Plastic deformation and contact area of an elastic–plastic contact of ellipsoid bodies after unloading

This paper presents theoretical and experimental results of the residual or plastic deformation and the plastic contact area of an elastic–plastic contact of ellipsoid bodies after unloading. There are three regime responses of the deformation and contact area: elastic, elastic–plastic and fully plastic. Experimental investigation is presented in order to validate the proposed model. A new technique is introduced to measure the plastic deformation and plastic contact area. Very good correlation is found between the theoretical prediction and the experimental results.