Transient Thermoelastic Stress Fields in a Half-Space

Computing the thermoelastic stress field of a material subjected to frictional heating is essential for component failure prevention and life prediction. However, the analysis for three-dimensional thermoelastic stress field for tribological problems is not well developed. Furthermore, the pressure distribution due to rough surface contact is irregular; hence the frictional heating can hardly be described by an analytical expression. This paper presents a novel set of frequency-domain expressions (frequency response functions) of the thermoelastic stress field of a uniformly moving three-dimensional elastic half-space subjected to arbitrary transient frictional heating, where the velocity of the half-space, its magnitude and direction, can be an arbitrary function of time. General formulas are expressed in the form of time integrals, and important expressions for constant velocities are given for the transient-instantaneous, transient-continuous, and steady-state cases. The thermoelastic stress field inside a translating half-space with constant velocities are illustrated and discussed by using the discrete convolution and fast Fourier transform method when a parabolic type or an irregularly distributed heat source is applied.