ON A FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR DYNAMIC CONTACT/IMPACT PROBLEMS
R. L. TAYLOR AND P. PAPADOPOULOS Finite Elements in the 90's , E. Onate, J. Periaux and A. Samuelson editors, pp. 212-224, Springer-Verlag/CIMNE, Barcelona, 1991

Abstract
This paper addresses the formulation and discrete approximation of dynamic contact initial-value problems. The continuous problem is presented in the context of non-linear kinematics. Standard semi-discrete time integrators are introduced and are shown to be unsuccessful in modeling the kinematic constraints imposed on the interacting bodies during persistent contact. A procedure that bypasses the aforementioned difficulties is proposed by means of a novel variational formulation. Numerical simulations are conducted and the results are reported and discussed.