International Journal of Solids and Structures 161 (2019) 174–181

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International Journal of Solids and Structures

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijsolstr

An approximate solution of the spherical indentation on a generally

anisotropic elastic half-space
Lei Zhou, Shibin Wang∗, Linan Li, Huixin Wei, Anna Dai
Department of Mechanics, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The indentation of a generally anisotropic elastic half-space by a rigid spherical indentor is considered.
Received 24 April 2018 We derive an approximate equation for the eccentricity of the ellipsoidal contact region and an approxi-
Revised 2 November 2018
mate expression for the indentation modulus. Our approximate formulae are first validated by ABAQUS-
Available online 12 November 2018
based numerical simulations, and then specialized to the particular case of a fibre-reinforced composite
Keywords: half-space. Numerical results are presented to show the dependence of the eccentricity and indentation
Spherical indentation modulus on the compressibility and fibre strength of the composite material. Possible application of our
Anisotropy approximate formulae to the determination of elastic constants of fibre-reinforced materials is discussed.
Fiber-reinforced material
Numerical simulation
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Indentation method has long be used to evaluate the mechan-
ical property of materials. It was straightforward and nondestruc-
tive such that lots of efforts were put into its research. As a con-
tact problem, the classic Hertz contact theory promoted the de-
velopment of contact mechanics, and was applied widely to en-
gineering problems; see Briscoe (1986). Sneddon (1965) also pre-
sented a valuable solution between the depth of penetration and
the total load for the axisymmetric Boussinesq problem. But those
mentioned above were just suitable to elastic isotropic materials.
With the increased use of the anisotropic, hyperelastic, and com-
posite materials, it is necessary to extend the indentation method
to more wide applications. Willis (1966) solved previously the
anisotropic Hertzian contact problem by Fourier transform method,
presenting some explicit formulae for transversely isotropic solids,
and defined the indentation modulus to characterize the material
property. Vlassak and Nix (1993, 1994); Vlassak et al. (2003) had
done a series of research on the contact of an indenter on elas-
tic anisotropic half-space. The contact problem of indenters of ar-
bitrary shape on anisotropic half-space was solved in a theorem
of maximizing the load on the indenter for a given indentation
depth. Swadener and Pharr (2001) presented a simplified proce-
dure to determine of the stiffness of contact for a smooth indenter
of parabola of revolution. Delafargue and Ulm (2004) gave the ex-
plicit expression approximately of the indentation modulus under
different conditions. Chen et al. (2017) proposed an anisotropic dis-
∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: lixueZL@tju.edu.cn (L. Zhou), shbwang@tju.edu.cn (S. Wang).
tribution dislocation loop model based on the solution of the elas-
tic deformation fields within an anisotropic half-space. Besides, the
contact problem for anisotropic half-space coated with anisotropic
layer was considered analytically; see Bagault et al. (2013);
Batra and Jiang (2008). In other ways, the method of numer-
ical simulation in Guha et al. (2013); Harsono et al. (2011);
Lin et al. (2009); Sakharova et al. (2009) and experimental
method in Harsono et al. (2011); Lin et al. (2009) were em-
ployed to analyze and evaluate the contact models. What’s more,
many researchers have done their best to apply the indentation
method to the materials of hyperelasticity; see Lin et al. (2009);
Zhang et al. (2014) and viscoelasticity; see Sakai (2002).
In this work, we try to give a solution of the spherical inden-
tation on a generally anisotropic elastic half-space considering the
exact geometrical relations along the edge of contact, and hence
the associated approximate formulae. Besides, many attentions are
focused on the fibre-reinforced materials motivated by exploring a
wide range of applications of indentation method.
The fiber-reinforced material is a kind of specific anisotropic
material and involved in many regimes, like biological materials;
see, for instance, Melnik and Goriely (2013). On the theoretical
side, much progress has been made in understanding the roles
played by constitutive laws. Horgan and Saccomandi (2005) pro-
posed a constitutive model of fiber-reinforced materials, and the
associated strain-energy density was composed of two terms,
characterizing the isotropic matrix and the reinforcing fibers, re-
spectively. Mogilevskaya et al. (2013) evaluated the mechanical
properties of unidirectional fiber-reinforced composites using the
Maxwell’s concept of equivalent inhomogeneity. Besides, the opti-
mization problem of concrete plates strengthened by unidirectional

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2018.11.012
0020-7683/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 L. Zhou, S. Wang and L. Li et al. / International Journal of Solids and Structures 161 (2019) 174–181 175

fiber-reinforcing layers, when subjected to the transverse loads,

was considered by Bruggi and Taliercio (2015). In their work, they
took account of the anisotropy of the layers and the orientations of
fibers. To study the effect of the water uptake on the mechanical
properties, Pan and Zhong (2014) proposed a nonlinear constitutive
model of unidirectional fiber-reinforced composites to consider the
moisture absorption using Helmholtz free energy.
Under small deformation, the mechanical property of the fiber-
reinforced materials can be considered as being linear, and the in-
stantaneous elastic moduli are obtained referring to Chadwick and
Ogden (1971); Ogden (1974). Applying the instantaneous elastic
moduli to our approximate solution on spherical indentation, the
dependence of the eccentricity and indentation modulus on the
compressibility and fibre strength can be given. Further more,
the ABAQUS-based numerical simulations are conducted to vali-
date our work. This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 in-
troduces the theoretical model of unit force loading on anisotropic
half-space. An approximate solution of spherical indentation on
anisotropic half-space is given in Section 3, which allows us to
conveniently predict the mechanical response in indentation test.
But the question is particularly pertinent how to determine the Fig. 1. The meshed element within the contact area.

anisotropic material parameter by indentation method. Therefore,

Section 4 introduces a simplified material model of elastic fiber-
rectangular coordinate system in which the origin is located at the
reinforced anisotropy and applies it into spherical indentation on
surface (of the half-space), the x- and y-axis are both parallel to
half-space, and Section 5 gives some applications and analysis.
the surface, and the z-axis points outwards from the surface. There
Section 6 is the conclusions.
is a frictionless contact at the origin between the spherical inden-
ter and the surface by the displacement load parallel to the z-axis.
2. Green’s function for the anisotropic half-space By the method of maximizing the load on indenter for the given
indentation depth in Barber (1974), Vlassak et al. (2003) pointed
Consider an arbitrary anisotropic elastic half-space with its out that the contact area is exactly elliptical for a spherical inden-
boundary through the origin of a rectangular coordinates system. ter. In this work, we follow the conclusion of elliptical contact area
Denote the unit vector normal to the boundary by α. When a for the spherical indenter. Locate the area centre at the origin, and
concentrated unit force perpendicular to the boundary is applied rotate the initial coordinate system (x, y, z) by β degrees along the
at the origin, the displacement of an arbitrary point P on the z-axis to establish a new coordinate system (x , y , z ) such that
boundary in the i direction is given by Barnett and Lothe (1975); the x - and y -axis are consistent with the symmetry axis of the
Vlassak and Nix (1993), elliptical area; see Fig. 1. Denote by 2a and 2b the axial length cor-
1
 x  f (θ ) responding to the x - and y - axis, respectively. The contact area
Si ( x ) = Bi j −1 α = i , (2.1)
8π |x|
2 |x| j ρ can be described by

x y
2 2
where x denotes the position vector of the point P, ρ = |x|, θ is
+ 2 ≤ 1. (3.1)
the position angle of x, and the B−1 is the inverse of the tensor a2 b
function B(t ) defined by Barnett and Lothe (1975) We assume that the contact action consists of a continuous distri-
 2π bution of vertical forces. Referring to Willis (1966); Briscoe (1986);
1
B (t ) = (mm ) − (mn )(nn ) (nm )dφ .
−1
(2.2)
8π 2 0
Vlassak et al. (2003), the contact pressure distribution is repre-
sented by
In the above expression, t is an arbitrary unit vector that is orthog- 
onal to a plane spanned by two mutually orthogonal unit vectors p( x  , y  ) = p 0 1 − x2 /a2 − y2 /b2 , (3.2)
m0 and n0 such that t = m0 × n0 , m and n are the two unit vec-
where p0 is a constant denoting the largest pressure at the origin.
tors obtained by rotating m0 and n0 around t by an arbitrary angle
Thus, the resultant force of the contact area can be obtained by
φ , and the notation (ab ) for two arbitrary unit vectors a and b de-
  
notes the tensor with components 2
P= p( x  , y  ) d A = p0 1 − x2 /a2 − y2 /b2 dx dy = π abp0 ,
(ab ) jk = aiCi jkl bl , (2.3) 3
(3.3)
where the Cijkl denotes elastic stiffness coefficients of the
anisotropic material, and we have used the summation conven- and hence
tion where each index ranges from 1 to 3. The second equation 3P 3
in (2.1) defines the function fi (θ ). It is then clear that the displace-
p0 = = p, (3.4)
2π ab 2
ment of an arbitrary point on the boundary under the normal load where p denotes the mean pressure within the contact area. It is
of a concentrated force is inversely proportional to the distance ρ , clear that the largest pressure is 1.5 times the mean pressure based
and is dependent on the position angle due to anisotropy. on the above assumption.
Now, the area element dA = sdψ  ds within the contact area is
3. Spherical indentation on anisotropic half-space meshed referring to Timoshenko and Goodier (1970); see Fig. 1. In
conjunction with (2.1), the normal displacement of the point M on
We consider the contact problem of spherical indentation on an the contact edge due to dA is given by
anisotropic half-space, where the indenter is seen as a rigid body.
−−→
In order to facilitate the problem formulation, we now employ a dHM = S(W M ) p(x , y )dA = f3 (ψ  ) p˜ (ψ  , s )dsdψ  , (3.5)
176 L. Zhou, S. Wang and L. Li et al. / International Journal of Solids and Structures 161 (2019) 174–181

where ψ  is the angle between the line MN and the x -axis, s is the which shows that the resultant displacement of the point O,
distance from the area element W to the point M, and the function namely the penetration depth of indenter, is equal to the sum of
p˜ (ψ  , s ) is simply p(x , y ) expressed in terms of ψ  and s. We re- both the displacements of the endpoints of the major and minor
mark that the indices 1, 2, 3 are identified with the x -, y -, and axes of contact ellipse.
z -directions, respectively. For instance, f3 (ψ  ) in (3.5) is a function The angle β is an unknown quantity, and it can be found by
of ψ  based on (2.1) used to compute the displacement of point making use of the fact that the displacement at the origin in the
M in z -direction, and f1 (ψ  ) incurred below corresponds to the x - directions of the elliptical axis is taken to be zero due to symmetry.
direction. Thus, the resultant normal displacement at the point M So, based on (2.1) we have
is obtained by  π
(1 + tan2 ψ ) 2
1
2
   U1 = π abp0 f 1 (ψ ) dψ = 0, (3.18)
(b2 + a2 tan2 ψ ) 2
1

HM = f3 (ψ  ) p˜ (ψ  , s )dsdψ  = f 3 (ψ  ) p˜ (ψ  , s )dsdψ  . 0

which can be reduced to

(3.6)  π
(1 + tan2 ψ ) 2
1
 2

Let’s evaluate the integral p˜ (ψ  , s )ds along the line segment MN f 1 (ψ ) dψ = 0. (3.19)
(1 + e2 tan2 ψ ) 2
1
0
described by
 where e = a/b. The value of β can be obtained by iteratively solv-
y = k ( x + a ),
(3.7) ing (3.19) for a setting value of e.
z  = 0, In addition, with the use of the geometrical relation a2 + (R +
HM − HO )2 = R2 ; see Fig. 2 (a), we obtain
where k = tan ψ  . Now consider an ellipsoid defined by 
 HL = R − R2 − a2 , (3.20)
z = p˜ (ψ  , s ) = p(x , y ) = p0 1 − x2 /a2 − y2 /b2 . (3.8)
where R is the radius of indenter. In the same way, we obtain
According to elliptic geometry, the cross section of the ellipsoid 
(3.8) cut by the plane (3.7)1 is a ellipse, where the line segment HM = R − R2 − b2 . (3.21)

MN is one of the associated symmetry axis. p˜ (ψ  , s )ds hence
means half of the cross-sectional area. It is noted that (3.20) and (3.21) are exact rather than approxi-
Using (3.7)1 to eliminate y from the equation x2 /a2 + y2 /b2 = mate geometrical relation used in Willis (1966) and Swadener and
1 results in Pharr (2001) for simplification like

(b2 + a2 k2 )x2 + 2a3 k2 x + a4 k2 − a2 b2 = 0. (3.9) OPM = a2 /2R, OPL = b2 /2R. (3.22)

Using (3.20) to eliminate HL from (3.15), we obtain
According to Vieta’s theorem, we obtain, at the midpoint of MN
which is the centre of the cross section mentioned above,  π

e2 tan2 ψ (1 + tan2 ψ ) 2
1
2 R R2
x + xN a3 k2 y + yN ab2 k
π p0 f 3 (ψ ) dψ = − − 1.
(1 + ψ) a2
3
e2 2 a
x0 = M =− 2 , y0 = M =− 2 . 0 tan 2

2 b + a2 k2 2 b + a2 k2 (3.23)
(3.10)
Analogously, we have
And hence the axial lengths (denoted by l1 and l2 ) of the ellipse
 π

(1 + tan2 ψ ) 2
1
enclosed by (3.7)1 and (3.8) are given respectively by 2 R R2 1
π p0 f 3 (ψ ) dψ = − − 2. (3.24)
(1 + e tan ψ ) 2 a2
3
2 p0 b 0 2 2 a e
l1 = 2 p(x0 , y0 ) = √ , (3.11)
b2 + a2 k2 With the use of (3.17) (3.20) and (3.21), we have
√  
 2ab2 1 + k2 HO a2 a2
l2 = MN = 2 (x0 + a )2 + (y0 − 0 )2 = . (3.12) =2− 1− 2 − 1− . (3.25)
b2 + a2 k2 R R e2 R2
It then follows that Thus, for a given value of HO /R, we can find β , e, a/R, and p0
 by solving the four nonlinear equations (3.19), (3.23), (3.24) and
π l1 l2 π p0 ab (1 + k )
1
3 2 2
p˜ (ψ  , s )ds = = . (3.13) (3.25) simultaneously. And hence, the value of P (= 23 π abp0 ) is ob-
2(b2 + a2 k2 ) 2
3
8
tained.
Thus, (3.6) can be reduced as The above system of equations can be simplified when the de-
 π formation is small. First, with the use of (3.20), we can write
(1 + tan2 ψ  ) 2
1
2
HM = π ab3 p0 f 3 (ψ  ) dψ  . (3.14) a2 a2
(b2 + a2 tan2 ψ  ) 2
3
0 HL = ≈ , (3.26)
2R − HL 2R
In the similar method, we can also obtain,
 π
The accuracy of (3.26) is dependant on the fact that 2R is much
ψ  (1 + tan2 ψ  ) 2
1
2
2 tan larger than HL in the case of small deformation. In the same way,
HL = π a bp0 3
f3 (ψ  ) dψ  , (3.15)
(b2 + a2 tan2 ψ  ) 2
3
0 we also have
 π b2
(1 + tan2 ψ  ) 2
1
2 HM ≈ . (3.27)
HO = π abp0 f3 (ψ  ) dψ  . (3.16) 2R
(b2 + a2 tan2 ψ  ) 2
1
0
Using (3.27) to eliminate HM from (3.14), we obtain
 
It should be noted that ψ  , ψ   , and ψ   are three different angles 1
π
2 (1 + tan2 ψ ) 2
1

used to derive the resultant normal displacement of the points M, = 3R f 3 (ψ ) dψ . (3.28)

(b2 + a2 tan2 ψ ) 2
3
P 0
L, and O, respectively. For the sake of simplicity, we shall denote
all of them by ψ , that makes no difference mathematically. Analogously, we have
It is easily seen that  π
tan2 ψ (1 + tan2 ψ ) 2
1
1 2
= 3R f 3 (ψ ) dψ . (3.29)
HO = HM + HL , (3.17) P 0 (b2 + a2 tan2 ψ ) 2
3
 L. Zhou, S. Wang and L. Li et al. / International Journal of Solids and Structures 161 (2019) 174–181 177

Fig. 2. The cross-sectional deformation. (a) At y = 0. (b) At x = 0.

Elimination of P from Eqs. (3.28) and (3.29) then yields 4. Spherical indentation on elastically fiber-reinforced
 π anisotropic half-space
(tan2 ψ − 1 )(1 + tan2 ψ )
1
2 2
f 3 (ψ ) dψ = 0, (3.30)
(1 + e2 tan2 ψ ) 2
3
0 In Section 3, an approximate solution for spherical indenta-
where e = a/b. tion on a generally anisotropic half-space is presented. If we want
Eqs. (3.19) and (3.30) only involve e and β , and so they can be to obtain more explicit expressions, additional conditions may be
solved numerically first once the material moduli are specified. necessary. This is particularly pertinent when one wishes to de-
Next, with the use of Eqs. (3.17), (3.26)–(3.28), the following termine the material constants of anisotropic elastomers by the
equation is obtained. indentation method. Moreover, the explicit expression for fi (θ ) in
(2.1) is very complex owing to containing multiple material coeffi-
√
2 2R1/2 HO3/2 cients, and hence it’s difficult to identify them by indentation test.
P=  π /2 , Simplification of the anisotropic material model is a effective way
3 ( 1 + e 2 ) 3/2 0 f3 (ψ )(1+ tan2 ψ )1/2 (1+ e2 tan2 ψ )−3/2 dψ to solve the above problems. In this work we devote our efforts to
(3.31) fiber-reinforced anisotropic materials.
As we know that F = ∂ x/∂ X is the deformation gradient tensor
which shows us the force-displacement relation.
in the continuum, where X denotes the position vector of arbitrary
Eqs. (3.30) and (3.31) are the valuable relational expressions by
material particle in the undeformed configuration, and x denotes
simplifying the geometrical relations. The application of them will
the corresponding position vector in the deformed configuration.
be shown in next section.
The left and right Cauchy-Green deformation tensors are expressed
Let’s now make a comparison between (3.31) and the classic
as B = FFT and C = FT F, the principal invariants of which are de-
Hertz contact theory for an isotropic material:
fined by
4ER1/2 HO3/2 1
Piso = , (3.32) I1 = trC, I2 = ((trC )2 − trC2 ), I3 = detC. (4.1)
3 (1 − ν 2 ) 2
where E is Young’s modulus of the isotropic material, and ν de- Besides, an additional invariant is introduced by
notes Poisson’s ratio. It’s clear that (3.31) and (3.32) are similar
I4 = a0 · C · a0 , (4.2)
in form, both containing the same multiplier R1/2 HO3/2 . It has been
verified that (3.31) will reduce to (3.32) when applied to isotropic where the unit vector a0 denotes the direction for the fiber rein-
material. In other words, our work is an extension of the Hertz forcement in the undeformed configuration.
contact theory from isotropy to anisotropy. For the unidirectional fiber-reinforced nonlinear elastomer,
Willis (1966) defined the indentation modulus M for the Hertz it can be considered to be composed of two components in
contact problem as follows: Horgan and Saccomandi (2005); Pan and Zhong (2014); Qiu and
√ Pence (1997). One is the matrix which is isotropic, and the other
dF 2M A
S= = √ , (3.33) one is the family of unidirectional fibers embedded uniformly in
dU π the matrix. In this work, the strain energy density function for
where F is the applied force, U is the approach between the two the isotropic matrix is described by the neo-Hookean model; see
bodies, and A is the projected contact area. For a linearly elastic Holzapfel (2002),
isotropic material, M = E/(1 − ν 2 ). 1
Analogously, for our current indentation problem, we give the Wiso = C10 (I¯1 − 3 ) + ( J − 1 )2 , (4.3)
D1
indentation modulus M through
√ where C10 and D1 are material parameters, J is the determinant of
dP 2M A F, and I¯1 = J −2/3 I1 denoting the scaled first invariant of C. Accord-
S= = √ , (3.34)
dHO π ingly, The initial shear modulus at ground state, bulk modulus, and
Poisson’s ratio are given by
where A is the elliptical contact area of π ab. It then follows from
(3.31) that 2 3K0 /μ − 2
μ = 2C10 , K0 = , ν= . (4.4)
 π D1 6K0 /μ + 2
√ (1 + tan2 ψ )
1
1 2 2
= 2 ( 1 + e2 ) e f 3 (ψ ) dψ . (3.35) As for the reinforcing part, we employ the following form; see
(1 + e2 tan2 ψ ) 2
3
M 0
Qiu and Pence (1997):
It’s clear that M is a reference parameter related to material coef-
1
ficients, and independent of indenter size. W f ib = cG1 (I4 − 1 )2 , (4.5)
2
178 L. Zhou, S. Wang and L. Li et al. / International Journal of Solids and Structures 161 (2019) 174–181

where G1 is a material constant for the reinforcing fiber, and c de- the mechanical property of the linear compressible fiber-reinforced
notes the volume faction of the fibers. And hence 4cG1 is the initial composite material during the small deformation.
elastic coefficient along the fiber direction. Let’s apply (cijkl ) to the formulae in Section 3 and hence study
Therefore, the total strain energy density function for the uni- the spherical indentation on elastically fiber-reinforced anisotropic
directional fiber-reinforced anisotropic elastomer is given by half-space. In this work, we just consider the case when the direc-
tion of unidirectional fibers is parallel to the surface of half-space
1 1
W = Wiso + W f ib = C10 (I¯1 − 3 ) + (J − 1 )2 + cG1 (I4 − 1 )2 , such as the collagen fibrils in skin by Sherman et al. (2017) or the
D1 2 steel in concrete by Bruggi and Taliercio (2015).
(4.6) Eq. (3.30) reduces to a further simplified function involving
κ , e, and ν , independent of μ owing to its elimination. And
Here, we set the direction of the fiber reinforcement parallel to
Eq. (3.31) can be rewritten into the following expression.
the x-axle. The associated expressions like F, B, C, and a0 can be
3
written by the principal stretches as follows 4E0 R 2 HO2
1

2

P=α , (4.12)
λ1 0 0 λ1 0 0 1 3 (1 − ν 2 )
F= 0 λ2 0 , B=C= 0 λ22 0 , a0 = 0 . where E0 = 2(1 + ν )μ meaning the Young’s modulus of isotropic
0 0 λ3 0 0 λ23 0 compressible matrix in the ground state, and
√
(4.7) 2 (1 − ν )
α=  π 1
, (4.13)
(1+tan2 ψ ) 2
4 ( 1 + e2 ) 2 μ f 3 (ψ ) dψ
3
2
0 3
Chadwick and Ogden (1971) gave the definition of instanta- (1+e2 tan ψ )
2 2

neous elastic moduli, where the associated first-order tensor was de- denoting the correction factor of the classic Hertz contact model
fined based on incremental theory as follows, (and indentation modulus) due to the reinforcing fiber. It is clear
 that α is dependent of the material coefficient matrix (cijkl ). Ac-
∂ 2W 
1jilk = J¯−1 F̄jA F̄lB
∂ FiA ∂ FkB F =F̄ cordingly, M is also a comprehensive parameter depending on μ,
. (4.8)
κ , and K0 (or ν ).
where each index (e.g. i, j, k, l, A and B) ranges from 1 to 3. Thus, for a given fiber-reinforced material, if we can detect
The classic linear elastic constitutive law can be written as the value of e associated with the contact ellipse by indentation
T = cE , Ti j = ci jkl Ekl , (4.9) test, the reinforcing degree by unidirectional fiber can be evalu-
ated based on the above method. In conjunction with making use
where T is the linear stress tensor, and E is the linear strain ten- of indentation modulus, we can hence determine all the material
sor. cijkl have the same value as 1i jkl with the pair-wise symmetry coefficients. It has a great significance to engineering applications.
properties such as
5. Application and analysis
ci jkl = c jikl = ci jlk . (4.10)
For Green-elastic material an additional symmetry is As an application of our general formulae, we now consider
spherical indentation on a transversely isotropic half-space. The
ci jkl = ckli j . (4.11) material model of transverse isotropy has five independent coeffi-
According to (4.8), in the initial deformed state of λ1 = λ2 = λ3 = cients. Referring to Jr et al. (1960), the elastic coefficients are set as
1, the specific expressions of elastic moduli cijkl associated with the follows: (C11 , C22 , C55 , C12 , C23 )=(798.1, 496.8, 147.4, 110.9, 163.6)
W in (4.6) is obtained such as MPa, where the transverse plane perpendicular to the x- axle is
2 8C10 K0 4
  isotropic.
c1111 = + 4cG1 + =μ + 3κ + , The given transversely isotropic material possesses the feature
D1 3 μ 3 of mirror symmetry, so the axis of the contact ellipse must lie in
2 8C10 K0 4
  the plane of symmetry. And hence we have β =0 in this case. Ac-
c2222 = c3333 = + =μ + , cording to Section 3, the exact and approximate results can be ob-
D1 3 μ 3
tained (see Table 1), respectively. It should be noted that the exact
2 4C10 K0 2
  results in Table 1 mean the results based on the exact geometrical
c1122 = c1133 = c2233 = − =μ − ,
D1 3 μ 3 relation on the edge of contact, so do the approximate results.

5.1. Finite element simulation

c1212 = c2323 = c3131 = 2C10 = μ,
where K0 /μ is related to ν , and κ = 4cG1 /6C10 meaning the rein-
forcing degree by unidirectional fiber, which is called the reinforc-
ing factor from now on.
Thus, the stiffness matrix (cijkl ) is specially given to describe a
simplified linear constitutive model of the anisotropic elastomer
due to the unidirectional reinforcing fiber. It depends on three
material parameters, μ, κ , and K0 (or ν ). μ is the ground-state
shear modulus of isotropic matrix, the second characterizes the
anisotropic property, and the last can be used to assess the com-
pressibility of the material. What’ more, the model will reduce to
the familiar isotropic model without regard to the contribution of
fibers when κ = 0. Besides, under the limit K0 → ∞ (or ν → 0.5),
it approaches incompressible material model. Although the model
is derived based on hyperelasticity theory, it reflects the instanta-
neous elastic properties. Therefore, we adopt (cijkl ) to characterize
In order to estimate the accuracy of the formulae derived in
Section 3, finite element computations are conducted in this sec-
tion to simulate the indentation contact between a rigid spherical
indenter (R = 6 mm) and an elastic cube (15 mm × 15 mm × 60 mm
for a quarter) using the commercial software ABAQUS referring to
Lin et al. (2009); Zhang et al. (2014). Lin et al. (2009) pointed out
that the ratio between the penetration depth HO and the indenter
radius R should’t exceeded 0.2. Besides, to simulate effectively the
half-space, the thickness of cube must be large enough.
We remark that the error when evaluating the contact area is
closely related to the mesh discretization of the model. Reducing
the mesh size is, in fact, an effective way to improve it. So the
mesh is refined with a mesh size of 0.1 mm (0.1/R = 0.0167) in
the neighbourhood of the contact region and coarse at other parts
less concerned. And hence, a total of 384,400 eight-node linear
 L. Zhou, S. Wang and L. Li et al. / International Journal of Solids and Structures 161 (2019) 174–181
Table 1
Comparison when HO = 1 mm.
Category a(mm) b(mm) A(mm2 )
Results by FEM 2.372 2.234 16.65
Exact results 2.467 2.327 18.03
Approximate results 2.520 2.377 18.82
By Swadener 2.526 2.375 18.85
Fig. 3. Numerical result when HO = 1 mm. (a)(b) The Mises stress nephogram at
y=0. (c) The Mises stress nephogram at z=0.
reduced integration elements are used to discretize the indented
solid. Besides, static analysis is executed in FEM. We set the ma-
terial model in accordance with the previous transversely isotropic
example. The contact between the indenter and the elastic cube
is frictionless. The bottom of cube is fixed, and the displacement
of rigid spherical indenter is permitted to vary along its symmetry
axis by 1 mm.
Fig. 3 shows the Mises stress nephograms from different per-
spective, and in the meantime we can see clearly the contact de-
formations. In Fig. 3(b), the Mises stress aren’t identical between
the x- and y- axis due to the material property of the transverse
isotropy. Here, we extract the axial length of contact area corre-
sponding to the x- and y- axis in FEM. Comparison is made with
the results from Section 3 as follows.
We can see clearly that the four sets of data based on different
analytical methods are consistent, especially the value of e. The ex-
act results are in better agreement with FEM results than the ap-
proximate results, but the relative error of the approximate results
is still acceptable. Fig. 4 shows that the associated analytical meth-
ods will be unsuitable as the displacement load becomes larger.
This also accounts for the fact that the relative error of A (or P) is
larger than that of e in Table 1. To keep the relative error to be
below 10%, the HO /R in the approximate and exact model needs to
be less than 0.026 and 0.133, respectively.
5.2. Analysis on simplified linear material model
In Section 4, a simplified stiffness matrix for unidirectional
fiber-reinforced elastomer has been given, and it involves three pa-
rameters, namely the shear modulus μ, the reinforcing factor κ ,
179
Er(A)(%) e(a/b) Er(e)(%) P(N) Er(P)(%)
/ 1.062 / 1415 /
8.29 1.060 0.1883 1573 11.17
13.03 1.064 0.1883 1687 19.22
13.21 1.064 0.1883 1609 13.71
Fig. 4. Variations of the applied load with respect to HO /R by four methods, respec-
tively.
and the parameter D1 (or K0 , ν ). Eq. (3.30), after applying the sim-
plified stiffness matrix in it, reduces to an equation containing κ ,
D1 and e, where e = a/b. In fact, it is not difficult to imagine that
the value of e is different as κ varies, and there’s only one value
corresponding to a specific value of κ . If the value of ν is set be-
forehand, we iterate the left hand side of Eq. (3.30) on e for a given
value of κ until its absolute value is smaller than a prescribed tol-
erance value. The final result by iteration is considered as the nu-
merical solution of e corresponding to the given value of κ .
The fiber-reinforced material considered in this work is com-
pressible, and the property of compressibility is characterized by
the parameter D1 (or K0 , ν ). Its effect on numerical results will be
assessed in the next work.
Here we set K0 /μ to be 10, 50, and 10 0 0 0, respectively, and
the corresponding value of Poisson’s ratio are 0.452, 0.490, and
0.49995, respectively. It is noted that the material with Poisson’s
ratio 0.49995 is close to incompressible. The κ − e curves are
shown in Fig. 5. We can see that e is a monotonic function of
κ . When κ is set 0, the associated value of e turns out to be 1
on the grounds that the material becomes isotropic in nature. As
κ goes to infinity, the value of e decrease slowly to its limit. Fig.
5 also shows the dependence of the limit value elim on K0 /μ. For
the same value of κ , the eccentricity of the ellipsoidal contact re-
gion becomes larger when the materials tend to be incompressible.
The elim is approximately 0.687 when the material is incompress-
ible, namely K0 → ∞ (or ν → 0.5).
As for the uniqueness of numerical solution by iteration, we
could’t give the sufficient evidence at present because of the com-
plexity of equation for iteration. But it can be emphasized that the
final outcomes by iterations are identical when the initial value
ranges from elim to 1/elim . That is to say: the outcome is indirectly
proved to be unique when initial value is given in a reasonable
range.
Return now to the expression (4.12). It has the same form as
(3.32) associated with the spherical indentation on isotropic half-
180 L. Zhou, S. Wang and L. Li et al. / International Journal of Solids and Structures 161 (2019) 174–181
Fig. 5. The κ − e curves for a selection of values of K0 /μ.
Fig. 6. The curve of α with respect to κ for a selection of values of K0 /μ.
space. The difference is that there is an additional multiplier in
(4.12), namely the correction factor α . According to (4.13), the
correction factor has a starting value of 1 when the material is
isotropic. Fig. 6 shows the variation of α with respect to κ for a
selection of values of K0 /μ. We can see that α increases monoton-
ically as the reinforcing factor κ grows. It indicates that the fiber
improves the indentation modulus in a way although the direction
of fiber is orthogonal with that of penetration. Besides, α will ap-
proach an asymptotic limit which is also dependent on K0 /μ, and
the associated limit value is approximately 1.37 when the material
is incompressible.
6. Conclusion
In this paper, we revisit the classic contact problem of the
spherical indentation on a generally anisotropic elastic half-space,
which can be viewed as an extension of Hertz contact the-
ory to anisotropic materials. Different from Willis (1966) and
Swadener and Pharr (2001), the exact geometrical relations on
the edge of contact are considered. We adopt the assump-
tion of the ellipsoidal contact region, which was validated by
Vlassak et al. (2003). During the derivation, it is found that the
penetration depth of indenter is equal to the sum of both the dis-
placements of the endpoints of the major and minor axes of con-
tact ellipse. Besides, we also give a simplification of geometrical
relations which is applicable to small deformation. And hence, an
approximate equation for the eccentricity of the ellipsoidal contact
region and an approximate expression for the indentation modu-
lus are given. By the comparison with the ABAQUS-based numer-
ical simulation, we find that the numerical results based on the
analytic formula in this work are in a good agreement with the
results by FEM especially when the penetration depth is small. Be-
sides, the exact solution (meaning that the solution is based on
the exact geometrical relations) is closer to the numerical simula-
tion results than the approximate solution, but the relative error is
not large. The approximate solution, in a sense, may be advisable
owing to its simplicity and convenience.
This paper not only aims to give a further understanding on
the solution of spherical indentation on elastically anisotropic
half-space, but also focuses many attentions on the application
value of indentation method to characterize the mechanical prop-
erty of anisotropic materials (e.g. biological materials). The fiber-
reinforced material is selected to be the object of study. We begin
the related work with a hyperelastic constitutive model of fiber-
reinforced materials. Since the indentation method is suitable to
small deformation in which the materials can be viewed to be
linear-elastic, the first-order tensor of instantaneous elastic mod-
uli in undeformed state is used to characterize the initial mechani-
cal property. The tensor expression is relatively simple, and depen-
dent on three independent parameters. One is μ, the initial shear
modulus of isotropic matrix without regard to the effect of fibers.
The second is κ , namely the reinforcing factor, characterizing the
fibre strength. The last one is D1 (or K0 , ν ), characterizing the com-
pressibility. After applying the tensor to the previous work in this
paper, the numerical results clearly show the dependence of the
eccentricity and indentation modulus on the compressibility and
fibre strength of the composite material. For biological material,
very often it is seen as incompressible. And hence the one-to-one
correspondence monotonously between the eccentricity and fibre
strength is definite for our fiber-reinforced material model. It re-
minds us that if we can captured the contact region by some spe-
cial device (e.g. transparent indenter), which means that the ec-
centricity is obtained, then the fibre strength can be determined
based on our work. So this work gives us an approach to deter-
mine the material parameters of fiber-reinforced composite based
on the indentation method.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foun-
dation of China (Grant No. 11472186). We would like to thank Pro-
fessor Fu and Doctor Li for help.
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