A LAGRANGE MULTIPLIER METHOD FOR THE FINITE ELEMENT SOLUTION Of FRICTIONLESS CONTACT PROBLEMS
P. Papadopoulos and J.M. Solberg Math. Comp. Anal. Model., 28, pp. 373-384, (1998)

Abstract
This article proposes a novel Lagrange multiplier-based formulation for the finite element solution of the quasi-static two-body contact problem in the presence of finite motions and deformations. The main idea rests in the interpretation of the two-body contact as a composition of two simultaneous Signorini-like problems, which naturally yield geometrically unbiased approximations of the kinematics and kinetics of frictionless contact. A two-dimensional finite element is introduced that exactly satisfies the impenetrability constraint and allows for the direct computation of consistent pressure distributions on the interacting surfaces.


(If your institution subscribes to the electronic version of the journal, click here for a copy of this article.)