Contact Modeling in LS-DYNA

Contact treatment forms an integral part of many large-deformation problems. Accurate modeling of contact interfaces between bodies is crucial to the prediction capability of the finite element simulations. LS-DYNA offers a large number of contact types. Some types are for specific applications, and others are suitable for more general use. Many of the older contact types are rarely used but are still retained to enable older models to run as they did in the past. Users are faced with numerous choices in modeling contact. This document is designed to provide an overview of contact treatment in LS-DYNA and to serve as a guide for choosing appropriate contact types and parameters.

How contact works

In LS-DYNA, a contact is defined by identifying (via parts, part sets, segment sets, and/or node sets) what locations are to be checked for potential penetration of a slave node through a master segment.

Contact types

In crash analysis, the deformations can be very large and predetermination of where and how contact will take place may be difficult or impossible. For this reason, the automatic contact options are recommended as these contacts are non-oriented, meaning they can detect penetration coming from either side of a shell element.

Contact stiffness calculation

Contact treatment is internally represented by linear springs between the slave nodes and the nearest master segments. The stiffness of these springs determines the force that will be applied to the slave nodes and the master nodes.

Contact output

There are numerous output files pertaining to contact which can be written by LS-DYNA. LSPOST can read these output files and plot the results.

Contact parameters

There are several contact-related parameters in LS-DYNA that can be used to modify or, in many cases, improve contact behavior.

Modeling guidelines for full vehicle contact

Crash analysis involving a full vehicle incorporates contact interactions between all free surfaces. This is quite expensive since 20-30 percent of the total calculation CPU time is used by the contact treatment.

Airbag contact

Simulation of airbag deployment and interaction of an airbag with other components may require special contact treatment.

Edge-to-edge contact

Most contact types do not check for edge-to-edge penetrations as the search entails only nodal penetration through a segment. This may be adequate in many cases; however, in some unique shell contact conditions, the treatment of edge-to-edge contact becomes very important.