Thanks for the replies. Wont I be comparing the contact stress with the compressive strength of the material as the contact stress induced is due the compressive force? But you def bring up an imp subject of tribology..I will surely check that..
I have calculated the contact stress for a sphere in a socket using formulas provided in Roark's formulas. But my problem is that the sphere is actually in contact with two sockets - upper and lower sides, so there are actually two contact areas.
Can I just multiply the contact stress I...