Given the contact region between two bodies, the normal pressure distribution over the contact region, and the coefficient of friction, we seek to find all combinations of tangential forces and twisting moment (about the normal to the contact surface) for which fully developed sliding impends. As part of the solution we must determine the distribution of the surface tractions (shear stresses) and the location of the instantaneous center (IC) of the impending motion. New closed form solutions of the stated problem are found for circular contact patches with pressure distributions corresponding to (a): a flat stamp; and (b): elastic spheroids with Hertzian pressure distributions. For contact regions other than circular, no closed form solutions are known. We have developed numerical procedures to solve for arbitrary contact patches, with arbitrary distributions of normal pressure, and present carpet plots of tangential force components (Fx , Fy ) and IC coordinates for the following cases: flat ellipsoidal stamps; ellipsoidal indenters (Hertzian pressure); and a non-Hertzian, nonelliptical contact of a rail and wheel. Level curves of twisting moment Mz versus tangential force components are provided. Given any two of the three quantities (Fx , Fy , Mz ), the algorithms and the plots in this paper make it possible and convenient to find the remaining force or moment which will cause gross sliding to impend, for virtually arbitrary contact regions and arbitrary pressure distributions.
