This option is used to provide additional optional solution controls for models involving contact between bodies. The standard solution controls are usually sufficient, but additional controls are helpful to obtain cost-effective solutions for models involving complicated geometries and numerous contact interfaces, as well as for models in which rigid body motions are initially not constrained.
The *CONTACT CONTROLS option can be repeated to set different control values for different contact pairs. It must be used in conjunction with the *CONTACT PAIR option in Abaqus/Explicit analyses.
Products: Abaqus/Standard Abaqus/Explicit Abaqus/CAE
Type: History data
Level: Step
Abaqus/CAE: Interaction module
“Adjusting contact controls in Abaqus/Standard,” Section 34.3.6 of the Abaqus Analysis User's Manual
Set this parameter equal to the allowable penetration. Only contact constraints defined with augmented Lagrangian surface behavior will be affected by this parameter.
Set this parameter equal to the ratio of the allowable penetration to the characteristic contact surface face dimension. Only contact constraints defined with augmented Lagrangian surface behavior will be affected by this parameter. By default, the RELATIVE PENETRATION TOLERANCE parameter is set to 0.1% except for finite-sliding, surface-to-surface contact, in which case the default setting is 5%.
Set this parameter equal to the master surface name to apply the controls to a specific contact pair. This parameter must be used in conjunction with the SLAVE parameter to specify a contact pair.
Set this parameter equal to the factor by which Abaqus/Standard will scale the default tangential stiffness used for the contact pairs in a particular linear perturbation step. Only contact constraints enforced with penalty methods will be affected by this parameter. This tangential scale factor is activated when a nonzero friction is specified on the data line of the *FRICTION option.
Include this parameter to reset all contact controls to their default values. This parameter cannot be used with any other parameters, except for the SLAVE and MASTER parameters. When this parameter is used in conjunction with the SLAVE and MASTER parameters, the controls applied to the specific contact pair are removed.
Set this parameter equal to the slave surface name to apply the controls to a specific contact pair. This parameter must be used in conjunction with the MASTER parameter to specify a contact pair.
Include this parameter to address situations where rigid body modes exist as long as contact is not fully established. This parameter activates damping in the normal and tangential directions based on the stiffness of the underlying mesh and the time step size. If no value is assigned to this parameter, Abaqus will calculate the damping coefficient automatically. If a value is assigned to this parameter, Abaqus will multiply the automatically calculated damping coefficient by this value. If the damping coefficient is defined directly on the data line, any value assigned to this parameter will be ignored.
The STABILIZE parameter can be used to specify damping for the whole model or for an individual contact pair by using the SLAVE and MASTER parameters. Values specified for a specific contact pair override the values for the whole model, if given.
Set this parameter equal to the factor by which Abaqus/Standard will scale the default penalty stiffness to obtain the stiffnesses used for the contact pairs. Only contact constraints enforced with the augmented Lagrangian and penalty methods will be affected by this parameter. This scale factor acts as an additional multiplier on any scale factor specified on the data line of the *SURFACE BEHAVIOR option.
Set this parameter equal to a fraction of the damping in the normal direction as specified with the STABILIZE parameter. By default, the tangential and normal stabilization are the same.
First (and only) line:
Damping coefficient to be used in the contact interface. The value entered overrides the damping coefficient calculated by Abaqus.
Fraction of the damping that remains at the end of the step. The default is zero. Set to one to keep the damping constant over the step. If a nonzero value is specified, convergence problems may occur in a subsequent step if stabilization is not used in that step.
Clearance at which the damping becomes zero. By default, the clearance is calculated by Abaqus based on the facet size associated with the contact pair. Set to a large value to obtain damping independent of the opening distance.
Warning: These controls are intended for experienced analysts and should be used with care. Using nondefault values of these controls may greatly increase the computational time of the analysis or produce inaccurate results.
Set this parameter equal to the name of the contact pair set associated with this contact controls definition. The contact controls defined with this option will be applied to all contact pairs having this contact pair set name.
Set FASTLOCALTRK=NO if contact is not being enforced appropriately. A more conservative local tracking method will be used that may resolve the error. The default is FASTLOCALTRK=YES, which uses a more computationally efficient local tracking method.
Set this parameter equal to the maximum number of increments between global contact searches. The default is 100 increments for two-surface contact and 4 increments for self-contact.
Include this parameter to reset all of the optional controls to their default values. Those controls that are explicitly specified with other parameters on the same *CONTACT CONTROLS option are not reset. If this parameter is omitted, only the explicitly specified controls will be changed in the current step; the others will remain at their previous settings.
Set this parameter equal to the factor by which Abaqus/Explicit will scale the default penalty stiffnesses to obtain the stiffnesses used for the penalty contact pairs within the contact pair set specified with the CPSET parameter. Penalty contact constraints defined with softened surface behavior and kinematic contact constraints will not be affected by this parameter. By default, the SCALE PENALTY parameter is set to unity.
Set this parameter equal to the number of increments between checks for highly warped facets on master surfaces. By default, this check is performed every 20 increments. More frequent checks will cause a slight increase in computational time.
Set this parameter equal to the out-of-plane warping angle, measured in degrees, at which a facet will be considered to be highly warped. The out-of-plane warping angle is defined as the amount of variation of the surface normal over a facet. The default is WARP CUT OFF=20.