THE LOAD-TRANSFER BETWEEN 2 RIGID SPHERICAL INCLUSIONS IN AN ELASTIC MEDIUM

The paper is concerned with the load transfer problem between two rigid spherical inclusions in an elastic matrix. A reflection-type formula is developed which is accurate up to and including terms of O(a/R)4, where a is the maximum radius of the inclusions, and R is the centre-to-centre distance between the two inclusions. Asymptotic results are derived at near touching showing a weak logarithmic singularity in the load transfer. The results are verified by a direct numerical calculation using a boundary collocation method. The numerical method uses Kelvin's general solution as the basis functions for the approximate solution and is highly accurate and efficient, even at near touching.