3D BEM for orthotropic frictional contact of piezoelectric bodies

A numerical methodology to model the three-dimensional frictional contact interaction of piezoelectric materials in presence of electric fields is presented in this work. The boundary element method (BEM) is used in order to compute the electro-elastic influence coefficients. The proposed BEM formulation employs an explicit approach for the evaluation of the corresponding fundamental solutions, which are valid for general anisotropic behaviour meanwhile mathematical degeneracies in the context of the Stroh formalism are allowed. The contact methodology is based on an augmented Lagrangian formulation and uses an iterative Uzawa scheme of resolution. An orthotropic frictional law is implemented in this work so anisotropy is present both in the bulk and in the surface. The methodology is validated by comparison with benchmark analytical solutions. Some additional examples are presented and discussed in detail, revealing the importance of considering orthotropic frictional contact conditions in the electro-elastic analysis of this kind of problems.