Numerical Study on the Influence of the Coating in the Fretting Contact

An existing algorithm for the fretting contact of homogeneous materials is enhanced by incorporating a novel technique for rapid calculation of stresses and displacements in the coated body. State-of-the-art methods for computation of convolution products in the Fourier transform domain allow for fine spatial discretization and accurate reproduction of the loading history. The algorithm is structured on three levels of iterations, and the acceleration of the convolution calculation in the innermost level promises well converged solutions. The frequency response functions derived in the literature are used for the conversion of the required influence coefficients, allowing computation of the half-space response to prescribed loading. The computer program is first validated against the analytical solution for the fretting loop of homogeneous and similarly elastic materials. The refined method is then employed to study the influence of the elastic moduli ratio between the coating and the substrate, on the contact tractions and stresses in the stabilized fretting contact. The presented simulation scenarios prove the method ability to advance the understanding of the transient coated contact.