A MODULAR APPROACH TO STRUCTURE ASSEMBLY COMPUTATIONS - APPLICATION TO CONTACT PROBLEMS

Presents a modular method for obtaining either a quick or a precise ca lculation for three-dimensional structure assemblies with local non-li nearities, such as unilateral contact with friction, or technological components, such as prestressed bolt joints. An iterative method, incl uding a domain-decomposition technique, is proposed to solve such quas i-static problems in small perturbations. Two types of entities are in troduced: sub-structures and interfaces. A local and a global stage ar e successively carried out by an iterative algorithm until convergence . The linear problem in the global stage is solved by a FEM (3D case) or by another approach using Trefftz functions (2D axisymmetrical case ). Applications developed with AEROSPATIALE-Les Mureaux are presented and concern the study of structure joints with different types of flan ges.