Numerical analysis of a frictionless elasto-viscoplastic contact problem with normal compliance

We present a variational formulation of a quasistatic contact problem betwe en an elastic-viscoplastic body and an obstacle with normal compliance, and we prove the existence and uniqueness of the weak solution. We then study the numerical approach of the the problem using a finite elements scheme wi th implicit discretization in time, and we present numerical results. (C) 2 000 Academie des sciences/Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.