page_title: Contact mechanics
section_title: Contact between two spheres
hierarchical_section_title: Contact mechanics / Classical solutions for non-adhesive elastic contact / Contact between two spheres
caption_attribution_description: English: Contact between two elastic spheres Deutsch: Kontakt zwischen zwei Kugeln Español: Contacto entre dos esferas elásticas
context_page_description: Contact mechanics is the study of the deformation of solids that touch each other at one or more points. A central distinction in contact mechanics is between stresses acting perpendicular to the contacting bodies' surfaces and frictional stresses acting tangentially between the surfaces. This page focuses mainly on the normal direction, i.e. on frictionless contact mechanics. Frictional contact mechanics is discussed separately. Normal stresses are caused by applied forces and by the adhesion present on surfaces in close contact even if they are clean and dry.
  Contact mechanics is part of mechanical engineering. The physical and mathematical formulation of the subject is built upon the mechanics of materials and continuum mechanics and focuses on computations involving elastic, viscoelastic, and plastic bodies in static or dynamic contact. Contact mechanics provides necessary information for the safe and energy efficient design of technical systems and for the study of tribology, contact stiffness, electrical contact resistance and indentation hardness.
context_section_description: For contact between two spheres of radii  and , the area of contact is a circle of radius . The equations are the same as for a sphere in contact with a half plane except that the effective radius  is defined as
caption: Contact between two spheres.
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