Contact surface records¶
A contact surface is a geometric entity taking part in contact interactions. Each surface is formed by a set of contact elements, and can act as the master or the slave within a contact boundary condition. Contact surfaces are the link between the geometric description of the contacting interfaces and the boundary conditions that enforce their interaction.
The number of contact surface records is declared by ncontactsurf in
the Components size record.
Record syntax
FEContactSurfaceType num (in)
ce_set (in)
Parameters
num(in)Unique surface identifier.
ce_set(in)Number of the element set containing the contact elements that form this surface; see Set records.
Supported surface types
StructuralFEContactSurfaceContact surface for structural contact, made of
StructuralContactElement_*elements. Used by Structural penalty contact.ThermalFEContactSurfaceContact surface for thermal contact. Used by Thermal surface-to-surface contact.
Description¶
Each contact surface groups one or more contact elements into a single logical
entity. These surfaces are then referenced by the contact boundary conditions
(see Contact boundary conditions) as their mastersurface or
slavesurface. Both surfaces must exist before the contact boundary
condition that pairs them is defined.
Contact surfaces introduce no new DOFs; they provide only the geometric organisation used when the contact is evaluated. Each can serve as a master or as a slave surface, depending on how the contact boundary condition is written.
Example
StructuralFEContactSurface 1 ce_set 3
StructuralFEContactSurface 2 ce_set 4
Structural finite element surface 1 is built from the contact elements of set 3
and surface 2 from those of set 4. The two can then be paired by a
structuralpenaltycontactbc record to define a contact interaction. See
tests/regression/sm/contact2d_projection_outside.in for a complete input
file.