The detachment of material in an adhesive wear process is driven by a fracture mechanism which is controlled by a critical length-scale. Previous efforts in multi-asperity wear modeling have applied this microscopic process to rough elastic contact. However, experimental data shows that the assumption of purely elastic deformation at rough contact interfaces is unrealistic, and that asperities in contact must deform plastically to accommodate the large contact stresses. We therefore investigate the consequences of plastic deformation on the macro-scale wear response using novel elastoplastic contact simulations. The crack nucleation process at a rough contact interface is analyzed in a comparative study with a classical J₂ plasticity approach and a saturation plasticity model. We show that plastic residual deformations in the J₂ model heighten the surface tensile stresses, leading to a higher crack nucleation likelihood for contacts. This effect is shown to be stronger when the material is more ductile. We also show that elastic interactions between contacts can increase the likelihood of individual contacts nucleating cracks, irrespective of the contact constitutive model. This is supported by a statistical approach we develop based on a Greenwood–Williamson model modified to take into account the elastic interactions between contacts and the shear strength of the contact junction.

粘合剂磨损过程中材料的脱离是由断裂机制驱动的，断裂机制由临界长度范围控制。先前在多粗糙磨损模型中所做的努力已将此微观过程应用于粗糙的弹性接触。但是，实验数据表明，在粗糙的接触界面处纯粹发生弹性变形的假设是不现实的，并且接触的凹凸必须塑性变形以适应较大的接触应力。因此，我们使用新型弹塑性接触模拟研究了塑性变形对宏观磨损响应的影响。在使用经典J ₂的对比研究中，分析了粗糙接触界面处的裂纹成核过程。可塑性方法和饱和可塑性模型。我们表明，J ₂模型中的塑性残余变形会增加表面拉应力，从而导致更高的接触点裂纹成核可能性。当材料更易延展时，这种效果被证明更强。我们还表明，接触之间的弹性相互作用可以增加单个接触成核裂纹的可能性，而与接触本构模型无关。这是由我们根据Greenwood-Williamson模型开发的一种统计方法所支持的，该模型经过修改，考虑到了接触点之间的弹性相互作用和接触点的剪切强度。