DefinitionSettings

Thedifferencesinthecontactsettingsdeterminehowthecontactingbodiescanmoverelativetooneanother.This
categoryprovidesthefollowingproperties.
Type
ScopeMode
Behavior
TrimContact
Suppressed

Type
Choosingtheappropriatecontacttypedependsonthetypeofproblemyouaretryingtosolve.Ifmodelingtheabilityof
bodiestoseparateoropenslightlyisimportantand/orobtainingthestressesverynearacontactinterfaceisimportant,
considerusingoneofthenonlinearcontacttypes(Frictionless,Rough,Frictional),whichcanmodelgapsandmore
accuratelymodelthetrueareaofcontact.However,usingthesecontacttypesusuallyresultsinlongersolutiontimes
andcanhavepossibleconvergenceproblemsduetothecontactnonlinearity.Ifconvergenceproblemsariseorif
determiningtheexactareaofcontactiscritical,considerusingafinermesh(usingtheSizingcontrol)onthecontact
facesoredges.
Theavailablecontacttypesarelistedbelow.MostofthetypesapplytoContactRegionsmadeupoffacesonly.

Bonded:Thisisthedefaultconfigurationandappliestoallcontactregions(surfaces,solids,lines,faces,
edges).Ifcontactregionsarebonded,thennoslidingorseparationbetweenfacesoredgesisallowed.Think
oftheregionasglued.Thistypeofcontactallowsforalinearsolutionsincethecontactlength/areawillnot
changeduringtheapplicationoftheload.Ifcontactisdeterminedonthemathematicalmodel,anygapswill
beclosedandanyinitialpenetrationwillbeignored.[NotsupportedforRigidDynamics.Fixedjointcanbe
usedinstead.]
NoSeparation:ThiscontactsettingissimilartotheBondedcase.Itonlyappliestoregionsoffaces(for3D
solids)oredges(for2Dplates).Separationofthegeometriesincontactisnotallowed.
Frictionless:Thissettingmodelsstandardunilateralcontactthatis,normalpressureequalszeroif
separationoccurs.Thusgapscanforminthemodelbetweenbodiesdependingontheloading.Thissolution
isnonlinearbecausetheareaofcontactmaychangeastheloadisapplied.Azerocoefficientoffrictionis
assumed,thusallowingfreesliding.Themodelshouldbewellconstrainedwhenusingthiscontactsetting.
Weakspringsareaddedtotheassemblytohelpstabilizethemodelinordertoachieveareasonablesolution.
Rough:Similartothefrictionlesssetting,thissettingmodelsperfectlyroughfrictionalcontactwherethereis
nosliding.Itonlyappliestoregionsoffaces(for3Dsolids)oredges(for2Dplates).Bydefault,noautomatic
closingofgapsisperformed.Thiscasecorrespondstoaninfinitefrictioncoefficientbetweenthecontacting
bodies.[NotsupportedforExplicitDynamicsanalyses.]
Frictional:Inthissetting,thetwocontactinggeometriescancarryshearstressesuptoacertainmagnitude
acrosstheirinterfacebeforetheystartslidingrelativetoeachother.Thisstateisknownas"sticking."The
modeldefinesanequivalentshearstressatwhichslidingonthegeometrybeginsasafractionofthecontact
pressure.Oncetheshearstressisexceeded,thetwogeometrieswillsliderelativetoeachother.The
coefficientoffrictioncanbeanynonnegativevalue.[NotsupportedforRigidDynamics.ForcedFrictional
Slidingshouldbeusedinstead.]

ForcedFrictionalSliding:Inthissetting,atangentresistingforceisappliedateachcontactpoint.The
tangentforceisproportionaltothenormalcontactforce.ThissettingsissimilartoFrictionalexceptthat
thereisno"sticking"state.[SupportedonlyforRigidDynamics]
Bydefaultthefrictionisnotappliedduringcollision.Collisionsaretreatedasifthecontactisfrictionless
regardlessthefrictioncoefficient.Thefollowingcommandsoverridethisbehaviorandincludefrictioninshock
resolution(seeRigidDynamicsCommandObjectsLibraryintheANSYSMechanicalUser'sGuideformore
information).
options=CS_SolverOptions()
options.FrictionForShock=1
Notethatshockresolutionassumespermanentslidingduringshock,whichmayleadtounrealisticresults
whenthefrictioncoefficientisgreaterthan0.5.
FrictionCoefficient:Allowsyoutoenterafrictioncoefficient.Displayedonlyforfrictionalcontact
applications.
Note:
FortheBondedandNoSeparationcontactType,youcansimulatetheseparationofa
ContactRegionasitreachessomepredefinedopeningcriteriausingtheContactDebonding
feature.
RefertoKEYOPT(12)intheMechanicalAPDLContactTechnologyGuideformore
informationaboutmodellingdifferentcontactsurfacebehaviors.

ScopeMode
ThisisareadonlypropertythatdisplayshowtheselectedContactRegionwasgenerated.Eitherautomatically
generatedbytheapplication(Automatic)orconstructedormodifiedbytheuser(Manual).Notethatthispropertyis
notsupportedforRigidBodyDynamicsanalyses.

Behavior
Thispropertywillappearonlyfor3DFace/Faceor2DEdge/Edgecontacts.For3DEdge/EdgeorFace/Edgecontacts,
internallytheprogramwillsetthecontactbehaviortoAsymmetric(seebelow).Notethatthispropertyisnot
supportedforRigidBodyDynamicsanalyses.

Setscontactpairtooneofthefollowing:
ProgramControlled(DefaultfortheMechanicalAPDLsolver):internallythecontactbehaviorissettothe
followingoptionsbasedonthestatedcondition:
AutoAsymmetric(seebelow):forFlexibleFlexiblebodies.
Asymmetric(seebelow):forFlexibleRigidbodies.
Symmetric(seebelow):forFlexibleFlexiblebodiesthatarescopedtoaNonlinearAdaptive
Region.
ForRigidRigidcontacts,theBehaviorpropertyisunderdefinedfortheProgramControlled
setting.ThevalidationcheckisperformedattheContactobjectlevelwhenallenvironment
branchesareusingtheMechanicalAPDLsolver.Ifthesolvertargetforoneoftheenvironmentsis
otherthanMechanicalAPDL,thenthisvalidationcheckwillbecarriedoutattheenvironmentlevel
theenvironmentbranchwillbecomeunderdefined.

Asymmetric:Contactwillbeasymmetricforthesolve.Allface/edgeandedge/edgecontactswillbe
asymmetric.[NotsupportedforExplicitDynamicsanalyses.]
AsymmetriccontacthasonefaceasContactandonefaceasTarget(asdefinedunderScopeSettings),
creatingasinglecontactpair.Thisissometimescalled"onepasscontact,"andisusuallythemostefficient
waytomodelfacetofacecontactforsolidbodies.
TheBehaviormustbeAsymmetricifthescopingincludesabodyspecifiedwithrigidStiffnessBehavior.
Symmetric:Contactwillbesymmetricforthesolve.
AutoAsymmetric:Automaticallycreatesanasymmetriccontactpair,ifpossible.Thiscansignificantly
improveperformanceinsomeinstances.Whenyouchoosethissetting,duringthesolutionphasethesolver
willautomaticallychoosethemoreappropriatecontactfacedesignation.Ofcourse,youcandesignatethe
rolesofeachfaceinthecontactpairmanually.[NotsupportedforExplicitDynamicsanalyses.]
Note:RefertoKEYOPT(8)intheMechanicalAPDLContactTechnologyGuideformoreinformation
aboutasymmetriccontactselection.

TrimContact
TheTrimContactfeaturecanspeedupthesolutiontimebyreducingthenumberofcontactelementssenttothe
solverforconsideration.NotethatthisfeatureisnotsupportedforRigidBodyDynamicsanalyses.

TrimContactoptionsinclude:
ProgramControlled:Thisisthedefaultsetting.Theapplicationchoosestheappropriatesetting.Typically,
theprogramsetsTrimContacttoOn.However,iftherearemanuallycreatedcontactconditions,no
trimmingisperformed.
On:Duringtheprocessofcreatingthesolverinputfile,checkingisperformedtodeterminetheproximity
betweensourceandtargetelements.Elementsfromthesourceandtargetsideswhicharenotinclose
proximity(determinedbyatolerance)arenotwrittentothefileandthereforeignoredintheanalysis.
Off:Nocontacttrimmingisperformed.
Thecheckingprocessisperformedtoidentifyifthereisoverlapbetweentheboundingboxesoftheelementsinvolved.
Iftheboundingboxofanelementdoesnotoverlaptheboundingboxofanopposingfaceorelementset,thatelement
isexcludedfromthesolution.Beforetheelementsarechecked,theboundingboxesareexpandedusingtheTrim
Toleranceproperty(explainedbelow)sothatoverlappingcanbedetected.
TrimTolerance
Thispropertyprovidestheabilitytodefinethetolerancevaluethatisusedtoexpandtheboundingboxesofthe
elementsbeforethetrimmingprocessisperformed.
ThispropertyisavailableforbothautomaticandmanualcontactswhentheTrimContactissettoOn.Itisonly
availableforautomaticcontactswhentheTrimContactissettoProgramControlledsincenotrimmingis
performedformanualcontacts.Forautomaticcontacts,thispropertydisplaysthevaluethatwasusedforcontact
detectionanditisareadonlyfield.Formanualcontacts,enteravaluegreaterthanzero.
Notethatadoublingexpansioneffectcanresultfromtheboundingboxexpansionsincetheboundingboxofboththe
sourceandtargetelementsareexpanded.Anexampleofthedoubleexpansioneffectisillustratedbelowwherethe
TrimToleranceisdefinedas10mm.Forsimplicitysake,thesizeoftheelementsisspecifiedas5mm.Therefore,the
boundingboxesforthecontact/targetelementswillextend10mm(twoelements)ineachdirectionasrepresentedby
theorangeboxes,solidanddashed.Foreachface,ContactandTarget,thenumberofelementsthatwillbeusedare
illustrated.

Thebrownareaillustratedbelowrepresentstheelementsfromthecontactface.Onthecorrespondingtargetsideexist
potentialelementsfromtheentiretargetface.Theelementsofthetargetfacethatwillbekeptaredrawninblack.On
thetargetFace,eachelementboundingboxisexpandedby10mmandanoverlapissoughtagainsteachelementfrom
thecontactside.Referringtotheimagebelow,theboundingboxesbetweenContactElement1(CE1)andTarget
Element2(TE2)overlapthusTE2isincludedintheanalysis.Meanwhile,CE3andTE4donotoverlapandasaresult,
TE4isnotincludedintheanalysis.Thisresultsinareducednumberofelementsintheanalysisand,typically,afaster
solution.

Suppressed
SpecifieswhetherornottheContactRegionisincludedinthesolution.
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