International audienceA new approach to enforce surface contact conditions in transient non-linear finite element problems is developed in this paper. The method is based on the Lagrange multiplier concept and is compatible with explicit time integration operators. Compatibility with explicit operators is established by referencing Lagrange multipliers one time increment ahead of associated surface contact displacement constraints. However, the method is not purely explicit because a coupled system of equations must be solved to obtain the Lagrange multipliers. An important development herein is the formulation of a highly efficient method to solve the Lagrange multiplier equations. The equation solving strategy is a modified Gauss-Seidel method in which non-linear surface contact force conditions are enforced during iteration. The new surface contact method presented has two significant advantages over the widely accepted penalty function method: surface contact conditions are satisfied more precisely, and the method does not adversely affect the numerical stability of explicit integration. Transient finite element analysis results are presented for problems involving impact and sliding with friction. A brief review of the classical Lagrange multiplier method with implicit integration is also included

SUMMARYA simple friction-contact interface element is introduced which simulates frictional slippage, separation, and re-bonding of two bodies initially mating at a common interface and subsequently deforming with an arbitrary static loading schedule. Constraint equations between initially mating node pairs and the general principle of virtual work are used to formulate the interface element for a finite element solution procedure. Some advantages of the interface element include; easy implementation into standard finite element programs, direct determination of interface forces without round-off problems, and the generality afforded by the virtual work formulation to include other non-conservative models in the system.The application of the interface element to an idealized buried culvert problem illustrates that the model behaves properly. A second application, for a long-span culvert installation with incremental soil loading, demonstrates the importance of modelling slippage at the culvert-soil interface in order to conform with experimental observations.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract