10/12/2016

MultiscalesurfacemechanicstheoryandcomputationsforsoftcontactandadhesionAdvancesinEngineering

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Multiscale surface mechanics theory and computations for soft contact and adhesion

SignificanceStatement
Previous successful modelling and simulation tools are mainly based on either the Hertz contact theory (non-adhesive contact). The present simulation tools
for the adhesive contact are basically semi-analytical in nature, and they face certain limitations due to infinitesimal deformation assumption, one of the
contacts body considered rigid, and the contact body having simple geometries; these simplifications are the source of inaccuracy and errors in the
numerical simulation.
Moreover, due to limitation of computer power and storage capacity, it would be difficult to model, analyze, predict, and design macroscale engineering
systems involved in adhesive contact, which are ever-present in biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, food and pharmaceutical industries,

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healthcare industries, among many applications in other fields. When solving macroscale adhesive contact problems, computational cost is another main
issue.
Professor Shaofan Li and Dr. Houfu Fan from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley proposed an
adhesive contact formulation using a double-layer surface integral to replace the conventional double volume integration in computing adhesive contact
force vector. The authors obtained surface stress tensors for arbitrary deformable bodies under finite deformation and their contact interaction force with
aid of analytical integrations. The paper is now published in International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering
Presently, a proposed surface formulation which converts double-layer volume integral describing contact interaction to double-layer surface integral
through a mathematically consistent approach has been employed using divergence theorem and a special partitioning technique. This numerical
technology paves a way to analyze and simulate three-dimensional adhesive contact problems for both quasi-static and dynamic loadings at macroscale,
which fills the gap in computer modeling and simulation of macroscale adhesive contact problems during finite deformation. Hence the applications of this
numerical technique to a host of important and emerging science and engineering problems including elastocapillarity, cell motility, and soft matter physics
in general are imminent.
For overview of surface contact formulation, the proposed surface formulation of adhesive contact is presented in the framework of nonlinear continuum
mechanics. Two interacting bodies were subjected to certain boundary conditions and inter-body contact interactions which have physical domains
deforming from 10, 20, to 1, 2. The total potential energy of the system total for a conservative system includes additional adhesive interaction
potential energy C which makes it a non-standard boundary value problem.
A 12-6 Lennard-Jones potential was used to represent adhesive or cohesion interaction between two particles located at x1 1 and x22. Nanson formula
was used to derive the interaction force applied on infinitesimal surface element da2 2 due to the presence of infinitesimal surface element da1 1.
Corresponding traction force dt1S on 1 is derived from integration of surface j. If any of the two integrating bodies is rigid, integration of j analytically
for a given interatomic potential (r) and the derived stress tensor is applied to numerical computational directly.
A standard finite element method approach discretizes approximate displacement fields applied to weak form which identified global mass matrix, internal
force vector, external force vector and contact force giving the discretized equations of motion of system.
A complete derivation of the tangent stiffness matrices for contact interaction force corresponding to surface stress tensor formulation of nonlinear
continua under finite deformation was provided. Numerical calculations was based on Neo-Hookean material, St. Venant-Kirchoff material model and
Newtonian fluid model.

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In order to verify the accuracy of finite element discretization, contact interaction forces resulting from numerical integration for different integration
schemes and different meshes was investigated. Results gave an exact total interaction force obtained from a mesh size
=0.020. General trends of curves obtained from two different schemes were the same resembling force displacement relation of 12-6 Lennard-Jones
potential which show that the proposed surface integration scheme is correct. Error percentages of total interaction force versus distance of three different
meshes (1239, 2087 and 4472) for surface integration scheme was always less than 6%.
A quasi-static analysis of nano-identation method problem such as the Neo-Hookean model was used to demonstrate the capability of proposed surface
contact formation in case one body is rigid. With Youngs modulus E=1000O and Poissons ratio =0.25 and two bodies of box and sphere shape with
dimensions 40 x 40 x 20 and R=1.20 respectively. It was seen that distribution pattern of stress tensor I1 for three different cases are (43, 83 and 163
elements) are similar except for slight difference in corresponding magnitudes and it was discovered that the finer the mesh, the higher the magnitude of
stress tensor I1.
In order to show contact interaction between two arbitrarily shaped and deformable objects, a simulation on an elastic ring being pressed by two identical
elastic slabs was conducted. Two different integration schemes were considered; body-to-body integration with 33 Gauss integration points on each bulk
element (VI-33GPs) and surface-to-surface integration with 22 Gauss integration points in each surface element (SI-22GPs).
Magnitude of trace of stress tensor at contact region for SI scheme is larger than VI scheme due to the fact that VI schemes make use of Gauss integration
points in the bulk while SI schemes make use of Gaussian integration points on the surface providing strong interactive force for the same geometry.
Further results using droplet as Newtonian fluid and substrate modeled as St. Venant-Kirchoff material in studying dynamic spreading of a nano-droplet
over an elastic substrate demonstrated accurate capture of dynamic and transient effects of adhesive contact problems in three dimensional space.

Fan and Li (2016) numerical results show that the proposed surface contact algorithm is accurate, efficient and reliable for three-dimensional
adhesive contact problems for large deformations of both quasi-static and dynamic simulations.

Figure Legend 1:Front view: mesh only

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Figure Legend 2:Front view: mesh with surface gauss integration point and unit out normal

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Figure Legend 3:3D perspective: mesh only

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Figure Legend 4:3D perspective: mesh with surface gauss integration points and unit out normal

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Figure Legend 5: 3D dynamic droplet spreading over a hyperelastic elastic substrate

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AboutTheAuthor
The first author of the paper, Dr. Houfu Fan, is currently an engineer in the Livermore Software Technology Corporation (LSTC). He
obtained his B.S. degree in Engineering Mechanics in 2008 from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, and he obtained
his M.S. and Ph.D. degree in computational mechanics in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of California
at Berkeley in 2010 and 2014, respectively. From Jan. 1st 2015 to Aug. 31st 2016, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in UC Berkeley. He
joined the LSTC on September 1st, 2016.

AboutTheAuthor
The senior and corresponding author of the paper, Dr. Shaofan Li, is currently a full professor in the Department of Civil and
Enviornmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Professor Li received his BS degree from East China University of Science and Technology in Mechanical Engineering (1982), MS degree
from the University of Florida in Aerospace Engineering (1993), and PhD Degress from Northwestern Uni versity in Mechanical Engineering
(1997). Dr. Li has published more 100 technical papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and several research monographes and
graduate textbooks.

JournalReference
Houfu Fan, Shaofan Li.A Three-Dimensional Surface Stress Tensor Formulation for Simulation of Adhesive Contact in Finite Deformation. International
Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 2016, Volume 107, pp 252-270.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Go To International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering

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