INTERACTION OF PUNCHES ON AN ELASTIC HALF-SPACE

The contact problem of the indentation of several smooth punches into an elastic half-space is considered. By using the method of matched asymptotic expansions, this problem is reduced to a set of contact problems for isolated punches with "polynomial" feet. The interaction of the punches is described in terms of their capacitances. The asymptotics of the contact pressure for a system of circular or elliptic punches is determined in an explicit form.