Effect of Contact Parameters on the Accuracy and Computational Efficiency of Finite Element Analysis in the Interference Analysis

Bharat Panjwani

Abstract: Contact pressure generated due to interference is of high interest to simulation engineers in commonly used interference method to assemble components in the industry. FEA (finite element analysis) is widely used to evaluate contact pressure in assemblies thus it is crucial to understand the effect of contact parameters on the accuracy and computational efficiency of FEA. In this study, 3D (three-dimensional) model of concentric cylinders assembly was analyzed for contact pressure at different radial interference values. The effect of contact parameters (formulation algorithms, stiffness) on the accuracy and computational efficiency was investigated. All analyzed cases provided results close to analytical results though showed variation in the computational efficiency. Later part of this study also examines the accuracy of the user defined surface contact offset method in comparison with geometrical penetration method to simulate interference in FEA.

Keywords: Interference, Contact formulations, Finite element analysis, Contact offset