Modeling heterogeneous materials with multiple inclusions under mixed lubrication contact

• Model for heterogeneous materials with multiple inhomogeneous inclusions under mixed lubrication contact.
• Interactions among solid contact bodies, fluid lubricant and subsurface inclusions.
• Solution of lubricant film thickness with surface roughness considered.
• Solution of surface pressure and subsurface stress fields.

A numerical solution for heterogeneous materials with multiple inclusions under mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication contact is presented in this study. The pressure generated within the fluid area as well as that caused by asperity contact is obtained through solving a unified Reynolds equation system. The inclusions are modeled as homogeneous inclusions (which are assumed to have same material with matrix) with initial eigenstrains plus unknown equivalent eigenstrains by employing Eshelby׳s equivalent inclusion method. A modified conjugate gradient method is implemented to determine these unknowns within the governing equations. Extra deformations due to the inclusions are iteratively introduced into lubricant film thickness. The computational process is performed until the convergence of the half-space surface displacements caused by the embedded inclusions and the pressure obtained within the computational domain. This solution takes into account the interactions among the loading body, the fluid lubricant and the half-space matrix with embedded inclusions.