Variational and numerical analysis of a quasistatic viscoelastic contact problem with adhesion

A model for the adhesive, quasistatic and frictionless contact between a viscoelastic body and a deformable foundation is described. The adhesion process is modelled by a bonding field on the contact surface, and contact is described by a modified normal compliance condition. The problem is formulated as a coupled system of a variational equality for the displacements and a differential equation for the bonding field. The existence of a unique weak solution for the problem and its continuous dependence on the adhesion parameters are established. Then, the numerical analysis of the problem is conducted for the fully discrete approximation. The convergence of the scheme is established and error estimates derived. Finally, representative numerical simulations are presented, depicting the evolution of the state of the system and, in particular, the evolution of the bonding field. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.