Nano-scale roughness effects on hysteresis in micro-scale adhesive contact

A multi-scale model enables investigation of the effect of surface roughness on energy loss in adhesive contact. Fully atomistic simulation of nano-scale indentation predicts size-dependent force–distance trends that are introduced as roughness into a micro-scale finite element model through randomly distributed non-linear hysteretic springs. The multi-scale model predicts that the energy loss, quantified by the hysteresis loop formed by loading and unloading data, increases with increasing indentation depth and surface roughness. This behavior is discussed in terms of an analytical model of a simply connected system.

► We build a multi-scale model to integrate a MD model with a FE model.
► We created a more realistic surface roughness profile in the FEM model.
► We investigated the effect of surface roughness and indentation depth on energy.
► We found energy loss rises with roughness confirmed by a simple connected model.