Semi-analytical analysis of orthotropic-isotropic contact in layered media with consideration of body forces

Contact mechanics is a key field that involves theoretical, computational, and experimental methods essential for tribology and designing components across various industries. It plays a crucial role in solving boundary value problems in civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and medicine. This study investigates the continuous contact problem of an orthotropic layer positioned on an isotropic half-plane, utilizing a semi-analytical approach based on elasticity theory. The solution considers the body force generated within the orthotropic layer when subjected to frictionless loading by a rigid cylindrical punch. The research presents dimensionless results for key parameters, including contact length, contact stress, critical separation distance, and critical separation load, while examining the effects of different dimensionless variables and the characteristics of the orthotropic materials. The novelty of this study lies in its simultaneous analysis of isotropic and orthotropic material behavior in a contact mechanics problem, along with the incorporation of body forces—a combination that has not been previously explored for this specific geometry in the literature. The study offers a more comprehensive understanding of the contact mechanics involved by addressing the often-overlooked influence of body forces, which play a crucial role in stress distribution and material deformation, particularly in large-scale structures. This inclusion allows for more accurate predictions of material behavior in real-world engineering applications where gravitational loads are significant factors.