BEM APPLIED TO 2D THERMOELASTIC CONTACT PROBLEMS INCLUDING CONDUCTION AND FORCED-CONVECTION IN INTERSTITIAL ZONES

A large number of contact problems cannot be solved linearly since the length of the contact zone is unknown. In those cases of contact problems with stationary conduction of heat in which an imperfect contact between the bodies takes place the non-linearity becomes very important due to the presence of the thermal resistance at the interface of the solids which is considered as a given decreasing function of the contact pressure. In the present work, an iterative process of resolution for the treatment of these kind of problems, based on the boundary element method, is developed. The stationary heat conduction equations and the elastic ones, which are coupled through thermal resistance, are solved independently by means of an iterative process. Convection boundary conditions have also been considered, such as the possible heat interchange between the bodies throughout a fluid contained in the separation zones between them (interstitial regions). In order to show the applicability of the method an example has been included in which different situations of advancing contact perfect and imperfect are considered.