Coupling of finite elements and boundary elements methods for study of the frictional contact problem Original Research Article

This paper presents the numerical study of the elastic contact problem with Coulomb friction between both deformable sphere and support, using the finite element method. We solve this problem, governed by a variational inequality, with a successive approximations method, each iteration of which being constituted by the solution of an intermediate problem with normal pressure fixed. To compute stresses in contact, we couple the finite elements with the boundary elements. Our results are conform to the Hertz theory and the analytical solution of Spence. Moreover, our study shows the influence of friction on parameters such as the contact radius and the normal pressure.