Efficient Sub-Modeling for Adhesive Wear in Elastic–Plastic Spherical Contacts

Abstract

This paper presents a novel approach for simulating adhesive wear in elastic–plastic spherical contacts using an improved finite element sub-model. Initially, a global model with a coarse mesh identifies the potential wear region under combined normal loading and tangential displacement. Subsequently, a refined mesh sub-model simulates the crack initiation and propagation until the formation of a wear particle. This refined sub-model efficiently handles a wide range of spherical radii and normal loads. An expression is derived relating the dimensionless wear volume and wear rate to the dimensionless normal load, revealing the limited effect of the sphere radius on the wear rate. The effect of the mechanical properties on the wear particle morphology is also analyzed.