Thermomechanical contact of an elastic half-space and a rigid base under the action of circular heat sink

The frictionless contact of an elastic half-space, which is under the action of heat sinks uniformly distributed over a circle, and a rigid heat-insulated base, is considered. It is revealed that when the sink intensity exceeds a certain critical value, delamination of the half-space from the base with formation of a circular gap between them will occur. The corresponding axisymmetric contact problem of thermoelasticity is reduced to the Abel integral equation. Based on its solution, the dependences of the shape of the interface gap and the normal contact stresses on the intensity of heat sinks and the distance from them to the surface of the half-space are analyzed.