Development of plastic zones and residual stress in elasto-plastic contact problems with stress singularities in elastic range

Abstract

Stress singularities appear in such elastic contact problems as a plane indenter compressing a semi-infinite body, or the axisymmetric case of a turbine disc shrunk onto a shaft. The stress is infinite at the edge of the corner of the indenter and the disc as well as in neighbouring areas of the semi-infinite body and the shaft. In this paper the complex investigation of the distributions of plastic zones, deformations, pressure and residual stress has been presented for plane indenters of different shapes being in elasto-plastic contact with semi-infinite bodies. Different strain-hardening characteristics of the material, different yield criteria and states of stress/strain have been considered. The aim of the investigation is to find an answer to the question, what happens to the stress singularity, which appears in the elastic solution? The considered problem is of interest from the cognitive point of view and is of real importance in engineering practice.