ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC COLLISIONS OF SOLID SPHERES

Recent developments in solving the problem of the elastohydrodynamic c ollision between two solid elastic bodies involved elaborate numerical procedures in order to simultaneously account for the elastic deforma tion of the solid su;faces and viscous fluid pressure. This paper desc ribes a simple analytical approximation based upon a Hertzian-like pro file for the elastic deformation of the two solid elastic spheres. By introducing a scaling coefficient, a closed-form solution has been dev eloped which is capable of predicting the evolution of the relative pa rticle velocity, force and restitution coefficient to an accuracy that is comparable with the exact numerical solutions.