Variation in Fractal Properties and Non-Gaussian Distributions of Microcontact Between Elastic-Plastic Rough Surfaces With Mean Surface Separation

The fractal parameters (fractal dimension and topothesy), describing the contact behavior of rough surface, were considered as constant in the earlier models. However, their results are often significantly different from the experimental results. In the present study, these two roughness parameters have been derived analytically as a function of the mean separation first, then they are found with the aid of the experimental results. By equating the structure functions developed in two different ways, the relationship among the scaling coefficient in the power spectrum function, the fractal dimension, and topothesy of asperity heights can be established. The variation of topothesy can be determined when the fractal dimension and the scaling coefficient have been obtained from the experimental results of the number of contact spots and the power spectrum function at different mean separations. The probability density function of asperity heights, achieved at a different mean separation, was obtained from experimental results as a non-Gaussian distribution; it is expressed as a function of the skewness and the kurtosis. The relationship between skewness and mean separation can be established through the fitting of experimental results by this non-Gaussian distribution. For a sufficiently small mean separation, either the total load or the real contact area predicted by variable fractal parameters, as well as non-Gaussian distribution, is greater than that predicted by constant fractal parameters, as well as Gaussian distribution. The difference between these two models is significantly enhanced as the mean separation becomes small.