AnalyzingAssembliesII UsingContactsLecture UsingContacts.

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Using Contacts
Contact Interfaces enable a Contact Analysis to determine the nonlinear forces generated by two separate components coming into contact.
Contact Interfaces are only used by Static Analysis with Include Contacts option. Requirements and Options:

References Split Surfaces Generate Compatible Mesh Infinite Friction Create Slippage Indicators

No Contact Regions defined

Contact Regions defined. LectureNotes

Using Contact Interfaces Contact Interfaces, or Contact regions as they were known in previous releases, analyze the normal forces that are generated when one part comes into contact with another. Contact Interfaces are only used by a Static analysis with the Include Contacts option checked. Contact interfaces can be defined with the following options:

References: Contact can be defined between a pair of surfaces using the Surface-Surface option or between components using the ComponentComponent option. Selecting surfaces as references is useful when contact only needs to be analyzed between two specific surfaces. Selecting components is more useful when the assembly contains complex geometry and it is not entirely clear which surfaces of each component are in contact. Split Surfaces: Selecting this option will split the coincident surfaces along common boundaries. Generate Compatible Mesh: If the user opts to split the surfaces (default), then this option will prompt AutoGEM to attempt to create a compatible mesh on contact surfaces. This means that the position of the nodes on each of the coincident surfaces will overlap or be compatible. Infinite Friction: Contact in Mechanica does not analyze friction forces, only normal forces. Using infinite friction means the user does not have to constrain the part in the direction tangential to the contact to prevent it from slipping away. Create Slippage Indicators: If the option for infinite friction is selected, then the user can enter a coefficient of static friction. Mechanica will use this value in the results to determine whether the component would have slipped or not. It will not calculate any stresses that are created as a result of friction.

Best Practices When defining contact between two surfaces, the surfaces must pass a number of criteria. The distance between the surfaces can be no larger than one half the average diagonal lengths of both surfaces. The surfaces cannot be at an angle greater than 36 with respect to each other. The user may come across a situation where the gap between the surfaces is larger than the allowable, but contact will occur under the existing load. In this situation, the components can be positioned closer, the contact interface created, and then moved back to their original locations. It should be noted however that a contact analysis cannot analyze large deformation problems correctly the way a large deformation analysis would. Users may encounter situations in which a press fit or interference fit needs to be simulated. This can be done in Mechanica by assembling the components with mismatched dimensions (assembled with global interference) and then assigning contact interfaces between the interfering surfaces. This is the only scenario in Mechanica in which global interference is acceptable in an assembly. Similarly, a

shrink fit can be analyzed using a temperature load and assigning contact interfaces to the surfaces in contact. A contact analysis can only be performed on models with contact interfaces that are assigned to entities with solid elements. Contact is not valid for shells or beam elements. UsingContactsDemonstration UsingContacts_demo.mp4 UsingContactsProcedure

Procedure: Using Contacts

Scenario
In this exercise, you will create a Surface to Surface contact interface and a Component to Component contact interface. Contact coupler_asm.asm

Task 1. Open the Mechanica application and create a contact interface using the Surface-Surface option.
1. Click Applications > Mechanica. 2. From the main menu, click View > Explode > Explode View. 3. Click Interface from the Mechanica toolbar.

4. Select Contact from the Type drop-down menu. 5. Verify that the Reference drop-down menu is set to Surface-Surface. 6. For the first reference, select the surface from SLEEVE_A.PRT, as shown in the figure.

7. For the second reference, select the surface from SLEEVE_B.PRT, as shown in the figure.

Note that from this orientation the surface is hidden and will need to be query selected.

8. The dialog box should now appear as shown in the figure. Click OK to complete the Interface Definition and close the dialog box.

9. From the main menu, click View > Explode > Unexplode View to Unexplode the model. 10. Note the creation of the Contact Interface as indicated by the icon shown in the figure.

Task 2. Delete the connection you created in the previous step.

1. Click the + next to Connections in the model tree to expand its contents. 2. Click the + next to Interfaces in the model tree to expand its contents. 3. Right-click Interface1 and select Delete. Click Yes to continue the deletion process and Yes to delete the associated simulation features.

Task 3. Create a contact interface using the Component-Component option.

1. Click Interface from the Mechanica toolbar.

2. Select Contact from the Type drop-down menu. 3. From the Reference drop-down menu, select Component-Component. 4. For the first reference, select SLEEVE_A.PRT from the model tree. 5. For the second reference, select SLEEVE_B.PRT from the model tree. 6. Accept defaults for separation distance and angle. The dialog box should now appear similar to the figure. Click OK to complete the Interface Definition and close the dialog box.

7. Note the creation of the Contact Interface as indicated by the icon shown in the figure.

8. Return to the Standard Pro/ENGINEER mode by clicking Applications > Standard. 9. Click Save from the main toolbar and click OK to save the model. 10. Click File > Close Window from the main menu.

11. Click File > Erase > Not Displayed > OK to erase the model from memory. This completes the procedure. UsingContactsExercise

Exercise: Contact Analysis

Objectives
After successfully completing this exercise, you will be able to:

Create a Contact Interface. Solve a contact problem with a press fit or interference fit.

Scenario
One common application of a contact analysis is to determine the stress in an assembly that is put together with mismatched dimensions. Commonly referred to as interference fits or press fits, this practice is common when attempting to secure mechanical components on a shaft or into a hole. The normal forces between the mismatched parts can generate considerable static friction that prevents the assembled components from moving with respect to each other. While it is true that contact analyses in Mechanica cannot analyze stress due to friction in a contact interface, it does enable the user to apply infinite friction, removing the need for additional constraints that could generate unnecessary stresses in the results. In this exercise, the model consists of a shaft with a helical gear mounted on it. The ends of the shaft have surface regions defined with constraints to represent bearings that would limit both radial displacements and oppose the thrust generated by the helical gear (z-axis force). ContactExercise contact.asm

Task 1. Run a Global Interference Analysis on the assembly.

1. Starting from the main menu, click Analysis > Model > Global Interference. 2. Accept all of the defaults in the Global Interference dialog box and click Preview Analysis to execute the Global Interference Analysis.

Interference is reported between the shaft and the gear because the shaft has a diameter of 62.8 mm and the gear has a hole 62.5 mm in diameter.

Task 2. Open the Mechanica application and examine the existing loads and constraints.
1. Open Mechanica by clicking Applications > Mechanica from the main menu. 2. Click the Expand icon + next to Loads/Constraints and click the Expand icon + next to Constraint Set ConstraintSet1 in the Model Tree. Right-click Constraint1 and select Edit Definition.

Note the model constraints: two constraints were created at both ends of SHAFT.PRT to restrict radial and axial displacement.

3. Click OK to close the Constraint dialog box. 4. Click the Expand icon + next to Load Set LoadSet1 in the Model Tree. Right-click Load2 and select Edit Definition.

The load in this analysis is expected to come from the interference between the two parts. However, the analysis definition does require a load set that is not empty. For this reason, a load was defined with zero magnitude. Although Mechanica will warn you when creating a zero load, you are still able to do so.

5. Click OK to close the Force/Moment Load dialog box and click OK to close the Scalar expression warning window.

Task 3. Create a Contact Interference and Contact Analysis.

1. Click Interface from the Mechanica toolbar.

2. Select Contact from the Type drop-down menu and verify that the Reference dropdown menu is set to Surface-Surface. 3. Select a cylindrical surface from SHAFT.PRT as the first reference as shown under the bottom-most mouse cursor in the figure.

4. Select a cylindrical surface inside the hole from GEAR.PRT as the second reference as shown under the top-most mouse cursor in the figure. Do not be concerned that Mechanica only highlights half of the cylindrical surfaces in step 3 and 4; the contact is being created for the entire surface.

5. Clear the Split Surfaces check box. 6. Select the Infinite Friction check box. We selected the Infinite Friction option since we do not want to add additional constraints to the gear component. If this option was not used, additional constraints would have been needed to prevent the gear from rotating about the shaft or sliding along its axis.

7. Verify the that Create Slippage Indicators check box remains clear. 8. The dialog box should appear as shown in the figure. Click OK to complete the Interface Definition and close the dialog box.

9. Click Mechanica Analyses/Studies

from the main toolbar.

10. Click File > New Static... in the Mechanica Analyses and Design Studies dialog box. 11. Type Contact_analysis in the Name field. 12. Select the Nonlinear check box, then select the Include Contacts check box. 13. Accept all of the defaults for the analysis. The dialog box should appear as shown in the figure. Click OK to complete the Static Analysis Definition and close the dialog box.

Task 4. Run the Contact_Analysis static analysis and evaluate the results.
This analysis make take longer than 30-60 minutes to complete. If you do not have the time to wait for the analysis to complete, click Results from the main toolbar, click Result Window in the Results window, and direct the Results Window Definition to the Complete directory where you can find a completed Contact_analysis. After performing these steps you can proceed with the rest of this task starting with step 4.

1. Verify that Contact_Analysis is selected and click Start Run the analysis. 2. Click Display Study Status once the analysis is started.

> Yes to start

After the meshing information is posted, the status file indicates that the model contains four contacts. Because Pro/ENGINEER splits every cylindrical surface into two halves, Mechanica automatically created contacts between each half surface on one part with a half surface on the other. Even though four contacts were created, the half cylindrical surfaces are aligned with each other, so only two contacts will have any effect on the model. Mechanica has the ability to detect which surfaces will never come into contact and ignore them in the analysis. This will be reported in the run status. Note that in the run status file is confirmation that Mechanica sees the interference and is using it in its calculations. Mechanica should issue a message indicating it has detected interference in the contacts.

3. When the analysis is complete, create a results window definition. Verify that Contact_Analysis is still selected and click Results from the Mechanica Analyses and Design Studies dialog box. 4. Verify that the Display type field is set to Fringe. 5. From the first drop-down menu in the Quantity area of the dialog box, select Stress, verify that the units field is set to MPa, and select XX from the Component drop-down menu. 6. To change the coordinate system from the WCS to the cylindrical coordinate system in the model, click Select Reference next to the Relative To drop-down menu. 7. In the window that appears, click Tools > Environment from the main menu. 8. Select the Coordinate System check box and click OK to show the cylindrical coordinate system CSO from the shaft part. 9. Select CSO. The dialog box should now appear as shown in the figure. Note that once the cylindrical coordinate system is selected, the XX component should change to the radial stress RR.

10. Click OK and Show to complete the Result Window Definition and close the dialog box. The fringe plot shows rings of radial stress on the gear, as would be expected for this kind of interference fit.

11. When you through examining the result, click File > Exit Results > No to close the Results window. 12. Close any open dialog boxes.

13. Return to the Standard Pro/ENGINEER mode by clicking Applications > Standard. 14. Click Save from the main toolbar and click OK to save the model.

15. Click File > Close Window from the main menu. 16. Click File > Erase > Not Displayed > OK to erase the model from memory. This completes the exercise.