2. Modeling bodies in contact and mechanisms

2.1 From reality to models

For many decades, analytical models have been the benchmark for progress in contact mechanics and tribology, but they soon reach their limits when it comes to predicting the service life of a mechanical system such as a bearing, a bladed disk or a braking system. Such a problem requires not only the ability to study the complete mechanism right up to failure or "end of life", but also an understanding of the transformations undergone by the elements in contact (for example, wave wear i.e. periodic plastic deformations [98] [99], surface degradation [13]...).

To answer the question posed, we need to be able to model both the bodies in contact and the mechanism containing them. However, it can be cumbersome and time-consuming to set...