Learning Forum

[pgl]

What is pinball radius and does mesh size effect this value?

[Arun]

The pinball region size (i.e., "pinball radius") defines the boundary between near field and far field open status. The code only calculates gap data for elements in near open stauts. Pinball will influence what amount of gap or penetration is allowed for bonded contact. (In other words, if your clearance < pinball radius, the two surfaces will be bonded together.) The pinball radius is also used in frictional contact to define near vs. far-field contact - if contact elements are in the near-field to the target elements, then more contact checking is performed. Since the default, automatically-calculated pinball radius value is based on the mesh density, having a finer mesh will result in a smaller pinball radius and this may cause problem.