A high-efficiency versatile adhesive contact model for layered media

Coatings and layered structures play a critical role in determining adhesive contact behaviors. This study presents a versatile, accurate, and computationally efficient model for predicting adhesion in layered media. The model is developed based on the Lennard–Jones (LJ) potential, Hamaker summation, and Derjaguin approximation, leading to a closed-form expression for adhesive pressure that rigorously accounts for molecular interactions across inhomogeneous layers. The model is validated against sphere-half-space contact tests for homogeneous, single-layered, multilayered, and functionally graded materials (FGMs). Its applicability to surface roughness and additional physical effects, such as electrostatic interactions, is demonstrated. The model enables detailed characterization of surface pressure and stress distributions, providing valuable insight into micro/nano-scale friction and adhesive wear mechanisms. A simple computational cost analysis confirms the model’s superior efficiency. Furthermore, a finite element implementation is developed and verified, extending the model’s applicability to complex materials, contact body geometries and boundary conditions relevant to the design of adhesion-sensitive engineering systems.