Accounting for mechanical properties of ZDDP tribofilms in continuum-based wear simulations

This work discusses the importance of adequate modelling of mechanical properties of zinc dialkyldithophosphate (ZDDP) tribofilms, namely elastic modulus and hardness, for use in continuum mechanics computational simulations. A review of previous modelling efforts is conducted, and novel methods are proposed. The novel approaches are examined in contact mechanics simulations involving ZDDP tribofilms on steel surfaces. A comparison between the new methods and some previous modelling attempts is presented. The new elastic modulus and hardness and plastic deformation models performed well in simulations. • Modelling the mechanical properties of ZDDP tribofilms in continuum simulations. • Elastic modulus and hardness are considered. • Newly proposed models show good performance in simulation-based verifications.