A Comparison on Deterministic, Statistical and Statistical with Asperity Interaction Rough Surface Contact Models

Rough surface contact analysis can be enriched if real features of rough surface are considered in three dimension, but single asperity-based statistical model is mostly considered to reduce the computational effort. Limited work is found on combined effect of elastic–plastic deformation and neighbouring asperity interactions for the rough surface contact analysis. In the present work, a Gaussian rough surface is generated by fast Fourier transformation (FFT) approach, and then, three-dimensional deterministic rough surface contact analysis is carried out using finite element method. For the generated rough surface, single asperity-based elastic–plastic statistical contact model is developed. In order to reduce the gap between the above two models, a statistical model with asperity interaction is developed by accounting the effect of neighbouring asperity interaction. The results show that neighbouring asperity interaction significantly affects the load-carrying capacity and bearing area beyond the mean plane of summits.