Explicit Analytic Solutions for the Subsurface Stress Field in Single Plane Contacts of Elastically Similar Truncated Cylinders or Wedges
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This paper presents analytic solutions for the subsurface stress fields in tangential contacts of elastically similar truncated wedges and cylinders. This study is interesting for scholars in contact with mechanics. The following issues need to be discussed with the author:
The author analyzes the stress distribution of the subsurface, but the innovative type of the article is not well described, and a more detailed and comprehensive description is needed.
The equivalent von-Mises stresses are obtained and shown in the text, e.g. Fig. 2，3，5. But the stress components such as shear stress are also key parameters, which are crucial for the state of the contact surface, so it is suggested to be supplemented.
Author Response
Please see the response file.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Please read and “fully” address the comments listed below:
1. The ABSTRACT is not written in a logical order. Start with an overview of the topic and a rationale for your paper. Describe the methodology you used and the general outline of the manuscript. Also, in the end, state the result in more detail (i.e., provide some numbers).
2. The novelty of your work is still unclear to the reader, which should be further detailed both in the Abstract and Introduction.
3. Please fully introduce the elastic properties of all the structural components explained in section 6. You can summarize them in a table.
4. Please provide more explanation for this sentence: Page 8, Line 206: " They can, however, serve as a basis for the analysis of more complex loading histories."
5. How did the authors validate the normalized equivalent von-Mises stress results shown in Fig. 5?
- Please introduce all the variables expressed in Eq. 21, and explain whether the equations are taken from the literature.
7. Apart from the presented closed-form solution (which is valuable), novel and strong numerical methods can be proposed to analyze subsurface stress fields. Among them, the “Differential Quadrature” and “Bezier” methods proved to have higher stability and accuracy than other numerical methods. For this purpose, please write a paragraph in your paper introducing these methods which can be “alternatively” used to numerically estimate subsurface stress fields:
Differential Quadrature Method:
· Yan, Y., Liu, B., Xing, Y., Carrera, E., & Pagani, A. (2021). Free vibration analysis of variable stiffness composite laminated beams and plates by novel hierarchical differential quadrature finite elements. Composite Structures, 274, 114364.
Bezier Method:
· Kabir, H., & Aghdam, M. M. (2021). A generalized 2D Bézier-based solution for stress analysis of notched epoxy resin plates reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets. Thin-Walled Structures, 169, 108484.
8. Conclusion: Can authors highlight future research directions and recommendations? Also, highlight the assumptions and limitations (e.g. 1-2 shortcoming(s) of the present study). Besides, recheck your manuscript and polish it for grammatical mistakes (you can use “Grammarly” or similar software to quickly edit your document).
Author Response
Please see the response file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors addressed my comments and the manuscript can be published in the present format
