A Comparison of General Solutions to the Non-Axisymmetric Frictionless Contact Problem with a Circular Area of Contact: When the Symmetry Does Not Matter

Abstract

The non-axisymmetric problem of frictionless contact between an isotropic elastic half-space and a cylindrical punch with an arbitrarily shaped base is considered. The contact problem is formulated as a two-dimensional Fredholm integral equation of the first type in a fixed circular domain with the right-hand side being representable in the form of a Fourier series. A number of general solutions of the contact problem, which were published in the literature, are discussed. Based on the Galin–Mossakovskii general solution, new formulas are derived for the particular value of the contact pressure at the contact center and the contact stress-intensity factor at the contour of the contact area. Since the named general solution does not employ the operation of differentiation of a double integral with respect to the coordinates that enter it as parameters, the form of the general solution derived by Mossakovskii as a generalization of Galin’s solution for the special case, when the contact pressure beneath the indenter is bounded, is recommended for use as the most simple closed-form general solution of the non-axisymmetric Boussinesq contact problem.