A cubic-spline contact element for frictional contact problems

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7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to develop a node-to-cubic-spline contact element for frictional contact problems. For node-to-line contact algorithms, the normal and tangent directions of contact stresses are usually discontinuous across two elements. This drawback sometimes causes inaccuracy of the contact analysis near the intersection point of the two target surfaces, or sometimes causes the divergence of the contact analysis when a contact node moves across two target surfaces. Moreover, if the mesh of the target surface is not fine enough, using node-to-line contact elements to model curved surfaces will cause errors. In order to overcome this drawback, a two-dimensional node-to-cubic-spline contact element is developed. Each element contains one contact node and a number of target nodes modeled by a cubic spline with continuous normal and tangent directions. A contact node can slide across several target lines with not only the compatible deformation but also the continuous normal and tangent directions. Numerical results demonstrate that the present cubic-spline contact element can simulate contact problems accurately even using a coarse mesh of the target body.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)119-128
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, Transactions of the Chinese Institute of Engineers,Series A/Chung-kuo Kung Ch'eng Hsuch K'an
Volume21
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1998

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Engineering

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