Elasto-Plastic Contact Behaviors of Nominally Flat Surfaces: Modeling and Parametric Study

Interactions of nominally flat surfaces can be modeled based on the periodic similarity of surface topography and a numerical three-dimensional elasto-plastic contact model with the assistance of the continuous convolution and Fourier transform (CC-FT) algorithm. The rough surfaces were generated by a digital filtration technology with a wide range of topographical parameters. A group of contact simulations were conducted to investigate the effects of surface geometrical characteristics (including RMS roughness, correlation length ratio, skewness and kurtosis), material properties, and load on the elasto-plastic contact performance of materials.