The thermoelastic Hertzian contact problem

A numerical solution is obtained for the steady-state thermoelastic contact problem in which heat is conducted between two elastic bodies of dissimilar materials at different temperatures with arbitrary quadratic profiles. Thermoelastic deformation causes the initially elliptical contact area to be reduced in size and to become more nearly circular as the temperature difference is increased. There is also a small but identifiable deviation from exact ellipticity at intermediate temperature differences. An approximate analytical solution is obtained, based on approximating the contact area by an ellipse.