Contact Stress Between Two-Dimensional Finite Elastic Bodies

Abstract

A method is presented for determining the contact stress distribution between two two-dimensional finite elastic bodies with general surface configurations. The bodies treated are nearly rectangular with surfaces which deviate from the rectangular shape by a small amount. The approximate method used involves a solution to the partial differential equations of elasticity for surface load expressed in terms of a trigonometric series. The coefficients of the trigonometric series are evaluated by enforcement of the appropriate constraint conditions. Experimental and theoretical stress distributions are compared and are in good agreement.