The Hertz contact problem, coupled Volterra integral equations and a linear complementarity problem (Q2370587)

The authors consider the indentation of an elastic half-space by an axisymmetric punch. It is shown that the problem is equivalent to two coupled Abel equations with an unknown free boundary, the inner circumference of the anuulus. The authors also show by a product integration that finite difference approximation of those equations leads to a mixed linear complementarity problem, and develop a Newton's method to solve this problem.