Comparison of Ductile Damage Models During Scratch Tests - A Numerical Study

The ‘wear mode diagram’ has been commonly used to classify the deformation regime of the soft work-piece during scratching, into three modes: ploughing, wedge formation and cutting. The scratch test is used to evaluate wear modes and material removal associated with wear. There are different damage models in the literature used for the description of material behaviour after damage initiation under different loading conditions. However, there has been little analysis to compare damage models during scratch test conditions. The first aim of this work is first to use a finite element modelling package (Abaqus/Explicit) to build a 3D model to capture deformation modes during scratching with indenters with different attack angles. Three different damage models are incorporated into the model and patterns of damage initiation and propagation are compared with experimental results from the literature. This work highlights the role of the damage model in accurately capturing wear modes and material removal during two body sliding interactions.