Finite Element Analysis of Stresses Due to Normal and Sliding Contact Conditions on an Elastic Surface

Wear prediction necessitates the investigation of elastic stresses developed in the workpiece material due to impact and sliding of abrasive particles in tribological contact situations. LS-Dyna implicit finite element analysis is used to investigate these contact stresses in the workpiece material under imposed Hertzian pressure loading. A line contact condition (cylindrical body on a plane surface) is assumed and the predicted stress field is compared with analytical solutions. The model is parametric, two-dimensional and built in LS-Ingrid in terms of semi contact width ‘ ’. Application of hertz pressure and implicit control cards are some of the issues of this study. The study is a preliminary step in the extension of the model where the workpiece will be modeled with a thin hard layer/coating under the same contact situations. It is found that the finite element model developed, predicts the elastic stresses in close agreement with the theoretical results and the model can be suitably extended for analyzing contact situations of layered systems.