Deformation of a sphere

[SGEngineer]

Hi,

I have a scenario here whereby I have a sphere of dia .1875 being compressed by two metal plates (Parallel to each other and tangent to the circular surface).

How do I calculate the amount of deformation on the sphere for a given force, say about 10lbs. (Assuming that the plates are infinitely rigid).

I believe that this might be a non-linear problem as the contact surface of the sphere grows, but there should be some way of calculating this, right?

 

[CoryPad]

Hertz did this some time ago:

http://www.micromaterials.co.uk/SphericalIndentation.htm

http://www.me.utexas.edu/~bryant/courses/me383s/DownloadFiles/LectureNotes/Contact.pdf

http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/ser...00069000005000657000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes

http://www.me.gatech.edu/itzhak.green/rotordynamics/Hemispherical_ElasoPlastic_Contact.pdf

http://www.mech.utah.edu/~me7960/lectures/Topic7-ContactStressesAndDeformations.pdf

Regards,

Cory

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