接触力学主要研究相互接触固体的变形问题，该科目的物理和数学理论用于材料力学和固体力学，主要集中在弹性、粘弹性体和塑性体在静态和动态接触中的计算。接触力学中的核心是，法向的压力、粘着和切向的摩擦力。

接触力学是机械工程的基本领域，它为技术系统的安全和能量的有效设计提供了必要的信息。接触力学的原理应用于很多领域，例如机车轮-轨接触、联接装置、刹车系统、疲劳、衬套、球轴承、内燃机、机械连接、密封垫片、金属加工、金属成型、超声波电焊、电接触等等。该领域目前面临的挑战包括接触应力分析、耦合数、润滑油影响和摩擦磨损上的材料设计。接触力学的应用更可以扩展到微粒子和纳米技术领域。

Contact mechanics is the study of the deformation of solids that touch each other at one or more points. The physical and mathematical formulation of the subject is built upon the mechanics of materials and continuum mechanics and focuses on computations involving elastic, viscoelastic, and plastic bodies in static or dynamic contact. Central aspects in contact mechanics are the pressures and adhesion acting perpendicular to the contacting bodies' surfaces (known as the normal direction) and the frictional stresses acting tangentially between the surfaces. This page focuses mainly on the normal direction, i.e. on frictionless contact mechanics. Frictional contact mechanics is discussed separately.