On the modelling of complex anisotropic frictional contact laws

Abstract

In this paper, the formulation of complex anisotropic frictional models with orthotropic friction condition and non-associated sliding rule is discussed. The friction law is described by a superellipse, which allow to consider a wide range of convex friction condition by simply varying the roundness factor affecting the shape of the limit surface. The sliding potential is also a superellipse but with a different semi-axis ratio, which lead to a non-associated sliding rule. For bodies in contact, the Signorini conditions can be formulated in terms of velocities and combined with the sliding rule to give the frictional contact law describing interfacial interactions. Its is shown that the frictional contact law as well as its inverse can be derived from the same scalar valued function called bi-potential. Due to the non-associated nature of the law, this relation is implicit. The advantage of the present formulation lies in the existence of stationary points of a functional, called bi-functional, that depends on both the displacements and the stresses.