A two-scale stochastic model for the contact mechanics of rough surfaces including a wide span of length scales

Two-scale models are an effective tool to study mechanical problems in which features in a wide span of length scales must be considered. In the context of contact mechanics, however, this cannot be directly used due to a lack of scale separation, which results in a lack of representativeness of the local-scale results. In this work, a model is proposed that circumvents this issue by incorporating stochastically the variability of the local scale results into the global-scale problem. Several test cases are performed to show the performance of the model.

Automated summary

Two-scale models are effective for studying mechanical problems with a wide range of length scales. However, they cannot be directly applied in contact mechanics due to a lack of scale separation, which results in inadequate representation of local-scale results. This work proposes a model that incorporates stochastic variability of local scale results into the global-scale problem to overcome this issue. Several test cases are conducted to demonstrate the model's performance.