Elastic Frictional Contact under Normal and Tangential Loading

Abstract

A robust algorithm for elastic contact simulation considering tangential tractions is advanced in this paper. Two similar numerical models are advanced for the normal, as well as for the tangential direction, and the algorithm for the former, available from Polonsky and Keer’s classical method for elastic contact with arbitrarily shaped geometry, is adapted to solve the latter. Then, an iterative approach is employed to simulate the frictional contact between dissimilarly elastic materials, based on the mutual adjustment between normal and shear tractions. Two numerical applications are presented, involving the spherical contact between a rigid indenter and an elastic half-space, under normal and tangential loading.