Uniform indentation of the elastic half-space by a rigid rectangular punch

The problem considered is that of a rigid flat-ended punch with rectangular contact area pressed into a linear elastic half-space to a uniform depth. Both the lubricated and adhesive cases are treated. The problem reduces to solving an integral equation (or equations) for the contact stresses. These stresses have a singular nature which is dealt with explicitly by a singularity-incorporating finite-element method. Values for the stiffness of the lubricated punch and the adhesive punch are determined: the effect of adhesion on the stiffness is found to be small, producing an increase of the order of 3%.