The normal vibrations of a rigid spherical punch on the surface of an elastic half-space

Abstract

SummaryA rigid spherical punch vibrates normally on the surface of a semi-infinite isotropic elastic half-space. The essential novelty of this problem, which is treated within the context of classical elasticity, is that of a changing boundary; the radius of the circle of contact on the free surface varies with time. The geometrical co-ordinates are modified to yield a boundary value problem with fixed boundaries. However the governing differential equations become more complicated. These equations are solved by a perturbation procedure for the case where the contact radius a(t) is of the formwhere a0 is constant and |ŋ(t)≪1. Finally the normal stress and the total load under the punch are evaluated in the form of series which are valid for sufficiently slowly varying ŋ(t).