A STRAIN-HARDENING SLIPLINE FIELD ANALYSIS OF THE PLASTIC-DEFORMATION OBSERVED IN A MODEL ASPERITY INTERACTION EXPERIMENT

Scaled-up model asperity experiments are described in which a hard wedge is indented into and then slid along the surface of a relatively soft material with the resulting plastic deformation measured using printed grids. A slipline field analysis of the deformation occurring once steady-state conditions have been achieved is described. This shows that tensile stresses can exist in a small region of the field when in calculating stresses account is taken in the stress equilibrium equations of variations in flow stress resulting from the strain-hardening properties of the deforming material.This result could be important in considering the viability of processes such as low cycle fatigue and fracture as possible wear mechanisms. © 1990.