Normal contact of rough surfaces

Abstract

In addition to the strict geometrically defined cases that were mapped in Chap. 3 with the method of dimensionality reduction, we would now like to devote ourselves to the question of whether rough surfaces can also be handled with the reduction method. The importance of surface roughness for tribological processes was already emphasized by Bowden and Tabor in the 1940s and since that time has become generally accepted. The most important fundamental work dealing with the contact mechanics of rough surfaces was conducted in the 1950s by Archard and in the 1960s by Greenwood and Williamson. However, the contact mechanics of rough surfaces remains even today a current and to some extent, controversial topic. In this chapter, we will show that there exist theoretical as well as the empirical reasons for why the method of dimensionality reduction is also able to be applied to randomly rough surfaces. In this way, the method presents itself as a practical tool for the fast calculation of contact problems.