Thermomechanical modelling of dry friction at high velocity applied to a Ti6Al4V-Ti6Al4V tribopair

A semi-analytical model is developed to predict thermal and mechanical responses of the contact surface during the dry friction of Ti6Al4V tribopair at high velocities. This model is achieved by solving thermal and mechanical problems separately, before coupling both interdependent solutions using the dissipation of mechanical work into heat. The thermal problem is solved by Green's function techniques, while the mechanical one is treated by considering the adiabatic shearing process of contact asperities. The accuracy of this new semi-analytical model is first evaluated by comparison with the results of a two-dimensional numerical finite element simulation. Then, the proposed model is adapted to the specific dry friction process considered in this study by means of experimental testing with post-mortem microstructural analysis.