Thermoelastic rolling contact problems for multilayer materials

The paper deals with the existence of solutions to the thermoelastic rolling contact problems for nonhomogeneous materials. One of the contacting surfaces is assumed to be covered with a graded material coating. The thermal and mechanical features of the coating material depend on its depth. The thermoelastic contact problem is governed by the system of mildly coupled evolutionary boundary value problems with discontinuous coefficients. Quasistatic approach is employed. This approach is based on the assumption that for the observer moving with the rolling body the displacement of the supporting foundation is independent on time. The Faedo–Galerkin approach combined with the penalization and smoothing approach are used to show the existence of solutions to this contact problem. The operator splitting method is used to solve the problem numerically. Numerical results indicating the reduction of mechanically and/or thermally induced stresses are provided.