Estimation of Actual State of Contact Surfaces in Pressure Testing of Small Pure Aluminum Blocks

抄録

Surface topography, which represents the asperities and geometric features of a material surface, has a significant influence on contact conditions between bodies, as well as on wear, friction, lubrication, contact resistance, and heat transfer. For example, in manufacturing processes such as resistance spot welding, where high voltage is applied under pressure, it is well known that the surface topography of the electrode and the sheet material greatly affects the results. However, even in the simple case of pressing two material surfaces together, accurate estimation of the real contact state remains difficult, and related studies continue to be conducted today. In this study, pressure tests were performed using small blocks of pure aluminum, and the height distribution of the contact surfaces before and after testing was measured. Furthermore, a method for estimating the real contact areas from the height distribution was proposed and applied to the tests. By applying the proposed method, it was possible not only to evaluate the contact area ratio as a single metric of the interface, but also to estimate the specific areas that were actually in contact.