CONTACT ANALYSIS

CONTENTS
WHAT IS CONTACT ANALYSIS? BASIC STEPS OF CONTACT ANALYSIS COMMON DIFFICULTIES IN CONTACT ANALYSIS

CONTACT PARAMETERS THAT CAN BE CUSTOMISED

RESOLVING CONTACT PROBLEMS VARIOUS DESIGN SCENARIOS THAT CAN BE ANALYSED IN ANSYS

WHAT IS CONTACT ANALYSIS?

Often we need to analyze design scenarios where parts are initially touching or come into contact later. SHRINK FITS MATERIAL FORMING PROCESSES IMPACT

THREE MODELS DEMONSTRATE TYPICAL APPLICATIONS FOR CONTACT ANALYSIS

 For a shrink fit problem, a fitted shaft expanded under a temperature load and the stresses were calculated in the surrounding material (contact between the parts was accurately simulated even though the nodes were not matched) The impact of a steel pinball striking a drop target was studied to determine the target's stresses and distortions.

In a planetary gear system, surface-to-surface contact was used to drive the motion of the four planet gears as the sun gear in the center is rotated.

BASIC STEPS OF CONTACT ANALYSIS

Create the geometry and mesh Reasonably smooth surface and fine mesh works best for contact analysis. Define the type of element. Element behaiviour. Identify and define possible contact areas Multiple surface would interact.

Determine the contact parameters

These can be calculated based on material properties, geometry, mesh.

Determine the solution method Linear or non linear, plane stress or plane strain.

Apply necessary loads and constraints Perform the analysis Review the results

COMMON DIFFICULTIES IN CONTACT ANALYSIS

Non-smooth surfaces Soft and hard materials Fast-moving impact Large deformation

CONTACT PARAMETERS THAT CAN BE CUSTOMISED

Contact Stiffness: automatically calculated from the geometry and material properties of the parts in the contact pair. Contact Tolerance: the distance between any two nodes on the surfaces at which contact will occur. Contact Interaction: Distance: contact is only considered if the two surfaces are closer than this value, used to speed calculations. Maximum Penetration Distance: surface contact is not enforced when a point on the secondary surfaces is more than this value. Maximum Initial Distance: if the initial distance between elements is greater than this value, contact is not created Extend Contact: Element Sides: can specify the length for extending contact element boundaries

RESOLVING CONTACT PROBLEMS

No single set of contact parameter values can provide an accurate solution Many models can solved by using automatic default settings Some models may benefit from changes in controlling parameters Hence one must have a good understanding of functionality of each parameter. When there are any convergence problems or poor results, geometry, mesh, contact parameters and material properties must be carefully checked.

VARIOUS DESIGN SCENARIOS THAT CAN BE ANALYSED IN ANSYS

Node-Node, Node-Surface, Surface-Surface LineLine Contact. Rigid-Rigid, Flexible-Flexible, Rigid-Flexible, SelfContact. Small and Large Sliding with Friction Friction Sliding (Small/Large Deformation) Multiphysics Contact

VARIOUS DESIGN SCENARIOS THAT CAN BE ANALYSED IN ANSYS

Types of assembly contact
Solid-Solid Assembly Solid-Shell Assembly Shell-Shell Assembly Beam-Solid Assembly Beam Shell Assembly

VARIOUS DESIGN SCENARIOS THAT CAN BE ANALYSED IN ANSYS

Rigid-Flexible Contact

Rigid-Flexible Contact
Self Contact

MPC Connection for Solid-Shell Assembly

Self Contact and Flexible-Flexible

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