Determination of the contact area under cyclic loading of contact pairs of isotropic materials on the basis of 3D surface microrelief modelling

The parameters of the surface microrelief are paramount in the problems of frictional interaction of parts, the flow of liquid and gas in channels, ensuring the required thermal conditions and the stress-strain state of the structure. The solution of the problem of ensuring the optimal thermal regime for a significant range of technical products often becomes decisive in the design of products operating under conditions of high-intensity heat flows. Transit heat fluxes flowing through the product, as well as heat fluxes from own heat sources, must be either accumulated or removed to the external space. In this case, the directions of the heat flux vectors are determined by the design features of the products, including through various contact connections. Obviously, a reliable determination of the parameters of the contact interaction of product parts is the basis for a reliable analysis of the stress-strain and thermal state of a wide range of structures operating under conditions of high-intensity heat flows. The operational characteristics of the contacting parts of the structure are directly determined by the properties of the contact of the mating surfaces. When solving many problems of thermal, mechanical and electrical contact interaction, surface roughness is a major factor. The processes of friction and wear occur precisely on the actual contact area and depend not only on the properties of the material, but also on the intercontact pressure on this area, since the magnitude of the actual pressure determines the destruction of surface films and the appearance of adhesive bonds in the contact. In the presented work, the change in the actual contact area under cyclic loading of contact pairs of materials based on digital twins of contact surfaces in a wide range of compressive pressures is considered.