Modeling of fretting wear evolution in rough circular contacts in partial slip

Abstract This paper presents a numerical model that maps the evolution of contact pressure and surface profile of Hertzian rough contacting bodies in fretting wear under partial slip conditions. The model was used to determine the sliding distance of the contacting surface asperities for one cycle of tangential load. The contact pressure and sliding distance were used with Archard's wear law to determine local wear at each surface asperity. Subsequently, the contact surface profile was updated due to wear. The approach developed in this study allows for implementation of simulated and/or measured real rough surfaces and study the effects of various statistical surface properties on fretting wear. The results from this investigation indicate that an elastic–perfectly plastic material model is superior to a completely elastic material model. Surface roughness of even small magnitudes is a major factor in wear calculations and cannot be neglected.