A SEMINUMERICAL METHOD FOR 3-DIMENSIONAL FRICTIONLESS CONTACT PROBLEMS

A seminumerical method of solving three-dimensional frictionless conta ct problems between two elastic bodies subjected to a normal loading i s presented. This method is a generalization of an existing one, the g enerality is relating to the contact type (conformal or antiformal) an d to the contact geometry (arbitrary shape of the bodies). Based on th e use of influence functions, this method requires the discretization of the different contact criteria over a candidate contact surface and the optimization of the solution to fulfill these criteria. It allows us the determination of the true contact surface, the pressure distri bution, and the approach between the two bodies. The method has been i mplemented in a computer program called ''CONTELA'', and has been appl ied for antiformal geometries (our results are in close agreement with Hertz analytical model) and for closely conformal geometries (our cal culations confirm the Hertz theory limitation to deal with this kind o f contact geometry). (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserve d.