  This paper presents an analytical model of punctual elastic contact between a
rigid body of arbitrary geometry and a plane surface. A simple analytical model
is developed in order to evaluate the contact force knowing the volume of
interpenetration, the surface and the perimeter of the base of this volume and
the mechanical characteristics of surfaces in contact. Analytical and
experimental validations are made for this model in the case of simple shapes
(spherical, conical and pyramidal). Next, an approach for the resolution in
case of contact between a rigid body and a viscoelastic plane is presented. The
elastic constants are replaced by an integral operator corresponding to the
viscoelastic stress-strain relation. At last, the viscoelastic punctual contact
is studied analytically and validated experimentally.
