Effects of distribution of surface slopes and flow pressures of contact asperities on contact between solid surfaces

Abstract

An analysis of the mechanism of contact between two solids was carried out considering the distribution of the surface slopes of conical asperities and the variation of the flow pressure of each contact asperity due to work-hardening and the work-hardened layer of the softer surface. From the analysis, where the distributions of the surface heights and the surface slopes are Gaussian the number of contact points decreases and their mean radius increases with increasing ranges of the distribution of the surface slopes for a given value of the mean surface slope. The number of contact points, the total real area, the separation and the radius of the contact points are influenced by the variation of the flow pressure of each contact asperity due to work-hardening of the contact asperities or the work-hardened layer of the softer surface. The validity of the theory was checked by comparing the theoretical and experimental results of the number, the separation and the distribution of the radii of contact points.