Thermoelastic Stress Analysis of the contact between a flat plate and a cylinder

•Contact between bodies is analyzed through thermoelasticity.•The contact between a flat plate and a cylinder has been analyzed.•Results are compared to Hertz theory and FEA models.

In the frame of intercomparison testing among different optical full-field measurement techniques, the crucial aspect concerning contact problems between bodies has been extensively analyzed through thermoelasticity. This technique has allowed us to obtain stress patterns in terms of the first stress invariant by measuring temperature fluctuation on the surface of a cyclically loaded mechanical component.For the present study, a special-purpose test bench was assembled to be used within a round robin test, so as to properly load the sample. The test case taken into account is the very well-known contact problem between a cylinder and a flat plate. The results obtained from thermoelasticity through the use of a zoom lens, were compared to classical Hertz theory prediction and FEA models.