Thermoelastic Contact Between a Flat Punch and an Anisotropic Half-Space

Abstract

The fundamental nature of thermoelastic contact between a flat punch and an anisotropic half-plane solid is studied. Based on Lekhnitskii’s stress potentials and anisotropic thermoelasticity theory, the formulation leads to the nonhomogeneous Hilbert problem which can be solved in compact form. The contact traction beneath the punch face is derived in the form of the Cauchy-type integral which is solved numerically. The results show that, depending on the magnitude of the applied force and the total heat flux, either perfect thermal contact throughout the punch face or separation at the punch corners occurs. The contact lengths for separation solutions are also examined.