Further Validation of a Simple Mathematical Description of Wear and Contact Pressure Evolution in Sliding Contacts

Abstract

The present study proposes the further validation of a simple mathematical procedure recently proposed by the authors to describe contact and wear evolution in line and point contacts. The procedure assumed that the maximum contact pressure could be determined using Hertz equations and a parabolic pressure profile. The contact half-width was obtained using the equilibrium equation and the Archard wear law. Several cases were selected from the literature, reporting experimental data or Finite Element simulations, and the results were compared to those obtained with the proposed approach. This paper confirms the reliability and potentialities of the proposed analytical procedure, which is capable of providing accurate solutions in case of frictional contacts and at the borders of the contact area, where the main discrepancies were found in the previous study.