A 3D contact investigation of rough surfaces considering elastoplasticity

Abstract

In this work, the non-penetration condition and the interface models for contact, taking into account the surface microstructure, are investigated in detail. It is done using a homogenization procedures presented by Bandeira, Wriggers and Pimenta (2001a), to obtain by numerical simulation the interface behavior for the normal and tangential contact pressures, based on statistical surface models. The contact surfaces of both bodies are rough. This paper can be regarded as a complementary study to that presented by Bandeira, Wriggers and Pimenta (2006). Here, the plasticity of the asperities is taken into account by assuming a constitutive equation based on an associated von Mises yield function formulated in principal axes. The plastic zones in the microstructure are shown to study in detail the contact interface. Numerical examples are selected to show the ability of the algorithm to represent interface law for rough surfaces, considering elastoplastic behaviour of the asperities.