Numerical modeling of elastohydrodynamic lubrication in point or line contact for heterogeneous elasto-plastic materials

A semi-analytic solution is developed for heterogeneous elasto-plastic materials with inhomogeneous inclusions under elastohydrodynamic lubrication in point contact or line contact. The inhomogeneous inclusions within a material are homogenized as homogeneous inclusions with properly determined eigenstrains based on the equivalent inclusion method, and the surface displacements induced by these eigenstrains are then introduced into the gap between the contact bodies to update surface geometry. The accumulative plastic deformation is iteratively obtained by a procedure involving a plasticity loop and an incremental loading process. The model takes into account the interactions among the contact bodies, the embedded inclusions, and the plastic zones, thus leading to a solution of the surface pressure distributions, film thickness profiles, plastic zones, and subsurface stress fields. This solution is of great importance for the analysis of elasto-plasto damage of heterogeneous materials subject to lubricated contact.