Finite element analysis of beam-to-beam contact (Q978557)

In the first part, in Chapters 2 and 3 the author gives a formulation of contact with friction for beams with rectangular cross-section. The contact constraints are introduced using the penalty and Lagrange multipliers methods. Two methods of sliding check for Coulomb law are presented -- separately for two friction forces acting along the contacting beams and one check for the case when these forces are treated as components of resultant friction forces. Chapter 4 gives a formulation of \(C^1\)-continuous contact finite elements. All four types of presented elements can be attached to any formulation of beams modelled with any type of beam elements. In several numerical examples with large sliding between the adjacent curve segments, the author confirms the effectiveness of all four elements as far as the smoothing is concerned. In Chapters 5 and 6, some aspects of thermo-electro-mechanical coupling in contact are analysed. It is pointed out that in the assumed range the electro-mechanical contact features a unilateral coupling, and the thermo-mechanical a contact-bilateral coupling.