QUADRATIC-PROGRAMMING ALGORITHMS FOR OBSTACLE PROBLEMS

The numerical solution of problems involving frictionless contact betw een an elastic body and a rigid obstacle is considered. The elastic bo dy may undergo small or large deformation. Finite element discretizati on and repetitive linearization lead to a sequence of quadratic progra mming (QP) problems for incremental displacement. The performances of several QP algorithms, including two new versions of a modified steepe st descent algorithm, are compared in this context. Numerical examples include a string, a membrane and an Euler-Bernoulli beam, in contact with flat and non-flat rigid obstacles.