Approximate contact force model for viscoelastic materials based on generalized Maxwell model

This paper proposes a novel approximate model for estimating the normal contact force between a rigid sphere and a viscoelastic half-space based on the generalized Maxwell model. The relaxation function derived from the generalized Maxwell model is applied to the solution to the elastic contact problem based on the elastic–viscoelastic correspondence to obtain an integral expression of pressure for viscoelastic contact. Using the approximate method on the basis of Taylor series, the integral expression is translated into an explicit function of displacement, velocity, time and material properties. A normal contact force model is established by integrating the pressure over contact area. A relaxation test of Nafion® XL is conducted to capture the viscoelastic parameters, and these parameters are employed to simulate the contact behaviors using the finite element method (FEM) to determine the scale factor in the contact force model. In order to verify the validity of the approximate model, the outcomes obtained from the model are compared with those generated by the FEM. A parametric study is conducted to analyze the effects of variations in parameters on normal contact behaviors. The results indicate that the established model is able to predict the contact responses of the viscoelastic materials with complex mechanical characteristics.