Analysis of Wear Phenomena in Sliding Contact Surfaces

A general approach to numerically simulating wear in rolling and sliding contacts is presented in this thesis. A simulation scheme is developed that calculates the wear at a detailed level. The removal of material follows Archard‟s wear law, which states that the reduction of volume is linearly proportional to the sliding distance, the normal load and the wear coefficient Careful attention is paid to stress properties in the normal direction of the contact. A Winkler method is used to calculate the normal pressure. The model is calibrated either with results from Finite Element simulations (which can include a plastic material model) or a linear-elastic contact model. The tangential tractions and the sliding distances are calculated using a method that incorporates the effect of rigid body motion and tangential deformations in the contact zone. Results experiments (full-scale, pin-on-disc and disc-on-disc) were used to establish the wear\and friction coefficients under different operating conditions. For the disc-ondisc simulation, there was good agreement between experimental results and the simulation in terms of wear and rolling friction under different operating conditions.