Criterion for Critical Junctions in Elastic-Plastic Adhesive Wear

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Tribology

Background:

• Adhesive wear is a significant factor in material degradation.
• Understanding wear mechanisms, especially the transition between brittle and ductile regimes, is crucial for predicting material lifespan.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a continuum variational phase-field model for elastic-plastic adhesive wear.
• To investigate the influence of material ductility and contact morphology on wear debris formation.
• To establish a criterion for distinguishing critical wear-causing contacts from non-critical ones.

Main Methods:

• A continuum variational phase-field approach was employed.
• The model simulates the transition across brittle, quasibrittle, and elastic-plastic wear regimes.
• Numerical simulations were conducted to analyze adhesive junction detachment and wear debris generation.

Main Results:

• The model successfully captures the transition in wear behavior with increasing material ductility.
• A critical condition involving contact morphology and material ductility was identified for wear debris detachment.
• A novel criterion was proposed to differentiate between asperity contacts leading to significant wear and those with negligible wear.

Conclusions:

• The phase-field model provides a unified framework for studying adhesive wear across different material behaviors.
• Material ductility and surface morphology play critical roles in adhesive wear debris formation.
• The proposed criterion can aid in predicting and mitigating adhesive wear in engineering applications.