Inverse Reconstruction of Moving Contact Loads on an Elastic Half-Space Using Prescribed Surface Displacement

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Takada, Satoshi, Mori, Yosuke, Hokada, Shintaro
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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_version_ 1866917426984124416
author Takada, Satoshi
Mori, Yosuke
Hokada, Shintaro
author_facet Takada, Satoshi
Mori, Yosuke
Hokada, Shintaro
contents This study investigates the elastic response of a two-dimensional semi-infinite medium subjected to a moving surface load with a prescribed displacement profile. As a fundamental step, we derive analytical Green's functions for the displacement and stress fields generated by a point load traveling at a constant velocity along the surface, explicitly incorporating elastodynamic effects through Mach number dependence. These moving-load solutions serve as building blocks for constructing more general loading scenarios via linear superposition. Based on Green's functions, an inverse problem is formulated to reconstruct the unknown surface traction responsible for a given surface displacement. The inverse analysis is performed through a Fourier-domain inversion with regularization, which enables a direct and computationally efficient determination of the contact pressure without iterative forward simulations. This framework is applied to a rigid wheel-ground contact problem, where the imposed displacement is dictated by the wheel geometry. The reconstructed surface traction exhibits a smooth, symmetric distribution within the contact region, while the resulting subsurface stress fields are obtained in closed analytical form and involve dilogarithm functions. The principal stress difference reveals characteristic spatial patterns similar to photoelastic fringes, and their asymmetry increases with the Mach number, reflecting the dynamic nature of the moving contact.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_13478
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Inverse Reconstruction of Moving Contact Loads on an Elastic Half-Space Using Prescribed Surface Displacement
Takada, Satoshi
Mori, Yosuke
Hokada, Shintaro
Classical Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
Applied Physics
This study investigates the elastic response of a two-dimensional semi-infinite medium subjected to a moving surface load with a prescribed displacement profile. As a fundamental step, we derive analytical Green's functions for the displacement and stress fields generated by a point load traveling at a constant velocity along the surface, explicitly incorporating elastodynamic effects through Mach number dependence. These moving-load solutions serve as building blocks for constructing more general loading scenarios via linear superposition. Based on Green's functions, an inverse problem is formulated to reconstruct the unknown surface traction responsible for a given surface displacement. The inverse analysis is performed through a Fourier-domain inversion with regularization, which enables a direct and computationally efficient determination of the contact pressure without iterative forward simulations. This framework is applied to a rigid wheel-ground contact problem, where the imposed displacement is dictated by the wheel geometry. The reconstructed surface traction exhibits a smooth, symmetric distribution within the contact region, while the resulting subsurface stress fields are obtained in closed analytical form and involve dilogarithm functions. The principal stress difference reveals characteristic spatial patterns similar to photoelastic fringes, and their asymmetry increases with the Mach number, reflecting the dynamic nature of the moving contact.
title Inverse Reconstruction of Moving Contact Loads on an Elastic Half-Space Using Prescribed Surface Displacement
topic Classical Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.13478