Mechanics of adhesive contact on a power-law graded elastic half-space

We consider adhesive contact between a rigid sphere of radius R and a graded elastic half-space with Young's modulus varying with depth according to a power law E=E₀(z/c₀)^k (0<k<1) while Poisson's ratio ν remaining a constant. Closed-form analytical solutions are established for the critical force, the critical radius of contact area and the critical interfacial stress at pull-off. We highlight that the pull-off force has a simple solution of P_cr=−(k+3)πRΔγ/2 where Δγ is the work of adhesion and make further discussions with respect to three interesting limits: the classical JKR solution when k=0, the Gibson solid when k→1 and ν=0.5, and the strength limit in which the interfacial stress reaches the theoretical strength of adhesion at pull-off.     

Mechanics of non-slipping adhesive contact on a power-law graded elastic half-space

In previous work about axisymmetric adhesive contact on power-law graded elastic materials, the contact interface was often assumed to be frictionless, which is, however, not always the case in practical applications. In order to elucidate the effect of friction and the coupling between normal and tangential deformations, in the present paper, the problem of a rigid punch with a parabolic shape in non-slipping adhesive contact with a power-law graded half-space is studied analytically via singular integral equation method. A series of closed-form analytical solutions, which include the frictionless and homogeneous solutions as special cases, are obtained. Our results show that, compared with the frictionless case, the interfacial friction tends to reduce the contact area and the indentation depth during adhesion. The magnitude of the coupling effect depends on both the Poisson ratio and the gradient exponent of the half-space. This effect vanishes for homogeneous incompressible as well as for linearly graded materials but becomes significant for auxetic materials with negative Poisson’s ratio. Furthermore, influence of mode mixity on the adhesive behavior of power-law graded materials, which was seldom touched in literature, is discussed in details.     

Non-slipping adhesive contact between mismatched elastic cylinders

We have recently proposed a generalized JKR model for non-slipping adhesive contact between two elastic spheres subjected to a pair of pulling forces and a mismatch strain (Chen, S., Gao, H., 2006c. Non-slipping adhesive contact between mismatched elastic spheres: a model of adhesion mediated deformation sensor. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 54, 1548–1567). Here we extend this model to adhesion between two mismatched elastic cylinders. The attention is focused on how the mismatch strain affects the contact area and the pull-off force. It is found that there exists a critical mismatch strain at which the contact spontaneously dissociates. The analysis suggests possible mechanisms by which mechanical deformation can affect binding between cells and molecules in biology.     

Contact with friction of a rigid cylinder with an elastic half-space

An exact solution to the problem of indentation with friction of a rigid cylinder into an elastic half-space is presented. The corresponding boundary-value problem is formulated in planar bipolar coordinates, and reduced to a singular integral equation with respect to the unknown normal stress in the slip zones. An exact analytical solution of this equation is constructed using the Wiener-Hopf technique, which allowed for a detailed analysis of the contact stresses, strain, displacement, and relative slip zone sizes. Also, a simple analytical solution is furnished in the limiting case of full stick between the cylinder and half-space.     

The contact problem of a rigid cylinder on an elastic layer

Summary This paper deals with the contact problem of a rigid cylinder pressed on an elastic layer connected rigidly to a rigid base. It is assumed that there is no friction between cylinder and layer and that the cylinder is long enough to ensure a plane deformation. Asymptotic solutions are presented when the ratio of the half width c of the contact area to the thickness b of the layer is small and also when c/b is large. The breakdown of the asymptotic solution for large values of c/b when the material is incompressible, discussed by Koiter [6], is overcome by considering a more general solution of the Wiener-Hopf integral equation encountered. The results of both asymptotic solutions match so well that a satisfactory solution is obtained for all values c/b and for 00.5.     

Deformation of an elastic helix in contact with a rigid cylinder

Summary The deformation of a short helix in contact with a rigid cylinder is investigated. Deformations occur due to bending, torsion and longitudinal elasticity of the helix. Shear deformation is neglected. Some of the equations describing the problem have been given already in Love's Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of Elasticity, in terms of curvature changes. Nevertheless, the equations for small deformations have to be reformulated in terms of displacements and rotations, because contact constraints cannot be expressed in terms of curvature. Friction is neglected, thus the problem is symmetric, and it is sufficient to determine its solution for one half of the helix.Without friction between the cylinder and the helix, the contact problem arises only for a helix longer than one length of twist. For a shorter helix, the global equilibrium conditions cannot be satisfied for nonvanishing contact forces. For the minimum length, there are two noncontact zones, and the helix is in contact with the cylinder only at three points: at the ends and in the middle. For a slightly longer helix, four contact points and three noncontact regions are found. The dependence of the noncontact zones and the contact forces, which are of practical interest, can be calculated as a function of the length of the helix and its geometrical parameters. The case of a very long helix with more than four contact points remains unsolved.     

Vertical impact of the side of a rigid circular cylinder against an elastic half-space

Institute of Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 25, No. 12, pp. 41–47, December, 1989.     

Adhesion and friction of an elastic half-space in contact with a slightly wavy rigid surface

The paper deals with the estimation of the pressure distribution, the shape of contact and the friction force at the interface of a flat soft elastic solid moving on a rigid half-space with a slightly wavy surface. In this case an unsymmetrical contact is considered and justified with the adhesion hysteresis. For soft solids as rubber and polymers the friction originates mainly from two different contributions: the internal friction due to the viscoelastic properties of the bulk and the adhesive processes at the interface of the two solids. In the paper the authors focus on the latter contribution to friction. It is known, indeed, that for soft solids, as rubber, the adhesion hysteresis is, at least qualitatively, related to friction: the larger the adhesion hysteresis the larger the friction. Several mechanisms may govern the adhesion hysteresis, such as the interdigitation process between the polymer chains, the local small-scale viscoelasticity or the local elastic instabilities. In the paper the authors propose a model to link, from the continuum mechanics point of view, the friction to the adhesion hysteresis. A simple one-length scale roughness model is considered having a sinusoidal profile. For partial contact conditions the detached zone is taken to be a mode I propagating crack. Due to the adhesion hysteresis, the crack is affected by two different values of the strain energy release rate at the advancing and receding edges respectively. As a result, an unsymmetrical contact and a friction force arise. Additionally, the stability of the equilibrium configurations is discussed and the adherence force for jumping out of contact and the critical load for snapping into full contact are estimated.     

Unbonded contact of a Mindlin plate on an elastic half-space

Summary In this paper a penalty formulation of the frictionless unilateral contact problem between an elastic rectangular plate and an elastic half-space is presented. In order to take into account the effects of the shear stress, the Mindlin plate model is analyzed. Some numerical results, obtained via finite elements, are given.

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Sommario In questo lavoro viene presentata una formulazione penalty del problema di contatto unilaterale senza attrito tra una piastra rettangolare elastica ed un semispazio elastico. Per la piastra si utilizza il modello di Mindlin, che consente di tener conto dell'effetto delle tensioni da taglio. Si forniscono alcuni risultati numerici ottenuti mediante discretizzazione agli elementi finiti.

     

Non-slipping adhesive contact between mismatched elastic spheres: A model of adhesion mediated deformation sensor

A generalized JKR model is established for non-slipping adhesive contact between two dissimilar elastic spheres subjected to a pair of pulling forces and a mismatch strain. We discuss the full elastic solution to the problem as well as the so-called non-oscillatory solution in which tension and shear tractions along the contact interface is decoupled from each other. The model indicates that the mismatch strain has significant effect on the contact area and the pull-off process. Under a finite pulling force, a pair of adhering spheres is predicted to break apart spontaneously at a critical mismatch strain. This study suggests an adhesion mediated deformation sensing mechanism by which cells and molecules can detect mechanical signals in the environment via adhesive interactions.     

Orientation-dependent adhesion strength of a rigid cylinder in non-slipping contact with a transversely isotropic half-space

Recently, Chen and Gao [Chen, S., Gao, H., 2007. Bio-inspired mechanics of reversible adhesion: orientation-dependent adhesion strength for non-slipping adhesive contact with transversely isotropic elastic materials. J. Mech. Phys. solids 55, 1001–1015] studied the problem of a rigid cylinder in non-slipping adhesive contact with a transversely isotropic solid subjected to an inclined pulling force. An implicit assumption made in their study was that the contact region remains symmetric with respect to the center of the cylinder. This assumption is, however, not self-consistent because the resulting energy release rates at two contact edges, which are supposed to be identical, actually differ from each other. Here we revisit the original problem of Chen and Gao and derive the correct solution by removing this problematic assumption. The corrected solution provides a proper insight into the concept of orientation-dependent adhesion strength in anisotropic elastic solids.     

Indentation of an elastic layer by a rigid cylinder

The Green’s functions for the indentation of an elastic layer resting on or bonded to a rigid base by a line load are found efficiently and accurately by a combination of contour integration with a series expansion for small arguments. From the form of the equations it is clear that the function is oscillatory when the layer is free to slip over the base, but for the bonded layer, the function simply decays to zero after a single overshoot.The deformation due to pressure distributions of the form of the product of a polynomial with an elliptical (“Hertzian”) term is calculated and the coefficients chosen to match the indentation shape to that of a cylindrical indenter. The resulting pressure distributions behave much as in Johnson’s approximate theory, becoming parabolic instead of elliptical as the ratio b/d of contact width to layer thickness increases, or, for the bonded incompressible (ν = 1/2) layer, becoming bell-shaped for very large b/d.The relation between the approach δ and the contact width b curves has been investigated, and some anomalies in published asymptotic equations noted and, perhaps, resolved.A noticeable feature of our method is that, unlike previous solutions in which the full mixed boundary value problem (given indenter shape / stress-free boundary) has been solved, the bonded incompressible solid causes no problems and is handled just as for lower values of Poisson’s ratio.     

Response of an elastic half-space with power-law nonhomogeneity to static loads

In this paper a series of problems for an isotropic elastic half-space with power-law nonhomogeneity are considered. The action of surface vertical and horizontal forces applied to the half-space is studied. A part of the paper deals with the case of zero-valued surface shear modulus (for positive values of the power determining the nonhomogeneity). This condition leads to simple solutions for two-dimensional (2D) case when radial distribution of stresses exists for surface loads concentrated along an infinite line. Corresponding results for the three-dimensional (3D) case are constructed on the basis of the relationships between 2D and 3D solutions developed in the paper. A more complicated case, in which the shear modulus at the surface of the half-space differs from zero, is treated using fundamental solutions of the differential equations for Fourier–Bessel transformations of displacements. In the paper the fundamental solutions are built in the following two forms: (a) a combination of functions expressing displacements of the half-space under the action of vertical and horizontal forces in the case of zero surface shear modulus, and (b) a representation of the fundamental solutions using confluent hypergeometric functions. The results of numerical calculation given in the paper relate to Green functions for the surface vertical and horizontal point forces.     

Sliding frictional contact between a rigid punch and a laterally graded elastic medium

Analytical and computational methods are developed for contact mechanics analysis of functionally graded materials (FGMs) that possess elastic gradation in the lateral direction. In the analytical formulation, the problem of a laterally graded half-plane in sliding frictional contact with a rigid punch of an arbitrary profile is considered. The governing partial differential equations and the boundary conditions of the problem are satisfied through the use of Fourier transformation. The problem is then reduced to a singular integral equation of the second kind which is solved numerically by using an expansion–collocation technique. Computational studies of the sliding contact problems of laterally graded materials are conducted by means of the finite element method. In the finite element analyses, the laterally graded half-plane is discretized by quadratic finite elements for which the material parameters are specified at the centroids. Flat and triangular punch profiles are considered in the parametric analyses. The comparisons of the results generated by the analytical technique to those computed by the finite element method demonstrate the high level of accuracy attained by both methods. The presented numerical results illustrate the influences of the lateral nonhomogeneity and the coefficient of friction on the contact stresses.     

The dynamic indentation of an elastic half-space by a rigid punch

The two-dimensional contact problem between a rigid die and an elastic half-space is considered. A numerical method of solution is proposed which involves an iterative process which is continued until the correct solution is obtained according to certain criteria. The method is general enough and can handle punches of arbitrary shape as well as time-dependent indentation velocities. The treatment is unified for subsonic, transonic and supersonic indentations. The numerical procedure is checked with analytical results which are known in several special cases and good agreement is obtained. Results are presented for the smooth as well as frictional indentation by a wedge-shaped die and for a smooth parabolic punch.     

Unbonded contact between a circular plate and an elastic half-space

The paper concerns the unbonded contact between a thin circular plate of finite radius, governed by Kirchhof or Reissner theory, pressed by means of rotationally symmetric distributed load and its own weight against the surface of an elastic half-space. The contact is assumed frictionless and unbonded. A Hankel transform solution is used for the half-space and the plate deflection is found by inverting the plate equation. The coefficients in a power expansion are obtained by equating plate and half-space deflections at a number of points in the contact region. The variation of contact radius with plate radius, the radius of the uniformly applied load, and the relative stiffness of plate and foundation, is displayed in a series of figures.