Contact Mechanics
International Journal of Solids and Structures 37 (2000) 29±43 www.elsevier.com/locate/ijsolstr Contact mechanics J.R. Barber a,*, M. Ciavarella b, 1 aDepartment of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2125, USA bDepartment of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PJ, UK Abstract Contact problems are central to Solid Mechanics, because contact is the principal method of applying loads to a deformable body and the resulting stress concentration is often the most critical point in the body. Contact is characterized by unilateral inequalities, describing the physical impossibility of tensile contact tractions (except under special circumstances) and of material interpenetration. Additional inequalities and/or non-linearities are introduced when friction laws are taken into account. These complex boundary conditions can lead to problems with existence and uniqueness of quasi-static solution and to lack of convergence of numerical algorithms. In frictional problems, there can also be lack of stability, leading to stick±slip motion and frictional vibrations. If the material is non-linear, the solution of contact problems is greatly complicated, but recent work has shown that indentation of a power-law material by a power law punch is self-similar, even in the presence of friction, so that the complete history of loading in such cases can be described by the (usually numerical) solution of a single problem. Real contacting surfaces are rough, leading to the concentration of contact in a cluster of microscopic actual contact areas. This aects the conduction of heat and electricity across the interface as well as the mechanical contact process.
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