A Thermodynamics-Based Wear Model and Its Application with the Finite Element Analysis

In the paper a generalized wear equation for sliding solid bodies at contact is derived from the fundamental law of thermodynamics. The wear model consists of a physical correlation between the wear, the binding potential of the materials in the contact area and the work done by friction in the tribological system. The wear model is based on the knowledge of material parameters of the bodies in sliding contact which can only be derived from measurements. The application of the wear model for analyzing industrial problems requires a powerful numerical solution approach. The finite element analysis (FEA) is a customary and widespread applied simulation approach in industry. Consequently, it is obvious to include the developed wear model into the frame of a commercial FEA software tool, where the FEA software Abaqus is used in the paper. Finally, as a complex industrial application problem the wear of automotive timing chains is presented. The simulated numerical wear results are compared with measurements at engines after mileage of about 50000 km.