Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling

in MSC Nastran
 Overview

• Contact Algorithms
• Node to Segment
• Segment to Segment
• Special Features
• Stress-Free Initial Contact
• Interference
• Analytic contact surface
• Friction
• Maintain Initial Gap/Overlap
• Beam to Beam Contact
• Convergence and controls with contact

2 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Overview

• Contact Algorithms
• Node to Segment
• Segment to Segment
• Special Features
• Stress-Free Initial Contact
• Interference
• Analytic contact surface
• Friction
• Maintain Initial Gap/Overlap
• Beam to Beam Contact
• Convergence and controls with contact

3 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Detection for Node to Segment (NTS)

• Contact detection is the process of determining the interaction between two contact bodies
• Node to segment contact
• A node from one body interacts with segment of another body
• Segments
• Curve
• Surface
• Element edge
• Element face
• When contact detected:
• MSC Nastran enforces non-penetration constrains on a nodal basis, using multi-point constraint equations

4 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Possible Contact Scenarios
distance tolerance
Slave

1
2
3
4
Master

1) Node outside element patch, outside distance tolerance

2) Node outside element patch, inside distance tolerance
3) Node inside element patch, inside distance tolerance
4) Node inside element patch, outside distance tolerance

5 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Detection: Scenario 1

• Slave node outside master and outside contact distance tolerance D1

• Bodies are not in contact
• Nothing has to be done, most simple case

D1
Slave
D2
ns
nm

Distance Tolerances
Master D1=(1 – BIAS)xERROR
D2=(1 + BIAS)xERROR

n – contact normals

6 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Distance Tolerance

• ERROR, BIAS and ERRBAS are the three parameters used to calculate the distance tolerance
Distance Tolerance =(1 +/- BIAS) x ERROR
BCPARA 0 ERROR 0.25 BIAS 0.9 ERRBAS 1

BCONPRG 1 ERROR .25 BIAS 0.9

• Input on BCPARA or BCONPRG

• ERROR - Contact distance
• 1⁄20 x “smallest element edge” for continuum elements
• 1∕4 x “smallest thickness” for beam and shell elements
• BIAS - Contact tolerance bias factor
• Between 0.0 and 1.0
• Default value is 0.9
• For glued contact it will be 0.0
• Input on BCPARA
• ERRBAS - Error computation option
• Default = 0, Global
• 1, calculated based on each contact pair

7 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Detection: Scenario 2

• Slave node outside master but inside D1

• Only at the start of an increment is the slave considered for contact
• Apply contact constraint and iterate until the solution converges (equilibrium).
• Then check the contact force
• In case of contact, go to the next increment
• Otherwise, no contact, (separation) continue iterating

Start of Increment D1

Slave Equilibrium
D2
Slave

MasterF < F (FNTOL)

c s Fc
If YES, then contact
Master

8 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Separation Check

• BCPARA / IBSEP – Separation Flag

• For quadratic contact, only options 2 or 4 can be used since the nodal forces do not provide proper values
flag Separation Based On Separation Occurs When Notes for when FNTOL = 0

It will be taken as the absolute

0 Contact pulling force
Forces value of the largest component in
default exceeds FNTOL
the residual force vector

It will be 0.1 times the maximum

Absolute stress Contact stress exceeds
1 nominal contact pushing stress of
(force/area) FNTOL
any node of any contact body
Absolute stress
It will be 0.1 times the maximum
(extrapolating Contact stress exceeds
2 nodal pushing stress of any node
integration point FNTOL
of any contact body
stresses)
Contact stress exceeds
Relative nodal stress
3 FNTOL times the maximum It will be taken as 0.1
(force/area)
contact stress in the model
Relative Stress
Contact stress exceeds
(extrapolating
4 FNTOL times the maximum It will be taken as 0.1
integration point
contact stress in the model
stresses)
9 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Separation Control

• BCPARA / ICSEP – Separation Control Flag

Flag Node Force Relations

The node separates and an iteration occurs if the force

0 default
on the node is greater than the separation force.

If a node which is in contact at the end of the previous

increment has a force greater than the separation
1 force, the node does NOT separate in this increment,
but separates at the beginning of the next increment.
(prevents chattering)
If a new node comes into contact during this
2 increment, it is not allowed to separate during this
increment.

3 Both 1 and 2 are in effect

10 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Detection: Scenario 3

• Slave node inside master and inside D2

• Apply contact constraint and iterate until the solution converges (equilibrium)
• Then check the contact force
• In case of contact, go to the next increment
• Otherwise, no contact, (separation) continue iterating

Start of Increment
D1
D2
Equilibrium
Slave
Slave

Master Master
Fc
Fc < Fs (FNTOL)
If YES, then contact

11 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Detection: Scenario 4

• Slave node inside master but outside D2

• Slave node has penetrated
• For statics: repeat iteration with scaled back Dui (maximum penetration: 10% of D2). If converged check for separation. If
separated continue iterating. Otherwise go to the next increment.
• For dynamics: scale back the time step appropriately.
• If this situation occurs at the beginning of the analysis, contact will not be found.
• Prepare your model so that this situation does not occur initially

D1
D2

Master
Slave

12 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Effect of Contact Tolerances

• Contact tolerance has significant impact on the computational costs and the accuracy of the solution
• Contact tolerances too small:
• Detection of contact is difficult, leading to higher costs
• Initial contact might not be detected
• Contact tolerance too large:
• Nodes are considered in contact prematurely, resulting in a loss of accuracy
• Nodes might “penetrate” the surface by a large amount

13 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Search Order

• Contact Search Order is important for node to segment contact

• Using defaults can result in contacts which may converge, but do not appropriately model the situation
• There are various search order options, and it is important to understand them.

14 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Search Order

• ISEARCH
• Parameter is used to control the search procedure
• Located on the BCONPRG entry
BCONPRG BCGPID PARAM1 VAL1 PARAM2 VAL2 PARAM3 VAL3

PARAM4 VAL4 PARAM5 VAL5 -etc.-

BCONPRG 2 ISEARCH 0

• ISEARCH can be set to:

ISEARCH
Name Definition Explanation
value

Double The lower numbered body is

0 Body 1 is checked against bodies 1,2, 3 . . .
order check with itself and then with
default Body 2 is checked against 2, 3, 4 . . .
search higher numbered bodies

Surface i is checked for contact with surface j, and

Single order Checks possible contact
1 surface j also checked for contact with surface i.
search between any two surfaces
Where j = 1,2, . . . (total number of surfaces)

Body with finer mesh

2 Automatic
automatically becomes slave
15 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Contact Search Order

• Optimized Contact (ISTYP = 2)

• Double order search with automatic optimization of contact constraint equations
• SOL400 optimizes the constraints based upon stiffness and mesh densities
• Use ISEARCH = 0, and ISTYP = 2 (ISTYP is set on BCBDPRP entry)
BCBDPRP PID PARAM1 VAL1 PARAM2 VAL2 PARAM3 VAL3

PARAM4 VAL4 PARAM5 VAL5 -etc.-

BCBDPRP 90 ISTYP 2

• One use is when contact transitions over many mesh dimensions

Example where optimized contact is beneficial

16 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Contact Search Order
2 2
7
wrong body 7
body 2 numbering 6 Body 2
6
body 1 3 (Master) Body 1 3 (Slave)
(Slave) (Master)
5 5
4 4

1. Check Body 1: 2. Check Body 2:

u3 = u(u5, u6) u4 = u(u1, u3) skipped, since node

u5 = u(u1, u3) 3 has already been
independent u6 = u(u3, u2) used as a slave
dependent u7 = u(u3, u2) node

17 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Search Order
2 2
7 7
correct body
body 1 numbering 6 body 1
6
Body 2 3 (Slave) body 2 3 (Master)
(Master) (Slave)
5 5
4 4

1 1

1. Check Body 1: 2. Check Body 2:

u4 = u(u1, u3)
u5 = u(u1, u3) u3 = u(u5, u6)
u6 = u(u3, u2)
u7 = u(u3, u2) skipped, but okay!

18 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Overview

• Contact Algorithms
• Node to Segment
• Segment to Segment
• Special Features
• Stress-Free Initial Contact
• Interference
• Analytic contact surface
• Friction
• Maintain Initial Gap/Overlap
• Beam to Beam Contact
• Convergence and controls with contact

19 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Segment to Segment Contact Advantages

• Node to Segment Contact (NTS) has some drawbacks which can be avoided by using Segment to Segment Contact
(STS)
Node to Segment (Stress) Segment to Segment (Stress)

Improved
accuracy

20 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Segment to Segment Contact Advantages

• One limitation of node to segment contact is that a node cannot be a slave to two masters
• Shell surface clamped between two “rigid” bodies
• This situation is impossible to analyze with node to segment contact
• Rigid bodies are always masters
• A shell surface has only one node through its thickness
• This leads to slave nodes of shell surface having two masters
• Segment to segment contact has no such limitation

Body 3 3
Rigid
1st Master Body 2
Contact Slave
2
Pair 2nd
Body 2
Slave Contact
Body 1 Pair
1 Rigid
Master

21 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Segment to Segment Contact Advantages

• Shell surface clamped between two “deformable” bodies

• For node to segment, requires some care to set up
• Two contact pairs
• a. Slave = deformable body 1
b. Master = deformable body 2 (shell)
• a. Slave = deformable body 3
b. Master = deformable body 2 (shell)
• For segment to segment the set up is easier

Body 3 3
Deformable
1st Slave
Body 2
Contact 2 Master
2nd
Pair Body 2
Master Contact
Body 1
Pair
1 deformable
Slave

22 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Segment to Segment Contact Advantages

• Advantages for Shell Contact

• Node to segment shell edge contact is described as a line.
• Segment to segment includes the full shell thickness.

Full shell
thickness footprint

Node to Segment Segment to Segment

(contact status) (contact status)
23 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Segment to Segment Contact Advantages

Node to Segment, ISEARCH =0

Segment to Segment

Example Files

Node to Segment, ISEARCH=1

24 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Definition of Segment to Segment Contact

• Contact segments represent a contact region of an element

• 2D element – portion of an edge
• 3D element – portion of a face
• MSC Nastran assigns auxilary points to each segment. These points are used for contact detection

• Contact detection checks

• Distance
• Direction

25 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Definition of Segment to Segment Contact

• Once both checks are passed, corresponding segments are marked

for contact
2 segments
• One segment of each pair is projected onto the other from TRIA
• 3D elements - Polygons element
faces
• 2D elements - Polylines
Segment from
• Polylines/polygones are assigned points CHEXA
• polylines/polygon points define a local connection between two contact element face
segments and the non-penetration constraints are enforced using
augmented Lagrangian approach

Polygon
points

26 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Segment to Segment BCPARA Contact Input

• Segment to segment contact is controlled via BCPARA from QRG

27 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Segment to Segment BCPARA Contact Input

• METHOD selects node to segment or segment to segment contact

• NODESURF: Node to segment contact (default)
• SEGTOSEG: Segment to segment contact
• AUGMENT selects the Augmentation Method
• 0: no augmentation (default)
• 1: constant Lagrange Multiplier field for linear elements, (bi)linear field for quadratic elements
• 2: constant Lagrange Multiplier field
• 3: (bi)linear Lagrange Multiplier field
• For rigid-deformable contact Augmentation is always on
• PENALT Augmented Lagrange penalty factor
• Default: depends on the contacting body stiffnesses and a characteristic length (unit=force/length3)
• AUGDIST penetration distance beyond which an augmentation will be applied
• If left blank, the program will calculate the value
• Default value is 0.05 of the characteristic lenght

28 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Segment to Segment BCPARA Contact Input

• SLDLMT, Sliding distance beyond which contact segments are to be redefined

• Default: 5 times the default contact tolerance ERROR
• SEGSYM, Symmetric or non-symmetric friction,
• 0: symmetric (default),
• 1: non-symmetric
• ERRBAR, Error computation option
• 0: compute error globally (default)
• 1: calculate error based on each contact pair
• TAUGMNT, Augmentation for the sticking part of friction
• 0: no Augmentation (Default),
• 1: Augmentation
• TPENALT, Augmented Lagrange penalty factor for sticking part of friction
• Default is PENALT/1000
• STKSLP, Maximum allowable slip distance for sticking
• 0: (default) Sticking stiffness is equal to the maximum friction force.

29 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Segment to Segment BCPARA Contact Input

• THKOFF, Ignore shell thickness from the tolerance used by ISEARCH=2 in NTS contact or from the characteristic
length for PENALT and AUGDIST in STS
• 0: do not ignore thickness
• 1: ignore thickness
• LINCNT, Flag for Linear Contact under infinitesimal assumption, small sliding with small deformation and rotation
• 0: general contact (default)
• 1: linear contact based upon undeformed geometry
• -1: linear contact with large displacement (not recommended)
• SFNPNLT, Scale factor of augmented Lagrange penalty factor along contact normal direction (default=1.0)
• SFTPNLT, Scale factor of augmented Lagrange penalty factor along contact tangential direction (default=1.0)
• SEGANGL, Minimum angle between segment normal vectors allowing the segments to come into contact
(default=120.0)
• TCNTCTL, Flag to define the touching contact status in linear perturbation step

30 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Segment to Segment BCPARA Contact Input

• New default settings is introduced in MSC Nastran 2021 to enhance robustness of contact analysis
• Version 2 uses lower default penalty factor and larger default penetration distance for augmentation
• A new keyword, BACKCTL, is added in BCPARA bulk data entry for backward compatible control

31 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Define Segment to Segment in Patran

32 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Influence of Augmentation

• Augmentation enables minimization of penetration as the following example demonstrates

• The augmentation method will influence the number of iterations and the results; however, to get a quick insight into a
problem you could choose not to augment. Therefore, this is the default.

33 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Segment to Segment Detection Parameters

• Contact Distance Tolerance, same as node to segment, except:

• SLDLMT parameter
• Sliding distance beyond which the contact segment are redefined
• defaults to 5 times ERROR
• For small values of ERROR, this SMLDT default may unnecessarily result in the message “Recalculating Segments”, thus
increasing the computational costs
• Separation Control
• Only stress-based separation based upon absolute stresses is available
• Be careful when an input file comes from NTS and an FNTOL refers to force
• Search order is immaterial
• ISEARCH, ISTYP, HARDS are ignored

34 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Segment to Segment Contact Limitations

• Not available at this time:

• Coupled analysis with multiple physics
• Brake squeal analysis (BSQUEAL)
• Breaking glue
• Punch out contact constraint equations (MPCPCH)
• The following parameters are not supported:
• MAXSEP, ICSEP, IBSEP, RVCNST, BEAMB

35 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Overview

• Contact Algorithms
• Node to Segment
• Segment to Segment
• Special Features
• Stress-Free Initial Contact
• Interference
• Analytic contact surface
• Friction
• Maintain Initial Gap/Overlap
• Beam to Beam Contact
• Convergence and controls with contact

36 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Stress-free Initial Option: Example

Penetration

Stress-Free
Initial Option

No
Stress-Free
Initial Option

Note the only difference in max

stress between the two runs is
specification of stress-free initial
condition

37 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Stress-free Initial Contact

• SOL400 contact analysis:

• Before starting with the first increment, a check is performed on the initial contact (BCTABL1, 0)
• If there is penetration, the slave is constrained to the master
• As a result stresses may develop

Slave Slave
Master Master

Before Check After Check

Initial Geometry Repaired Geometry

38 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Stress-free Initial Contact

• Stress-free initial Contact

• Sets initial contact stresses to zero
• Is set by defining the ICOORD to 1 in BCONPRG entry
BCONPR BCGPI PARAM PARAM PARAM
VAL1 VAL2 VAL3
G D 1 2 3
PARAM PARAM
VAL4 VAL5 -etc.-
4 5

BCONPR 90 ICOORD 1
G

• Check Stressfree InitCont box on Input Data form in Patran

39 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Overview

• Contact Algorithms
• Node to Segment
• Segment to Segment
• Special Features
• Stress-Free Initial Contact
• Interference
• Analytic contact surface
• Friction
• Maintain Initial Gap/Overlap
• Beam to Beam Contact
• Convergence and controls with contact

40 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Interference: Example

• Valve Insert fitted into Cylinder Head

- No load
- quadratic contact

FEM

Real Model

Von Mises
41 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Interference Fit

• Interference fit can be used to simulate situations where bodies with overlaps or gaps in are required to fit together
• The interference fit capability is treated in Nastran using the contact algorithm
• Two methods can be used to model interference fit
• by generating FE mesh with “build in” interference
• by specifying an Interference Closure Distance

This FE mesh consists of one

large Lug with two Pins. The
Lower Pin has the interference
(overlap) of 0.01 inches built into
the geometry. Contact distance
tolerance in this case should be
set slightly larger than 0.01 to
detect contact. The Upper Pin
geometry is congruent with the
Lug geometry. The interference
fit in this case will be created by
specifying Interference Closure
Distance.

42 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Interference Closure Distance

• CINTERF field on BCONPRG entry

• >0: contact starts earlier by initial interference
• <0: contact occurs after penetration of initial clearance
• It only affects nodes which are already in contact
• Specification of interference In Patran:

43 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Interference Closure Distance

• CINTERF field defined on BCONPRG entry

BCONPRG BCGPID PARAM1 VAL1 PARAM2 VAL2 PARAM3 VAL3

PARAM4 VAL4 PARAM5 VAL5 -etc.-

• Example

BCONPRG 90 CINTERF .01

44 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Interference Fit

• Demonstrates interference fit between two rings

• Uses node to segment, and segment to segment contact

• Case Study Files

45 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Interference Fit

• Define Contact Pair

• Use the inner and outer deformable bodies already created

46 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Interference Fit

• Define Contact Pair Parameters

• Geometric (BCONPRG)
• Distance Tolerance = .05
• Hard Soft ratio = 0
• Contact Detection = Double Sided
• Physical (BCONPRP)
• Friction Coefficient = .3

.02
2

47 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Interference Fit

• Define Application Region

• Master set to inner
• Slave set to outer

48 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Interference Fit

• Set up the analysis

• Contact Parameters
• Set Control Method to
Node to Segment

49 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Interference Fit

• Set up the analysis continued

• Contact Parameters
• Contact Detection
• Distance Tolerance = .05 Repeat
• Uncheck Permanent Gluing analysis
• Friction
• Type – Bilinear Coulomb
• Select default subcase
• Run the analysis
• Set up new analysis
• Set Control Method to Segment to Sement
• Run the analysis

50 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Interference Fit

• Plot circumferencial stress

Node to Segment Segment to Segment

51 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Overview

• Contact Algorithms
• Node to Segment
• Segment to Segment
• Special Features
• Stress-Free Initial Contact
• Interference
• Analytic contact surface
• Friction
• Maintain Initial Gap/Overlap
• Beam to Beam Contact
• Convergence and controls with contact

52 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Analytical Contact

• Normally a contact surface is described by the finite elements (discrete contact)

• For analytic contact the finite element representation is smoothed

analytic geometry
Slave 4
3

Master finite element

1
representation

53 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Analytical Contact (cont.)

• Controlled via IDSPL on BCBODY card

• IDSPL=0: analytic contact is turned off (default)
• IDSPL>0: reference to BLSEG which describes corners / edges where the analytic contact is to be interrupted. If no
BLSEG is present, the whole body is smoothed.

3D
2D

BLSEG, ID, 1, 8, 9, 8, 1, 3, 5
BLSEG, ID, 1, 4, 13, 16 +, 3, 5, 18, 21, 18, 20, 21, 9
+, 20

54 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Analytical Contact (cont.)

• IDSPL<0: same as above and in addition, based on SANGLE on BCBODY, the interruptions are calculated
automatically. Default 60o.

β γ

β, γ > SANGLE, add to discontinuity list

• Especially for small deformation contact problems, analytic contact might improve the results

55 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Analytical Contact (cont.)

• BCBODY – Flexible or Rigid Contact Body 2D and 3D

To be continued

56 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Analytical Contact (cont.)

• Specification of analytical contact in Patran

57 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Analytical Contact (cont.)

• Edges can be smoothed to improve the surface contact

discrete analytic

58 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Analytical Contact: Example

discrete
bcbody,10,,deform,10,1,,0
bcbody,20,,deform,20,1,,0

Body 10

Body 20

analytic
Part of the Mesh bcbody,10,,deform,10,1,, 0
bcbody,20,,deform,20,1,,-1

Interference Fit with Analytic Contact

59 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Overview

• Contact Algorithms
• Node to Segment
• Segment to Segment
• Special Features
• Stress-Free Initial Contact
• Interference
• Analytic contact surface
• Friction
• Maintain Initial Gap/Overlap
• Beam to Beam Contact
• Convergence and controls with contact

60 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Friction

• Shear stresses develop in bodies in contact that move tangentially to each other, and these stresses are due to friction
• Friction is a complex physical phenomena that is dependent on the characteristics of the contacting surfaces:
• Roughness
• Temperature
• Normal stress
• Relative Velocity
• It causes additional iterations in nonlinear analysis
• It may make model more stable improving convergence

61 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Friction

• Two friction models supported in MSC Nastran

• Bilinear Coulomb
• Used in most applications
• Bilinear Shear
• Used mostly for forging processes
• Critical stress value
• Stresses below this value, bodies are in “stick” status
• Stresses at or above this value, bodies will slip and move relative to each other

62 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Bilinear Coulomb Model

• The critical value when slipping starts to occur usually depends on the contact stress σn
• Columb friction assumes that friction stress is proportional to the contact normal stress

𝜎𝜎𝑡𝑡,𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = −𝜇𝜇𝜎𝜎𝑛𝑛 𝑡𝑡
• Where
• µ = friction coefficient
• t as the slip direction

Friction σt

σt,slip

Step function behavior

slip γ
• The step function is discontinuous since the status is either stick or slip

63 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Bilinear Coulomb Model

• A bilinear function is applied to avoid numerical difficulties, since stick means infinite stiffness
• The bilinear model assumes stick and slip conditions correspond to reversible (elastic) and permanent (plastic) relative
displacements

Friction σt, ft

σt,slip, ft,slip

δ slip γ, ut

δ = slip threshold

64 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Bilinear Coulomb Model

• Equations for Bilinear Coulomb Friction Model

• For elastic-plastic material, the rate of the relative tangential displacement is split into an elastic (stick) and a plastic
part (slip)
𝑝𝑝
u̇ 𝑡𝑡 = u̇ 𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑡 + u̇ 𝑡𝑡

• Using Coulomb‘s law for friction, the slip criteria is defined as:

𝜑𝜑 = 𝐟𝐟𝑡𝑡 − 𝜇𝜇𝑓𝑓𝑛𝑛 ; 𝜑𝜑 < 0(𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠), 𝜑𝜑 = 0(𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠)

• The rate of change of friction force vector is related to the elastic tangential displacement by

𝜇𝜇𝑓𝑓𝑛𝑛
0
𝐃𝐃 = 𝛿𝛿
𝜇𝜇𝑓𝑓𝑛𝑛
0
𝛿𝛿
65 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Bilinear Coulomb Model

• Equations for Bilinear Coulomb Friction Model Continued:

• Assume slip flow potential, Ψ, is given by:

Ψ = ft
• Assume the direction of the slip displacement is given by the normal to the slip flow potential
• With these assumptions, the rate of the resulting friction force can be expressed as:

non-symmetric, but symmetrized

66 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Bilinear Coulomb Model

• Friction model may not correlate well with experimental observations

• Methods to fix this problem
• Use a nonlinear coefficient of friction
• Define a friction stress limit
• Use the FRLIM parameter on the BCONPRP entry
• Maximum friction stress will be

min( µσ n , σ tlimit )
• Use the shear-based friction model

67 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Bilinear Shear Model

• In this model the friction stress is a fraction of the equivalent stress ( ) in the material

σ σ 
σt < µ ( stick ) and σ t = −µ ⋅ t ( slip )
3 3
• Where:
• t is the surface tangent vector
• µ is the friction coefficent
• The shear stress due to friction is limited by:

 σ 
σ t = min µσ n , µ 
 3

68 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Friction Input for MSC Nastran

• The Input parameters for friction are:

• FTYPE, on BCPARA – Friction model
• FTYPE=0, no friction, default
• FTYPE=6, bilinear coloumb model
• FTYPE=7, bilinear shear model
• FRIC, on BCONPRP or BCBDPRP – Friction coeficient
• FRLIM, on BCONPRP - Friction stress limit
• RVCNST and STKSLP on BCPARA - Slip threshold d
• RVCNST
• For node to segment contact
• Relative displacement below which elastic stick is simulated
• Its default is 0.0025 times the average edge length of the elements defining the deformable contact bodies
• STKSL
• For segment to segment contact
• Maximum allowable sticking distance
• Its default is 0.0 for the maximum sticking displacement to be taken

69 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Setup Friction in Patran

• Friction is not by default taken into account

• Two things needed to activate friction
• Select friction model
• Enter friction coefficient
• Friction coefficient can be defined in the contact body or the contact pair
• It is preferable to enter friction coefficient for the contact pair since friction is between contact bodies

70 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Setup Friction in Patran

• Using Contact Bodies

• Friction coefficient entered on Input Data form for a contact body
• Friction coefficient for a contact pair is then determined by:
• Deformable – Rigid contact
• Coefficient associated with rigid body
• Deformable – Deformable contact
• Average of both bodies coefficients

71 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Setup Friction in Patran

• Using Contact Pairs

• Friction coefficient entered on input data form for contact pairs
• Use the Icon for Physical options

72 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Setup Friction in Patran

• Friction model
• Defined in Analysis tab / Solution Parameters / Contact Parameters / Friction/Sliding

73 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Friction

• Analyze belt and pulley system with friction

• µ = .25
• µ = 0.15
• µ = 0.05

• Case Study Files

1.0 +05

74 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Bolted Plate

• Two plates connected by a bolt

• Pressure on top plate and fixed bottom plate
• CaseStudy_Files

75 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Bolted Plate

• Create 3 contact bodies (bolt, bottom_plate, top_plate)

76 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Bolted Plate

• Define 3 contact pairs

• Bolt and bottom plate
• Named bolt_bottomplate
• Bolt and top plate
• Named bolt_topplate
• Top plate and bottom plate
• Named top_bottomplate

77 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Bolted Plate

• Enter Geometric Parameters

• Use default
• Enter Physical Contact Parameters
• Set Friction Coefficient to 0.3

The bolt and the top plate are free to

rotate about z-axis and the model is
unstable without friction

78 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Bolted Plate

• Select Bilinear Coulomb friction model

79 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Case Study: Bolted Plate

• Plot contact friction force

80 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Overview

• Contact Algorithms
• Node to Segment
• Segment to Segment
• Special Features
• Stress-Free Initial Contact
• Interference
• Analytic contact surface
• Friction
• Maintain Initial Gap/Overlap
• Beam to Beam Contact
• Convergence and controls with contact

81 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Maintaining Initial Gap/Overlap

• In certain circumstances of Glued contact, it may be desired to maintain the relative position of the contact bodies
• In this example two plates glued together form a cantilever beam
• A gap exists in the geometry definition

gap

82 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Maintaining Initial Gap/Overlap

• In certain circumstances of Glued contact, it may be desired to maintain the relative position of the contact bodies
• Several options exists to resolve the gap issue:
• Relocate one of the contact bodies to ensure exact contact (more work for the analyst!)
• Use stress free initial contact (relocates nodes at contact face, could possibly introduce undesirable geometry change)
• ‘maintain initial gap’ – eliminates both of the above concerns

Un-Deformed
shape

Deformed shape

Initial gap
maintained
83 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Maintaining Initial Gap/Overlap

• In certain circumstances of Glued contact, it may be desired to maintain the relative position of the contact bodies
• In Patran this capability is activated in either of 2 places:
• Note that the distance tolerance must be increased to be greater than the gap size

If using
If defining contact
contact table
pairs

84 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Overview

• Contact Algorithms
• Node to Segment
• Segment to Segment
• Special Features
• Stress-Free Initial Contact
• Interference
• Analytic contact surface
• Friction
• Maintain Initial Gap/Overlap
• Beam to Beam Contact
• Convergence and controls with contact

85 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Beam to Beam Contact in NTS

• Beam-to-Beam Contact Detection

• Contact resolved between beams in the 3D space
• Contact is detected wherever contact occurs - not just between Beam
the beam nodes or beam node and a beam element. Elements
• Node to Node
• Node to Segment
• Segment to Segment
• Beam to beam contact uses an equivalent cylindrically or conically
shaped contact surface
• The radius of the contact surface is entered via BCBMRAD bulk
data on an element per element basis
• The radii are averaged at the nodes of the beams
• BEAMB=1 on BCPARA and COPTx=1000 (default)
Contact Surface

86 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Beam to Beam Contact in NTS

• BCBMRAD – Define Equivalent Radius for B2B contact

87 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Beam to Beam Contact in NTS

• Contact is established between the closest points of the beam contact surfaces
• A multi-point constraint is imposed at the closest points in order to suppress the relative displacement in the direction of
the normal n to the master surface

Closest
Points

88 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Beam to Beam Contact in NTS: Example
v0 = 100 m/s
• Dynamic impact of a rigid sphere on a woven fabric
• Beam-to-beam and beam-to-rigid contact with bilinear Coulomb R = 1 cm
friction between fabric beams and beams to sphere
• Isotropic elastic material, large displacements & rotations
• Nonlinear transient analysis with adaptive time stepping
• Fabric is clamped on all four sides

Chapter 28 in the ”Demonstration Problems

Manual for Implicit Nonlinear”

89 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Beam to Beam Contact in NTS: Limitations

• Limitations for BCPARA entries

• Since beam elements do not have cross-sectional stresses, beam-to-beam contact separation is based on nodal
forces (IBSEP=0)
• If stress-based separation is required, then the separation threshold (FNTOL) for beam-2-beam contact combinations must be
explicitly specified on the BCTABLE and the nodes of the beam elements should not touch other entities

• Since beam elements do not have cross-sectional stresses, stress-based friction models are not supported for
beam-to-beam contact
• Only the bilinear Coulomb friction model (FTYPE=6) is supported

• Limitations for BCBODY entries

• Only 2-noded BEAMs and RODs are supported, BEAM3 is not supported
• Sliding from one beam element to the next is only possible if the element has a unique neighbor element (i.e. a beam
cannot slide over a branch)
• The check for beam contact conditions is always single sided with automatic optimization of contact constraint
equations (ISTYP=2)
• Analytic (SPLINE) option of the contact body is not supported for beam contact bodies
• IDSPL is ignored

90 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Beam to Beam Contact in NTS: Limitations (Cont.)

• Limitations for BCBMRAD entries

• If the nodes of a beam element touch a rigid body or a solid or shell element, then the beam contact radius is
ignored

• Limitations for BCTABLE entries

• The searching order (ISEARCH) for deformable contact bodies is not relevant
• The same constraints will be imposed, whether body 1 is touching body 2, or body 2 is touching body 1

• Stress-free initial contact and delayed slide-off are not supported

• ICOORD is ignored

• The glue option that retains initial gaps and overlaps (IGLUE=2) and moment carrying glue (IGLUE=3 or 4) are not
supported
• Both cases are treated as IGLUE=1

91 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Beam in Segment to Segment Contact

• Beam contact can be easily analyzed using segment to segment contact

• Beam contact in STS overcomes almost all limitations existing in NTS
• For contact purpose, beams are exactly represented by internally expanding them to three-dimensional beam patches
• Beam patches are only used for contact detection, separation and penetration
• Expanded representation of beam elements takes the following into account:
• Current position of the beam based on the beam nodal coordinates
• Cross section of the beam
• Orientation of the beam
• Offsets at the beam nodes
• All beam cross sections are supported when using the PBARL and PBEAML definitions
• Contact forces and constraints are automatically transferred from contact patches to beam nodes

92 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Beam in Segment to Segment Contact

• Application of beam STS contact includes tube-tube contact (internal contact between beams), beam-beam contact
(external contact between beams), beam contact with solids, shells and rigid bodies
• Geometry of beam cross section doesn’t change during analysis
• Not available when using arbitrary cross sections defined by ARBMODEL entry
• Truss elements are not supported in segment-to-segment contact

93 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Overview

• Contact Algorithms
• Node to Segment
• Segment to Segment
• Special Features
• Stress-Free Initial Contact
• Interference
• Analytic contact surface
• Friction
• Maintain Initial Gap/Overlap
• Beam to Beam Contact
• Convergence and controls with contact

94 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Convergence and Control when using Contact

• Review of Nonlinear Solution Concepts

• Guidelines for contact
• What to do if non-convergence

95 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Solution of Contact Analysis

• Contact simulations are nonlinear due to potential for intermittent contact

• As such, iterative solution techniques are required that are only considered ‘successful’ if they achieve ‘convergence’
• It is important that you set up your model properly or the solution may not converge

96 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Guidelines

• For contact analysis, use the Pure Full Newton iteration method
• Convergence criteria flags available:
• U = Displacement error control
• P = Load error control
• W = Work error control
• V = Vector Component norm used
• N = length norm used
• A = Auto switching of error measure
• Suggested convergence criteria
• For contact problems with friction, use CONV flags UPW
• For contact problems without friction, use CONV flags PV
• When there are no external loads PV flags may not work well. Switch to UV or use PVA for Auto Switch.
• When there are no displacements, the UV flags will not work effectively. Switch to PV or use UVA.

97 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Guidelines

• Contact tolerance
• Has a significant impact on the computational costs and the accuracy of the solution
• It is determined by Contact Distance and Contact Bias
• Recommended to use default for Contact Distance
• Frictional problems set BIAS factor to. 99
• For shell contact problems set BIAS factor to. 95
• Search order
• Affects convergence in node to segment contact
• Use the default, Double Search order, for most touching problems
• Use slave to master Single Search order in the following cases:
• Big difference between material properties of contact bodies. Softer one defined as slave
• Big difference in the mesh densities of contact bodies. Finer meshed body defined as slave

98 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Guidelines

• Avoid higher order shells (QUAD8) with contact

• Refine the mesh in the area of contact
• Coarse meshes can produce single point contact and promote instability
• Consider smoothing the surfaces in contact. For example, insert a radius instead of a sharp corner for corner contact. If
not possible then:
• Define the body with sharp corners as slave body
• Set ICOORD to 2, delay sliding off
• Use analytic contact (IDSPL parameter on the BCBDPRP entry)
• Make sure the analytical surface definition is correct, because incorrect surface definition could cause “bulbous”
corner/edge contact surfaces
• Run without friction if possible
• May not be possible if friction is required for problem stability

99 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation

 Contact Guidelines

• Contact can be lost or not found because of too large a load increment
• Confirm rigid body normals face away from the deformable body – otherwise the code may not detect contact

Incorrect
normals
The rigid body normal
should point away from the
deformable body to be
contacted

Correct
normals

100 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Contact Guidelines

• Review and reconcile any initial contact over-closures and openings

• If nodes are modeled behind the contact zone, they will not be found
• If nodes move behind the contact zone during the analysis, the increment will be recycled with modified increment
size

D1
D2

Master

Slave

101 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Contact Guidelines

• Use BCPARA,0,NLGLUE,1 in SOLs 101/400 for general glued contact

• When some bodies are glued and others are not
• Bodies are ultimately glued but there is no initial contact
• If using Glued Contact and ICOORD set to 1, make sure that the resulting elements will not be distorted too much

Before After

102 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Achieving Converged Solutions

• General guidelines to reduce convergence problems

• Confirm convergence (look in .f06 file)
• Just because a job completes does not mean the results are ‘good’
• Cases where completed solutions are not ‘converged’ solutions
• Convergence tolerance too high
• Convergence criteria unsuitable
• User override of abort logic forcing solution to continue
• In general, if non-convergence:
• Post-Process the results you have
• Contact status
• Deformed shape
• Stress plots
• Add additional output requests as necessary
• If no results available, request intermediate results and run again
• Try using smaller timesteps

103 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Achieving Converged Solutions

• Check if convergence problems are related to contact

• Run with all contacts glued and then run additional tests releasing one contact at a time
• If contact is the problem
• Request additional diagnostic output to.f06
• Contact error tolerance
• Body contact inforamtion
• Summary table of contact parameters
• Increase separation force
• If gaps or overlaps, adjust distance tolerance and bias

104 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Exercise

• Perform Workshop, “Shell Face to Face Contact”

105 | Advanced Concepts in Contact Modeling in MSC Nastran © MSC Software Corporation
 Workshop
Shell Face to Face Contact
 • Workshop Objectives
• Create glued contact between shell faces.
• Create and view the MPCs which model the glued contact.
• See the difference in contact order on the quality of the glued contact.
• See the difference in result between node-to-segment and segment-to-segment contact.
• Software Version
• Patran 2021
• MSC Nastran 2021
• Files Required
• tee-clip_fe_400.bdf

3 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 • Suggested Steps
1. Build the model by importing the MSC Nastran input file tee-clip_fe_400.bdf.
2. Define two deformable contact bodies using the Contact Body/Pair Tool, one for the plate and one for the tee.
Color code the bodies.
3. Create a body pair between the plate and tee
• Check Glued Contact and Stress free InitCont.
• Select Double Sided contact detection.
4. Set up and run a Nonlinear static analysis:
• Change the Bias Tolerance to 0.0.
• Specify glued contact between the contact bodies.
• Request a punch file that contains the MPCs generated by Nastran to model the glued contact.
• Request Contact Results under Output Requests.
5. Attach the HDF5 results file.
6. Post-Process Results in Patran:
• Review the deformation results.
• Review Maximum Principal stress.
• Review the Contact Status.

4 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 • Suggested Steps (Cont.)
7. Import the punch file that contains the MPCs. Review the pattern of contact.
8. Modify the Body Pair to select Automatic contact detection.
9. Submit the analysis under a new name.
10. Attach the new HDF5 result file.
11. Create a fringe plot of maximum principal stress in the contact region. Compare the plot to that obtained in step 6.
12. Import the punch file for this analysis. Review the pattern of contact.
13. Change the contact type to Segment to Segment.
14. Remove the command that creates contact MPCs and rerun the analysis under a new name.
15. Attach the new HDF5 and compare the plot to that obtained in step 11.

5 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 1. Import the Model

Open a new database.

a. Pull down File > New
b. Enter tee-clip.db for File
name
c. Click OK.
d. Confirm MSC.Nastran as the
Analysis Code and Implicit d
Nonlinear is the Analysis type.
e. Click OK on the New Model e
Preference form.
b c

6 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 2. Define Two Deformable Contact Bodies

Define Contact Bodies using the

Create Contact Body/Pair Tool: c
a. Pull down Tools > Modeling > d d
Contact Bodies/Pairs…
b. Pull down Method to
Connectivity.
c. Select 2D for Elements
d. Click Apply and Cancel.
e. Under the Loads Tab, select Color
Code Bodies in the Contact i
Bodies Group
f. Highlight Existing Sets 2D_bdy
and 2D_bdy1.
a
g. Select Group Color
h. Click Apply f
i. Select Smooth Shaded. e g

7 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 3. Create Body Pair

a
Create a New Body Pair:
a. Under the Load/BCs tab click
Body Pair in the Contact Bodies
group.
b. Enter plate_tee_contact for
New Set Name.
c. Click Input Data…
d. Check Glued Contact(IGLUE) and
Stress free InitCont(ICOORD).
e. Select Double Sided for Contact
Detection (ISEARCH).
f. Click OK.
g. Click Select Application
Region…
d
b

c
e g
f
8 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation
 Step 3. Create Body Pair (Cont.)

Select Application Region:

a. Click in the Body1 Name box.
b. Select FEM and then QUAD
Elements in the Picking Toolbar a
c. Select any element in 2D_bdy (the
plate).
d. Repeat steps b and c with Body2
Name and in 2D_bdy1 (the tee).
e. Click OK. d
f. Click Apply. d

e b

9 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 4. Set Up and Run a Nonlinear Static Analysis
a

a. Under the Analysis tab click Entire

Model in the Analyze group.
b. Enter tee-
clip_fe_400_contact for Job
Name.
c. Click Translation Parameters…
d. Make sure the box for HDF5 and
b
Compressed is checked.
e. Click OK.

e
10 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation
 Step 4. Set Up and Run a Nonlinear Static Analysis (Cont.)

Change the Bias on Tolerance.

a. Click Solution Parameters…
b. Click Contact Parameters… c
c. Click Contact Detection…
d. Change Bias on Tolerance to 0.0.
e. Uncheck Permanent Glue
(NLGLUE).
f. Click OK.
g. Click OK. g
h. Click OK.

d
a
b
h
e

11 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 4. Set Up and Run a Nonlinear Static Analysis (Cont.)

Request a punch file that contains the

MPCs generated by Nastran to model
the glued contact. d
a. Click Direct Text Input…
b. Select Case Control Section.
c. Check CASE Write To Input
Deck.
d. Type NLOPRM MPCPCH=BEGN
in the Case Control Section
textbox.
e. Click OK. b c
e

Note: The Case Control Command entered here will create a

the *.pch file containing the MPCs used to model the glued
contact. We will look at this to determine the quality of the
glued contact.

12 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 4. Set Up and Run a Nonlinear Static Analysis (Cont.)

b
Request Contact output.
a. Click Load Steps…
b. Select Default under Available
Steps. d
c. Click Output Requests…
d. Highlight Contact Results under
Select Result Type.
e. Click OK.
f. Click Apply on the Subcases form.
g. Click Cancel.

Contact status can be used to c

check the elements
participating in the contact in f g
Patran by attaching the HDF5 a
or OP2 (not XDB). In this
workshop the alternate e
approach is shown which is
using contact MPCs.

13 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 4. Set Up and Run a Nonlinear Static Analysis (Cont.)

Run the analysis:

a. Click Apply.

The job is written to tee-

clip_fe_400_contact.bdf and
the analysis is run.

a
14 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation
 Step 5. Attach the HDF5 Results
a

Attach the results file when the

analysis is completed.
a. Under the Analysis tab, click
Attach HDF5 in the Access
Results group.
b. Click Select Results File…
c. Select tee-
clip_fe_400_contact.h5.
c
d. Click on OK.
e. Click on Apply.

d b

15 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 6. Post-Process Results in Patran
a

a. Under the Results tab click

Fringe/Deformation in the Quick
Plot group.
b. Highlight Default, A1: Time = 1.0
under Select Result Cases.
c. Highlight Displacements,
Translational under Select Fringe b
Result.
d. Highlight Displacements,
Translational under Select
Deformation Result. c
e. Click Apply.

e
16 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation
 Step 6. Post-Process Results in Patran (Cont.)

Review max principal stress:

a. Select Default, A1: Time = 1.0
b. Highlight Nonlinear Stresses,
Stress Tensor under Select Fringe e
Result.
c. Pull down Max Principal for a
Quantity.
d. Click the Position button.
e. Highlight At Z2.
f. Click Close. b
g. Highlight Displacements,
Translational under Select d
Deformation Result.
c
h. Click Apply.

f h

17 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 6. Post-Process Results in Patran (Cont.)

a. Rotate the model and zoom in to

focus on the areas of interest

18 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 6. Post-Process Results in Patran (Cont.)
a

a. Under the Results tab click Fringe

in the Result Plot group.
b. Click Subcase expansion icon.
c. Highlight SC0:, A1: Static b
Subcase under Select Result
Cases.
c
d. Highlight Contact Status under
Select Fringe Result.
e. Click Apply.

e
19 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation
 Step 7. Import the Punch File

Import the *.pch file that contains the a

MPCs used to model the glued
contact. This will help to check the
contact status.
a. Click Reset Graphics.
b. Pull down Display > Entity
Color/Label/Render.
c. Select Entity Type under Entity
Coloring and Labeling.
d. Click Apply.
b
e. Click Cancel.

d e

20 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 7. Import the Punch File (Cont.)

Specify to keep the original node f

numbering when importing the .pch
file. a
a. Pull down File > Import. e
b. Make sure Object and Source are
set to Model and MSC.Nastran
Input respectively.
c. Click MSC.Nastran Input
Options.
d. Click Define Offsets…
e. Click in the cell in the Nodes row
and Offset/Maximum column.
f. Enter 0 for the Input Offset Value
and press Enter. g
g. Click OK.
b
d
h. Click OK.
c

h
21 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation
 Step 7. Import the Punch File (Cont.)

Look at the pattern of contact

a. Enter tee- c
clip_fe_400_contact.pch
for File name.
b. Click Apply.
c. Review the MSC Nastran Input
File Import Summary to verify
d
that the MPCs have been
imported.
d. Click OK.
e. Change the display to Wireframe.
f. Observe the MPC pattern between
the tee-clip and the plate. Note that
single MPCs connect the two
components and the edges of the
flange are unsupported.
a b

e
f

22 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 8. Modify Body Pair
b

Modify the chip_3_pcb body pair:

a. Click Undo to remove the MPCs*.
b. Under the Home tab, click
Show/Hide Model Browser Tree
in the Model Tree Group.
c. Right click on plate_tee_contact
under Contact > Body Pair and
select Modify Data.
c
d. Set the Contact
Detection(ISEARCH) to Automatic.
e. Click OK.
f. Click Apply.

*If clicking Undo does not delete the MPCs you can
delete them manually under the Meshing tab.
Delete>MPC and select all the MPCs in the d
viewport and click Apply.
f
23 | Shell Face to Face Contact
e © MSC Software Corporation
 Step 9. Submit the Analysis under a New Name
a

Submit the analysis under a new

name.
a. Under the Analysis tab click
Entire Model in Analyze group.
b. Enter tee-
clip_fe_400_contact_2 for
Job Name. b
c. Click Apply.

c
24 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation
 Step 10. Attach the new HDF5 Results
a

Attach the results file when the

analysis is completed.
a. Under the Analysis tab, click
Attach HDF5 in the Access
Results group.
b. Click Select Results File…
c. Select tee-
clip_fe_400_contact_2.h5. c
d. Click on Apply.

d b

25 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 11. Post-Process Results in Patran
a

Review the max principal stresses.

a. Under the Results tab, click
Fringe/Deformation in the Quick e
Plot group.
b. Highlight SC1:Step 1: DEFAULT,
A2: Time = 1.0 under Select
Result Cases.
c. Highlight Nonlinear Stresses, b
Stress Tensor under Select Fringe
Result.
d. Click Position… (At Z2)
e. Highlight At Z2. c
f. Click Close.
g. Pull down Max Principal for d
Quantity. g
h. Highlight Displacements,
Translational under Select
Deformation Result.
h
i. Click Apply.

f
i
26 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation
 Step 11. Post-Process Results in Patran (Cont.)

Note: The peak stress on the flange has fallen by

nearly 35%.

27 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 12. Import the Punch File

Look at the updated MPC pattern.

a. Click Reset Graphics. f
b. Pull down File > Import. b
c. Make sure Object and Source are
set to Model and MSC.Nastran
Input respectively.
d. Click MSC.Nastran Input
Options.
e. Click Define Offsets…
f. Verify that Input Offset Value is 0
g. Click OK.
h. Click OK.
c
g

d e

28 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 12. Import the Punch File (Cont.)

Look at the updated MPC pattern

(cont.)
a. Enter tee-
clip_fe_400_contact_2.pch
for File name.
b. Click Apply. a b
c. Review the MSC Nastran Input
File Import Summary to verify
that the MPCs have been
imported.
d. Click OK.

29 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 12. Import the Punch File (Cont.)

View then remove the imported MPCs

a. View the MPC footprint
b. Click Undo to remove the MPCs
a

NOTE: The MPC pattern is much more extensive. The edges of the flange are now fully supported.

*If clicking Undo does not delete the MPCs you can delete them manually under the Meshing tab.
Delete>MPC and select all the MPCs in the viewport and click Apply.

30 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 13. Change the type of Contact to Segment to Segment

Go to the analysis tab and change the

type of contact.
a. Under Analysis tab, select Entire
Model from Analyze group.
b. Click Solution Parameters… d
c. Click Contact Parameters…
d. Change the drop down for Control
Method to Segment to Segment.
e. Click OK.
f. Click OK.

b
e
c
f

31 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 14. Remove the Contact MPC Command and Rerun the Analysis

Remove the command that creates

contact MPCs and rerun the analysis
under a new name.
a. Click Direct Text Input…
b. Select the Case Control Section
radio button and uncheck the box
for CASE Write to Input Deck.
c. Click OK. d
d. Change the job name to tee-
clip_fe_400_contact_2_S2S.
e. Click Apply to run the analysis. b
c

NOTE: Segment to segment contact does not generate contact MPCs hence
this command should not be used, else it produces a fatal message in the
F06 file.
a

e
32 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation
 Step 15. Attach New Results File
a

Attach the results file when the

analysis is completed.
a. Under the Analysis tab, click
Attach HDF5 in the Access
Results group.
b. Click Select Results File…
c. Select tee- c
clip_fe_400_contact_2_s2s
.h5.
d. Click on Apply.

d
b

33 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation

 Step 15. Attach New Results File (Cont.)
a

Review the max principal stresses.

a. Under the Results tab, click
Fringe/Deformation in the Quick e
Plot group.
b. Highlight Default, A3: Time = 1.0
under Select Result Cases.
c. Highlight Nonlinear Stresses,
Stress Tensor under Select Fringe b
Result.
d. Click Position … (At Z2).
e. Highlight At Z2.
f. Click Close. c
g. Pull down Max Principal for
Quantity. d
h. Highlight Displacements, g
Translational under Select
Deformation Result.
i. Click Apply.
h

f
i
34 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation
 Step 15. Attach New Results File (Cont.)

NOTE: The peak stress on the flange looks similar to the stress in Node to Segment analysis with
Automatic contact detection (Step 11).
Segment to segment method gives better contact area without the need for specifying as many settings
as the node to segment method.

35 | Shell Face to Face Contact © MSC Software Corporation