Modification of Hertzian behaviour in heavily loaded contact in the DMT regime

The adhesive contact between spheres for a small Tabor parameter is investigated. It is found that the DMT model cannot describe the adhesive contact for a small Tabor parameter. By assuming a new contact distance, the modified Hertzian contact is proposed. For a small Tabor parameter, the rigid-sphere model can describe the adhesive contact behaviour for a small load and the modified Hertzian model can describe the adhesive contact behaviour for a large load.