Elastic rebound between an indenter and a layered specimen: Part I. Model

A model approximates the compliance of elastic contact between an indenter and a layered specimen (isotropic and transversely isotropic layers) by averaging the displacements beneath a uniformly loaded area at the surface of an elastic half-space. For a uniform, isotropic material the specimen compliance is (1 - nu(2))/beta ES where S is the square root of the projected contact area, E and nu are Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of the specimen, and beta depends on indenter shape: beta = 1.044, 1.057, or 1.086 for circular, square, and triangular-shaped indenters, respectively. An expression to replace (1 - nu(2))/E is provided in the treatment of a transversely isotropic solid.