Effect of surface roughness on normal contact compression response

Abstract

This work presents a numerical model for normal engagement of two rough surfaces in contact. In this study, the Johnson translator system with a linear filter is used to transform a Gaussian white-noise input to an output surface with prescribed moments and autocorrelation function. The rough surface contact model employs influence coefficients obtained from finite element analysis of the contacting bodies. The contact solution accounts for the effects of macroscopic geometry and boundary conditions, and can be used to simulate engagement at a wide range of loads, including loads at which bulk effects dominate the response. A description of bulk deflection in terms of the displacement of the surface mean plane is also presented. The effects of surface topography on normal engagement stiffness are discussed.