Analysis of multiple contact types within the framework of semi-finite element method

Abstract

Dynamic contact problems are common in engineering systems. Current dynamic contact simulations are prone to energy non-conservation and over-reliance on nodes accuracy. To address the above difficulties, a numerical algorithm based on the bipotential theory for solving the dynamic contact problems of multibody systems is proposed. Within the framework of semi-finite element method, the Uzawa iteration is embedded in Newton iteration to solve the nonlinear equation. By constructing the adaptive virtual points on the contact surface, the bipotential theory is introduced to compute the local dynamic contact force. In this work, both the interactive contact interface and the coupling contact interface are considered, and the numerical examples are extended from two-dimension line-to-line contact to three-dimension surface-to-surface contact. In addition, the influence of coupling components on the deformation and motion of each subsystem is also revealed. The numerical results show that the proposed algorithm is effective and stable, satisfies the law of energy conservation strictly and reduces the over-dependence on the nodes accuracy. This work can provide a reference for further research on balancing computation efficiency and accuracy.