Incremental compliance and resistance of contacts and contact clusters: Implications of the cross-property connection

Cross-property connection for a rough interface - that relates its normal incremental compliance to its resistance - allows one to transfer knowledge available in one of the two fields to the other one. This yields results that do not seem to have been discussed earlier. We consider (1) clusters of microcontacts, and implications of available results for resistances of clusters to their elastic compliances, and (2) implications of results for rigid indenters of various shapes pressed against elastic half-space for resistances of these shapes. We also extend the cross-property connection to the shear compliance of contact clusters. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.