Elastic-plastic contact of a smooth sphere and a half-space with a real machined surface is simulated using an integration-based multilevel contact model. The total surface deflection is composed of bulk and asperity deformations. They are calculated at the global and the asperity level, respectively, which are connected through the asperity-supporting load. With this new model, the accurate contact area and contact pressure under a given load are quickly predicted using a relatively coarse grid system. The calculated load-area curve shows good agreement with the experimental data. Finally, the effects of the surface topography, including roughness and the asperity radius, upon the real contact area are analyzed.
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