Indentation of an Orthotropic Half-Space by a Rigid Ellipsoidal Indenter

Anisotropic materials represent a unique class of materials, including crystals, wood, thin-films, and composites. Existing work in the literature has provided the engineering community with an in-depth understanding of isotropic contact mechanics, and the methodologies for solving isotropic contact problems have been fully developed. Anisotropic material systems, however, are more complex and their analysis is less fully-developed in the literature. Presented here is the analysis of indentation by a rigid ellipsoidal indenter against an orthotropic half-space, with the surface of the half-space parallel to two of the axes of material symmetry, derived from stress equilibrium. A numerical method has been used to solve for the contact parameters (contact dimensions and normal approach) for both orthotropic and transversely isotropic material systems.