Three-Dimensional Elastoplastic Contact Analysis of Rough Surface Considering a Micro-Scale Effect

The micro-surface asperity scale of grinding metal parts is within several microns. When two grinding surfaces are in contact, the unevenness of the plastic deformation of the asperities at the micro-scale leads to greater plastic hardening strength of the material. The results of the nano-indentation experiment conducted in this paper confirmed this phenomenon. Based on conventional mechanism-based strain gradient (CMSG) plasticity theory, the micro-scale plastic constitutive equation of materials is given and then is verified by the nano-indentation experiment. Finite element software abaqus and the user-defined element (UEL) subroutine are used to build three-dimensional rough surface elastoplastic contact models. By calculating the grinding rough surface contact in the macro-scale constitutive model based on J(2) theory and in the CMSG plasticity constitutive model, the influence law of plastic micro-scale effect on contact performance is obtained.

Automated summary

This study confirms through nano-indentation experiments that the unevenness of plastic deformation caused by the micro-scale asperities on grinding surfaces leads to an increased plastic hardening strength of the material. A three-dimensional rough surface elastoplastic contact model was developed and used to calculate the influence of plastic micro-scale effect on contact performance.