Temperatures Distribution and Contact Area of the Peaks of Three-Dimensional Rough Surfaces

All surfaces are rough. When two surfaces slide over each other, the contact temperature and contact area of peak have the different distribution under different operating parameters, and affects the tribology properties, precision, reliability and of contact pairs. In this work, a 3D Finite Element Method is used to analyze the temperature distribution and contact area of the peaks and valleys of designed asperity of sliding contact surfaces. The affecting parameters include pressure, roughness, sliding speed and Peclet number of rough surfaces. Analysis results showed that the increase of contact pressure makes up to the contact area and surface temperature increase simultaneously. The temperature rise parameter of peaks was larger than those of valleys as speed increases. However, the effect of pressure on the temperature rise of the non-contact zone is greater than the effect of velocity. The temperature rise parameter and contact area of asperity peaks of decreased as surface roughness increased. At the same surface roughness, the more the surface asperity number, the lower is the contact area and maximum temperature rise parameter. The relationship between contact pressure, sliding speed and asperity density can be used as a reference for surface engineering design of parts.