Modeling of two-body abrasive wear of filled elastomers as a contact-induced fracture process

Abstract

Abstract In this work, we present a non-traditional approach to modeling two-body abrasive wear due to the contact between elastomeric tire compounds and road surfaces. In this direction, the process of two-body abrasion between rubber and surface is modeled as a multiscale contact-fracture process. At the microscale, cracks are initiated and grow due to contact stresses. These initiated cracks at the microscale lead to macrocracks that grow as fatigue cracks over long periods resulting in substantial wear volume. This work is limited to modeling the phenomena at the microscale. The computational results are compared with abrasion experiments conducted on the rubber samples based on ASTM DIN 53516 standards.