Subsurface stress evaluations under rolling/sliding contacts

A computer model has been developed for evaluating the subsurface stresses incurred within rolling/sliding (elastic) contacts. The model involves first defining the stress tensor at any point (x, y, or z) beneath the surface in terms of the surface stresses. The stress tensors are analyzed to determine the maximum shear stresses and stress reversals. As a result of computations with the model, several observations were made. For example, the maximum reversing shear stresses are on the plane of the orthogonal shear stress. Further, the magnitude of these stresses is not altered by friction. However, under very high friction (typical of dry contact) surface stresses can dominate over subsurface stresses.