Role of Mechanical Properties and Surface Texture in the Real Area of Contact of Magnetic Rigid Disks

1989 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 452-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Bhushan ◽  
M. F. Doerner

The analysis of real area of contact for particulate and thin-film rigid disks is presented. The mechanical properties (hardness and modulus) of the disk structure are measured by a nanoindentation apparatus and the surface texture is measured by a three-dimensional noncontact optical profiler. For typical rigid disks selected for this study, we find that most contacts are elastic; the same observation was made by Bhushan (1984) for flexible media. In the case of elastic contacts, the real area of contact is governed by the effective elastic modulus of the disk structure and its surface summit distribution. Typical values for the fractional real area of contact, number of contacts per unit area, mean asperity diameter, and mean real pressure for a thin-film disk are calculated to be of the order of 5 × 10−5, 20/mm2, 1μm, and 200 MPa, respectively.

2014 ◽  
Vol 137 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Jourani

Surface roughness causes contact to occur only at discrete spots called microcontacts. In the deterministic models real area of contact and pressure field are widely evaluated using Flamant and Boussinesq equations for two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D), respectively. In this paper, a new 3D geometrical contact approach is developed. It models the roughness by cones and uses the concept of representative strain at each asperity. To discuss the validity of this model, a numerical solution is introduced by using the spectral method and another 3D geometrical approach which models the roughness by spheres. The real area of contact and the pressure field given by these approaches show that the conical model is almost insensitive to the degree of isotropy of the rough surfaces, which is not the case for the spherical model that is only valid for quasi-isotropic surfaces. The comparison between elastic and elastoplastic models reveals that for a surface with a low roughness, the elastic approach is sufficient to model the rough contact. However, for surfaces having a great roughness, the elastoplastic approach is more appropriate to determine the real area of contact and pressure distribution. The results of this study show also that the roughness scale modifies the real contact area and pressure distribution. The surfaces characterized by high frequencies are less resistant in contact and present the lowest real area of contact and the most important mean pressure.


1984 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bharat Bhushan

The statistical analysis of the real area of contact proposed by Greenwood and Williamson is revisited. General and simplified equations for the mean asperity real area of contact, number of contacts, total real area of contact, and mean real pressure as a function of apparent pressure for the case of elastic junctions are presented. The critical value of the mean asperity pressure at which plastic flow starts when a polymer contacts a hard material is derived. Based on this, conditions of elastic and plastic junctions for polymers are defined by a “polymer” plasticity index, Ψp which depends on the complex modulus, Poisson’s ratio, yield strength, and surface topography. Calculations show that most dynamic contacts that occur in a computer-magnetic tape are elastic, and the predictions are supported by experimental evidence. Tape wear in computer applications is small and decreases Ψp by less than 10 percent. The theory presented here can also be applied to rigid and floppy disks.


Author(s):  
Yilei Zhang ◽  
Sriram Sundararajan

Autocorrelation Length (ACL) is a surface roughness parameter that provides spatial information of surface topography that is not included in amplitude parameters such as Root Mean Square roughness. This paper presents a statistical relation between ACL and the real area of contact, which is used to study the adhesive friction behavior of a rough surface. The influence of ACL on profile peak distribution is studied based on Whitehouse and Archard’s classical analysis, and their results are extended to compare profiles from different surfaces. With the knowledge of peak distribution, the real area of contact of a rough surface with a flat surface can be calculated using Hertzian contact mechanics. Numerical calculation shows that real area of contact increases with decreasing of ACL under the same normal load. Since adhesive friction force is proportional to real area of contact, this suggests that the adhesive friction behavior of a surface will be inversely proportional to its ACL. Results from microscale friction experiments on polished and etched silicon surfaces are presented to verify the analysis.


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