Application of piece-wise linear weight functions for 2D 8-node quadrilateral element in contact problems

The present study is a continuation of our previous work with the aim to reduce problems caused by standard higher order elements in contact problems. The difficulties can be attributed to the inherent property of the Galerkin method which gives uneven distributions of nodal forces resulting in oscillating contact pressures. The proposed remedy is use of piece-wise linear weight functions. The methods to establish stiffness and/or mass matrix for 8-node quadrilateral element in 2D are presented, i.e. the condensing and direct procedures. The energy and nodal displacement error norms are also checked to establish the convergence ratio. Interpretation of calculated contact pressures is discussed. Two new 2D 8-node quadrilateral elements, QUAD8C and QUAD8D, are derived and tested in many examples, which show their good performance in contact problems