Calculation of characteristics of discrete adhesive contact

The mathematical model of discrete contact between real engineering surfaces has been proposed. The model takes into account the adhesion between surfaces in contact. The analytical expressions for calculating the deformation of a contact and the real (physical) contact area have been obtained. The dimension-less criterion for estimating the influence of adhesive forces on the contact characteristics has been proposed. The effect of various factors on the above characteristics has been analyzed. It has been shown that, at the nanoscale level (asperities of nanoscale size), especially under low contact loads, the influence of adhesive forces is significant.