Mechanical properties of cork under contact stressess

In this work our interest is focussed on the mechanical behaviour of natura l cork under contact Arts es. Many of the applications of this curious mate rial are related with its mechanical response under such a stress field, ho wever this topic has nut been still sufficiently considered in the scientif ic literature. For this purpose, we proposed the use of Hertzian indentatio n tests. By using this methodology we have investigated the cork structure influence on the corresponding mechanical properties. Our results reveal a clear mechanical anisotropy effect. Moreover, the elastic modulus correspon ding to specific directions have been estimated. Several are the main advan tages of this specific test methodology versus traditional uniaxial compres sion tests, specially simplicity and local character.