ADVANCED ENGINEERING

4(2010)1, ISSN 1846-5900

TWO DIMENSIONAL RECEDING CONTACT ANALYSIS

WITH NX NASTRAN
Rončević, B. & Siminiati, D.

Abstract: This paper gives a description of the receding contact problem and provides a short
outline of modelling considerations which characterize an attempt to study the problem using
commercial software with standard solvers typically used for numerical analyses in structural
mechanics, namely NX Nastran in this work. Two dimensional analysis of the problem is
carried out and the results are verified by comparison with solutions reported in literature.

Keywords: receding contact problem, contact half-width, NX Nastran

1 INTRODUCTION
Problems involving contacts between two or more separate deformable or rigid bodies
both with and without the presence of friction and, among many other goals, the
determination of the corresponding contact pressure distribution, stress and dis-
placement fields, shape and dimensions of the contact area as well as of the slip and
stick zones have been an object of intense scientific interest for more than one hundred
years. Despite the enormous diversity of classes of problems in contact mechanics, in
prevailing majority of cases the area of the contact surface increases as the intensity of
the applied load increases. However, a separate class of conforming contact problems
deviates from the mentioned behaviour which can be generally considered as
mechanically intuitive. In these cases the contact area shrinks as the applied load is
increased and the bodies in contact consequently deformed – such contact is referred to
as a receding contact. In a more precise definition given by K. L. Johnson – a receding
contact is one where the loaded contact area is completely contained within the
unloaded contact area [1]. A graphical explication of this definition is given in Fig. 1.
F

A A

b
A-A

Fig. 1. An example of receding contact – layer and substrate pressed together by an indenter

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 Receding contact typically occurs in problems similar to that shown in Fig. 1, i.e.
unbonded layers pressed against the substrate, and in pin connections characterized by
the absence of clearance in the unloaded configuration, which causes the contact area
to cover the whole circumference of the pin. Generally, every receding contact can be
geometrically characterized by the value of the contact half-width b (shown in Fig. 1)
or the contact angle for the problem of pin connections.
Several approaches in both analytical and numerical studies have been resorted to in
an attempt to obtain satisfactory results in the analysis of receding contacts.
1.1 Analytic approach
The principal task in the analysis of contact problems is the determination of the
distribution of contact pressure over the contact surface as well as the stress and
displacement fields. In receding contact problem analysis an additional source of
complexity arises from the necessity to determine the contact half-width b. Analytic
solutions, obtained through some simplifications and assumptions, were the main tool
for quantitative prediction in the period when computational power was modest and
numerical methods were not sufficiently developed. Among a number of analytic
solutions available in literature, for the purposes of this paper the following equation
obtained by Gladwell [2] can be singled out:
3
⎛b⎞ ⎛ 1 −ν 23 1 −ν 13 ⎞
⎜ ⎟ = 1,845⎜⎜ ⎟, (1)
⎝h⎠ ⎝ E2 E1 ⎟⎠
where b is the receding contact half-width, h is the thickness of the layer and ν1,2 and
E1,2 are the Poisson's ratio and Young's modulus for the layer and the substrate,
respectively. This solution is obtained under the assumption of concentrated load
acting on the layer and frictionless contact, and under the assumption that the layer
behaves like a beam in bending undergoing small displacements, while the mass of the
layer is neglected. A more realistic approach investigated by Keer et al. [3], which uses
the proper elasticity relations for the layer, gives solutions relatively close to the ones
obtained by equation (1).
1.2 Numerical approach
Several researchers have studied the receding contact problem by both the finite
element method (FEM) and boundary element method (BEM). Some of the more
recent numerical studies using the FEM were carried out by Jing and Liao [4] and
Satish Kumar et al. [5]. In the application of the BEM analysis some of the recent
studies involve the works of Garrido et al. [6], Del Caño and Paris [7] and Garrido and
Lorenzana [8].
Another approach, although significantly different, which also involves the
application of numerical procedures for the solution of the problem involves analytical
conversion of the elasticity stress fields in the layer and the substrate (mostly assumed
to be semi-infinite) into singular integral equation using integral transforms. The
primary unknowns in the thus obtained singular integral equation are the contact
pressure p(x) and the receding contact half-width b [9-11]. The solution of the integral
equation is then found numerically in the form of a sum of Chebyshev polynomials.
The described studies provide opportunities to solve problems which are outside the
scope of analytical approaches (friction, large displacements etc.), which directly

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implies that the solutions obtained for more realistic considerations differ to a certain
extent from the analytic solutions. However, a good degree of agreement between the
analytical and numerical results can be expected if the problem is modelled under some
of the assumptions and simplifications inherent to the analytic approach.

2 MODELLING AND RESULTS IN NX NASTRAN

2.1 Geometry definition and meshing
The contact was considered as a two-dimensional problem with a concentrated force
F = 1000 N acting on the layer in the negative y direction. The substrate and the layer
are 1 m long (x direction), the substrate is 10 cm thick (y direction) and the layer is 2
cm thick. Material properties are taken to be the same for both bodies: E1,2 = 210 GPa,
ν1,2 = 0,3 and ρ1,2 = 7850 kg/m3.
Plane strain finite elements were used for the meshing of the entire geometry and
the value for element thickness was put to 1 cm. The structure and density of the mesh,
however, differ between the substrate and the layer so the elements and nodes of the
substrate and the layer were put into two separate groups in order to facilitate the
subsequent creation of contact conditions.
In the preliminary analysis the substrate was meshed with 294 elements (El1) and
350 nodes (N1) – the contacting line was meshed with 60 elements (C1) along its entire
length with biased spacing of the nodes and the bias factor of 4 was set towards the
midpoint of the line (where the concentrated force is applied), whereas the bottom line
was meshed with 40 elements (B) with equal spacing of the nodes, which have all been
constrained as fixed. The layer was meshed with 286 elements (El2) and 380 nodes (N2)
– the top line with 90 (T) and the bottom (contacting) line was meshed with 100
elements (C2) along their entire length with biased spacing of the nodes towards the
midpoint and a bias factor of 4. Finally, the node at which the force is applied is
constrained so as to allow only translation in the y direction.
The thus meshed geometry and the applied load are shown in Fig. 2.
F
y
layer

substrate

x
Fig. 2. The meshed geometry for the preliminary analysis

Three additional analyses were carried out with greater densities of the mesh to
obtain more accurate solutions and check for convergence of the obtained results. In the
second case the configuration of the mesh is described by the following values:
El1 = 684, N1 = 770, C1 = 100, B = 50, El2 = 386, N2 = 497, T = 106, C2 = 120.
For the third case the values are:
El1 = 1084, N1 = 1194, C1 = 150, B = 60, El2 = 872, N2 = 1059, T = 180, C2 = 200.
And finally for the fourth case the values are:
El1 = 1727, N1 = 1867, C1 = 200, B = 80, El2 = 1828, N2 = 2103, T = 260, C2 = 300.

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2.2. Contact definition and modelling considerations
In order to model the contact in NX Nastran (FEMAP v10.0 pre-processing), a special
finite element property of the type slide line has to be defined. Slide line elements
contain the nodes lying on the lines/curves or planes/surfaces which are in contact or
are supposed to get into contact as the load is applied. Every slide line element contains
the nodes placed on the contacting curves and/or surfaces of both bodies in contact,
with the nodes of one body defined as the master nodes and on the other as the slave
nodes. The line segments joining two neighbouring slave or master nodes are called the
slave or master segments. Generally, slave nodes are checked for penetration into the
master segments, which is referred to as unsymmetrical penetration. However, if
necessary, both slave and master nodes can be checked for penetration, which is then
called symmetric penetration [12-14]. The choice of master and slave nodes between
the two sets of nodes on the slide line is usually not important, but the slide line
element has to be defined in the xy plane of either the global or local coordinate system
in order to comply with the default software requirements and the nodes have to be
assigned to the master and slave set in sequential topological order, counter-clockwise
moving from the first master node to the last slave node [12].
The bodies in contact are allowed to exhibit large relative motions along the slide
line elements, which consequently provides the possibility of modelling the contact
problem where sliding and contact and separation can occur in a realistic manner.
However the motions outside the zone of contact must remain small.
For the purpose of this analysis the slide line element contains only the nodes at the
interface between the substrate (slave nodes) and the layer (master nodes). In addition,
the problem is considered as frictionless so a comparison can later be made with results
reported in literature.
2.3. Simulation and results
The problem was solved using the NX Nastran solver. Nonlinear static analysis had to
be employed along with an incremental application of the load. The number of load
increments was set to 10 and the number of iterations for each increment was set to 25
to ensure proper convergence of the solution.
The deformed geometry of the model assumes the form shown in Fig. 3., in which
the displacement values are exaggerated so as to demonstrate the qualitative behaviour
of the model more effectively.

Fig. 3. Deformed geometry for the preliminary analysis

The receding property of the contact area in deformed configuration is evident from
Fig. 3. As for the values of the receding contact half-width, the results for all the
analyses are as follows:
b1 ≅ 50,2 mm ; b2 ≅ 40 mm ; b3 ≅ 25,3 mm ; b4 ≅ 26,3 mm . (2)

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3 COMPARISON OF THE RESULTS
The last two values from expression (2) will be compared to the value obtained from
equation (1) and finally to the corresponding solutions from numerical studies
presented in [9]. The analytical calculation is carried out by inserting the values for
E1,2, ν1,2 and h into equation (1), which yields
3
⎛ b ⎞
⎜ ⎟ = 1,845 ⇒ b ≅ 24,5 mm . (3)
⎝ 20 ⎠
A good degree of agreement between the analytic solution in (3) and FEM analysis
results in (2) has been achieved, which can be considered as a preliminary verification
of the obtained results.
El-Borgi et al. in [9] studied the problem of functionally graded elastic layer and a
homogenous elastic half-space pressed together by a uniformly distributed pressure
acting along the half-length a. The shear modulus μ1 of the layer is graded as an
exponential function μ1 = μ2 e βy of the y coordinate, oriented as shown in Fig. 2. The
contact in that work is also considered as a frictionless two-dimensional problem, so
the comparison is appropriate. A solution reported in [9] comparable to the problem
studied in this work is obtained by setting the non-homogeneity parameter β very close
to zero, which equalizes the elastic properties of the substrate and the layer for all
practical purposes, and by choosing the half-length a (along which the load is applied)
to be small enough so as to approximate a concentrated force. By setting βh = 0,001
and a/h = 0,01 the following value is obtained, as reported in [9]:
b
= 1,3243 , (4)
h
which finally yields
b ≅ 26,5 mm . (5)
This value is very close to those obtained thus far, so it can be concluded that the
results are verified.

4 DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK

The presented results show that FEM analysis carried out in NX Nastran gives results
which are in very good agreement with the analytical solution and the numerical
algorithm specifically derived for the analysis of this kind of problem. However, it
should be noted that the solutions obtained for 2D analysis do not entirely match the
solutions obtained when the problem is considered as three dimensional, which is the
case, for instance, in [3] and [11]. In such analyses the normalized receding contact
half-width is found to be approximately
b
= 1,5688 . (6)
h
This work was restricted to 2D analysis only, so 3D analysis in Nastran has not
been carried out, however a reasonable degree of agreement is to be expected.
On the other hand, if the problem is to be considered without various
simplifications such as, among others, the absence of friction, assumption of small
displacements or constant distribution of the applied load, then it is reasonable to

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expect that the obtained solutions would differ significantly from those presented in
Chapters 2 and 3. Nastran software offer the possibility for such analyses, however the
level of their suitability in the pre- and particularly in the post-processing stage should
be investigated in future research. The accuracy of the obtained results in such analyses
should also be compared with existing numerical studies (e.g. in [8] and [11]) and/or
experimental data in order to verify the results.

5 CONCLUSION
A general description of receding contact problems was presented in this work and a
short outline of considerations regarding the issues of contact modelling in Nastran
software was given. Two dimensional analysis was carried out using the NX Nastran
solver and good agreement with analytical and numerical results available in literature
was achieved.

References:
[1] Johnson, K. L. Contact mechanics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992.
[2] Gladwell, G. M. L. (1976). On some unbounded contact problems in plane elasticity
theory. Journal of Applied Mechanics 43, pp. 263-267.
[3] Keer, L. M.; Dundurs, J. & Tsai, K. C. (1972). Problems involving receding contact
between a layer and a half-space. Journal of Applied Mechanics 39, pp. 1115-1120.
[4] Jing, H.–S.; Liao, M.–L. (1990). An improved finite element scheme for elastic contact
problems with friction. Computers and Structures 35(5), pp. 571-578.
[5] Satish Kumar, K.; Dattaguru, B.; Ramamurthy T. S. & Raju, K. N. (1996). Elasto-plastic
contact stress analysis of joints subjected to cyclic loading. Computers and Structures
60(6), pp. 1067-1077.
[6] Garrido, J. A.; Foces, A. & Paris, F. (1991). B.E.M. applied to receding contact problems
with friction. Mathematical and Computer Modeling 15, pp. 143-153.
[7] Del Caño, J. C. & Paris, F. (1997). On stress singularities induced by discretization in
curved receding contact surfaces. International Journal for Numerical Methods in
Engineering 15, pp. 143-154.
[8] Garrido, J. A. & Lorenzana, A. (1998). Receding contact problem involving large
displacements using the BEM. Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 21, pp. 295-
303.
[9] El-Borgi, S.; Abdelmoula, S. & Keer L. M. (2006). A receding contact plane problem
between a functionally graded layer and a homogenous substrate. International Journal of
Solids and Structures 43, pp. 658-674.
[10] Kahya, V.; Ozsahin, T. S.; Birinci, A. & Keer L. M. (2007). A receding contact problem
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[11] Rhimi, M.; El-Borgi, S.; Ben Saïd, W. & Ben Jemaa, F. (2009). A receding contact
axisymmetric problem between a functionally graded layer and a homogenous substrate.
International Journal of Solids and Structures 46, pp. 3633-3642.
[12] Allahabadi, R. (1993). Three Dimensional Slideline Contact. MSC/NASTRAN World
User's Conference.
[13] Brčić, M. & Čanađija, M. (2009). Stress and strain analysis of an axial bellow.
Engineering Review 29(1), pp. 61-70.
[14] MSC.Nastran 2004 Quick Reference Guide. MSC.Software Corporation, 2003.

Received: 2010-07-15

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