# PCONTX

Bulk Data Entry Defines properties of a CONTACT interface for geometric nonlinear analysis.

## Format

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
PCONTX PID STFAC FRIC GAP IDEL INACTI   CTYPE
TSTART TEND
ISYM IEDGE FANG IGAP ISTF STIF1 STMIN STMAX
VISS VISF BMULT IBC MULTIMP
IFRIC IFORM IFILTR FFAC
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6

## Example

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
PCONT 34
PCONTX 34

## Definitions

Field Contents SI Unit Example
PID Property identification number of the associated PCONT.

No default (Integer > 0)

STFAC Interface stiffness scale factor.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Real ≥ 0)

FRIC Coulomb friction.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Real ≥ 0)

GAP Gap for impact activation. 4 9

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Real ≥ 0)

IDEL Flag for node and segment deletion.
0
No deletion.
1
When all the elements (shells, solids) associated to one segment are deleted, the segment is removed from the main side of the interface. Additionally, non-connected nodes are removed from the secondary side of the interface.
2
When a shell or a solid element is deleted, the corresponding segment is removed from the main side of the interface. Additionally, non-connected nodes are removed from the secondary side of the interface.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Integer = 0, 1, or 2)

INACTI Handling of initial penetrations flag. 11
0
No action.
1
Deactivation of stiffness on nodes.
2
Deactivation of stiffness on elements.
3
Change secondary node coordinates to avoid small initial penetrations.
4
Change main node coordinates to avoid small initial penetrations.
5
Gap is variable with time but initial gap is slightly de-penetrated as follows: ${\text{gap}}_{0}=\text{gap}-{\text{P}}_{0}-0.05*\left(\text{gap}-{\text{P}}_{0}\right)$

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Integer = 0, ..., 5)

Valid in explicit analysis: 0, 1, 2, 3 and 5.

Valid in implicit analysis: 0, 3 and 4.

Invalid entries are ignored.

CTYPE Implicit contact type.

Default = TYPE7 (Character = TYPE5 or TYPE7)

TSTART Start time

Default = 0.0 (Real ≥ 0)

TEND Time for temporary deactivation.

Default = 1030 (Real ≥ 0)

The following entries are relevant for explicit analysis only.
ISYM Symmetric contact flag.
SYM
Symmetric contact.
UNSYM
Main-secondary contact.

If SSID defines a grid set, the contact is always a main-secondary contact.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Character = SYM or UNSYM)

IEDGE Flag for edge generation from secondary and main surfaces.
NO
No edge generation.
ALL
All segment edges are included.
BORD
External border of secondary and main surface is used.
FEAT
External border as well as features defined by FANG are used.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Character = NO, ALL, BORD, or FEAT)

FANG Feature angle for edge generation (Only with IEDGE = FEAT).

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Real ≥ 0)

IGAP Gap definition flag.
CONST
Gap is constant and equal to GAP 9
VAR
Gap is variable (in space, not in time) according to the characteristics of the impacting surfaces and nodes. 10

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Character = CONST or VAR)

ISTF Stiffness definition flag. 5
0
The stiffness is computed according to the main side characteristics.
1
STIF1 is used as interface stiffness.
2, 3, 4 and 5
The interface stiffness is computed from both main and secondary characteristics.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Integer = 0, ..., 5)

STIF1 Interface stiffness (Only with ISTF = 1)

Default = 0.0 (Real ≥ 0)

STMIN Minimum stiffness (Only with ISTF > 1).

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Real ≥ 0)

STMAX Maximum stiffness (Only with ISTF > 1).

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Real ≥ 0)

IBC Flag for deactivation of boundary conditions at impact applied to the secondary grid set.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Character = X, Y, Z, XY, XZ, YZ, or XYZ)

MULTIMP Maximum average number of impacted main segments per secondary node.

Default = 4 for SMP; 12 for SPMD (Integer > 0)

VISS Critical damping coefficient on interface stiffness.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Real ≥ 0)

VISF Critical damping coefficient on interface friction.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Real ≥ 0)

BMULT Sorting factor. Can be used to speed up the sorting algorithm. Is machine-dependent.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Real ≥ 0)

IFRIC Friction formulation flag. 12
COUL
Static Coulomb friction law.
GEN
Generalized viscous friction law.
DARM
REN
Renard friction law.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Character = COUL, GEN, DARM, or REN)

IFORM Friction penalty formulation type. 13
VISC
Viscous (total) formulation.
STIFF
Stiffness (incremental) formulation.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Character = VISC or STIFF)

IFILTR Friction filtering flag. 14
NO
No filter is used.
SIMP
Simple numerical filter.
PER
Standard -3dB filter with filtering period.
CUTF
Standard -3dB filter with cutting frequency.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Character = NO, SIMP, PER, or CUTF)

FFAC Friction filtering factor.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Real = 0.0 ≤ FFAC < 1.0)

C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 Coefficients to define variable friction coefficient in IFRIC = GEN, DARM, or REN.

Default as defined by CONTPRM (Real ≥ 0)

1. The property identification number must be that of an existing PCONT Bulk Data Entry. Only one PCONTX property extension can be associated with a particular PCONT.
2. PCONTX is only applied in geometric nonlinear analysis subcases which are defined by ANALYSIS = EXPDYN. It is ignored for all other subcases.
3. If FRIC is not explicitly defined on the PCONTX/PCNTX# entries, the MU1 value on the CONTACT or PCONT entry is used for FRIC in the /INTER entries for Geometric Nonlinear Analysis. Otherwise, FRIC on PCONTX/PCNTX# overwrites the MU1 value on CONTACT/PCONT.
4. In implicit analysis, different contact formulations are used for contact where secondary and main set do not overlap and where they overlap (self-contact).

In the case of self-contact, the gap cannot be zero and a constant gap is used. For small initial gaps, the convergence will be more stable and faster if GAP is larger than the initial gap.

In implicit analysis, sometimes a stiffness with scaling factor reduction (for example, STFAC = 0.01) or reduction in impacted thickness (if rigid one) might reduce unbalanced forces and improve convergence, particularly in shell structures under bending where the effective stiffness is much lower than membrane stiffness; but it should be noted that too low of a value could also lead to divergence.

5. If ISTF1, the interface stiffness K is computed from the main segment stiffness Km and/or the secondary segment stiffness Ks.

The main stiffness is computed from Km = STFAC * B * S * S/V for solids, Km = 0.5 * STFAC * E * t for shells.

The secondary stiffness is an equivalent nodal stiffness computed as Ks = STFAC * B * V-3 for solids, Ks = 0.5 * STFAC * E * t for shells.

In these equations, B is the Bulk Modulus, S is the segment area, and V is the volume of a solid. There is no limitation to the value of stiffness factor (but a value larger than 1.0 can reduce the initial time step).

The interface stiffness is K = max (STMIN, min (STMAX, K1)) with
• ISTF = 0, K1 = Km
• ISTF = 2, K1 = 0.5 * (Km + Ks)
• ISTF = 3, K1 = max (Km, Ks)
• ISTF = 4, K1 = min (Km, Ks)
• ISTF = 5, K1 = Km * Ks / (Km + Ks)
6. The default for the constant gap (IGAP = CONST) is the minimum of
• t, average thickness of the main shell elements
• l/10, l - average side length of the main solid elements
• lmin/2, lmin - smallest side length of all main segments (shell or solid)
7. The variable gap (IGAP = VAR) is computed as gs + gm
with:
• gm - main element gap with

gm = t/2, t: thickness of the main element for shell elements.

gm = 0 for solid elements.

• gs - secondary node gap:

gs = 0 if the secondary node is not connected to any element or is only connected to solid or spring elements.

gs = t/2, t - largest thickness of the shell elements connected to the secondary node.

gs = 1/2✓S for truss and beam elements, with S being the cross-section of the element.

If the secondary node is connected to multiple shells and/or beams or trusses, the largest computed secondary gap is used.

8. INACTI = 3, 4 are only recommended for small initial penetrations and should be used with caution because:
• the coordinate change is irreversible.
• it may create other initial penetrations if several surface layers are defined in the interfaces.
• it may create initial energy if the node belongs to a spring element.
INACTI = 5 works as:
9. IFRIC defines the friction model.

IFRIC = COUL - Coulomb friction with FTFRIC * FN.

For IFRIC > 0 the friction coefficient is set by a function ( $\mu$ = $\mu$ (p, V)), where p is the pressure of the normal force on the main segment and V is the tangential velocity of the secondary node.

The following formulations are available:
• IFRIC = 1 - Generalized viscous friction law(1)
$\text{m}=\text{FRIC}+\text{C}1*\text{p}+\text{C}2*\text{V}+\text{C}3*\text{p}*\text{v}+\text{C}4*{\text{p}}^{2}+\text{C}5*{\text{v}}^{2}$
• IFRIC = 2 - Darmstad law(2)
$\text{m}={\text{C}}_{1}\cdot {\text{e}}^{\left(\text{C}{ }_{2}\text{V}\right)}\cdot {\text{p}}^{2}+{\text{C}}_{3}\cdot {\text{e}}^{\left(\text{C}{ }_{4}\text{V}\right)}\cdot \text{p}+{\text{C}}_{5}\cdot {\text{e}}^{\left(\text{C}{ }_{6}\text{V}\right)}$
• IFRIC = 3 - Renard law
 $\mu ={C}_{1}+\left({C}_{3}-{C}_{1}\right)\cdot \frac{V}{{C}_{5}}\cdot \left(2-\frac{V}{{C}_{5}}\right)$ 0 ≤ V ≤ C5 $\mu ={C}_{3}-\left(\left({C}_{3}-{C}_{4}\right)\cdot {\left(\frac{V-{C}_{5}}{{C}_{6}-{C}_{5}}\right)}^{2}\cdot \left(3-2\cdot \frac{V-{C}_{5}}{{C}_{6}-{C}_{5}}\right)\right)$ C5 ≤ V ≤ C6 $\mu ={C}_{2}-\frac{1}{\frac{1}{{C}_{2}-{C}_{4}}+{\left(V-{C}_{6}\right)}^{2}}$ C6 ≤ V
where:(3)
$\begin{array}{l}{C}_{1}=C1={\mu }_{s},{C}_{2}=C2={\mu }_{d}\hfill \\ {C}_{3}=C3={\mu }_{\text{max}},{C}_{4}=C4={\mu }_{\text{min}}\hfill \\ {C}_{5}=C5={V}_{cr1},{C}_{6}=C6={V}_{cr2}\hfill \end{array}$
• The first critical velocity Vcr1 must not be 0 (C5 ≠ 0). It also must be lower than the second critical velocity Vcr2 (C5 < C6).
• The static friction coefficient C1 and the dynamic friction coefficient C2, must be lower than the maximum friction C3 (C1C3) and C2C3).
• The minimum friction coefficient C4, must be lower than the static friction coefficient C1 and the dynamic friction coefficient C2 (C4C1 and C4C2).
10. IFORM selects two types of contact friction penalty formulation.
The viscous (total) formulation (IFORM = VISC) computes an adhesive force as:(4)
$\begin{array}{l}{\text{F}}_{\text{adh}}=\text{VISF}*\surd \left(2\text{KM}\right)*{\text{V}}_{\text{T}}\\ {\text{F}}_{\text{T}}=\text{min}\left({\mu \text{F}}_{\text{N}},{\text{F}}_{\text{adh}}\right)\\ \end{array}$
The stiffness (incremental) formulation (IFORM = STIFF) computes an adhesive force as:(5)
$\begin{array}{l}{\text{F}}_{\text{adh}}={\text{F}}_{\text{Told}}+\Delta {\text{F}}_{\text{T}}\hfill \\ \Delta {\text{F}}_{\text{T}}=\text{K}*{\text{V}}_{\text{T}}*\text{dt}\hfill \\ {\text{F}}_{\text{Tnew}}=\text{min}\left({\mu \text{F}}_{\text{N}},{\text{F}}_{\text{adh}}\right)\hfill \end{array}$
11. IFILTR defines the method for computing the friction filtering coefficient. If IFILTRNO, the tangential friction forces are smoothed using a filter:(6)
${\text{F}}_{\text{T}}=\alpha *{\text{F}\prime }_{\text{T}}+\left(1-\alpha \right)*{\text{F}\prime }_{\text{T}-1}$

Where,

FT is the tangential force

F'T is the tangential force at time t

F'T-1 is the tangential force at time t-1

α is the filtering coefficient

IFILTR = SIMP conref="../../bank/solvers_symbols_equations_r_b.dita#reference_xh2_vkk_pw/o2_sym_alpha" /> = FFAC

IFILTR = PER conref="../../bank/solvers_symbols_equations_r_b.dita#reference_xh2_vkk_pw/o2_sym_alpha" /> = 2πdt/FFAC, where dt/T = FFAC, T is the filtering period

IFILTR = CUTF conref="../../bank/solvers_symbols_equations_r_b.dita#reference_xh2_vkk_pw/o2_sym_alpha" /> = 2π * FFAC * dt, where FFAC is the cutting frequency

12. This card is represented as an extension to a PCONT property in HyperMesh.