A computationally efficient hybrid technique for analyzing three-dimensional effects in contacts

The accuracy of FE analysis depends on the element size and integration technique used and requires significant computational effort for 3D contact problems involving large stress gradients. Therefore, contacts with similar geometries in the third dimension are typically analyzed using 2D techniques. Analysis of such 2D contacts using infinite series to solve the governing singular integral equations requires much lesser computation effort than even 2D FE analysis. However, it neglects the effect of finite dimension in the third direction due to which the contact is not under plane conditions. To investigate the effect of finiteness of third dimension in a computationally efficient manner, a hybrid technique is developed for 3D contact analysis that inherits the versatility of FE analysis and the computational efficiency of the series solution. Its results are compared to those of a detailed 3D FE analysis with fine mesh and full integration to ascertain its efficacy. They match very well in most of the contact regions except for a small difference in peak pressure near the free edge of contact.