Preparation of measured engineering surfaces for modeling tribological systems, part I: Characterization and reconstruction

Abstract

Surface topography, evolving during the tribological processes, plays an essential role in modeling tribological systems, such as seals, bearings, and gears. Although surface topography's measurement, characterization, and modeling have been extensively studied, its application in modeling tribological systems is still rudimentary. Therefore, the authors intend to establish a framework for preparing measured engineering surfaces for modeling tribological systems, consisting of three aspects: characterization, scale adjustment and filtration, and reconstruction, detailed in a two-part paper series. This paper is part one of the series, focusing on characterization and reconstruction procedures. After describing the processes and methods, measured honing, lapping, and worn surfaces are analyzed as examples. Roughness parameters (52 in total) of measured and reconstructed surfaces are compared to evaluate the performance of the proposed framework. Dry contact and point contact EHL scenarios are also considered to evaluate the reproduction accuracy of the proposed methods in processing engineering rough surfaces. The results show that the proposed characterization and reconstruction procedures have a good reproduction accuracy regarding the roughness parameters, dry contact, and EHL performances.