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Real-Contact Area Between an Elastomer and a Flat Plane Observed by Surface Plasmon Resonance: Optical Model Calculations

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Abstract

This study presents a novel method for high-sensitivity measurement of the area of the real contact between an elastomer surface and a rigid flat plane, using the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique in the Kretschmann configuration. Through numerical calculations, the sensitivity of the SPR method for determining the real-contact area is discussed and compared to other typical optical techniques, such as total internal reflection and multiple beam optical interference. The wavelength dependence of the optical reflectance is simulated, as well as its change with the elastomer-plane gap thickness and the optical properties of the gap material. Non-transparent elastomers are also studied. Consequently, it was found that the SPR method has the highest sensitivity for the measurement of real-contact area; it can detect, for example, an ultra-thin air gap (or water gap) formed between the contacting surfaces from the measurement of the intensity of reflected light from the contact region.

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Abbreviations

E in :

Amplitude of the incident light electric field

E out :

Amplitude of the reflected light electric field

E + :

Resultant electric vector of all positive-going light waves

E − :

Resultant electric vector of all negative-going light waves

N :

Complex refractive index

R :

Reflectance

ΔR :

Difference in reflectance

h :

Gap thickness

h max :

Maximum gap thickness

l d :

Characteristic decay length of evanescent electromagnetic field

m :

Sensitivity factor

n :

Refractive index

n eff :

Effective refractive index

Δn eff :

Difference in effective refractive index

r eff :

Effective reflection coefficient

r :

Fresnel reflection coefficient

k :

Extinction coefficient

β :

Phase change

θ :

Incident angle

λ :

Wavelength

λ SPR :

Resonance wavelength in the reflectance spectrum in the SPR method

λ OIF :

Peak wavelength in the reflectance spectrum in the OIF method

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Tottori University, 4-101 Minami, Koyama, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan

    Satoru Maegawa, Hiroshige Matsuoka & Shigehisa Fukui

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 466-8555, Japan

    Fumihiro Itoigawa & Takashi Nakamura

Authors
  1. Satoru Maegawa
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  2. Hiroshige Matsuoka
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  3. Shigehisa Fukui
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  4. Fumihiro Itoigawa
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  5. Takashi Nakamura
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Correspondence to Satoru Maegawa.

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Maegawa, S., Matsuoka, H., Fukui, S. et al. Real-Contact Area Between an Elastomer and a Flat Plane Observed by Surface Plasmon Resonance: Optical Model Calculations. Tribol Lett 64, 7 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-016-0739-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-016-0739-y

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