoplastic and fully plastic deformation regimes are both increased if the ke value is lowered. The interference, the contact area, and the contact load predicted by the present model for the behavior demonstrated at the inception of the elastoplastic deformation regime are lower than those obtained from the Horng model (, 1998, “ An Elliptical Elastic-Plastic Asperity Microcontact Model for Rough Surfaces,” ASME J. Tribol., 120, pp. 82–88) and the Jeng-Wang model (, and , 2003, “ An Elliptical Microcontact Model Considering Elastic, Elastoplastic, and Plastic Deformation,” ASME J. Tribol., 125, pp. 232–240). Big differences in the results of the average contact pressure, the contact area, and the contact load among the above microcontact models are discussed. The discrepancies are also explained from the developments of these models and boundary conditions set for the elastoplastic deformation regime.