Numerical simulation of wear in a C/C composite multidisk clutch

Abstract

Friction and wear of engineering components are critical factors influencing the product life. In this study a wear simulation method is presented to investigate the wear behavior of a C/C composite multidisk clutch under simulated operation conditions. A modified Archard’s wear model is implemented into a user subroutine which works in association with an axisymmetric finite element model to predict the progress of wear on friction surfaces. An element removal technique is introduced into the finite element analysis to simulate the material loss during wear. Local wear is computed and integrated over the sliding distance using the Euler integration scheme. The progress of wear and wear rate with time and sliding distance is presented.