Edge effect on elastic-plastic rolling/sliding contacts

The contact problem for an elastic-plastic quarter space with arbitrary loading is analyzed. A point load iteration method is used that allows an arbitrary surface profile of the indentor to be prescribed as a displacement boundary condition with an unknown relative approach between the indentor and quarter space and a contact area that extends to the edge of the quarter space. The direct analysis method is used as an efficient algorithm to estimate the steady state residual and cyclic quantities for a quarter space. The present paper is primarily concerned with edge effects. As the relative distance between the loading center and the edge becomes closer, the elastic contact pressure will deviate from the Hertzian distribution. The present method calculates the steady state residual stresses and equivalent plastic strain ranges and allows assessment of performance by parametric studies in realistic three-dimensional problems, which would be otherwise prohibitively lengthy.