Contact mechanics of surfaces with various models of roughness descriptions

In this paper, the differences among various models of rough surface descriptions on the stress analysis of head–disk interface are examined. Besides the commonly used fractal geometry, simpler polynomials and Fourier series are used for describing the surface height variation. Elastic–plastic contact analyses for the head–disk interface (HDI) are then performed using ABAQUS. By incorporating various rough surface characterizations into the finite element model of the disk medium, the corresponding finite element analyses are carried out to demonstrate the variation and distribution of the contact pressure. Simulation results for Von Mises equivalent stress, equivalent plastic strain, and maximum tensile stress, are examined for various maximum interference distances.