Compression analysis of rectangular elastic layers bonded between rigid plates

An elastic layer bonded between two rigid plates has higher compression stiffness than the elastic layer without bonding. While the finite element method can be applied to calculate the stiffness, the compression stiffness of bonded rectangular layers derived through a theoretical approach in this paper provides a convenient way for parametric study. Based on two kinematics assumptions, the governing equation for the mean pressure is derived from the equilibrium equations. Using the approximate shear boundary condition, the mean pressure is solved and the compression stiffness of the bonded rectangular layer is then established in an explicit single-series form. Through the solved pressure, the horizontal displacements are derived from the corresponding equilibrium equations, from which the shear stress on the bonding surface can be found. It is found that the effect of the rectangular aspect on the compression stiffness is significant only when Poisson’s ratio is near 0.5. For the smaller Poisson’s ratio, the compression stiffness of the rectangular layer can be approximated by the formula for the infinite-strip layer of the same shape factor.