Derivation of Hertz contact law and associated pressures

N.M. Vriend
In contact problems without friction, the z-component of the displacement is the only component
of interest. The radius of the contact area can be approximated, based on a geometric derivation,
as:
l2
= ,
(1)
R
in which we assume << R and R1 = R2 . If the latter condition is not satised, instead we get an
eective radius:
1
1
1
=
+
.
(2)
R
R1
R2
Lets assume for the remainder of the derivation that we are dealing with two identical particles.
Therefore, the eective Youngs modulus is:
E =

E
,
1 2

(3)

with Youngs modulus E and Poissons ratio

The Hertzian pressure distribution, assuming a pressure exerted on a circle-shaped area, is in
the form of:
(
)1/2
r2
P (r) = P0 1 2
.
(4)
l
The normal force exerted on this area can be calculated by integrating:
l
2
Fn =
P (r)2rdr = P0 l2 ,
3
0

(5)

leading to an expression for the maximum contact pressure in terms of the normal force:
P0 =

3Fn
2l2

(6)

Note that the average pressure on the surface of contact, the normal force divided by the surface
area, is a factor 3/2 lower than the maximum pressure, as:
Pav =

Fn
3
= P0
2
l
2

(7)

The Hertzian displacement equation (here not derived) for the z-component of the displacement
is:

)
P0 ( 2
1 2
r .
2l r2 =

4E l
2R
By equating terms, we can derive the radius of the contact area as:
uz (r) =

l=

P0 R
,
2E

(8)

(9)

and the depth of indentation is:

l2
P0 l
=
.
(10)
R
2E
Now, the expression for the maximum contact pressure P0 may be substituted to get for the radius
of the contact area l:
]1/3
[
3Fn R
(11)
l=
4E
=

and the depth of indentation is:

(
=

1
R

)1/3 [

3Fn
4E

]2/3

[
=

9Fn2
16R(E )2

]1/3
(12)

Following the argument in Campbell, Powder Technology, 2005, the normal force exerted by two
bodies of local curvature R in a contact:
Fn =

4 1/2 3/2
R E .
3

(13)

The normal stiness is derived as the derivative of the normal force to the displacement :
k=

dFn
= 2R1/2 E 1/2
d

(14)

This allows writing the stiness in terms of the normal force:

2/3

k = 61/3 R1/3 (E )

Fn1/3

(15)

The stiness is linearly dependent on E, but also depends on R the local radius of the curvature.
Bathurst and Rothenburg (J. Appl. Mech., 1988) derived that the bulk elastic modulus K =
E/(3 [1 2 ]) of a random granular material scales linearly with the contact stiness k as:
k
K = f (n)
R

)1/2
E

(16)

with f (n) a function dependent on the contact number, the amount of neighbors that the particle
is in contact with. Note that the bulk elastic modulus K scales not only linearly with the elastic
modulus E through the stiness, but also with the geometry of the contact R .
Now looking at the sound speed, or elastic wave speed, c, for pressure waves, we write this in
terms of the bulk modulus as:
( )1/2
K
c=
(17)

with the bulk modulus K and density . Consequently, the sound speed scales in Hertzian contacts
as:
c K 1/2 k 1/2 1/4 Fn1/6 P 1/6
(18)
From experiments, it has been observed that the scaling c P 1/6 is only true in large conning
pressures. For lower pressures, the correct scaling should be c P 1/4 , which is inconsistent with
the above calculation.
Lets assume that the initial contact, at lower pressures, is closer to a conical situation of contact.
This can be explained by interpreting the initial contact between roughness and asperities as a (nonHertzian) conical contact, which is later transferred into a Hertzian sphere-on-sphere contact for
higher pressures. In the conical situation, a logarithmic singularity exists on the tip of the cone due
to the zero radius of curvature at the tip. The normal force can be expressed (not derived here) in
terms of the depth of indentation as:
Fn =

2
E 2 2 .
tan()

(19)

The normal stiness is again derived as the derivative of the normal force to the displacement :
k=

4
dFn
=
E .
d
tan()

(20)

As a result, the bulk elastic modulus K scales linearly with the depth of indentation and the
sound speed scales as:
c K 1/2 k 1/2 1/2 Fn1/4 P 1/4 ,
(21)
which agrees with the scaling for lower pressures as derived from experiments.
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