Numerical integration schemes and parallel computation for wear prediction using finite element method

In this paper, numerical integration schemes and parallel computation methodologies for wear occurring in bodies that experience oscillatory contact are proposed. The methodologies build upon a widely used iterative wear prediction procedure in which the contact pressure and the incremental sliding distance are calculated using nonlinear finite element analysis, and the geometry of the contact interface is progressively changed according to the wear model. It is well known that the discretization in space and time causes errors and instabilities during the wear integration process. In this paper, two approaches are proposed to minimize the computational costs while maintaining the accuracy and stability of wear integration. In the first approach, an extrapolation scheme that optimizes the use of resources while maintaining simulation stability is used based on the variation of contact pressure. The second approach involves the parallel computation of the wear prediction methodology. The effect of geometry update intervals on the stability and efficiency of wear integration is studied. The proposed methodologies are used to predict the wear on an oscillatory pin joint and the predicted results are validated against those from actual experiments.