Analysis of Elastic-Plastic Contact Performance of Rigid Sphere Against a Deformable Flat-Effect of Strain Hardness

Problem statement: The present study considers an elastic-plastic contact analysis of a rigid sphere with a deformable flat (Rigid Sphere-model) using finite element analysis. The effect of tangent modulus on the contact behavior of a no adhesive frictionless elastic-plastic contact was analyzed using commercial finite element software ANSYS. Approach: Different materials, in terms of the ratio of Young's modulus to yield strength, had been considered to study the effect of tangent modulus. The Finite Element (FE) contact analysis was carried out by incorporating the various tangent modulus values of different materials. Results: The result clearly shows that for different tangent modulus the material hold different stress values. When this modulus increases the strain hardness value of material was also increased. Conclusion: With increase in tangent modulus, strain hardening resistance to deformation of a material is increased and the material becomes capable of carrying higher amount of load in a smaller contact area.