Numerical solutions to the problem of thermoelastic contact of two rods (Q1310191)

We present numerical simulations of a model for quasistatic contact of two rods. The problem consists in determining the temperature and displacement fields in two collinear rods each held fixed at one end and free to come in contact at the other. The problem can be reduced to considering a coupled system of two nonlinear parabolic equations for the temperature, with nonlocal terms. Using the Crank-Nicolson scheme and iterations, we show that the model is capable of rather interesting behavior.