This book is intended for mechanicians, engineering mathematicians, and, generally for theoretically inclined mechanical engineers. It has its origin in my Master's Thesis (J 957), which I wrote under the supervision of Professor Dr. R. Timman of the Delft TH and Dr. Ir. A. D. de Pater of Netherlands Railways. I did not think that the surface of the problem had even been scratched, so I joined de Pater, who had by then become Professor in the Engineering Mechanics Lab. of the Delft TH, to write my Ph. D. Thesis on it. This thesis (1967) was weil received in railway circles, which is due more to de Pater's untiring promotion than to its merits. Still not satisfied, I feit that I needed more mathe matics, and I joined Professor Timman's group as an Associate Professor. This led to the present work. Many thanks are due to G. M. L. Gladwell, who thoroughly polished style and contents of the manuscript. Thanks are also due to my wife, herself an engineering mathematician, who read the manuscript through critically, and made many helpful comments, to G. F. M. Braat, who also read an criticised, and, in addition, drew the figures together with J. Schonewille, to Ms. A. V. M. de Wit, Ms. M. den Boef, and Ms. P. c. Wilting, who typed the manuscript, and to the Publishers, who waited patiently. Delft-Rotterdam, 17 July 1990. J. J.

A systematic treatment, based on Green's functions and integral equations, is given to the analytical and numerical methods and results for a great number of 3-D contact problems for elastic bodies. Semi-bounded elastic bodies (layer, cylinder, space with cylindrical or spherical cavity, 3-D wedge, special cases of which are half- and quarter-spaces, cone) and finite elastic bodies (circular plate, finite cylinder, spherical layer, spherical lens, sphere) are considered. Methods introduced in the book can also be applied in fracture mechanics, hydrodynamics, electrostatics, thermodynamics and diffusion theory, continuum mechanics, and mathematical physics, as well as by engineers and students in mathematics, mechanics, and physics.

Preface.- Rolling Contact Phenomena - Linear Elasticity.- Finite Element Methods for Rolling Contact.- Plastic Deformation in Rolling Contact.- Non-Steady State Rolling Contact and Corrugations.- Modelling of Tyre Force and Moment Generation.- Rolling Noise.- Lubrication

A systematic treatment, based on Green's functions and integral equations, is given to the analytical and numerical methods and results for a great number of 3-D contact problems for elastic bodies. Semi-bounded elastic bodies (layer, cylinder, space with cylindrical or spherical cavity, 3-D wedge, special cases of which are half- and quarter-spaces, cone) and finite elastic bodies (circular plate, finite cylinder, spherical layer, spherical lens, sphere) are considered. Methods introduced in the book can also be applied in fracture mechanics, hydrodynamics, electrostatics, thermodynamics and diffusion theory, continuum mechanics, and mathematical physics, as well as by engineers and students in mathematics, mechanics, and physics.

During the last decades completely new technologies for high speed railway vehicles have been developed. The primary goals have been to increase traction, axle load, and travelling speed, and to guarantee safety of the passengers. However, the new developments have revealed new limitations: settlement and destruction of the ballast and the subgrade lead to deterioration of the track; irregular wear of the wheels cause an increase in overall load and deterioration of passengers comfort; damage of the running surfaces of the rail and the wheel becomes more frequent. This problems have been investigated in the Priority Programme SPP 1015 supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), aiming at a better understanding of the dynamic interaction of vehicle and track and the long-term behaviour of the components of the system. The book contains the scientific results of the programme as presented at the concluding colloquium held at University of Stuttgart, Germany, March 13-15, 2002.

Recent research has led to a deeper understanding of the nature and consequences of interactions between materials on an atomic scale. The results have resonated throughout the field of tribology. For example, new applications require detailed understanding of the tribological process on macro- and microscales and new knowledge guides the rational