计算接触力学chapter1.pdfVIP

1 Introduction Boundary value problems involving contact are of great importance in indus- try related to mechanical and civil engineering, but also in environmental and medical applications. Virtually all movements on this planet involve contact and friction, like simple walking or running, driving of cars, riding bicycles or steaming of trains. If friction were not present (see movement on ice), all these motions would not be possible. Also, the area in which a foot, a tyre or a wheel interacts with the soil, the road or the rail is not known a priori, leading to a nonlinear boundary value problem for these simple everyday tasks. Due to the nonlinear nature of contact mechanics, such problems in the past were often approximated by special assumptions within the design process. Due to the rapid improvement of modern computer technology, one can today apply the tools of computational mechanics to simulate applica- tions which include contact mechanisms numerically. This can be done to an accuracy which is sufficient for design purposes. However, even now most of the standard finite element software is not fully capable of solving contact problems, including friction, with robust algorithms. Hence there is still a challenge for the finite element society to design efficient and robust methods for computational contact mechanics. The range of application in contact mechanics starts with relatively simple problems like foundations, see Figure 1.1, in civil engineering, where the lift off F F Fig. 1.1. Contact problems: foundation. 2 1 Introduction Fig. 1.2. Contact problems: roller bearing and impact of a lorry. of the foundation from the soil due to eccentric forces acting on a building are considered. Furthermore, foundations including piles as supporting membe