ABSTRACT
These are two important limits in the problem of the adhesive elastic contact, since the first one implicitly assumes a relatively weak adhesive elastic contact between two small spherical hard solids, and the second is considering a stronger adhesive contact between two large softer spherical bodies. The Tabor’s parameter (Tabor 1977) governs when of these theories can be applied. Many other authors have contributed with interesting works such as Greenwood & Johnson (1998) who formulated a analytical model providing a good approach of the adhesive force.
