Isogeometric contact analysis using mortar method

SUMMARY In the present work, an isogeometric contact analysis scheme using mortar method is proposed. Because the isogeometric analysis is employed for contact analysis, the geometric exactness of the contact region is maintained without any loss of geometric data because of geometry approximation. Thus, the proposed method can overcome underlying shortcomings that result from the geometric approximation of contact surfaces in the conventional finite element (FE)‐based contact analysis. For an isogeometric contact analysis, the schemes for treating the contact conditions and detecting the real contact surfaces are essentially required. In the proposed method, the mortar method is adopted as a nonconforming contact treatment scheme because it is expected to be in good harmony with the useful characteristics of nonuniform rational B‐spline A new matching algorithm is proposed to combine the mortar method with the isogeometric analysis to guarantee consistent contact surface information with the nonuniform rational B‐spline curve. The present scheme is verified by patch test and the well‐known problems which have theoretical solutions such as interference fit and the Hertzian contact problem. It is shown that the problems with curved contact surfaces which are difficult to treat by conventional approaches can be easily dealt with. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.