Managing contact sets

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In this video, you’ll:

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generate contact sets between models,

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assign appropriate contact tolerance,

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understand appropriate contact type for application,

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and configure appropriate options for contact set.

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When simulating the behavior of two components in an assembly under load conditions,

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you may need to define a Contact to describe the interface between them,

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and thereby cause the bodies to interact appropriately.

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Without a defined contact, the bodies could pass through each other during the simulation.

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To begin, open the file Automatic and Manual Contacts.f3d.

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First, create contacts automatically.

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From the Browser, under Study 1-Static Stress, right-click Contacts and, from the shortcut menu,

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select Automatic Contacts to open the Automatic Contacts dialog.

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From here, automatic contacts sets are generated based on the default contact type,

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which is bonded, and the default parameters.

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By default, solids that do not exceed the Contact Detection Tolerance of 0.10mm will produce automatically generated contact sets.

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Solids separated by a distance greater than the specified tolerance will not receive an automatic contact.

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To override this tolerance, you can simply update the Solids value field.

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For this exercise, leave the value as-is and click Generate.

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A Progress dialog displays momentarily.

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Then, you can inspect the generated contacts.

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From the Browser, right-click Contacts and select Manage Contacts.

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In the Contacts Manager dialog, expand the entry.

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Now, you can review the bodies and entities that make up the contact set.

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Select Face 4.

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In the canvas, the face highlights.

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Then, select Face 9.

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Again, the face highlights in the canvas.

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Click OK to close the dialog.

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Now, measure the distance between the face opposite Face 9 and Face 4.

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From the Toolbar, expand the Inspect drop-down and select Measure.

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Select the face opposite Face 9.

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Then, select Face 4.

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In the dialog, under Results, next to Distance, the measurement is listed as 1.00mm.

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Since this distance exceeds the Contact Detection Tolerance of 0.10mm,

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the gap was ignored during automatic contact generation, and no contact was created.

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However, you can manually create a contact between the two faces.

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From the Browser, right-click Contacts and this time, select Manual Contacts.

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The Manual Contacts dialog displays.

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When defining the contact conditions manually,

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one body in each contact set is defined as the Primary Body and the other body is defined as the Secondary Body.

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Select the top body as the Primary Body and the lower body as the Secondary Body.

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Next, you must specify the faces that will be in contact with one another.

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In the canvas, select Face 4 and then, back in the dialog, next to Selection Set 2, click the selection tool.

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Back in the canvas, select the face opposite Face 9.

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Return to the dialog.

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Expand the Contact Type drop-down.

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Here, you can choose from a variety of contact types.

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These types include Bonded, Separation, Sliding, Rough, or Offset Bonded.

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Because the gap between the two faces is substantial, select Offset Bonded.

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Next, in the Max. Activation Distance field, enter the distance between the nodes where a contact will be created.

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In this instance, enter 1.3, to slightly exceed the distance previously measured.

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Click OK.

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Next, solve the study.

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From the Toolbar, Solve panel, select Solve.

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The Solve dialog displays.

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Cloud credits are charged per finished simulation study solved in the cloud.

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You can solve multiple studies at once so the charged credits depend on the number of simulation solves.

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Choose to either solve in the cloud or locally, and then click Solve.

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The Job Status dialog displays.

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When the solving job is complete, orbit the model to review the results.

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From the legend, expand the display drop-down and select Stress.

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The two contacts that you created have bonded the surfaces of the two components together.

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Click Finish Results.

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Save the file.

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Next, open the exercise file, Sliding Contact.f3d.

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Create automatic contacts for this model.

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From the Browser, right-click Contacts and select Automatic Contacts.

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In the Automatic Contacts dialog, leave the default Contact Detection Tolerance set to 0.1mm.

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Click Generate.

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Right-click Contacts to open the Contacts Manager again.

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Here, you can see that two bonded contacts have been automatically created.

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Expand Bonded2.

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Review the Bodies and Entities of the contact set.

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Select one of the faces in the set, and it highlights in the canvas.

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Then, select the other face.

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Again, the face highlights in the canvas.

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Expand Bonded1.

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Again, review the Bodies and Entities of the contact set.

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Then, expand the Contact Type drop-down.

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Select Sliding.

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A sliding contact type allows the surfaces to slide relative to one another but not to come apart.

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Click OK.

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Then, Solve the study.

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Once the study is solved and the results display in the canvas, from the Toolbar, Result Tools panel, select Animate.

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The Animate dialog displays.

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Enable Play to review the behavior imparted by the sliding contact.

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Click OK to close the dialog.

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From the Toolbar, select Finish Results.

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Open the Contacts Manager once more.

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Expand the Sliding1 Contact Type drop-down.

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From here, you can choose to select Separation.

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Separation allows components to come apart and slide relative to one another, but not go through each other.

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You could also choose Rough, which allows components to come apart,

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but will not allow them to slide relative to one another, nor go through each other.

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Save the file.

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Managing contacts in a simulation study lets you see how separate parts will interact under loads.