A Deterministic Conformal/Counterformal Microcontact Model

Microcontact models, describing contact of two rough surfaces, are fundamental for the modeling of friction and wear. This paper presents a critical analysis of existing models and discusses their limitations. A new deterministic microcontact model based on conformal/counterformal contact of asperities, as opposed to the combined surface statistics and counterformal asperity contact, is presented. Based on this model, a computer program has been developed. The input data are the digitized 3-D topographies, separately measured from the two contacting surfaces. The program first determines the original mating position and then calculates the surface contact parameters: contact radius, contact pressure, real contact area and the number of elastic, plastic, conformal, and counterformal contacts.