Contact of a Layer with an Elastic Half-Space.

It is shown that an infinite smooth elastic layer freely lying on an elastic half-space will lift from the latter when subjected to an arbitrary normal load which presses the layer to the base and is applied to a limited region of the layer's surface. For the case where a normal concentrated force acts upon the layer, the area of contact between the layer and the half-space, and the distribution of contact stresses over this area are determined. Predictions are in satisfactory agreement with similar results obtained by other methods.