How to model contact between two fem surfaces

[alexbrownsoft]

Is FEDEM able to model surface contact between FEM or rigid bodies?

[kmokstad]

FEDEM can't do general surface-to-surface contact. However, some point-to-surface contact can be modelled using the Cam Joint (see the User's Guide Section 4.6.4, pages 4.49-4.53). The contact surface is then represented as a set of curve segments (arcs and straight lines), connected to the flexible body at selected FE nodes. The point of contact can then be a node in another body (rigid or flexible). You may also have several potential contact points in the same body connected to the same surface in this way.

You may also use the Free Joint to model simple contact, if the point of contact is known on both bodies.

[alexbrownsoft]

is there possible to model flexible surface to rigid surface contact? I understand contact is quite a common function that could be used in multibody analysis, is there any plan to implent surface contact in future?

[kmokstad]

General flexible surface to rigid surface contact can't be modelled in FEDEM. There is no specific plan to implement support for this in the near future. We have considered to improve the current contact formulation, by allowing for a more general definition of the contact surface, but this will still be a single-point to flexible-surface contact.