A review of three alternative approaches to modelling frictional contact problems using the boundary element method

Abstract

This paper reviews three alternative boundary element approaches to modelling contact problems with frictional slipping developed by the present authors. The first method is based on node-on-node matching along the interface while the other two allow an independent discretization of the contacting bodies. The various features and the relative merits and demerits of each approach are described, and results obtained from the three approaches are compared for some practical examples involving frictional slipping at the interface. The approaches are developed for two-dimensional and axisymmetric problems with linearly elastic material behaviour and under static and proportional loading conditions.