Influence of tangential displacement on the force of adhesion between a parabolic profile and plane surface

The force of adhesion of a rotationally symmetric indenter and an elastic half-space is analyzed analytically and numerically using an extension of the method of dimensionality reduction (MDR) for superimposed normal/tangential adhesive contacts. In particular, the dependency of the critical adhesion force on the simultaneously applied tangential force is obtained and the relevant dimensionless parameters of the problem are identified. The developed method is applicable straightforwardly to adhesive contacts of any bodies of revolution.