Abstract

The contact searching is computationally intensive and its memory requirement is highly demanding; therefore, it is significant to develop an efficient contact search algorithm with less memory required. In this paper, we propose an efficient global contact search algorithm with linear complexity in terms of computational cost and memory requirement for the finite element analysis of contact problems. This algorithm is named LC-Grid (Lei devised the algorithm and Chen implemented it). The contact space is decomposed; thereafter, all contact nodes and segments are firstly mapped onto layers, then onto rows and lastly onto cells. In each mapping level, the linked-list technique is used for the efficient storing and retrieval of contact nodes and segments. The contact detection is performed in each non-empty cell along non-empty rows in each non-empty layer, and moves to the next non-empty layer once a layer is completed. The use of migration strategy makes the algorithm insensitive to mesh size. The properties of this algorithm are investigated and numerically verified to be linearly proportional to the number of contact segments. Besides, the ideal ranges of two significant scale factors of cell size and buffer zone which strongly affect computational efficiency are determined via an illustrative example.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.