Structural & Thermal

Structural & Thermal

How to decide which side should be Contact and which should be target in Contact definition?

    • FAQFAQ
      Participant

      By default, Mechanical uses what is called auto-asymmetric contact behavior: In some situations, there is a “preferred” designation of the contact and target sides. Initially, solver assumes that such a preference does not exist, and the contact pair is duplicated internally with the contact and target roles reversed — this is called symmetric contact. If the solver is subsequently able to detect a preferred arrangement, then the non-preferred contact pair is removed — this is called asymmetric contact. The following guidelines can be beneficial for proper selection of contact surfaces for Asymmetric behavior: If a convex surface comes into contact with a flat or concave surface, the flat or concave surface should be the Target surface. If one surface has a coarse mesh and the other a fine mesh, the surface with the coarse mesh should be the Target surface. If one surface is stiffer than the other, the stiffer surface should be the Target surface. If one surface is higher order and the other is lower order, the lower order surface should be the Target surface. If one surface is larger than the other, the larger surface should be the Target surface. For edge to face contact, edge must be contact and face must be the target. They can not be switched.