Application of BEM and optimization technique to wear problems

In this paper a new method for solving wear problems, using the Boundary Element Method (BEM) is proposed. The proposed method uses a shape optimization technique for rapid calculation of the maximum wear depth and the final geometry of the bodies in contact after a specified service period. The optimization method solves the wear problem directly, without using increments of the sliding distance as in the classical methods. The BEM is used for modelling both bodies in contact, treating the problem as a multi-region problem. The material loss is presented in terms of the applied load and the sliding distance, and is modelled using a linear wear model. The proposed method is shown to be robust as it requires only few iterations to achieve a converged solution. The reduction in computational effort, as compared to the classical incremental method, becomes more significant as the sliding distance increases.