A simulation method of thermo-mechanical and tribological coupled analysis in dry sliding systems

•A novel method of the coupling thermo-mechanical and wear analysis is developed.•The varying surface profile of contact regions is considered through a wear simulation subroutine.•Temperature and stress distributions are inconstant along with the material removal.•This method can be easily extended to large scale models owning to its practical procedure.

A numerical method is developed to investigate the thermal, mechanical, and tribological behaviors in dry sliding systems simultaneously. It is based on the finite element method (FEM) and incorporates a subroutine, considering Archard's law, which is used to calculate wear and to cyclically update the position of the nodes at the surface. The method is applied to analyze the operation of a given brake system with gray cast iron and low metallic friction material interacting surfaces, in terms of stress, temperature and wear distribution. Simulation results are consistent with experimental measurements and indicate that these three aspects are connected by contact pressure and thermal expansion. The loss of material changes contact situation and influences temperature and stress indirectly.