Influence of self-contact friction on the hysteresis mechanical behavior of Entangled Metal Pseudo Rubber

Focusing on the nonlinear hysteresis behavior of Entangled Metal Pseudo Rubber (EMPR) under quasi-static compression, this study investigates the impact of self-contact friction on its energy dissipation and path memory characteristics. By employing virtual manufacturing and finite element numerical simulation, we digitally reproduce the entire process from wire winding to cold stamping and precisely tune the contact friction coefficient between wire turns under interference-free conditions. The results show that the hysteresis behavior of EMPR can be decomposed into three mechanically meaningful components: nonlinear elastic backbone force, friction force, and hysteretic force. Among these components, the elastic backbone force remains consistent as a unique function of strain, while the friction and hysteretic contributions determine the opening of the hysteresis loop and the material’s path memory features. Numerical simulations and experimental validations demonstrate that adjusting the friction coefficient can significantly alter the material’s energy absorption capacity and hysteresis loop area, thereby providing favorable conditions for extracting, identifying, and verifying the physical meaning of the elastic backbone line. This study not only deepens our understanding of the mesoscopic frictional contact mechanism in EMPR and the construction of physically meaningful hysteresis constitutive relationships, but also offers an important theoretical foundation and technical reference for designing high-performance EMPR components.