Course description

Embark on an immersive five-day journey with the "Contact Mechanics & Elements of Tribology" course, scheduled from January 22-26, 2024. This comprehensive program begins with exploring Mechanical Contact, delving into the integration of the Flamant solution and examining stress fields induced by frictional sliding. As the week progresses, participants will engage with topics such as Contact and Mechanics of Materials, Surface Roughness, and Computational Contact Mechanics, utilizing both the Finite Element and Boundary Element Methods. Practical sessions accompany each lecture, including hands-on experiences in indentation analysis, characterizing rough contacts, and coding in a toy-FEM environment. Midweek, delve into Fretting and Wear, and towards the end, focus shifts to Lubrication and Sealing, solving complex problems using the finite difference method. The course culminates with academic and industry insights from invited speakers, including a special segment on the Tribology of Tyres by Michelin's Philippe Bussetta and a presentation on contact-related challenges at Safran Aircraft Engines by Karim Demmou, followed by an online written exam and a concluding session.

Keywords: contact, tribology, friction, roughness, computational contact, finite element method, boundary element method, lubrication, sealing, fretting, wear, roughness.