Abstract
The anti-plane shear deformation problem of a half-space coated by a soft or a stiff thin layer is considered. The two-term asymptotic analysis is developed motivated by the scaling for the displacement and stress components obtained from the exact solution of a model problem for a shear harmonic load. It is shown that for a rather high contrast in stiffness of the layer and the half-space Winkler-type behaviour appears for a relatively soft coating, while for a relatively stiff one, the equations of plate shear are valid. For low contrast, an alternative approximation is suggested based on the reduced continuity conditions and the fact that the applied load may be transmitted to the interface. In case of a stiff layer, a simpler problem for a homogeneous half-space with effective boundary condition is also formulated, modelling the effect of the coating, while for a relatively soft layer a uniformly valid approximate formula is introduced.