A receding contact problem of a layer resting on a half plane

In this paper, a receding contact problem for an elastic layer resting on a half plane is considered. The layer is pressed by two rectangular stamps placed symmetrically. It is assumed that the contact surfaces are frictionless and only compressive traction can be transmitted through the contact surfaces. In addition the effect of body forces is neglected. Firstly, the problem is solved analytically based on theory of elasticity. In this solution, the problem is reduced into a system of singular integral equations in which half contact length and contact pressures are unknowns using boundary conditions and integral transform techniques. This system is solved numerically using Gauss-Jacobi integral formulation. Secondly, two dimensional finite element analysis of the problem is carried out using ANSYS. The dimensionless quantities for the contact length and the contact pressures are calculated under various stamp size, stamp position and material properties using both solutions. The analytic results are verified by comparison with finite element results.