Defining self-contact in an Abaqus/Standard analysis

Certain interaction behaviors can be defined in Abaqus/Standard only by using self-contact; see Contact simulation capabilities in Abaqus/Standard, for more information.

Related Topics
Interaction editors
Customizing contact controls
In Other Guides
About contact pairs in Abaqus/Standard

  1. From the main menu bar, select InteractionCreate.

    Tip: You can also create a self-contact interaction using the tool in the Interaction module toolbox.

  2. In the Create Interaction dialog box that appears, do the following:

    • Name the interaction. For more information about naming objects, see Using basic dialog box components.

    • Select the step in which the interaction will be created.

    • Select the Self-contact (Standard) type of interaction.

  3. Click Continue to close the Create Interaction dialog box.

  4. Use one of the following methods to select the surface:

    • Use an existing surface to define the region. On the right side of the prompt area, click Surfaces. Select an existing surface from the Region Selection dialog box that appears, and click Continue.

      Note:

      The default selection method is based on the selection method you most recently employed. To revert to the other method, click Select in Viewport or Surfaces on the right side of the prompt area.

    • Use the mouse to select a region in the viewport. (For more information, see Selecting objects within the current viewport.) Certain connectivity restrictions apply to contact surfaces depending on the type of contact formulation. For detailed information, see About contact pairs in Abaqus/Standard.

      If the model contains a combination of mesh and geometry, click one of the following from the prompt area:

      • Click Geometry if you want to select the surface from a geometry region.

      • Click Mesh if you want to select the surface from a native or orphan mesh selection.

      You can use the angle method to select a group of faces or edges from geometry or a group of element faces from a mesh. For more information, see Using the angle and feature edge method to select multiple objects.

    The Edit Interaction dialog box appears.

  5. Select the discretization method.

    • Select Node to surface to use the node-to-surface discretization method.

    • Select Surface to surface to use the surface-to-surface discretization method.

    For more information, see Discretization of contact pair surfaces.

  6. Different fields become available depending upon your discretization method selection.

    • For contact interactions using the Node to surface discretization method, you can specify the following:

      1. Enter a smoothing factor in the Degree of smoothing field. For more information, see Smoothing master surfaces for the finite-sliding, node-to-surface formulation.

      2. By default, a selective scheme of supplementary contact constraints is used. You can specify when to Use supplementary contact points as follows:

        • Choose Selectively to use a selective scheme of supplementary contact constraints.

        • Choose Never to forgo the use of supplementary contact constraints.

        • Choose Always to add supplementary contact constraints when applicable.

        For more information, see Supplementary contact constraints.

    • For contact interactions using the Surface to surface discretization method, you can specify the following:

      1. By default, shell and membrane thicknesses are included in the contact calculations. You can toggle on Exclude shell/membrane element thickness to ignore shell and membrane thickness. Contact interactions using the Node to surface discretization method do not account for surface thickness.

      2. Choose the Constraint position.

        • Choose Node centered to center contact constraints at slave nodes.

        • Choose Face centered to center contact constraints within slave faces.

        For more information, see Defining self-contact.

      3. Choose the Contact tracking algorithm.

        • Choose Single configuration (state) to use the state-based tracking algorithm.

        • Choose Two configurations (path) to use the path-based tracking algorithm.

        For more information, see Path-based versus state-based tracking algorithms.

        Note:

        If you use the surface-to-surface discretization method and the surface for which you are defining self-contact is an analytical rigid surface, you should choose the state-based tracking algorithm.

  7. Select a contact interaction property. If desired, click to create the interaction property; see Defining a contact interaction property, for more information.

    If you choose the Surface to surface discretization method, the contact interaction property that you select cannot specify a “hard” contact pressure-overclosure relationship. For more information, see Contact constraint enforcement methods in Abaqus/Standard, and Defining mechanical contact property options.

  8. If desired, click the arrow next to the Contact controls field and select the customized contact controls to use for this interaction. Only previously created Abaqus/Standard contact controls appear in the list. For more information, see Specifying contact controls in an Abaqus/Standard analysis.

  9. To deactivate and reactivate a contact interaction in a step, toggle Active in this step. The contact pair is active in the step in which it was created. For more information, see Removing and reactivating contact pairs.

  10. Click OK to create the interaction and to close the editor.