Influence of temperature-dependent yield strength on thermomechanical asperity contacts

This paper reports the effects of thermal softening on asperity contacts. We modified the thermomechanical asperity model previously developed by Liu and Wang based on discrete convolution, fast Fourier transform and the conjugate gradient method and applied it to the current study. The yield strength was assumed to be a function of local asperity temperature. Asperity contact pressure and contact area with and without such temperature effects were analyzed and compared.