Continuous contact problem of an orthotropic layer resting on an isotropic half plane

Contact mechanics is one of the fundamental engineering sciences disciplines necessary for the development of safe and energy-saving designs, and it involves a vast field of theoretical, computational, and experimental research. Because of this quality, it is a significant subfield in mechanics that continues to be so today. Contact mechanics plays a notably important role in tribological and load transfer systems, which are often produced from bulk materials. The study of contact problems in mechanics can be related to the formulation and solution of variational inequalities. In recent years, the study of contact mechanics has greatly aided in the emergence of novel and exciting subdisciplines in the mechanical and applied mathematics sciences. Numerous applications such as clutches, brakes, pavements, tyres, ball bearings, brake discs, hinges, rail ballasts, foundations are of interest to contact problems. In this study, the continuous contact problem of an orthotropic layer resting on an isotropic half-plane is investigated. The solution only takes into consideration the body force in the orthotropic layer. A rigid punch is used to load the orthotropic layer. No friction is thought to exist between any of the surfaces. As a result, depending on various nondimensional parameters and orthotropic material types, contact length, contact stress, critical separation distance and critical separation load were obtained dimensionless.