ON ELASTOPLASTIC FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF SOME FRICTIONAL CONTACT PROBLEMS WITH LARGE SLIDING

Some frictional contact problems are characterized by significant vari ations in the location and size of the contact area occurring in the p rocess of deformation. When this feature is combined with strongly non -linear, path-dependent material behaviour, difficulties with converge nce of the typically used iterative processes can be encountered. Demo nstrates this by analysis of press-fit connection, a typical problem i n which both of those characteristics can be present. Offers an explan ation as to the possible source of those difficulties. Suggests in sup port of this explanation, two simple modifications of the usual iterat ive schemes. In spite of their simplicity, they are found to be more r obust than those usual schemes which are normally used in numerical an alysis of similar problems.