Adaptive finite element techniques for frictional contact problems involving large elastic strains Original Research Article

Adaptive finite element methods have been developed over the last ten years for engineering problems in solid and fluid mechanics. They provide a tool for accurate and reliable analysis which is needed in many applications. The use of these techniques within contact problems is advantageous since the contact area is not known a priori and thus element sizes cannot be estimated beforehand. Furthermore, high gradients of stresses can occur in the contact interface which then need a sufficient refinement of the mesh for an accurate analysis. Within this work an adaptive finite element method is developed for large strain problems of two or more deformable bodies being in frictional contact. For this purpose we discuss new error indicators and error estimators related to the contact area. Based on these quantities and the known estimates for the solid body, a numerical method is constructed which allows automatic mesh refinement.