A mortar segment-to-segment frictional contact method for large deformations

Contact modeling is still one of the most difficult aspects of non-linear implicit structural analysis. Most 3D contact algorithms employed today use node-on-segment approaches for contacting dissimilar meshes. Two pass node-on-segment contact approaches have the well known deficiency of locking due to over-constraint. Furthermore, node-on-segment approaches suffer when individual nodes slide out of contact at contact surface boundaries or when contacting nodes slide from facet to facet. This causes jumps in the contact forces due to the discrete nature of the constraint enforcement and difficulties in convergence for implicit solution techniques. In a previous work [Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg., in press], we developed a segment-to-segment contact approach based on the mortar method that was applicable to large deformation mechanics. The approach proved extremely robust since it eliminated the over-constraint which caused "locking" and provided smooth force variations in large sliding. Here, we extend this previous approach in [Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg., in press] to treat frictional contact problems. The proposed approach is then applied to several challenging frictional contact problems which demonstrate its effectiveness. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.