Contact Analysis of Multilayered Elastic/Plastic Solids With Rough Surfaces for Decreasing Friction and Wear

A numerical three-dimensional contact model is presented to investigate the contact behavior of multilayered elastic-perfectly plastic solids with rough surfaces. The surface displacement and contact pressure distributions are obtained based on the variational principle with fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based scheme. Von Mises yield criterion is used to determine the onset of yield. The effective hardness is modeled and plays role when the local displacement meet the maximum displacement criterion. Simulations are performed to obtain the contact pressures, fractional total contact area, fractional plastic contact area, and surface/subsurface stresses. These contact statistics are analyzed to study the effects of the layer-to-substrate ratios of stiffness and hardness, surface roughness, and layers thickness of rough, two-layered elastic/plastic solids. The results yield insight into the effects of stiffness and hardness of layers and substrates, surface roughness, and applied load on the contact performance. The layer parameters leading to low friction, stiction, and wear are investigated and identified.