Abstract
This article presents a robust Finite-Element-Method-based wear simulation method, particularly suitable for fretting contacts. This method utilizes the contact subroutine in a commercial finite element solver Abaqus. It is based on a user-defined contact formulation for both normal and tangential directions. For the normal contact direction, a nodal gap field is calculated by using a simple Archard's wear equation to describe the depth of material removal due to wear. The wear field is included in the contact pressure calculation to allow simulation of wear and contact stress evolution during the loading cycles. The main advantage of this approach is that all contact variables are accessible inside the routine, which allows full coupling between normal and tangential contact variables. Also, there is no need for mesh modifications during the solution. This makes the implementation flexible, robust and particularly suitable for fretting cases where friction and tangential contact stiffness play an essential role. The method is applied to the bolted joint type fretting test case. The methodology is also fully applicable to complex real component simulations.
Highlights
Clamped metal contacts are very common in modern machine industry as almost all products are divided into sub-assemblies due to practical reasons for easier manufacturing and better serviceability
It has been measured that the evolution of the coefficient of friction is very fast in the beginning of fretting tests, much faster than the wear [7, 8]
A FEM-based wear simulation was presented to study the effect of wear in the clamped dry metal contacts
Summary
Clamped metal contacts are very common in modern machine industry as almost all products are divided into sub-assemblies due to practical reasons for easier manufacturing and better serviceability. Many of the contact interfaces are experiencing cyclic loading caused by vibrations, inertia forces, thermal expansions, etc. High-strength materials, performance demands and weight savings have increased the utilization of fatigue strength of materials, increasing the cyclic loading of the contact interfaces. There is a dangerous damage phenomenon called fretting [5] that can cause an unexpected failure of a contact interface at relatively low nominal stress levels. Fretting consists of two main damage phenomena: fretting fatigue and fretting wear. Fatigue in this context means surface cracking due to high local shear tractions, and wear may redistribute contact pressure and change slip and
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