Contact of Rubber Wedges with a Flat Rigid Surface

Abstract

Abstract Contact widths have been measured for long rubber wedges, with wedge angles ranging from 60° to 115°, pressed against a smooth, flat, rigid surface. The contact width grew rapidly at first to about 50 µm, and then more slowly, in proportion to the applied load. Thus, the mean contact pressure in the early stages of contact was small, about 5 to 10% of Young's modulus, E. It then became substantially constant at about 65% of E for a wide range of applied loads, up to about 300 N/m. Approximately the same results were obtained from FEM calculations for incompressible linearly elastic wedges with slightly rounded tips. The contact width at a given load increased slightly when the wedge was held at an angle to the vertical, up to a tilt angle of about 20°. Above this tilt angle, only one side of the wedge came into contact, and the contact width increased significantly; the mean contact pressure falling to about 0.2 E at a tilt angle of 30°.