Effects of load configuration on partial slip contact between an elasticplastic sphere and a rigid flat

A model utilizing finite-element method (FEM) was introduced to investigate the dependency of partial slip behavior on the loading configuration for a deformable sphere and a rigid flat in contact. It was found that the maximum static friction under tangential displacement control is lower than that under tangential force control with an equivalent normal preload. Elastic shakedown was observed under cyclic tangential force loading while plastic shakedown was observed under cyclic tangential displacement loading. As a fully coupled contact configuration with alternating loading, the properties dissimilarity of two contacting bodies plays a boosting role on the displacement and force coupling between normal and tangential.