Analysis of thermo-mechanical wear problems for reciprocal punch sliding

The relative sliding motion of two elastic bodies in contact induces wear process and contact shape evolution. The transient process tends to a steady state occuring at fixed contact stress and strain distribution. This state corresponds to the minimum of the wear dissipation power. The optimality conditions of the functional provide the contact stress distribution and the wear rate compatible with the rigid body punch motion. The present paper extends the previous analyses [1-5] of the steady state conditions to cases of periodic sliding of contacting bodies, assuming cyclic steady state conditions for both mechanical and thermal fields.