On the Contact Problem of a Rigid Punch Pressed on a Viscoelastic Beam

Abstract

The contact problem of a symmetric rigid punch pressed at the midspan of a simply supported viscoelastic beam is studied. This is equivalent to a cantilever beam loaded at the free end against a rigid smooth surface. Explicit solutions are obtained for the length of the contact region, the contact pressure, the contact force at the contact boundary, and the curvature of the beam outside of the contact regions. As in other contact problems, the solution does not depend on the entire loading history.