SCALE EFFECTS OF ELASTIC-PLASTIC BEHAVIOR OF MICROSCOPIC ASPERITY CONTACTS

Scale effects of elastic-plastic asperity microcontact behavior are st udied theoretically using a new simulation method developed by the aut hors. Contact plastic deformation is described in terms of discrete di slocations, which allows the model to be made scale-sensitive. The pre sent work deals with two-dimensional asperity microcontacts. It is fou nd that when asperity size decreases and becomes comparable to the cha racteristic microstructural length, contact plastic deformation become s increasingly difficult, and finally impossible. The effect of a simu ltaneous decrease in the asperity size and the microstructural length is also studied.