Elastic Sinusoidal Wavy Surface Contact Under Full Stick Conditions

Abstract

A purely normal contact problem of an elastic half-space with a three-dimensional periodic sinusoidal wavy surface and a rigid flat under the full stick condition is studied. The contacting points from mating surfaces have zero relative tangential displacement under the full stick condition. The scope of this study is restricted to a special case where the entire contact interface is in contact (referred to as complete contact) under the full stick condition. Complete contact is defined as when there are no gaps remaining between the surfaces. The corresponding state of stress of the half-space is derived analytically. According to the state of stress, we find (1) an analytical solution for the average pressure required to cause complete contact, (2) the location of the global maxima of the von Mises stress and (3) the critical magnitude of the waviness amplitude below which the plastic yielding of the half-space will never occur before the initiation of complete contact. The results are also compared with the solution under the perfect slip condition. We find that the location of the maximum von Mises stress may occur either on the contact interface or beneath it depending on the value of Poisson’s ratio.