Elastoplastic contact conductance model for isotropic conforming rough surfaces and comparison with experiments

A new thermal elastoplastic contact conductance model for isotropic conforming rough surfaces is proposed. This model is based on surface and thermal models used in the Cooper, Mikic, and Yovanovich plastic model, but it differs in the deformation aspects of the thermal contact conductance model. The model incorporates the recently developed simple elastoplastic model for sphere-flat contacts, and it covers the entire range of material behavior, i.e., elastic, elastoplastic, and fully plastic deformation. Previously data were either compared with the elastic model or the plastic model assuming a type of deformation a priori. The model is used to reduce previously obtained isotropic contact conductance data, which cover a wide range of surface characteristics and material properties. For the first rime data can be compared with both the elastic and plastic models on the same plot. This model explains the observed discrepancies noted by previous workers bet een data and the predictions of the elastic or plastic models.