peteroznewman
Subscriber

Hi Andre,

Bonded contact is a linear contact and can be solved using a linear solution while Frictional contact is nonlinear and requires a nonlinear solution method. That may be the reason for a large difference in results.

You can force the bonded contact to use a nonlinear solution method by turning on the Large Deflection setting under Analysis Settings.  Make this change for both the Bonded and the Frictional models and get a fresh Solution for each one.  Does that make the results any closer?

It would be good to see the size of the elements being used in this model. There should be at least 2 elements through the thickness of all the bars.