Fast numerical implementation of the MDR transformations

In the present paper a numerical implementation technique for the transformations of the Method of Dimensionality Reduction (MDR) is described. The MDR has become, in the past few years, a standard tool in contact mechanics for solving axially-symmetric contacts. The numerical implementation of the integral transformations of the MDR can be performed in several different ways. In this study, the focus is on a simple and robust algorithm on the uniform grid using integration by parts, a central difference scheme to obtain the derivatives, and a trapezoidal rule to perform the summation. The results are compared to the analytical solutions for the contact of a cone and the Hertzian contact. For the tested examples, the proposed method gives more accurate results with the same number of discretization points than other tested numerical techniques. The implementation method is further tested in a wear simulation of a heterogeneous cylinder composed of rings of different material having the same elastic properties but different wear coefficients. These discontinuous transitions in the material properties are handled well with the proposed method.