Contact mechanics is the study of the deformation of solids that touch each other at one or more points. A central distinction in contact mechanics is between stresses acting perpendicular to the contacting bodies' surfaces (known as normal stress) and frictional stresses acting tangentially between the surfaces (shear stress). Normal contact mechanics or frictionless contact mechanics focuses on normal stresses caused by applied normal forces and by the adhesion present on surfaces in close contact, even if they are clean and dry.
Frictional contact mechanics emphasizes the effect of friction forces.
Contact mechanics is part of mechanical engineering. The physical and mathematical formulation of the subject is built upon the mechanics of materials and continuum mechanics and focuses on computations involving elastic, viscoelastic, and plastic bodies in static or dynamic contact. Contact mechanics provides necessary information for the safe and energy efficient design of technical systems and for the study of tribology, contact stiffness, electrical contact resistance and indentation hardness. Principles of contacts mechanics are implemented towards applications such as locomotive wheel-rail contact, coupling devices, braking systems, tires, bearings, combustion engines, mechanical linkages, gasket seals, metalworking, metal forming, ultrasonic welding, electrical contacts, and many others. Current challenges faced in the field may include stress analysis of contact and coupling members and the influence of lubrication and material design on friction and wear. Applications of contact mechanics further extend into the micro- and nanotechnological realm.
The original work in contact mechanics dates back to 1881 with the publication of the paper "On the contact of elastic solids" ("Ueber die Berührung fester elastischer Körper") by Heinrich Hertz. Hertz was attempting to understand how the optical properties of multiple, stacked lenses might change with the force holding them together.
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Surface roughness can be regarded as the quality of a surface of not being smooth and it is hence linked to human (haptic) perception of the surface texture. From a mathematical perspective it is related to the spatial variability structure of surfaces, and inherently it is a multiscale property. It has different interpretations and definitions depending from the disciplines considered. Surface roughness, often shortened to roughness, is a component of surface finish (surface texture).
In materials science, asperity, defined as "unevenness of surface, roughness, ruggedness" (from the Latin asper—"rough"), has implications (for example) in physics and seismology. Smooth surfaces, even those polished to a mirror finish, are not truly smooth on a microscopic scale. They are rough, with sharp, rough or rugged projections, termed "asperities". Surface asperities exist across multiple scales, often in a self affine or fractal geometry.
Whenever two objects rub together, for instance wheels on a road, gears in a motor, there is both friction and wear. Different surfaces have different amounts of friction, for instance a smooth surface compared to a rough one. How much material comes off also depends upon the surfaces, and also how much pressure is used -- for instance using sandpaper to smooth out wood. One can also add liquids such as oils or water to reduce the friction, which is called lubrication.
Explores adhesive wear mechanisms, friction modeling across scales, and roughness evolution, shedding light on the complex world of tribology and surface interactions.
This reading class will meet every Friday afternoon to discuss the book of Christopher Scholz (one chapter every two weeks). Class discussions will emphasize a mechanistic understanding of geophysical
This introductory course in tribology (science of friction, lubrication and wear) has specific goals : to present the basic principles of tribology, to develop the attitude to analyse tribological and
This course is intended to give to the participants (graduates, researchers and industrial professionals) a solid background in tribology and surface interactions. It covers the fundamentals concepts
Understanding the mechanical behavior of soft materials is of great importance for many applica-tions, especially for bioengineering and clinical applications. Hertzian theory is frequently used to ch
2021
, ,
We investigate the load transmission along an elastic rod of finite cross-section in contact with a rigid cylinder, as system often referred to as the generalized capstan problem. In the presence of f
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2022
,
Electroadhesion endows robots with super-human abilities: mechanical geckoes that climb vertical walls and soft grippers that grasp the most delicate objects. Based on electrostatics, the adhesion for