Elastic-Plastic Contact Analysis of a Sphere and a Rigid Flat

An elastic–plastic adhesion model for a metallic deformable sphere pressed by a rigid flat is presented. Analytical dimensionless expressions for the local separation outside the contact area and for the adhesion force are provided covering a large range of interference values from a point contact to a fully plastic contact. Two main dimensionless parameters of the problem are identified and their effect on the adhesion is investigated. The significance of the adhesion in the elastic–plastic contact force balance is discussed and the regimes where adhesion is important or negligible are pointed out. A comparison of the present results with a previously published approximate elastic–plastic model shows substantial differences in the local separation and in the adhesion force.  2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.