Compression of a Thin Plastic Mass Between Two Elastic Cylinders

This work presents an analytical investigation of a plastic mass being compressed between the ends of two elastic circular cylinders. A special function recently tabulated by the author is used to find the deformation of the elastic cylinders due to the pressure distribution caused by the compression of the plastic mass. Based on the deformed shape of the cylinders found by the iterative solution using the special function, the author presents a simplified approximate method for finding the pressure distribution on the cylinders when given the edge separation of the cylinders and the ratio of the shear strength of the plastic mass to the modulus of elasticity in shear of the cylinders.