Energy dissipation in a frictional incomplete contact with varying normal load

► Formulation for displacement history and energy dissipation for incomplete contacts. ► Pointwise energy dissipation is calculated for use in contact geometry optimisation. ► The load path is described by an ellipse in PQ space. ► Examples are provided for the Hertz case, but the formulation is valid generally. ► Accompanying Mathematica code, implementing the formulation given, is available.