An optimized material removal process

Abstract

We conduct boundary element simulations of a contact problem consisting of an elastic medium subject to tangential load. Using a particle swarm optimization algorithm, we find the optimal shape and location of the micro-contacts to maximize for a given load the stored elastic energy contributing to the removal of a spherical particle contained in between the micro-contacts. We propose an ice scream scoop as an application of this optimization process.

Adhesive wear regimes on rough surfaces and interaction of micro-contacts

“…From the different adhesive energies E ad,2sep (17) and E ad,comb (18), we have C case = 1/2 or C case = d 2 /d 2 a respectively. Note that the material parameters G, σ j and γ do not appear directly in (19) and were conveniently replaced by the critical diameter d * (14) which contains all those missing terms.…”

“…When only one micro-contact out of the two forms a wear particle and gets unloaded, the elastic energy goes from E el,2 (15) to E el,1 (12) with q = σ j , as the remaining micro-contact, flowing plastically, still carries a load of σ j . Therefore, the decrease of elastic energy is ∆E el = E el,2 − E el,1 , which with the expression of the adhesive energy E ad,1sep (16) gives the energy ratio (19) with C n = 1 and C case = 1.…”

“…When we derived the energy ratio for a single microcontact and the formation of a single wear particle (9), we were able to find a critical diameter d * which easily defines which behaviour is expected (plastic flow or formation of a particle). The expressions of the energy ratio R for two micro-contacts (19) are more complicated, as they now depend on d, l, d * and C inter .…”

“…A recent 3D numerical model explored the effect of elastic interactions for multiple contact junctions, whose shapes were optimized for an energetically efficient wear particle removal process. 19 Elastic interactions between a large number of microcontacts, with varying sizes and shapes, as occurs during loading of self-affine surfaces, is largely unexplored and is the focus of the present paper. Frérot et al 20 used the boundary element method (BEM) to numerically simulate the contact between two rough surfaces and obtain a map of the micro-contacts.…”