Indentation by nominally flat or conical indenters with rounded corners

Axisymmetric indentation of a ~at surface is considered] speci_cally\ the case of ~at!ended indenter with rounded edges\ and the case of a shallow cone with a rounded tip[ Analytical solutions are obtained for the normal and sequential tangential loading\ in both full or partial slip conditions "with the Cattaneo Mindlin approximation#\ and for the complete interior stress _eld in all these conditions[ Implications for strength of the contact are discussed with reference to metallic or brittle materials\ with the intention to shed more light in particular to the understanding of common {fretting fatigue| or {inden! tation| testings with nominally ~at or conical indenters[ It is found that the strength of the contact\ which is nominally zero for perfectly sharp ~at or conical indenters\ is well de_ned even for a small radius of curvature[ This is particularly true for the ~at indenter\ for which the strength is even signi_cantly higher than for the classical Hertzian indenter for a wide range of geometrical and loading conditions\ rendering it very attractive for design purposes[