Elasticity–conductivity connections for contacting rough surfaces: An overview

We consider a rough interface between two rough plates pressed against one another, and discuss the cross-property connections between its incremental stiffness and its conductance. We give an overview of two different approaches to these connections: the one based on similarity between the two boundary value problems and another based on the observation that the microstructural parameters controlling the two physical properties are identical. We show how the two approaches complement one another; in particular, by allowing one to transfer a wealth of knowledge accumulated in the context of the conductance problem to the problem of stiffness.