Understanding Contact Conditions

Contact Status

The Contact Tool allows you to examine contact conditions on an assembly both before loading, and as part of the final solution to verify the transfer of loads (forces and moments) across the various contact regions.

The Contact Tool is an object you can insert under a Connections branch object for examining initial contact conditions, or under a Solution or Solution Combination branch object for examining the effects of contact as part of the solution. 

License Note

Contact Tool object can only be used in the Solution branch with the Professional license and above. Contact Tool object can be used in the Connections branch with a DesignSpace license but must be removed from the outline tree before saving the .dsdb.

Using the Contact Tool in your Simulation

Add Contact Tool to the Connections Branch

To add the Contact Tool to the Connections branch, select the Connections branch and use the context toolbar Contact pull down menu, or right click on the Connections branch and insert the Contact Tool.

Initial Contact Tool Options

Initial Information - Worksheet view of initial contact conditions Penetration - Amount of initial penetration Gap - Amount of initial gap Status - Contact relation (Far, Near, Sliding, Sticking)

Add Contact Tool to the Solutions Branch

To add the Contact Tool to the Solutions branch, select the Solutions branch and use the context toolbar Tools pull down menu, or right click on the Solutions branch and insert the Contact Tool.

Solution Contact Tool Options

Frictional Stress - Amount of stress at a frictional contact region Penetration - Amount of initial penetration Gap - Amount of initial gap Status - Contact relation (Far, Near, Sliding, Sticking) Pressure - Amount of pressure at a contact region Sliding Distance - Amount of displacement from original contact position

View Animation on How to use the Contact Tool