Calculating method for the wear of metal-to-metal dry sliding based on elastic–plastic contact theory

In this paper, the topography of metal-to-metal contact surfaces is numerically constructed by autocorrelation function. A numerical calculation method for metal-to-metal dry sliding wear of isotropic and anisotropic three-dimensional micro-surface is established by use of the analysis of microscopic contact mechanics analysis based on elastic–plastic contact theory. The reliability of the constructed dry sliding wear calculation method is proved by comparing the calculation results with the test data of the literature. Then, the dry sliding wear of isotropic surface of steel Q235A machined by polishing and grinding is numerically calculated, and the changes of surface topography, wear, surface distance and surface roughness are investigated. At the same time, the wear of the anisotropic surface machined by turning and milling is numerically simulated, and the influences of the sliding direction on the wear are investigated. A series of regular curves are obtained and analyzed and some conclusions are obtained. The method for calculating the dry wear of metal-to-metal established in this paper provides a new way for the theoretical calculation for metal wear.