Combined effect of friction and macroscopic deformation on asperity flattening

The combined effect of friction and macroscopic plastic deformation on asperity flattening is studied. Crushing of a periodic array of wedge-like asperities is formulated as a rigid-viscoplastic periodic indentation problem with superimposed macroscopic deformation. A micromechanical framework is developed and the corresponding boundary value problem is solved using the finite element method. An anomalous regime of asperity flattening is predicted at low flattening rates, in which the effect of friction on asperity flattening is opposite to that observed in the absence of macroscopic deformation and also at high flattening rates. An incremental elastoplastic analysis confirms this finding.