Computational aspects on the frictional unilateral contact problem arising on steel base plate connections

In the present paper, a finite element-quadratic programming approach is applied for the numerical treatment of problems involving frictional contact between elastic–plastic bodies and/or a rigid obstacle. The method is based on the theoretical results of nonsmooth mechanics and intends to effectively simulate the frictional unilateral contact problem arising on a steel base plate connection. Yielding phenomena are also taken into account. The proposed solution scheme is iterative, where the first iteration step is used to calculate the normal to the interface direction contact forces, whereas the second one corresponds to the computation of the frictional forces in the tangential direction. The proposed method is illustrated by means of a numerical example of a two-dimensional finite element model of a steel base plate connection.