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Adhesive Contact of Elastic Solids with Self-Affine Fractal Rough Surfaces

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Abstract

The elastic adhesive contact of self-affine fractal rough surfaces against a rigid flat is simulated using the finite element method. An array of nonlinear springs, of which the force-separation law obeys the Lennard–Jones potential, is introduced to account for the interfacial adhesion. For fractal rough surfaces, the interfacial interaction is generally attractive for large mean gaps, but turns repulsive as the gap continuously shrinks. The interfacial interactions at the turning point corresponding to the spontaneous contact are shown for various surfaces. For relatively smooth surfaces, the probability density distributions of repulsion and attraction are nearly symmetric. However, for rougher surfaces, the simulation results suggest a uniform distribution for attraction but a monotonously decreasing distribution with a long tail for repulsion. The pull-off force rises with increasing ratio of the work of adhesion to the equilibrium distance, whereas decreases for solids with a higher elastic modulus and a larger surface roughness. The current study will be helpful for understanding the adhesion of various types of rough solids.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the OPPO Research Fund. The support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 12372100 and 12302126) is acknowledged.

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  1. Xuan-Ming Liang and Shi-Wen Chen have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering Mechanics, SVL and MMML, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, China

    Xuan-Ming Liang, Shi-Wen Chen, Si-He Wang & Gang-Feng Wang

  2. OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corporation Ltd., Dongguan, 523860, China

    Zhen-Yuan Gong & Jun Feng

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  1. Xuan-Ming Liang
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Correspondence to Gang-Feng Wang.

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Liang, XM., Chen, SW., Wang, SH. et al. Adhesive Contact of Elastic Solids with Self-Affine Fractal Rough Surfaces. Acta Mech. Solida Sin. 37, 265–270 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10338-023-00461-5

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