(Studies in Applied and Numerical Mathematics) N. Kikuchi, J.T. Oden-Contact Problems in Elasticity_ A Study of Variational Inequalities and Finite Element Methods-Society for Industrial Mathematics .pdf

Contact Problems in Elasticity
SIAM Studies in Applied and Numerical Mathematics

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N. Kikuchi J. T. Oden
University of Michigan University of Texas
Ann Arbor, Michigan Austin, Texas
Contact Problems in Elasticity

A Study of Variational Inequalities
and Finite Element Methods
siam
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Philadelphia
Copyright © 1988 by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
1098765432
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this
book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any manner without the written
permission of the publisher. For information, write to the Society of Industrial
and Applied Mathematics, 3600 University City Science Center, Philadelphia,
PA 19104-2688.
Two sections of text in Chapter 11 are reprinted from the following publications:
J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins, "Models and Computational Methods for

Dynamic Friction Phenomena," Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics
and Engineering, pp. 534-537. Copyright 1985 Elsevier Science Publishers.
B. Pires and J. T. Oden, "Analysis of Contact Problems with Friction,"

Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, pp. 344-345.
Copyright 1983 Elsevier Science Publishers.
SLAM gratefully acknowledges Elsevier Science Publishers for their permission

to reprint this material.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 86-61596

ISBN: 0-89871-468-0
Contents
Preface ix
Nomenclature and Symbols xi
Chapter 1. Introduction 1
1.1. Introductory remarks 1
1.2. Scope and outline of this study 1
1.3. Historical remarks 5
1.4. Notation and conventions 13
Chapter 2. Signorini's Problem 19

2.1. Introduction 19
2.2. Contact conditions 19
2.3. Incremental and linearized contact conditions 23
2.4. Signorini's problem 25
2.5. A variational formulation 28
Chapter 3. Minimization Methods and Their Variants 31

3.2. Minimization of functionals 31
3.3. Quadratic functionals on Hilbert spaces 38
3.4. Saddle points and Lagrange multipliers 43
3.5. Penalty methods 49
Chapter 4. Finite Element Approximations 55

4.2. Some properties of finite element approximations 56
4.3. Approximation of variational inequalities 60
V
VI CONTENTS
4.4. Finite element approximations of saddle point problems . . . 64

4.5. Finite element approximations of penalty formulations . . . . 67
Chapter 5. Orderings, Trace Theorems, Green's Formulas,

and Korn's Inequalities 75
5.2. Order properties of spaces H'(n) and H m (n) 78
5.3. Boundary spaces and trace theorems 83
5.4. Green's formulas 89
5.5. Boundary conditions 93
5.6. Korn's inequalities 103
Chapter 6. Signorini's Problem Revisited Ill

6.1. Introduction Ill
6.2. Existence theorem for Signorini's problem 112
6.3. Interpretation of weak solutions 119
6.4. A finite element approximation of Signorini's problem . . . . 121
6.5. Resolution of contact conditions by penalty methods . . . . 130
6.6. Numerical solutions of Signorini-type problems 140
6.7. Rigid punch problems 147
6.8. Two-body contact problems 157
Chapter 7. Signorini's Problem for Incompressible Materials . . . . 173
7.2. Incompressible elasticity 174

7.3. Mixed finite element approximations 181
7.4. A specific mixed method 188
7.5. Solution methods for the mixed finite element formulation . . 197
Chapter 8. Alternate Variational Principles for Signorini's

Problem 201
8.2. A dual variational formulation 201
8.3. A resolution of dual variational formulations 205
8.4. A mixed variational formulation 207
8.5. Finite element approximations of the dual problem 211
8.6. A reciprocal variational formulation 215
8.7. A numerical method for reciprocal formulations 221
8.8. A reciprocal formulation of a rigid punch problem 225
CONTENTS Vll
8.9. Numerical method for rigid punch problems by reciprocal

formulations 229
8.10. Reciprocal methods for two-body contact problems 237
Chapter 9. Contact Problems for Large Deflections of

Elastic Plates 241
9.2. Variational formulation 243
9.3. A penalty formulation 248
9.4. Approximations 253
9.5. Numerical studies 259
Chapter 10. Some Special Contact Problems with Friction 267

10.2. The Signorini problem with Coulomb friction 267
10.3. A reduced variational inequality 272
10.4. A regularized problem 274
10.5. Finite element approximations 280
10.6. Numerical solutions to the reduced friction problem . . . . 282
10.7. Extensions to the general contact problem with Coulomb
friction 284
Chapter 11. Contact Problems with Nonclassical Friction Laws . . . 307

11.2. Historical review 309
11.3. The mechanics of dry friction between metallic bodies . . . 311
11.4. Nonclassical normal contact and friction laws 317
11.5. Signorini problems with nonlocal nonlinear friction 335
11.6. Finite element approximations of the nonlocal and nonlinear
friction problem 342
11.7. Numerical solution of Signorini problems with nonlocal and
nonlinear friction 345
11.8. Quasi-static friction problems 357
Chapter 12. Contact Problems Involving Deformations and Nonlinear

Materials 369
12.2. A Signorini problem for finite elastic deformation 370
12.3. Linearization by increments 377
12.4. Existence theorems in finite elasticity 381
12.5. Contact problems for large deformation elastoplasticity . . . 385
Vlll CONTENTS
Chapter 13. Dynamic Friction Problems 409

13.2. Stick-slip motion vs. steady sliding 411
13.3. Some frictional contact problems in elasticity theory . . . . 416
13.4. The steady frictional sliding of a metallic body 421
13.5. Dynamic stability of the steady frictional sliding 424
13.6. Finite element approximations and algorithms 425
13.7. Numerical experiments 430
Chapter 14. Rolling Contact Problems 451

14.2. Kinematics of rolling contact 452
14.3. A boundary value problem for rolling contact of a rubber
cylinder 455
14.4. A variational principle for rolling contact 457
14.5. Finite element approximation and algorithms 460
14.6. Some numerical results 464
Concluding Comments 471
References 475
Index 491
Preface
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines "contact" as "a touching

or meeting of bodies." Even a nontechnical definition of the term thus brings
to mind a mechanical phenomenon involving solid bodies. It is not surprising,
therefore, that contact problems have always occupied a position of special
importance in the mechanics of solids. In this volume, we consider those
contact problems in the theory of elasticity that can be formulated as variational
inequalities. A multitude of results obtained through the use of this method
give rise to new techniques for solving this class of problems, techniques that
not only expose properties of solutions that were obscured by classical methods,
but also provide a basis for the development of powerful numerical schemes.
We believe this is the first truly comprehensive treatment of the problem of
unilateral contact that attempts to unify the physical problems of contact with
the mathematical modeling of the phenomena and numerical implementation
of the models. A detailed study of the qualitative features of the mathematical
model is presented, as well as approximation of the governing equations by
modern numerical methods, a study of the properties of the approximation
including numerical stability, accuracy, and convergence, the development of
algorithms to study the numerical approximations, and the application of the
algorithms to real-world problems.
The first nine chapters of the book discuss the mathematical formulation of
classical contact problems on linearly elastic bodies in which no friction is
present, along with finite element approximations and numerical algorithms
for solving problems of this type. In chapters 10 through 14, we discuss
generalizations of the theory, the complications of friction contact, various
models of dry friction, and applications to static, quasi-static, and dynamic
contact problems, including problems of large deformation, rolling contact,
and inelastic materials. Much of this latter section represents work still very
much in development and hence not fully explored from mathematical or
numerical points of view. Some concluding comments and opinions are
collected at the end of the volume.
ix
X PREFACE
A decade will have passed from when we commenced writing this volume
until its appearance in print. Our original plan was to produce a volume on
contact problems in elasticity that focused on variational inequalities in elasto-
statics with an emphasis on approximation theory, finite elements, and numeri-
cal analysis. The first eight chapters of the final product still contain much of
the content of the original draft. Many copies of this draft circulated worldwide,
and the final, expanded scope of the work reflects our response to the various
readers, reviewers, and editors encountered along the way. Much of the added
material is drawn from more recent papers and results we have developed
with our students on frictional models and more general contact problems.
Despite the regrettable delay of years of rewriting, this final version still
contains much material published here for the first time.
Several colleagues and students read portions of the manuscript and made
suggestions that improved our presentation of this subject. We wish to thank
Professor Patrick Rabier and Drs. Y. J. Song, L. Demkowicz, L. Campos,
E. Pires, and J. A. C. Martins.
We have had the help of excellent technical typists during the preparation
of various drafts of this work over a period of ten years. An early draft was
typed by Mrs. Bernadette Ashman, another draft by Mrs. Rita Bunstock, and
various revisions by Mdmse. Nancy Webster, Dorothy Baker, Ruth Dye, and
Linda Manifold. To these patient and skillful friends, we owe our sincere
thanks.
We gratefully acknowledge that our studies of contact problems, particularly
the use of finite element methods to study contact problems in elasticity, were
primarily supported by the United States Air Force Office of Scientific
Research.
N. KIKUCHI
The University of Michigan
J. T. ODEN
The University of Texas
Nomenclature and Symbols
We collect here definitions of some of the more frequently used symbols;

others are defined where they first appear in the text.
A: an operator from a space V into its dual V defined by
where { • , • ) denotes duality pairing on V x V.

A <s B: the identity map i from A to B is continuous and A is contained
in B.
a(u, v): a continuous bilinear form on V which is an abstraction of the
virtual work in an elastic body ft; typically, for a linearly elastic
body,
where Eijkh 1 < i, j, k, I < N, are the elasticities and u and v are
arbitrary virtual displacements.
B a constraint operator which defines an admissible set K.
C m (ft): a space of functions with continuous derivatives up to order m
defined on ft.
Eijk{: the components of Hooke's tensor; these are the elasticities of
the material.
F: a quadratic functional representing the total potential energy,
defined by
for a(u, v) = a(v, u).

/(v): a continuous linear functional on V which is an abstraction of
the work done by applied body forces f and surface traction t
xi
Xii NOMENCLATURE AND SYMBOLS
such that, for virtual displacement v,
G, g: gap functions between a deformable body ft and a foundation &.

// m (ft): a Sobolev space such that H m (ft) = W m>2 (ft) on which the inner
product
is defined.
7: a symbol to represent a numerical integration (a quadrature rule)
to approximate, e.g., an inner product
on a domain ft.
K: a subset of V consisting of displacements which satisfy the
unilateral contact conditions.
N: the unit vector inward normal to the surface of a foundation ^
Pjc(G): the space of all polynomials defined on G, the degree of which
is less than or equal to k.
Q: a space containing the range of B.
Sfc(ft): a finite element subspace of a Sobolev space, where h denotes
the representative size (diameter) of finite elements: h = maxe he,
/ie = dia(ft e ).
T, Tr, Tn: the Cauchy stress tensor, its tangential component to the surface
represented by the outward normal unit vector n, and its normal
component.
u(x): a displacement vector at a (material) point x in the body ft. An
arbitrary admissible displacement vector is denoted v.
V: the space of admissible displacements on which the virtual work
is well defined. It consists of displacement fields which satisfy
kinematical boundary conditions and which have finite energy.
V: the (topological) dual space of a normed linear space V.
W m>p (ft): the Sobolev space of order m, p, which is the space of classes of
functions with distributional derivatives of order m in I/(ft),
and which is equipped with the norm
Here m>0, !</?<oo.

NOMENCLATURE AND SYMBOLS Xlll
F: the boundary surface of a body ft, consisting of three mutually

disjoint boundary surfaces F D , FF, and Fc.
y\ a trace operator from // m (ft) into H m ~ 1 / 2 (F).
Au: an increment of a displacement u.
or: a stress tensor for small elastic deformations, typically given by
o-y(u) = Eljk, duk/dx,.
</>+ (or <£+): the positive part of a function </>.
ft: an open domain representing the interior of a deformable body
i n R N , J V = 1 , 2 , or 3.
fte: a typical finite element, 1 < e < E.
This page intentionally left blank
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1. Introductory remarks. In virtually every structural and mechanical

system, there exists the situation in which one deformable body comes in
contact with another. Indeed, the contact of one body with another is, in
essence, how loads are delivered to a structure and is the mechanism whereby
structures are supported to sustain loads. It is obvious, therefore, that the
character of this contact may play a fundamental role in the behavior of the
structure: its deformation, its motion, the distribution of stresses, etc.
Despite the fundamental role of contact in the mechanics of solids and
structures, contact effects are rarely taken into account in structural analysis.
The reason is that the modelling of contact phenomena poses serious difficul-
ties—conceptual, mathematical, and computational—which are far more com-
plex than those encountered in classical linear structural mechanics. Contact
problems are inherently nonlinear. Prior to the application of loads to a body,
the actual contact surface on which bodies meet is unknown. The boundary
conditions on this unknown surface involve unknown stresses and displace-
ments. As a result, mathematical models of contact involve systems of in-
equalities or nonlinear equations. Moreover, when friction is present, multiple
solutions of the equations describing contact can exist, and the description
of the motion of the bodies in contact becomes extremely complex.
Nevertheless, there are special formulations of many classes of contact
problems in which these classical difficulties are minimized and which provide
the basis for elegant methods of analysis. This work is devoted to the study
of some of these formulations and methods.
1.2. Scope and outline of this study. This monograph deals with the analysis
of contact problems in solid mechanics with emphasis on the problem of
equilibrium of elastic bodies in contact with both rigid and deformable founda-
tions. The first eight chapters of this work are focused on problems of
infinitesimal deformation of linearly elastic bodies and restricted to cases in
which the contact surface is lubricated so that no friction is present. In the
l
2 CHAPTER 1
remaining chapters (there are fourteen in all), we consider problems of large

deflections and buckling of thin elastic plastics which come in contact with
unilateral supports, problems involving dry friction, problems of large elastic
and elastoplastic deformations with frictional contact, a class of dynamic
contact problems in elasticity with dynamic friction effects, and rolling contact
problems. Several nonclassical friction laws are introduced and used to con-
struct rather general models of frictional contact between dry metallic surfaces.
Some concluding comments, opinions on research, and suggestions for further
work are collected at the end of the volume.
Throughout this work we emphasize the formulation of various types of
contact problems in a variational setting. We deal with various mathematical
aspects of many of these special variational formulations, with the approxima-
tion of contact problems using finite elements, and with the numerical analysis
of these problems. It is our belief that the proper and most natural framework
for studying problems of the type considered here is that provided by the
theory of variational inequalities; it is a framework supported by the rich
theories of convex analysis, optimization, and variational methods for partial
differential equations, and is ideally suited for variational methods of approxi-
mation such as finite elements. We deal with a variety of aspects of these
subjects: the development of various types of contact conditions; the detailed
formulation of appropriate variational principles; the identification of the
spaces in which these formulations make sense; when possible, the establish-
ment of sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of solutions;
the approximation of variational inequalities; the proof of convergence
theorems and a priori error estimates for finite element approximations; the
description of numerical schemes for solving discrete variational inequalities,
including studies of their convergence, the actual numerical solution of many
representative example problems, and the interpretation of these results with
regard to their implications on the actual physics of the problems considered.
We complete this introductory chapter with some historical comments on
contact problems in elasticity in the next section, and then record some notation
and convections that are used throughout this work.
Following this introduction, we discuss in Chapter 2 the classical Signorini
problem in elasticity: the equilibrium of a linearly elastic body in contact with
a frictionless rigid foundation. Our primary objective in Chapter 2 is to derive,
via classical mechanical arguments, the contact conditions and what we refer
to as a primal variational inequality governing this problem. The emphasis here
is on mechanical aspects of contact without friction; a more elaborate mathe-
matical framework for such problems is constructed in Chapters 5 and 6, more
on the physics of contact is given in Chapters 11 through 14, and more on
contact conditions is given in Chapters 12 and 13.
Chapters 3, 4, and 5 contain the principal mathematical preliminaries for
our study of contact problems in elastostatics of linearly elastic materials.
INTRODUCTION 3
Chapter 3 is devoted to a review of minimization theory and convex analysis,

including discussions of basic minimization theorems for functionals on
Banach spaces, saddle point theory and Lagrange multipliers, and penalty
methods. Chapter 4 deals with finite element approximations, a brief summary
of the theory of finite element interpolation of functions in Sobolev spaces, a
major approximation theorem for variational inequalities, and a discussion of
finite element approximations of saddle point and penalty formulations.
The mathematical apparatus needed to study variational formulations of
contact problems in elasticity is given in Chapter 5. Here we describe properties
of Sobolev spaces and we derive trace theorems and Green's formulas needed
for a precise study of our major variational principles. We also derive here
Korn's inequalities that are crucial for showing the existence of solutions to
contact problems in elasticity.
With the mathematical tools established in Chapter 5 in hand, we return to
the primal formulation of the Signorini problem in Chapter 6 and present
several results on existence, uniqueness, and approximation of solutions of
such problems. A resolution of the contact condition by using penalty methods
is also described. We also give the results of several numerical experiments
designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of methods developed in the text
on representative elasticity problems. Also in Chapter 6, we discuss the formu-
lation and analysis of rigid punch problems and two-body contact problems
as extensions of the Signorini problem and we describe some numerical
solutions of this problem. We discuss in Chapter 7 Signorini problems involving
incompressible elastic materials and we develop the theory of mixed finite
element methods for such problems. Various numerical methods for solving
Signorini problems are taken up in Chapter 8 and we also investigate there
several alternate formulations of the Signorini problem.
Chapter 9 is devoted to a highly nonlinear class of contact problems: the
large transverse deflections of thin elastic plates restrained by frictionless
unilateral supports. Von Karman plate theory is used to model these
phenomena. Up to this point in our study, the nonlinearities in the problems
considered have arisen solely because of the contact conditions, the operators
appearing in the variational formations being formally linear and of second
order. In Chapter 9 we deal with unilateral problems involving nonlinear
pseudomonotone operators of fourth order. The problems considered here
admit multiple solutions. Indeed, we include in our discussion of these prob-
lems a brief study of bifurcations of unilaterally supported plates. Again,
variational principles and approximation theories are developed and several
numerical examples are presented.
In Chapter 10 we begin a study of contact problems with friction. Most of
this chapter is devoted to two special cases: first, the problem of contact on
a surface on which the normal stress is prescribed; and second, the problem
of contact on a surface on which tangential stresses are prescribed. While
4 CHAPTER 1
neither case is of great importance for physically reasonable contact problems,

the combination of results obtained for each case provides many important
facts about the numerical analysis of finite element approximations of general
contact problems with Coulomb friction. We are able to derive a new algorithm
for this class of problems and to obtain estimates of the error of finite element
approximations.
In Chapter 11, we consider a more general class of contact problems with
friction. There we review the physics of friction between metallic bodies and
we derive certain nonclassical friction laws for static dry friction. These friction
laws include a nonlocal law which features a condition for impending sliding
which depends upon a weighted average of the normal stress in a neighborhood
of each point on the contact surface and a nonlinear law which takes into
account the elasticity of junctions formed on the contact surface of metallic
bodies. By appropriate choices of parameters, these laws reduce to the classical
Coulomb law of friction as a special case. We develop variational principles,
existence theorems, approximation theorems, and algorithms for analyzing
contact problems with friction, and we describe several applications to rep-
resentative contact problems.
In Chapter 12, we consider several significant generalizations of the problems
discussed in preceding chapters. These include contact problems encountered
in finite elastostatics, i.e., the large elastic deformation of hyperelastic bodies
with general contact conditions. Here many theoretical issues remain open,
but we do present very effective algorithms for solving problems of this type.
We also address the issue of discretization of contact conditions for large
motions and we explore strategies for implementing contact and friction
conditions in quasistatic, incremental procedures. Another significant depar-
ture from earlier formulations that is considered in this chapter is the inclusion
of material nonlinearities. In particular, we consider finite element methods
for large deformations of elastoplastic materials with unilateral contact and
friction. These are applied to problems of metal forming. We discuss in some
detail numerical results and procedures for handling contact and friction
conditions in several metal-forming simulations.
Dynamic friction problems are discussed in Chapter 13. There we review
and summarize new theories and results on the characterization of normal
compliance and friction on dry metallic interfaces, the development of corre-
sponding mathematical and computational models, and their application to
representative classical problems in dynamic friction: stick-slip motion, sliding
resistance, frictional damping.
The general rolling contact problem for finite deformations of a rolling
cylinder is taken up in Chapter 14. It is shown that the rolling contact problem
shares many features with static contact problems discussed in earlier chapters,
but it also exhibits some special mathematical and physical problems of its
own. Algorithms for handling the finite deformation rolling contact problem
are presented and representative numerical examples discussed.
INTRODUCTION 3
The final pages of this work contain concluding comments and some
philosophical comments on how we feel research in this general area should
proceed. There are many important classes of contact problems not considered
here, numerous open problems remaining in the classes of problems con-
sidered, and many issues touched upon here that deserve further study. A
brief discussion of some of the important areas requiring much additional
work is given in the concluding paragraphs.
1.3. Historical remarks. While it may be surprising at first thought, friction

problems were studied centuries before contact problems found their way into
solid mechanics. Friction effects, for example, were studied by Leonardo da
Vinci in the fifteenth century; they were described as physical "laws" by
Amontons in 1699 and extended to dynamic situations by Coulomb in 1781
(see Dawson [1] for a more complete history). The fact is that, while friction
necessarily requires contact, none of the phenomena observed by these early
scientists were conceived as involving deformable continua: friction was, and
to an extent today remains, an issue discussed with essentially rigid bodies in
mind. Contact problems in the mechanics of solids, on the other hand, did
not appear in the literature until many of the foundations of continuum
mechanics were laid down in the early nineteenth century, and these early
problems necessarily dealt with deformable bodies. In keeping with this his-
torical separation of contact and friction, we review the development of contact
theory here and postpone until Chapters 11 and 13 a discussion of friction.
The study of contact problems in elasticity began in the nineteenth century
with attempts to come forth with an acceptable theory of impact of colliding
bodies. Poisson [1] was the first to attempt such problems, but errors in his
work led to incorrect conclusions in some of the simplest applications of his
theory. Further work, also of limited success, was done by Saint-Venant [1]
and Voight [1] who attempted to formulate a theory of impact within the
framework of the theory of vibrations. In 1882, Hertz [1] successfully treated
a static contact problem in elasticity. Hertz considered the equilibrium of two
elastic bodies in contact on surfaces whose projection in the plane were conic
sections, and he obtained formulas for the contact pressure and indentation
under the assumption that the contact area was contained within an ellipse.
The results of Hertz can be applied to several special problems, e.g., the contact
of a circular cylinder or a sphere with a rigid foundation, half-cylinders on
foundations, etc. Such problems are referred to as Hertz-type or Hertzian
contact problems. For additional details, consult the original papers of Hertz
UL [2], the summary account in the treatise of Love [1], more recent texts
on impact (e.g., Goldsmith [1]), or the informative review paper of Johnson [1].
Several important contributions to the study of contact problems in elasticity
were made by the Russian school of elasticians during the first half of this
century and the 1950's. We mention, in particular, the early work of Beliaev
[1] on the stress near an elliptical contact region, the work of Dinnik [1],
O CHAPTER 1
which includes experimental verification of Hertz's theory, the development

of integral equation methods in the pioneering books on contact problems by
Shtaerman [1] and Galin [1], and the methods of complex potentials and
conformal maps developed by Muskhelishvili [1]. More complete bib-
liographies on the Russian work on contact problems can be found in the
books of Dinnik [1], Shtaerman [1], Galin [1], Muskhelishvili [1], and Lure [1].
Much of the Russian work on contact problems is concerned with rigid
punch problems (or "rigid stamp" problems, as some refer to them) in which
a rigid frictionless body (the punch) is indented into an elastic medium.
Typically, the geometry and loading in the classical punch problems is simple
and ideal and the contact surface is assumed to be known in advance. These
situations are particularly well suited for analysis by classical methods such
as those employing the theory of linear integral equations, complex potentials
and conformal maps, etc. A typical situation is, for example, the problem of
a homogeneous, isotropic, elastic half-space n = {(x 1} X2,x 3 )e[R 3 |x 3 >:0} (x,
being Cartesian coordinates) indented along the x3-axis an amount a by a
rigid punch, the contour of which is defined by
If P is the total external force applied on the punch parallel to the x3-axis,
then the contact pressure a - a(xl, x2) will satisfy the system of equations
where v is Poisson's ratio, E is Young's modulus for the half-space, and

^cc:{(xi,x2,Xj)En3\x3^0} is the contact surface. Equation (1.2) is merely
an application of Boussinesq's solution for the displacement of an elastic
half-space due to a normal unit point load at (^, £ 2 ,0); (1.3) is an equilibrium
condition. We must have
3
where g = {(xl5 x 2 ,x 3 )eR |x 3 = 0}. When Tc is known, (1.2) and (1.3) con-
stitute a system of linear integral equations which can be solved for cr =
<r(xi, x2) and a. A number of closed-form solutions are known for such cases;
see Shtaerman [1], Muskhelishvili [1], or the summary in Chapter 5 of Lure
[1]. If Fc is not known in advance, the problem is nonlinear and another
condition, such as the "free boundary condition" (1.4), must be included in
the analysis. Nevertheless, exact solutions for some very special cases are
known (see Muskhelishvili [l,p. 483]). An excellent treatise on the analysis
INTRODUCTION 7
of contact problems by classical methods has been written by Glad well [1].
This work also contains many additional references to papers on this subject.
The general problem of the equilibrium of a linearly elastic body in contact
with a rigid frictionless foundation was formulated by Signorini [1] in 1933,
who presented a more complete account of his theory in 1959 [2]. The first
rigorous analysis of a class of Signorini problems was announced in 1963 by
Fichera [1] and was subsequently published in full by Fichera [2]. The work
of Fichera [1] represents the first treatment of questions of existence and
uniqueness of variational inequalities arising from the minimization of func-
tionals on convex subsets of Banach spaces. These particular results apply to
problems characterized by symmetric bilinear forms (or, equivalently, a quad-
ratic strain energy functional), but they do cover cases in which the energy is
not coercive and, therefore, compatibility conditions on the applied forces
must be imposed. In particular, Fichera considered the problem of minimizing
the total potential energy functional,
on the convex set Ke C'(n) = (Cl(Cl))3 of admissible displacements v defined

by
Here W(e(v)) is the value of the strain density W at a strain e(v) produced
by a displacement v, which is characterized by the quadratic form
In (1.8), EijM are the components of Hooke's tensor of elasticities, which

possess the standard symmetries, and the usual summation convention is used.
In (1.6), f denotes the applied body force per unit volume, dx = dxr dx2 dx3
the volume measure, and t the applied traction on r F = r-r c , F being the
boundary of ft and Tc the contact surface. The admissible set K used here is
a subset of the space of all continuously differentiate vector-valued functions
defined on O U dfl which satisfy a so-called unilateral contact condition v • n<
0, n being the unit vector outward and normal to the boundary dfl. This
unilateral condition on elements v in K means that the normal displacement
v • n cannot be positive. Fichera characterized the minimizer u of F on K as
the solution of the variational inequality
8 CHAPTER 1
for all v in K, where o-y(u) is the stress tensor produced by the displacement
field u:
(1.10)
Fichera also showed that a necessary condition on the data (f, t) in order that
there exists a solution of (1.9) is that
(1.11)
for every rigid body motion r e K.

Further details on Fichera's work can be found in the encyclopedia article
of Fichera [2]. We give a simple derivation of (1.9) in Chapter 2 and review
and give several extensions of these results in Chapters 6-13.
In 1964, Stampacchia [1] presented a theory of variational inequalities valid
for unsymmetric coercive (V- elliptic) bilinear forms on convex sets in Hilbert
spaces. This was followed by the pioneering paper on variational inequalities
by Lions and Stampacchia [1] in 1967 and the important book by Duvaut and
Lions [1] on variational inequalities in mechanics and physics which appeared
in 1972. In this latter work, many important contact problems are formulated
in terms of variational inequalities, including problems with Coulomb friction
in which the friction forces are prescribed, dynamic problems, contact problems
in viscoelasticity, etc. Some general theorems on variational inequalities for
pseudo-monotone operators on convex sets in linear topological spaces were
derived by Brezis [1] in 1968 and applied by Lions [1] to several important
problems.
In the 1970's, many generalizations of and new results on the theory of
variational inequalities were published. Summary accounts of the theory can
be found in the monographs of Mosco [1], and Oden and Kikuchi [1], in the
book of Duvaut and Lions [1], in the more recent textbook of Kinderlehrer
and Stampacchia [1], in the survey article of Glowinski [2], in the collection
of papers edited by Cottle, Giannessi, and Lions [1] and in the book of
Oden [61.
Variational inequalities have also been found to provide a means for develop-
ing powerful approximation and numerical methods. Such subjects are dealt
with in, for example, the works of Mosco [1], Glowinski [1], [2], Falk [1],
Cea, Glowinski, and Nedelec [1], in the two-volume monograph of Glowinski,
Lions, and Tremolieres [1], the monograph of Oden and Kikuchi [3], and the
papers of Brezzi, Hager and Raviart [1], [2]. We shall cite additional sources
on this subject at various places throughout this work.
The development of the theory of variational inequalities led to a number
of advances in the study of contact problems in solid mechanics. In 1969,
Duvaut [1] extended existing results on the Signorini problem to linear visco-
INTRODUCTION 9
elastic materials. In 1970 Fremond [1] solved a class of two-body contact

problems using a special mixed variational formulation. Fremond considered
the problem of a linearly elastic body resting on a linearly elastic half-space
and approached the problem as one of minimizing the functional
on the set
We see that the energy functional in (1.12) differs from that in (1.6) by the
surface integral over Fc. This surface integral represents the contribution to
the total potential energy of the body ft due to the normal contact pressures
T on Fc. In (1.12), v is an arbitrary (admissible) displacement field,
G:(H l / 2 (F c ))'^(// 1 (fl)) 3 is Green's operator for the elastic half-space and
g defines the initial gap between the two bodies (called, hereafter, the gap
between the bodies). Definitions and properties of the Sobolev spaces Hl(£l)
and // 1/2 (F C ), etc. are given in the next section. Since G(r) • n is the displace-
ment normal to the elastic half-space, the constraint v • n - G ( r ) • n < g means
that the normal displacement v • n cannot exceed the gap relative to the elastic
half-space g - f G ( r ) - n . Boucher [1] extended Fremond's results to linear
viscoelastic materials using a slightly different energy functional in which
displacement fields of both the elastic body and the supporting half-space
appeared. Another approach was taken in Kikuchi [1], [2] to solve two-body
contact problems which also employed Green's operator G, but which
expressed the contact condition differently than Fremond.
A difficult class of contact problems in elasticity involves the large transverse
deflections and buckling of thin elastic plates in which the transverse motion
of the plate is restrained by the presence of an elastic or a rigid surface parallel
to the undeformed middle plane. Other contact problems for elastic plates
involve cases in which the plate or one of its edges is resting on a rigid or
elastic foundation or cases in which a free edge of a plate can slide against a
transverse support. Variational formulations of such highly nonlinear prob-
lems, including questions of existence and uniqueness of solutions and bifurca-
tions of solutions, were studied by Duvaut and Lions [2], Naumann [1], [2],
John and Naumann [1], John [1], Do [1], [2], and Ohtake, Oden, and Kikuchi
[1]. The numerical analysis of certain problems of this type by finite element
methods was discussed by Ohtake, Oden and Kikuchi [2].
Variational methods for the study of rigid punch problems were also devised
by Duvaut [3]. For example, problems of the type described by (1.2)-(1.3)
10 CHAPTER 1
can be approached as problems of finding minima of the functional
in the convex set
with p as defined in (1.1). A given number P is the total applied force to the
punch, and (3 is an arbitrary admissible depth of indentation. In this formula-
tion, the displacement u and the depth of indentation are obtained as the
minimizer to the functional (1.14). Several generalizations of the variational
formulations of the rigid punch problem are obtained in Kikuchi [7], [8] and
Kikuchi and Song [1]. There, rigid punch problems involving moments as well
as forces are analyzed. Johnson [1] has extended some of the results of Duvaut
[3] to elastoplastic foundations.
Essentially all of the work on contact problems we have mentioned up to
this point does not include the effects of friction. Duvaut and Lions [1]
formulated a restricted class of contact problems with Coulomb friction under
the assumption that the contact area and the contact pressure are known. The
particular problem of contact of an elastic body with a rigid foundation can
be approached by seeking minima of the energy functional
on an appropriate linear space of admissible displacements v. Here VF is the

coefficient of friction, or is the contact pressure, v r is the tangential component
of displacement on the boundary, and [VT^VT' VT. Even when cr and Fc are
prescribed, the contact problem characterized by (1.16) is complicated by the
fact that F is not Gateaux differentiate. The physically more meaningful case
in which a is viewed as unknown (or as a function of the unknown displacement
field u) involves formidable mathematical difficulties, not all of which have
yet been resolved. Some positive results in this direction have been obtained
for special cases by Necas, Jarusek and Haslinger [1]; see also Duvaut [4].
The development of variational inequalities for contact problems with non-
classical friction laws was undertaken in a series of papers by Oden and Pires
[1], [2], [3], [4], Pires and Oden [1], [2], Demkowicz and Oden [1] and Oden
and Martins [1]. These works introduce special nonlinear friction laws as well
as nonlocal friction models in which sliding occurs at a point on the contact
surface at which the local shear stress is proportional to a weighted average
of the normal stress in a neighborhood of each point. Also, interface models
INTRODUCTION 11
which simulate elastoplastic effects in friction have been factored into vari-
ational principles for contact problems by Oden and Pires [2] and Oden and
Martins [1]. We discuss these and related issues in more detail in Chapters
10-13.
A study of variational methods for a broad class of contact problems has
been undertaken by Kalker [1], [2]. In particular, Kalker [1] lists a variety of
variational principles for contact problems, identifies several solved and unre-
solved questions, and gives an extensive bibliography on the subject. In
conjunction to the rolling contact problem, friction problems have been studied
by many authors as listed in a survey paper by Kalker [3]; in particular, details
of rolling contact with dry friction can be found in Oden and Lin [1], Kalker
[4], [5], [6], Johnson [1], [2], [3], and Carter [1]. We discuss these topics
further in Chapters 13 and 14.
Similar work, aimed at using variational ideas as a basis for developing
discrete models of contact phenomena, was contributed by Panagiotopoulos
[1]» [2], [3], who, among other things, presented a numerical scheme for
solving Signorini's problem with friction based on stochastic optimization
concepts. In addition to the applications discussed by Panagiotopoulos, several
finite element methods for treating contact problems with friction have been
proposed in the engineering literature. As typical examples, we mention the
papers of Goodman, Taylor and Brekke [1], Chan and Tuba [1], [2], Hardy,
Baronet, and Tordion [1], Ohte [1], Tsuta and Yamaji [1], Francavilla and
Zienkiewicz [1], Hughes, Taylor, Sackman, Curnier, and Kanoknukulchai [1],
Fredriksson [1], Paczelt [1], Schaeffer [1], and Herrmann [1]. These authors
employed incremental analyses to control nonlinearities due to contact and
to model friction effects. Many of the techniques developed in these papers
are based on Lagrange multiplier or penalty formulations for handling the
contact constraint on the displacement field u, i.e.
where g is a given function representing the normalized gap between the elastic
body and the foundation. In Lagrange multiplier formulations, the multiplier
associated with (1.17) is the contact pressure. In other formulations, authors
frequently employ thin "bond," "film," or "interface" elements to model a
boundary layer around the contact surface. As shown by Okabe and Kikuchi
[1], these in fact correspond to penalty methods for handling the constraint
(1.17) in which the element thickness corresponds to the penalty parameter.
Contact problems involving large deformations and inelastic behavior are
dealt with sparingly in the literature. Contact problems in finite elasticity have
been studied by Oden et al. [1], [2], Haggblad and Sundberg [1], and others.
General slideline algorithms for treating the geometric problem of colliding
bodies have been given by Hallquist [1] and Hughes, Taylor et al. [1], [2] and
have been critically examined by Guerra and Browning [1]. Contact and impact
12 CHAPTER 1
conditions are intrinsic to penetration problems, and we refer to the collection

of papers on the numerical analysis of such problems edited by Eringen [1].
The application of finite element methods to contact problems involving large
inelastic deformations has been considered by several authors, and we mention
the papers of Kikuchi [8] and Guerra and Browning [1] where additional
references can be found.
There have been relatively few attempts at developing a complete approxima-
tion theory and numerical analysis of finite element methods for contact
problems in elasticity. The first results in this area were presented in the 1977
thesis of Kikuchi [2] and later in the widely circulated report of Kikuchi and
Oden [1]. Other results on convergence of finite element methods for Signorini
problems were presented by Loppin [1], Hlavacek and Lovisek [1], Haslinger
and Hlavacek [1], [2], [3], Oden, Kikuchi and Song [1], and Kikuchi and
Song [2], [3]. A study of finite element methods for unilateral contact of thin
plates undergoing large transverse deflections as given in the papers of Ohtake,
Oden and Kikuchi [1], [2], and forms the basis for Chapter 9 of the present
study.
A study of convergence of finite element approximations of certain classes
of contact problems with friction was presented by Campos, Oden, and Kikuchi
[1] and Pires and Oden [1], [2] and Martins and Oden [1]; also, Haslinger
and Hlavacek [1] provided a numerical analysis of finite element approxima-
tions of the special friction problem studied by Necas, Jarusek, and
Haslinger [1].
It should be noted that there is a large volume of work on friction, contact,
and wear in the engineering literature, and that a wide variety of schemes,
both experimental and computational, have been devised to study such
phenomena. The large treatise of Bowden and Tabor [1], for example, rep-
resents a classical treatment of the physics of friction; while the National
Bureau of Standards Monograph on the Mechanics of Pneumatic Tires edited
by Clark [1] is a frequently referenced source on practieal solutions for contact
and friction problems encountered in tire design. Also, the mechanical
engineering monographs edited by Browne and Tsai [1] and Cheng and Keer
[1] on rolling friction and on solid contact and lubrication contain papers
with widely varying approaches to these problems and numerous references
to other work on these subjects. We shall provide a more complete bibliography
on this subject in Chapters 11 and 13.
A detailed critique of the experimental and theoretical literature on dynamic
friction phenomena, with particular emphasis on stick-slip motion, chattering,
friction damping, dynamic sliding resistance, was compiled by Oden and
Martins [1], In this work, new interface models of normal compliance and
dynamic friction were proposed which capture many important features of
such dynamic friction phenomena. Some of these results and additional refer-
ences are summarized in Chapters 11 and 13. Recently, existence theorems
INTRODUCTION 13
for elastodynamic and viscoelastic contact problems with friction have been
contributed by Martins and Oden [2].
Models of the general rolling contact problem, with finite elastic and visco-
elastic deformation, friction, and inertia effects, were developed by Oden,
Becker, Lin and Demkowicz [1], and finite element solutions of a number of
special cases were analyzed. These highly nonlinear problems can involve
regular and noncompact bifurcation problems, the latter corresponding to the
emergence of standing waves in rotating cylinders. Rolling contact problems
of this type were studied by Oden and Lin [1], and some of their results an
additional references are given in Chapter 14.
The reader may find more complete lists of related work on contact problems
and of their analysis by variational and numerical methods in the key references
cited in this section. We shall also list other sources in the discussions that
follow.
1.4. Notation and conventions. Throughout this work, we employ notation
and conventions which are standard in modern mathematical literature on
solid mechanics and partial differential equations. Vectors and tensors are
denoted by boldface characters and index notation is used to describe their
Cartesian components. We also use the summation convention of summing
on all repeated indices. Thus, a vector v and a tensor T have components u,
and Ty, respectively, and 1 ^ i, j^ N, with N generally equal to 1,2, or 3.
We frequently deal with certain spaces of functions defined on a bounded
open domain ft in IRN, where IR N =r lili W» ^ is tne real nne > an d> generally,
N=l, 2, or 3. The boundary of ft is denoted F. Suppose that a Cartesian
coordinate system is established in R N and that a point in UN is given by
x = (xi, x 2 , • • • , X N ). We will sometimes use multi-index notation to denote
partial derivatives of functions u = M(X) defined on ft; thus,
In all of the developments to follow, ft will be a connected domain with

points on only one side of F. To measure the smoothness of F, we may use
the following scheme:
(i) We cover F with a collection { U ^ , U2, • • • , UM} of open subsets of IRN,
F e U f l i L/r, such that
(ii) For each Ur, we introduce an orthogonal transformation Ar of the

coordinate system x = (x l 5 x2, • • • , X N ) into local coordinate systems yr =
(yn,yr2,- • • ,>VN): yr = A r (x), r=i,2, • • • , M.
(iii) We assume that there exists an a > 0 and a (3 > 0 such that, locally,
the smoothness of the boundary F can be described in terms of hypersurfaces
14 CHAPTER 1
defined by functions fr on sets Sr, where
(iv) Let C M (5), 0</c<oo, 0< A < 1, denote the Holder class of functions
defined on the closure of the set S^RN. Thus, C M (S) is the subspace of
Ck(S) consisting of those functions cf> whose derivatives Da<f> satisfy, for all
0^|a|^/c, the Holder condition with exponent A, i.e., there is a constant C
such that
where ||-1| denotes the Euclidean norm on UN. Then the regularity of Tr is
assumed to be determined by choosing k and A so that
(v) The class of all such sets satisfying the above conditions is denoted (£k'A,
and, if (iv) holds, we say that H e <£*•* or H is of class (£/c'A.
Note that if Oe <#0>1, (1 is said to be a Lipschitzian domain.
Occasionally, we will make reference to the well-known function spaces:
C m (n)= the linear space of functions v with partial derivatives Dav
(« = («,, a2, • - • , a N )) of all orders 0^ a|^m continuous on
H, m an integer 5:0.
c°°(a)= n~ =0 c m (n).
C™(O) = {ueC m (n)|support of v = closure {xen|u(x)^0} is compact
in ft}, 0<m<oo.
®(H) = the space of test functions defined on (1 (i.e., C^(fl) equipped
with the well-known locally convex topology).
Q)'(£l} = the space of distributions and the topological dual of S>(O).
L P (O) = the space of equivalence classes of measurable functions v for
which Jn v(\)\pdx<oo, Lebesgue integration being implied,
and equipped with the norm
The spaces Si(O) and 3)'(£l) are not metrizable. The spaces L P (H) are Banach
spaces, reflexive whenever Kp<oo, and L2(O) is a Hilbert space equipped
with the inner product (w, y)z,2(n) = Jn uvdx (M, v being real-valued).
INTRODUCTION 15
We will frequently encounter functions belonging to Sobolev spaces. Let m

be a nonnegative integer and p a real number satisfying 1 < p < oo. The Sobolev
space Wm'p(£l) of order (m, p) is the linear space of functions (or equivalence
classes of functions) in L p (£l) whose distributional partial derivatives Dau of
all orders a| such that 0< a ^ m are in L P (O):
The spaces Wm'p(£l) are Banach spaces when endowed with the norms
and are reflexive if 1p (ft), s>0, can be identified with the completion
of C m (fl) in the so-called Slobodetskij norm,
where s = s 0 +cr, s0 is the integer part of 5. Other definitions of "fractional"

Sobolov norms can be introduced which are equivalent to this norm.
We also denote
and note that
In many instances we will find it necessary to deal with Sobolev spaces of

functions defined on the boundary F of fl or on a portion F! of F. For these
spaces, we use the notation L P (F), L p (r,), W5-P(F), W'P(F,), etc., s being a
nonnegative real number.
The so-called negative Sobolev spaces are topological duals of the Sobolev
spaces defined above. In particular we denote, for s>0,
where p'-p/(p-l), Kp<<x>. The norm || • ||*p>n in the dual space W~s'p'(fl)
of Wo p ((l) is defined in the usual way by duality:
16 CHAPTER 1
Here {•, ')s>p,n denotes the canonical duality pairing on W~*'p'(£l)x Wsdp(Q.);
i.e., if ge W~s'p'(a), then g(v) = (g, u)S(p>ft for every ve W^p(fl). We shall
denote the dual space of a general Banach space V by V, and its norm || • || *
by
In most of the developments in subsequent chapters, we will need to use

only the special Sobolev spaces for which p = 2. In these cases, we use the
notation
etc. The spaces Hm(£l) are Hilbert spaces, equipped with the inner products
such as
so that
When the domain of the function is clear from the context, we will use the
simpler notation for the norms || • ||m,p,n, I I ' l| m ,n> etc., given by
etc.
We next recall the fundamentally important imbedding theorem. Let A c+B
represent the fact that the identity map from A into B is continuous and
compact.
THEOREM 1.1. (Sobolev-Kondrasov imbedding theorem). Letfte^*1'.
Then:
(i) J / p > l and kp<N, then W^Cft) <^Lq(£l) for q defined by
l/q = l/p-k/N.
(ii) / / p > l and kp = N, then Wk'p(tl) ^Lq(Sl) for q such that
\<q< +00.
(iii) //>> 1 and kp> N, then W^p(^l) qjC°' M (n), where
Proof. See Necas [1, Chap. 2]. D

INTRODUCTION 17
Finally, in the case of vector-valued functions v with components vt in

// m (n), we use the notation
etc., and for tensor-valued functions r with components TO in //"'(ft) we write
etc.
For additional details on properties of the spaces described in this section,
see for example, Adams [1], Kufner, John, and Fucik [1] or Necas [1].
We conclude this chapter with a response to a common question: Why do
we need spaces such as L p (ll) or // m (fl) to study contact problems in elasticity?
Primarily because continuum mechanics and variational formulations furnish
us with integral statements of the physical principles of mechanics which make
sense only for certain classes of admissible functions. A key consideration in
determining whether a given function is admissible is its regularity: how smooth
the function is. Not only do the spaces I/(O), Hm(H), etc. arise naturally in
weak or variational statements of boundary-value problems in mechanics, but
also they provide an elegant and systematic framework for quantifying the
concept of regularity: if, for example, it is known that u e // 2 (fi), then a
specific minimum degree of regularity of the function u can be inferred.
Moreover, this quantification of regularity is fundamental to the error analysis
of approximate methods such as finite elements; indeed, errors are naturally
measured in some appropriate Sobolev norm and rates of convergence depend
upon the order of the space and the regularity of the solution. We use these
spaces and these properties throughout this work.
Chapter 2
Signorini's Problem
2.1. Introduction. A classical example of the role of variational inequalities

in the formulation of contact problems in solid mechanics and the basis for
many generalizations which we discuss in subsequent chapters, is the so-called
Signorini problem describing the contact of a linearly elastic body with a rigid
frictionless foundation. Our aim in this chapter is principally one of orientation:
we describe the equations and inequalities governing the equilibrium of an
elastic body undergoing "small" deformations whose motion is constrained
by the presence of a rigid, lubricated, frictionless foundation which may come
in contact with the body during its motion. We construct the contact conditions
and associated inequalities, and we then comment on generalizations.
We shall pay special attention to the variational aspects of the problem,
and we will show that the solution of the classical Signorini problem is also
the solution of a variational inequality that arises naturally from the principle
of virtual work. However, we do not dwell on the detailed structure of the
variational formulation here; we postpone until Chapter 6 a complete descrip-
tion of the variational or weak problem and the precise identification of the
spaces in which this problem is properly posed.
2.2. Contact conditions. We consider a material body to be the closure of

a set fl of material particles x. We wish to describe the motion of the body
relative to a fixed spatial frame of reference with respect to which the Cartesian
components of a point in IR3 are denoted yt, 1 < i < 3. When the body occupies
its reference configuration in R3, we assign a label (x,, x 2 , x3) to each material
particle x in such a way that the label x, coincides with the coordinate yf of
the position of the particle. Having made this identification, we do not distin-
guish between the material particle x and its labels (x l 5 x 2 , x3), and we write
x = (xj, x 2 , x3). The motion of the body is then characterized by equations
giving the position >>, of each particle at each time f >0:
19
20 CHAPTER 2
The Cartesian components of displacement of a particle x = (xl, x2, x3) relative

to the fixed spatial frame at time t are given by the functions
We will assume that the functions %t are differentiate with respect to the x,
and t, that (2.1) is locally invertible, i.e.,
and that (2.1) can be inverted to give the x, in terms of the positions >>,:
Now we will be concerned with a special geometrical situation such as that

illustrated in Fig. 2.1: there is located above the body (i.e., at a position yf
FIG. 2.1. Constraint on the motion of a deformable body by a rigid foundation 9.

SIGNORINI'S PROBLEM 21
such that ^3^X3, f = 0) a rigid and absolutely fixed body & which will be
called the foundation; ZF is to be conceived as an unbounded, semi-infinite
region in R 3 , the presence of which limits the extent to which the body can
displace in the y 3 -direction. We are interested in the deformation of the body
brought about due to its motion from its reference configuration to another
configuration at a fixed time f, > 0 at which some portion of the material
surface of the body comes in contact with the foundation &. For this purpose,
we can (and shall) ignore the dependence of the functions Xi> X^\ and M i>
1< / < 3 , on time t.
To simplify matters, suppose that the surface S of the foundation is defined
parametrically by the equation
and that the material surface Fc of the body Cl which contains that portion
of the total surface F of the body which comes in contact with 9 in the current
configuration is defined by the particles for which
where, for the moment, t/> and $ are assumed to be smooth functions and
*l>(y\ > ^2) — <j>(yi, y-i) for all points ( y l , y2) in the projection of Fc on the y ^ ,
y2 plane (here the notation <j>(y\,y2) is understood to mean that the rule
defining the surface Fc is used to define a new function on points lying in the
projection of Fc on the yl, y2 plane). Then, if (xj, x 2 , x3) is a particle on Fc,
its displacement must satisfy
and
We refer to inequality (2.5) as the kinematical contact condition for finite

displacements of a body constrained by a fixed rigid foundation. Additional
contact conditions are to follow.
We obtain a formally simpler version of (2.5) by rewriting (2.4) in the form
and supposing that these equations can be inverted to give
Then (2.5) becomes

22 CHAPTER 2
where
Condition (2.8) (or (2.5)) is obviously derived from purely kinematical

considerations. However, this condition must also be compatible with the state
of stress on the contact surface Fc. Let T = T(>>i,}> 2 ,}>3) denote the Cauchy
stress tensor at the particle (xl,x2,x3) whose position is (y\tyi,y3) and let
n = (HI , «2, "3) denote the unit outward normal to Fc. If T)j(y) are the Cartesian
components of T at y = (î,^,^) = x( x ), 1 —', 7 — 3, then the normal and
tangential components of T at a particle on the material surface F are,
respectively,
where x = (xi, #2, to), Xt being defined in (2.1), x = (*j, x 2 , x3), and the usual
summation convention on repeated indices is used. Next we make two funda-
mental observations: first, if no tractions are applied on Fc, a compressive
normal stress must be developed at the points of contact, Tn is zero if no
contact occurs; second, if the foundation surface 5 is frictionless, the tangential
components of stress TT. at x e Fc must be zero. Thus, we must have for x e Fc,
Observe that in every case that (2.8) and (2.11) hold, we must have
Collecting these results, we arrive at the general contact conditions for the
case of a frictionless rigid foundation:
We return to these general contact conditions in Chapters 11 and 13 where

generalizations and further details are given.
2.3. Incremental and linearized contact conditions. Let us suppose that the
body is displaced relative to its current configuration by a small amount
characterized by small increments AM, in the components of the displacement
vector. Then the kinematical contact condition (2.5) assumes the form,
wherein x = (xj, x 2 , (/>(*i, *2)) e T c . If the increments Aw, are small, the value
of 0 at x, + w, + Au, can be approximated by retaining terms linear in Aw, in
an expansion of ifj about yt - x, + M ; :
Then (2.14) can be approximated by
Now we observe that the components JV, of a unit vector normal to the
surface S of the foundation at the position (y}, y2, y3) are given by
Hence, dividing both sides of (2.15) by [l + (d^/dyl)2 + (dif//dy2)2]}/2 and

simplifying, we arrive at the condition
where G(x, u) is a measure of the "gap" between the body and the foundation
prior to the addition of the increments Au:
Of course, to complete the description of the contact constraint we must add

to (2.17) the corresponding contact conditions (2.11) on stress components,
with T evaluated at y + Au.
We refer to (2.17) as an incremental kinematical contact condition; it is useful
in describing constraints on the motion of the body in terms of perturbations
24 CHAPTER 2
Au about a configuration characterized by the displacement field u = u(x). As

we shall see in Chapter 12, it is also useful in approximating the kinematics
in certain contact problems involving finite deformations. For example, if we
view the motion of a body as the result of a sequence of infinitesimal displace-
ment increments and if u"(x) is the accumulated displacement of particle x
after n such increments, then AM, must satisfy the kinematical condition,
Further details on such incremental contact conditions are given in Chapters

11 and 12.
Linearized conditions. We next seek an approximation to conditions (2.13)
for which each function is given in terms of the particles x (or the "initial"
coordinates *,•) which is linear in the components of displacement and which,
therefore, should be valid under the physical assumption that the body under-
goes "small" displacements relative to its reference configuration. An obvious
linearization of (2.5) follows immediately from (2.17):
However, this form of the linearized contact condition is not convenient for
our purposes because it involves the component of u normal to the surface S
of the foundation ^ and not the material surface Fc. Fortunately, for problems
involving infinitesimal deformations and for S and Fc sufficiently smooth, the
geometry of the body in its current configuration can be distinguished from
that in its reference configuration only to within terms involving infinitesimals
raised to powers of higher order. Thus, the surfaces 5 and Fc are necessarily
very close initially and are essentially parallel in the sense that N and G in
(2.20), respectively, can be replaced by the unit vector n normal to Fc and a
gap g normalized with respect to the surface Fc rather than G.
To verify this assertion, let us assume that the functions </» and if/ have
continuous first partial derivatives and bounded second partial derivatives
everywhere in their respective domains. Then, from (2>6),
where O ( - ) denotes terms of quadratic order and higher in |w,|, |u,J etc.
Retaining only linear terms, we have
Likewise, to within terms linear in uh

Next, let / denote the level surface,
Then the outward unit vector normal to Yc is defined by
Thus, introducing (2.21) and (2.22) into (2.8) (or (2.5)), dividing by V/|, and
using the notation (2.23), we arrive at the simplified constraint condition,
where, instead of (2.18) we now have

;
The normalized initial gap between 5 and Fc, defined by the function g in
(2.25), is regarded as part of the given data in contact problems since it can
obviously be calculated from the given functions $ and </>.
Now since <//-(/> = O(|u 3 |), u,,(x) = u,,(y) + O(\unJ • un\), and g(x) =
g(y)+ O(|w 3 • |w 3 ,,|), it is permissible within our linear approximation to write
(2.24) in the form
where un(\) = u(x) • n(x) = M,(X)«,(X).

Finally, let T denote the Cauchy stress at the particle xe Fc. Then, r n (x) =
Ty(x)«,-«j, l ^ i , 7=s 3, (i.e. rn(x}= Tn() denotes its normal component at
x). Thus, the contact conditions (2.13), for the case of infinitesimal motions,
reduce to
where T r = T • n — rnn.
2.4. Signorini's problem. We now investigate a class of contact problems

studied in 1933 by Signorini [1]. We begin by considering the deformation of
a body unilaterally supported by a frictionless rigid foundation, as shown in
Fig. 2.2, and subjected to body forces f and surface tractions t applied to a
portion F F of the body's surface F. The body is fixed along a portion F D of
its boundary and we denote by Fc a portion of the body which is a candidate
contact surface. The actual surface on which the body comes in contact with the
foundation is not known in advance but is contained in the portion Fc of F. We
confine our attention to infinitesimal deformations of the body.
26 CHAPTER 2
FIG. 2.2. An elastic body in contact with a rigid frictionless foundation.
Let v = (t>j) = (u,, v2, v3) and T = (T,-,), 1 < i, j < 3, denote arbitrary displace-
ment and stress fields in the body. A stress field T = T(X) is in equilibrium at
a particle x on the interior of H if
where TtfJ = dry/ax,-, l ^ J , ;'^3. A displacement field v = v(x) satisfies the

kinematic boundary conditions on FD if
Similarly, if t is the traction applied on FF, the stress produced there must satisfy
The components e y (v) of the infinitesimal strain tensor e produced by a

displacement field v are given by the linear equations
where viii = dvildXj.

The mechanical properties of the body are characterized by a constitutive
equation which gives the stress T at each particle as a function of the strain e
at that particle:
This constitutive law characterizes a Cauchy elastic material. Since e(l is defined
in terms of the displacement gradients by (2.28), the constitutive equation can
also be written in terms of the functions vtj, and we will also use the notation
where the dependence of TO on x is implicitly understood, and Vv denotes the

displacement gradient tensor at x.
Now let u denote a specific displacement field of the body, the material of
which is characterized by (2.30), that corresponds to an equilibrium state of
the body for given data: body forces f, surface tractions t, and initial gap g.
If, at this equilibrium configuration, the body comes in contact with the
frictionless foundation, then from (2.27) and the above equations it is clear
that u satisfies the following system of equations and inequalities:
Here oy.(x, Vu), <rn(\, Vu) denote the tangential and normal components of
stress vector (or traction), respectively, written in terms of Vu, at a particle
xer c .
The system (2.31) characterizes Signorini's problem for the material defined
by (2.30). In virtually all of our subsequent developments,1 we shall be
concerned with hyperelastic Hookean materials, for which the response func-
tions in (2.30) take on the specific form
where Eijkl(\) are the components of Hooke's tensor at x and have the symmetry
properties.
Then Signorini's problem (2.31) becomes one of finding the displacement field
1
Some exceptions are discussed in Chapter 12 where inelastic materials are studied and in
Chapter 14 where finite deformations of elastic bodies are studied.
28 CHAPTER 2
u such that
where «„ = u • n = M,«, and, for simplicity, we have used the notation
2.5. A variational formulation. An alternative formulation of the Signorini

problem (2.34) is now considered which plays a fundamental role in subsequent
studies.
Let V denote a normed linear space of real, vector-valued, measurable
functions defined on O. For our present purposes, it suffices to assume that
the functions v in V and their domain O are sufficiently smooth that all the
operations we have in mind are well defined. In particular, we require that V
be such that for any u, v e V, the virtual work Jn cry(u)e i;/ -(v) dx — Jn Eû^Vij dx
is well defined, that ve V implies v = 0 on FD, and that V is partially ordered
by a relation < so that the symbolism "un ^ un on the boundary segment Fc"
for some u, v e V has meaning. We will discuss specific properties of V in
Chapter 5 where we show that for linearly elastic materials it is appropriate
to choose V as a subspace of the Sobolev space H^fi). For the present, it
suffices to take v and £1 to be smooth, e.g., vte Cl(&), He C1'1.
Suppose that vn = v • n is well defined for ve V. Then the contact conditions
enter the present variational formulation through the introduction of a subset
K of V defined by
Now let u be a solution of the Signorini problem (2.34) and suppose that
u € V so that u is also in the set K. Let v be an arbitrary element of K. Then,
if o-y(u) is defined by (2.35) l5 the virtual work produced by the actual stress
corresponding to u and the strain etj(\-u) produced by the (virtual) displace-
ment v-u (which, incidentally, satisfies the boundary conditions on F D ) is
We next assume that o"j/(u) and v-u are such that the following integration
by parts (Green's) formula is valid:
Since vt and w, vanish on FD and u is the solution of (2.34), we have, for all
veK,
Also, on F c ,
Thus, the solution u of (2.34) satisfies
The result (2.38) is a variational inequality characterizing the solution u of

Signorini's problem (2.34). We also refer to (2.38) as the primal variational
principle for the Signorini problem; unlike standard variational principles in
solid mechanics, we obtain an inequality in problems of this type owing to
the constraint u e K.
We emphasize that we have ignored many fundamental questions in arriving
at (2.38). For example, if u is a solution of (2.38), in what sense, if any, is it
a solution of (2.34) ? If v e V, in what sense is vn = u,n, on F or vn - g < 0 to be
interpreted, etc.? We address these and related questions in some detail in
Chapter 5.
We also remark that the above ideas are easily generalized to a more abstract
setting. Let V be any reflexive Banach space, K a nonempty closed convex
subset of V, and A a possibly nonlinear operator mapping V into its dual V.
30 CHAPTER 2
Then, if/ is a given linear functional in V, the problem of finding u e K such

that
wherein {•, •) denotes duality pairing on V x V, is an abstract variational

inequality for u. We discuss the role of inequalities of the type (2.39) in convex
analysis and optimization theory in the next chapter.
Chapter 3
Minimization Methods
and Their Variants
3.1. Introduction. In this chapter we will record certain standard results on

the minimization of functionals on reflexive Banach spaces, especially on
Hilbert spaces. Our aim here is to review briefly some of the major theorems
that are of use in subsequent studies; hence, we do not furnish proofs of most
of the results but, instead, refer the reader to other sources for more details.
In particular, we summarize here some of the basic theorems of convex analysis,
saddle point theory (Lagrange multipliers), and penalty methods.
3.2. Minimization of functionals. The basic problem considered here is this:

Let
V be a reflexive (real) Banach space with norm || • ||,
K be a nonempty closed convex subset of V,
F:K-*R be a real functional defined on K.
Find u E K such that
This is the minimization problem for the functional F relative to the set K.
It is informative to interpret many of the mathematical notions to be
discussed here in terms of physical concepts familiar in solid mechanics. For
example, K can be thought of as the set of all admissible displacements
satisfying the essential (kinematics) and the kinematic contact conditions. A
reflexive Banach space V is the abstraction of the space of motions for which
the corresponding strain energy of the elastic body is finite, and its dual space
V can contain various applied body forces and tractions. An example of a
functional F defined on such spaces is, of course, the total potential energy,
which consists of the (total) strain energy and the potential energy of the
31
32 CHAPTER 3
applied forces. In linear elasticity, this functional F is sometimes written in

the form
where a ( - , - ) and /(•) are bilinear and linear forms, respectively. In this
setting, the bilinear form a(u, v) represents the internal virtual work produced
by the displacement field u, and v is an arbitrary virtual displacement. The
linear form/(y) then represents the virtual work done by external forces and
-f(v) is the corresponding force potential. Constraint operators B, to be
introduced later, are an abstraction of constraints on the admissible displace-
ments such as those restricting the values v -» v • n of the normal displacement
in contact problems or the change in volume (JBv = divv = 0) in problems
involving incompressible materials. The partial ordering "^" introduced in
§ 3.3. is a generalization of the inequality u(x)< u(x) which is applied at a
point x of a domain H for sufficiently smooth functions u and v.
The principal issue here is to establish sufficient conditions under which the
problem (3.1) has a solution. Ultimately, we will also want to characterize
such solutions when they exist. Toward this end, we introduce some definitions
which will enable us to specify concrete properties of F.
Weak semicontinuity. A function F: K -> R is said to be weakly lower semicon-
tinuous on K (or, more specifically, weakly sequentially lower semicontinuous)
if, for any sequence {uk}<=- K with the property that {uk} converges weakly to
u e K, we have
The functional is weakly upper semicontinuous if limsup k _,.oo F(w fc )< F(M).
If w fc -» u strongly in K and (3.2) holds, F is said to be lower semicontinuous;
upper semicontinuity is defined in an analogous way.
In (3.2), "lim inf" signifies the limit inferior of the sequence {uk}; "lim sup"
is the limit superior. Recall that {uk} converges strongly to u if and only if
linifeôo ||w fc -w|| =0; {uk} converges weakly to u whenever
where V is the dual of V.

It is common practice in optimization theory to regard the co-domain of
the functional F being minimized as the extended real line R = R U {±°o}. Then
we require that F be proper, by which we mean Ff^+oo everywhere, and
nowhere takes the value -oo. We.then solve the minimization problem on the
effective domain of F:dom F = {ue V\F(v)< +00}.
Convexity. A functional F: K -»IR is convex if and only if
MINIMIZATION METHODS AND THEIR VARIANTS 33
F is strictly convex if the strict inequality (<) holds for u T* v. If -F is convex,

F is said to be concave.
Differentiability.A functional F:K-*U is G-differentiable(or Gateaux
differentiate)at a point u e Kthere exists a linear functional DF(w)V
such that, for every ve K,
where e is an arbitrary positive number and {•, •) denotes duality pairing on

V'x V (i.e., if ge V, we write g(v) = (g, v)). Higher order derivatives are
defined in an analogous way. We call DF(u) the gradient of F at u and
(DF(u), v) the Gateaux derivative of F at u in the direction v.
Coercivity. A functional F: K -» R is said to be coercive if and only if
F is said to have the growth property with respect to a point MO e K if

there exists a real number R>Q such that F(v)> F(uQ) for all v such that
\\v-u0\\>R.
We are now in a position to record the generalized Weierstrass minimization
theorem.
THEOREM 3.1. Let F be a real functional defined on a nonempty closed convex
subset K of a reflexive Banach space V. Moreover, let either of the following
conditions hold:
(i) F i5 weakly lower semicontinuous on K and K is bounded, or
(ii) F 15 weakly lower semicontinuous and coercive on K.
Then F attains its minimum value on K; i.e., there exists at least one ue K such
that (3.1) holds.
In virtually all applications that we wish to consider, K is unbounded.
Hence, condition (ii) is of special importance* in subsequent developments.
The problem of testing a given F for coercivity generally reduces to establishing
an estimate of the type
where C0> 0, C, >0, and a > ft. Clearly, if (3.3) holds for all v<=K,F will be
coercive on K. In many important cases, the weak lower semicontinuity of F
can be established using the conditions listed in the next two theorems.
THEOREM 3.2. Let F:/C-»IR satisfy the following conditions:
(i) F i5 convex,
(ii) F i'5 G-differentiable on K.
Then F is weakly lower semicontinuous on K.
THEOREM 3.3. Let F:K-+R be G-differentiableThen the following are
equivalent:
(i) F15 convex,
34 CHAPTER 3
(ii) (DF(u)-DF(v), w-t;)>0 Vu,veK,

(Hi) F(v)-F(u)>(DF(u),v-u)Vw, veK.
Moreover, if F is twice G-differentiable, then the above conditions are also
equivalent to
(iv) (D2F(u)(v), u>>0 VveK.
By combining and adding to some of these results, we obtain:
THEOREM 3.4. Let F be a real, coercive, convex, G-differentiable functional
defined on a possibly unbounded, nonempty, closed convex subset K of a reflexive
Banach space V. Then F attains its minimum value on K. If, in addition, F is
strictly convex, the minimizer is unique.
Remark 3.2.1. Several remarks are in order concerning the results established
up to this point.
First, we note that the conclusions of Theorem 3.1 hold if K is only weakly
sequentially closed, i.e., if K has the property that if {uk} is any sequence
drawn from K which converges weakly to u e V, then u e K. The identification
of convex constraint sets K is of course fundamental to the theory of variational
inequalities. There are, however, many problems in solid mechanics for which
the underlying set K is nonconvex. Such situations arise, for example, in finite
elasticity theory and some examples are studied in Chapter 12; see also Ball
[1] and Oden and Kikuchi [2].
For proofs of Theorems 3.1-3.4, see, for example, Vainberg [1] or Ekeland
and Temam [1, Chaps. 1, 2] or Oden [7].
Remark 3.2.2. If F: K -> IR is G-differentiable, then its gradient A( • ) = DF( • )
is a map from V into V; if A: V-+ V is the gradient of a functional F, A is
said to be potential. The second derivative, (D2F(u)(v), v) is bilinear on V;
D2F:VxV^V.
If DF satisfies condition (ii) of Theorem 3.2, then DF is a monotone operator.
Hence, the gradient of any convex G-differentiable functional is monotone.
If the strict inequality (>) in (ii) holds for u ^ v, DF is strictly monotone;
similarly, if F is strictly convex and G-differentiable, DF is strictly monotone.
Remark 3.2.3. If F: K -»(R is G-differentiable but not convex, then, of course,
more general conditions than those listed in Theorems 3.2 and 3.3 must be
met to guarantee the weak lower semicontinuity of F. Conditions for the weak
lower semicontinuity of nonconvex functions have been given, for example,
by Ball [1], Ekeland [1], and Oden and Kikuchi [2]. As an example of a
generalization of (ii) of Theorem 3.3, Oden [2] has shown that F is weakly
lower semicontinuous whenever
where H: R + x R+ x R+ -» R + is a continuous, nonnegative function such that
I u ||, || v || =s fji < oo, and U is a Banach space in which V is compactly embedded.
Oden [2] points out that any operator DF satisfying (3.4) is pseudomonotone
in the sense of Brezis [1] and Lions [1].
Remark 3.2.4. We remark that a necessary and sufficient condition for (weak)
lower semicontinuity is that the epigraph of F,
(or, equivalently, the level sets LA = { w e V\F(u)< A}) be (weakly) closed.

We shall now describe some results which are most easily appreciated when
we take for the codomain of F the extended real line PS = U U {±00}. Suppose
F: V-»|R is convex but not G-differentiable on all of V. Then many of the
ideas concerning the minimization of differentiable functionals can be extended
if F is subdifferentiable at points in V. Specifically, the set dF(w)c: V of all
linear functionals g such that
|F(w)|<oo is called the subdifferential of F at u and any g e d F ( w ) is a

subgradient of F at u. If F is differentiable at u, then dF(u) = {DF(w)}, in
agreement with condition (iii) of Theorem 3.3. This further leads to an obvious
generalization of Theorem 3.2: if a functional F:K-*U is subdifferentiable
on K, then the functional F is weakly lower semicontinuous on K. A sufficient
condition for subdifferentiability is given in the following theorem, a proof of
which can be found in Ekeland and Temam [1, p. 22].
THEOREM 3.5. Let F be a convex functional from a reflexive Banach space V
into IR, and let F be finite and continuous at a point UE V. Then F is subdifferenti-
able on the interior of its effective domain dom F = {v e V\F(v)< +°o}, and, in
particular, F is subdifferentiable at the point u.
Another interesting sufficient condition for weak lower semicontinuity of a
functional is the following:
THEOREM 3.6. Let f be a convex lower semicontinuous function from !Rm into
(-00, +00] such thatf^ +00. Suppose that, for e e (L q (O)) m , q > 1, a functional
F is defined by
Then F ( - ) is convex, lower semicontinuous from (Lq(£l))m into (—00,+00],

and is such that F ^ +00.
Proof. Following Brezis [2, p. 160], we note that the convexity of F and th
fact that F ^ +00 are obvious. To show lower semicontinuity of F it suffices
to prove that the level set
is closed for arbitrary A e IR.

36 CHAPTER 3
Suppose that {en} is a sequence in (Lq(fl))m such that F(e,n)<\ and {en}
converges to e0. Then there exists a subsequence of {en}, denoted again by
{en}, which converges to e0 almost everywhere in ft.
On the other hand, / is convex on R m ; thus, by the Hahn-Banach theorem,
ae(IR m )' and feeR exist such that
( - , •) denoting duality pairing on (R m )'x|R m . Then the function
is lower semicontinuous on Rm. This implies that/(e) is measurable and that

Iimmf n -,oo/(e n )^/(e 0 ) almost everywhere on O.
By Fatou's lemma (see, e.g., Royden [1, p. 83]) /(e0) is integrable and
which means that
Next we turn to the question of characterization of minimizers of functionals.

The major results are summarized in the following theorem.
THEOREM 3.7. Let K be a subset of a normed linear space V and let F be a
G-differentiable functional mapping K into R. Ifu is a minimizer of Fin K, then
u may be characterized in one of the following ways:
(i) If K is a nonempty closed convex subset of V, then
(ii) IfK is a nonempty closed convex subset of Vand u e int K (int K = interior
o f K ) , then
(iii) If K is a nonempty closed convex cone with vertex w, then
(iv) If K is a linear variety with respect to w (i.e., K is a linear subspace

translated by a vector w with respect to the origin), then
(v) If K is a linear subspace of V, then
Partial proof. Since some of these results are of special importance in later
developments, we will outline the essential ideas in the proof.
(i) Since K is convex, u + 9(v - u) e K for 0 e [0,1] and for every u, v e K.

If u is a minimizer of F, then
Hence, for 9 > 0,
(ii) If u e int K and v is any element of K, then an e can be found such

that u + evzK. Then (DF(u),u + ev-u) = (DF(u), ev)>Q. Since e is
arbitrary, this implies (DF(u), t>) = 0 for every u e K
(iii) For any se [0, oo), H> + S ( M - w ) e K for any w e /C. Take v = w and then
y = >v + 2 ( M - w > ) in (3.9)2. Then (DF(u), w-u)>0 and (DF(u), u- w)>0,
which imply (3.9)j; (3.9)2 follows from (ii).
(iv) and (v) Let K = {w} + M, where M is a linear subspace of V. Then
w - v e K implies v e M. Since -u also belongs to M, we have (3.10). Inequality
(3.11) then follows by taking w = 0. D
Inequality (3.7) is referred to as a variational inequality; it characterizes a
minimizer of any G-differentiable functional defined on a nonempty closed
convex set K. The convexity of K is essential; however, in so far as F is
concerned, only the existence of a minimizer and the G-differentiability of F
have been assumed in Theorem 3.7.
In concluding this section, we point out an important but easily established
generalization of the characterization (3.7) of minimizers.
THEOREM 3.8. Let K be nonempty, dosed, and convex and suppose F:K^
V->IR is of the form F = Fl + <^> where Fj and 4> are convex and lower semicon-
tinuous and F, is G-differentiable on K. Then, if u is a minimizer on K,
Conversely, if either of (3.12) hold for u e K, then u is a minimizer of F.

It is noted that if we consider the function 4>: Hl(£l)-*n defined by
for a given smooth function g, <E> is certainly not G-differentiable, but is convex
and lower semicontinuous. Indeed, even though the following limit may exist,
it is not linear in v, so that we cannot write the limit as a duality pairing { • , • ) .

However, convexity and lower semicontinuity of <J> are easily established. For
38 CHAPTER 3
these types of functionals, the characterization (3.12) of a minimizer of F =

F, + 4> becomes essential.
The second form in (3.12) might also be useful for developing computational
algorithms for finding minimizers, since the term (DFi(v), v-u) is linear in
the solution u.
3.3. Quadratic functionals on Hilbert spaces. An application of the theory

presented in the previous section that is of special relevance in our study of
contact problems involving linearly elastic bodies concerns the case in which
F is a quadratic functional on a convex subset of a real Hilbert space V. We
shall investigate this case in more detail in this section. In particular, we now
consider a class of minimization problems in which F is of the form
where V is a Hilbert space, « ( • , - ) is a symmetric, continuous, V-elliptic

bilinear form from V x V into IR and / is a bounded linear functional on V,
i.e., for every u, v e V,
where M and m are positive constants.

In addition, let Q be another Hilbert space and let us introduce a continuous
linear operator B from V onto Q:
Here | • | denotes the norm on Q, C is a constant, and Rg (B) denotes the range
of B. The transpose B* of B is defined by
where [ •, • ] and {•, •) denote duality pairing on Q' x Q and V x V, respectively.

From the classical closed range theorem (see, e.g., Yosida [1, pp. 205-208])
and properties (3.15) assumed of B, it can be concluded that the following
condition holds:
3 a e R, a > 0, such that
Here • * denotes the norm on the dual Q' of Q. Condition (3.17) essentially
expresses the fact that B* is bounded below as a linear operator from Q' into
V. Hereafter, in conditions such as this, we shall write "sup u6 v" with the
understanding that v ^ 0; i.e. the supremum is taken over all nonzero v in V.
Partial ordering on Q. Our next step in formulating an abstraction of a
constrained minimization of the type encountered in contact problems is to
introduce a partial ordering < on the Hilbert space Q.
We first recall the definition of a cone ^ in a linear space V. A nonempty
subset ^ of V is a cone if and only if A$ <= <# for A > 0; ^ is a cone with vertex
at the origin if and only if u e ^ implies AM e ^ for A >0. A cone with vertex
MO e V is the translation u 0 + ^ of a cone ^ with vertex at the origin.
A cone ^ of a linear space V is said to be proper if and only if
(i) ^ is a cone with vertex at the origin,
(ii) <£ is convex.
The importance of a proper cone is that it permits us to introduce an ordering
on elements of the linear space V. In particular, if ^ is a proper cone, we
introduce the relation
The relation R is reflexive, transitive, and antisymmetric on all of V and thus

defines a total ordering of V. We describe this ordering by the symbolism ^
and write
This ordering prompts us to refer to <# as the positive cone in V and to denote
it by <#+. Likewise, the cone <£_ = - (€+ is the negative cone in V and we write
M<uOM-ye^_ (or v - u e <#+).
Conversely, the introduction of any total ordering > on V defines the proper
positive cone,
corresponding to this ordering.

The introduction of a positive cone ^+ in V makes it possible to add to the
purely linear structure of V inequalities such as u > 0, u < 0, etc. In particular,
the partial ordering (3.18) is compatible with the structure of a linear space in
the sense that
If V is a normed space with a positive cone "#+, a corresponding positive

cone <#* can be defined in the dual space V of V- by
40 CHAPTER 3
It is not difficult to show that <#* is closed even if <#+ is not. If %>+ is closed
in V, then <#+ and <#* are related as follows: if u e V is such that
then u e <#+, i.e., uÔ. This result depends strongly on the closedness of <#+.
We shall now consider a method for defining the positive and negative parts
of a vector in a Hilbert space. If Q is a Hilbert space with inner product ( • , • ) ,
and if <<o+ is a closed positive cone in Q, then the positive part p+ of a vector
p e Q will be defined as the projection of p onto <#+, that is, p+ shall be
characterized by the variational inequality (recall (3.9))
Likewise, we define the negative part p~ of p by
Using these definitions and the fact that p+e <&+, we easily verify that
for arbitrary p,q&Q.

If Q = L 2 (ft), and if the partial ordering relation ^ is defined according to
p^q means that p(\)^q(\) a.e. in ft,
then the positive cone
is closed and convex. To show that L+(ft) is closed, it suffices to note that
every convergent sequence in L 2 (ft) contains an a.e. pointwise convergent
subsequence. Then we also have the characterization,
This can be easily verified by substituting p+ defined above into the left-hand
side of the variational inequality (3.23).
It is important to note that the definition of the positive part of a vector
depends strongly on the topology of the space Q. For instance, C+ =
(v € //'(ft) | v(\) > 0 a.e. in ft}. Then for p e //'(ft), p+ in Q = L 2 (ft) need not
be the positive part of p with respect to Q = //'(ft) in (3.23).
Constrained minimization problem. With the above conventions now estab-
lished, we can introduce an abstract form of an inequality constraint on
minimizers of the functional F of (3.13). For the operator B in (3.15) and g
given in Q, we define the set K c V by
Since B is linear and continuous, and since the positive cone in Q is closed,
we easily verify that X is a closed convex set in V. The set K represents the
constraint set in the following constrained minimization problem:
Given F of (3.13), find u e K suchthat
A direct application of the results of the previous section leads to the

following facts.
THEOREM 3.9. Let (3.13), (3.14), and (3.15) hold and let K of (3.26) be
nonempty. Then there exists a unique solution u to the minimization problem
(3.27). Moreover, this minimizer is the unique solution of the variational inequality
Proof. Since a( • , •) is bilinear,
for every u, v e V and 0 e [0,1]. By (3.14), it is clear that F is strictly convex;

its Gateaux differentiability follows from the assumption (3.14): for every
w, v e V,
where || • ||* is the norm of dual space V of V. The assertions thus follow
immediately from Theorems 3.4 and 3.7.
We note that the identity (3.29) implies that
Nonsymmetric forms. It is an easy matter to generalize the above existence

theorem to cases in which the bilinear form a( • , • ) is nonsymmetric. If a( • , • )
is nonsymmetric, the variational inequality (3.28) does not represent the
characterization of the minimizer of a functional F.
To study such cases, we assume, instead of (3.14), that constants M and m
exist such that
We note that the results we derive below can be established using weaker
conditions than these, but conditions (3.31) are sufficient for all of the applica-
tions we have in mind. Under these assumptions, we have (see, e.g., Lions
and Stampacchia [1] and Kinderlehrer and Stampacchia [1]):
42 CHAPTER 3
THEOREM 3.10. Suppose that (3.15) and (3.31) hold, and that the set K of
(3.26) is nonempty. Then there exists a unique solution u to the variational
inequality
Before proving this theorem, we shall establish a basic lemma. Let a one-
parameter family of bilinear forms a,( •, •) on V x V be defined by
where a 0 ( ' , ' ) and b( •, •) are the symmetric and antisymmetric parts of a( -, •):
Clearly, if (3.31) holds then
With these conventions, we have:

LEMMA 3.1. Suppose that for some T, 0< T< 1, the variational inequality
is solvable V/e V. Then it is solvable for ar( •, •) replaced by at( • , •), where
T < f < r + f 0 , tQ<m/M.
Proof. Let w be an aribtrary element of V and define f,(w) e V by
where t0<m/M. By hypothesis, for each w there exists a solution ueK to

the problem.
Let us define the correspondence between w and the solution of this last
inequality by a map T: V-» K:
Suppose, for the moment, that T has a fixed point UQ: TuQ = u0. Then, for
the choice w = u0, we have
which, from the definitions of aT( •, •) and ft(uQ), implies that
But the fact that a solution exists to this last inequality is precisely what we
set out to prove. Thus, it suffices to show that T has a unique fixed point for
certain values of t.
Toward this end, let M, = Twl and u2 = Tw2 for wlt w 2 e V, i.e., ul and u2 are
solutions of (3.34) for choices w = Wi and w = w 2 , respectively. Then
and properties (3.31) yield
i.e.,
This shows that if t - r< t0 where t0< m/M, then the map T is a contraction,
and, therefore, admits a unique fixed point. D
Proof of Theorem 3.10. Consider inequality (3.33) for the case r = 0. This
has a unique solution by virtue of Theorem 3.8 since a 0 ( ' , ' ) is symmetric.
Applying Lemma 3.1, we establish the existence of a unique solution to (3.33)
for tl<m/M. Another application of Lemma 3.1 reveals the existence of a
unique solution for a t ( - , • ) where tl<t2<tl + t0,t0< m/M. Continuing in this
way, we apply Lemma 3.1 a finite number of times to conclude that a unique
solution to (3.33) exists for T = 1. But a,( •, •) = a( •, •). Hence, Theorem 3.10
is proved.
3.4. Saddle points and Lagrange multipliers. Variational problems such as

those discussed in the previous section arise in constrained minimization
problems: we seek a minimum of F subject to the constraint that the minimizers
lie in a convex set K, the specification of the constraint on minimizers of F
being equivalent to specifying the constraint set K. As is well known, con-
strained minimization problems can be reformulated as saddle point problems
using the method of Lagrange multipliers. Such formulations usually may
make it possible to seek minima of functionals in linear spaces rather than
closed convex sets.
Let
V and Q' be Banach spaces with norms || • || and | • *, respectively,
K and N be nonempty closed convex subsets of V and Q', respectively,
and
L : X x N - > R b e a real functional defined on K x N.
We recall that a pair (u, p) e K x N is a saddle point of L if and only if
The functional L possesses a saddle point if and only if

44 CHAPTER 3
We will be primarily concerned with cases in which the following conditions

hold:
is G-differentiable,
is G-differentiable,
is strictly convex (and therefore
weakly lower semicontinuous),
is concave and upper
semicontinuous.
Then, in analogy with Theorems 3.1 and 3.4, we have the following theorems
on the existence and characterization of saddle points.
THEOREM 3.11. Let conditions (3.37) hold. In addition, suppose that either K
and N are bounded or L is coercive in the following sense:
and
Then there exists a saddle point (u, p) e K x N of L. Moreover,
THEOREM 3.12. The conclusions of Theorem 3.11 also hold if condition (3.39)
is replaced by the condition
THEOREM 3.13. Let (3.37), and (3.37)2 hold and let 4 > : K x J V - > I R be such
that there exists v€ K, q->$>(v, q) is concave and for every <je N, v-*3?(v, q)
is convex. Then, i f ( u , p ) is a saddle point of thefunctional L+4>, it is characterized
by the pair of variational inequalities
where ( • , • ) and [ •, • ] denote duality pairing on V x V and Q' x Q, respectively,

and ( d L / d v ) ( u , p ) and (dL/dq)(u,p) denote the gradients of L with respect to
v and q for fixed q and v, respectively, evaluated at (u,p).
Proofs of Theorems 3.11,3.12 and 3.13 can be found in Ekeland and Temam
[1, Chap. 6]; see also Oden [7]. Notice that u-» L(v, q) and q-* L(v, q} need
not be convex or concave, respectively, in order that (3.42) hold. Again, several
generalizations are possible.
Application. Let us now return to the constrained minimization problem
(3.27) discussed in the previous section:
Let the admissible set N for the Lagrange multipliers q be defined by
where the ordering relation "<" is defined on the dual space Q' as in (3.21).
The Lagrangian L for this problem is defined by
where [ •, • ] denotes duality pairing on Q' x Q. Then the minimization problem

(3.43) is equivalent to the saddle point problem
Since L(-, • ) is G-differentiate in the sense of (3.37)!, (3.37)2, Theorem 3.13

indicates that the saddle point (u, p) of (3.46) can be characterized by the system
Let us now consider the question of the existence of unique solutions of

(3.47). A key step is given in the next lemma.
LEMMA 3.2. Suppose that conditions (3.14) and (3.17) hold. Then
Proof. From Theorem 3.9, it is clear that there is a unique minimizer vq € V

to the functional v-* L(v, q} for arbitrary fixed q e N, and that vq satisfies the
equation
since the space V is linear. Then

46 CHAPTER 3
On the other hand, it follows from the surjectivity of the mapping B: V-» Q
that a positive constant a exists such that (recall (3.17))
where || • ||* is the norm on the dual space V of V. Thus, if |g|*-»+oo, then
|| vq || -> +00, and, therefore,
Applying Theorem 3.12, we arrive at the following existence theorem:

THEOREM 3.14. Suppose that (3.14) and (3.17) hold. Then there exists a
unique saddle point (u,p)e Vx N of the functional L defined by (3.45), where
N is defined by (3.44). Moreover, (u, p) is also the unique solution of the abstract
boundary value problem (3.47).
Perturbed Lagrangian approach. In establishing the above result, we make
direct appeal to Theorem 3.12. However, an alternative approach can be used
which provides an attractive basis for certain approximation methods to be
taken up later. This involves the notion of a perturbed Lagrangian, in which
the behavior of L( •, •) with respect to the multipliers q is "regularized" by
the addition of a term which enforces the coercivity of L(v, •) for any v. The
idea is to introduce the perturbed Lagrangian functional L e ( - , - ) which is
defined, for any real e > 0, by
Let j'.Q^Q' denote the Riesz map for the Hilbert space Q; i.e., for every
deQ', a qQ£Q exists such that [d,q] = (q0,q)Q and j(q0)= d. Then saddle
points (ue,pe) of Le satisfy
It is clear that all conditions in Theorem 3.11 are satisfied for the perturbed
Lagrangian Le. Thus there exists a unique saddle point (ue, pe) e Vx N satisfy-
ing (3.50) for each parameter e>0. Since (ue,pe) is the saddle point of Le,
which implies that for some v0 such that Bv0 — g ^ 0,

But, setting q = 0 in the last member of (3.50) shows that
Hence,
In view of (3.14), this last result means that a constant M > 0 can be found
such that
Moreover, from (3.50),
Thus, condition (3.17), which follows from the continuity and surjectivity of
B, gives
The next step is classical. The solutions (uE,pE) obtained as saddle points
of the perturbed Lagrangian Le as e approaches zero form sequences {ue} and
{pe} with the parameter e as an index. From the above arguments, these
sequences are uniformly bounded in V and Q (i.e., ||ue||<M, |/>e|*< M Ve>
0). In Hilbert spaces, closed balls are weakly sequentially compact. Thus there
must exist subsequences, also denoted {UE} and {pE}, which converge weakly
in V and Q to elements u and p, respectively: ue—*u, pe-*p. Moreover, due
to the continuity and linearity of a( • , v) and [ •, Bv] if we pass to the limit in
(3.50) as e-»0 (with ( u e , p £ ) entries in the weakly convergent subsequences
just identified), we obtain
which is (3.47)i. Also, from (3.50) we have
Since v -> a(v, v) is weakly lower semicontinuous, passing to the limit as e -»0
yields
which is precisely (3.47) 2 .

Summing up, we have shown that the weak limit (u, p) of the subsequences
of saddle points (w e ,/O of the perturbed Lagrangian is a solution of (3.47)
and is, therefore, a saddle point of L. The uniqueness of this saddle point in
Vx N implies the convergence of the original sequences {u£} and {pe} as well
as subsequences of {UE} and {pe}.
48 CHAPTER 3
Furthermore, the last equation in (3.50) implies that
where j is, as before, the Riesz map from Q to Q'. Thus, in view of the
definition (3.23), the positive part of pe in Q' is
This is an important result. If we introduce (3.51) into (3.50)2, we obtain a

variational problem involving a single unknown ue for each e > 0:
The saddle point (ue,p£)e Vx N of the perturbed Lagrangian Le can thus be

characterized by (3.51) and (3.52).
In (3.51) the positive part of the functional j(Bue-g) is taken in the dual
space Q' in order to find the Lagrange multiplier PE, while the original
constraint Bit — g < 0 is defined in Q. Thus, the inequality ^ is satisfied in the
dual sense in the saddle point method. However, if we modify the admissible
set N of the Lagrange multiplier and the perturbed Lagrangian L defined by
(3.44) and (3.49), respectively, by setting
and
then (3.50)2 yields
for every q e N. It then follows from (3.23) that
i.e.,
instead of (3.51). Substitution of this expression into (3.50)j yields a variational

formulation involving a single unknown ue:
instead of (3.52). We will see in the next section that problem (3.53) also arises
in penalty formulations of constrained minimization problems.
Remark 3.4.1. A detailed analysis of saddle point problems for the case
and for the more general setting in which B is not surjective can be found in
Oden and Kikuchi [4] and for B neither linear nor surjective in Oden [2].
Remark 3.4.2. Condition (3.17) plays a fundamental role in the study of
constrained minimization problems. The importance of conditions such as this
in studying the consistency and stability of finite element methods for such
problems was first recognized by Babuska [1] and such conditions formed the
basis of the theory of approximation of saddle point problems advanced by
Brezzi [1]. We refer to (3.17) as a Babuska-Brezzi condition for problem (3.47).
Remark 3.4.3. The theory developed here can be further generalized by
removing the assumption that Rg (B) = Q. If B is not surjective, then B* may
have a nontrivial kernel. However, all of the results carry over immediately
to the case in which the space Q' is replaced by the quotient space Q'/ker B*
when the range of B is closed in Q. Then, under the conditions of Theorem
3.14, the solution (u, p) of (3.47) is unique in Vx Q'/ker J3*; i.e, p is unique
up to an arbitrary element in ker B*.
Note that in this case, condition (3.17) is replaced by
where
and the perturbed Lagrangian in (3.45) is replaced by
for (v, q}& Vx N. For additional information on this case, see Oden [2], Oden
and Kikuchi [4], or Fortin [1].
3.5. Penalty methods. Penalty methods provide an alternative approach to

constrained optimization problems which avoids the necessity of introducing
additional unknowns in the form of Lagrange multipliers. Suppose that we
50 CHAPTER 3
wish to minimize F: V-*R subject to the constraint that the minimizers M

belong to a convex set K <= V. The idea behind penalty methods is, roughly
speaking, to append to F a "penalty functional" P which increases in magni-
tude according to how severely the constraint is violated. In other words, the
more a candidate minimizer v e V violates the constraint, the greater the penalty
that must be paid.
Let F be a coercive weakly lower semicontinuous functional defined on a
reflexive Banach space V and again denote by K a nonempty, closed, convex
subset of V. We seek minimizers of F in K. The penalty method for this
problem consists of introducing a new functional, Fe, depending on a real
parameter e > 0, of the form
where P: V-*U is a penalty functional satisfying the conditions

(i) P: V-*U is weakly lower semicontinuous,
(ii) P(u)>0, P(u) = 0if and only if veK.
In most instances, we also expect P to satisfy
(iii) P is G-differentiate on V.
The functional F is defined on all of V; in view of the properties of F and
P, Fe is coercive and weakly lower semicontinuous. Hence, in accordance with
Theorem 3.1, for each e > 0 there exists a uee V which minimizes Fe:
Moreover, if F and P are G-differentiable, ue is characterized by
Cf
The question, of course, is whether or not the solutions ue of (3.57) (or

(3.58)) generate a sequence ue which converges to a solution u of the original
minimization problem. This is easily resolved. Since ue minimizes F£,
If veK, P(u) = 0 and since (l/e)P(u e )>0, we have
If {M£} denotes a sequence of solutions of (3.57) obtained as e-»0, the fact

that F is coercive implies that a constant C > 0 exists, independent of e, such
that || ue || < C. Since V is reflexive, this guarantees the existence of a sub-

sequence, also denoted {u£}, and a w e V such that ue—*u (weakly) in V.
Finally, we use the nonnegativeness of P and the lower semicontinuity of F
to obtain
It remains only to show that the weak limit u lies in K. Toward this end,
let DI denote a fixed member of K. Then
so that
where C is a constant. Hence,
which, because of property (ii) of (3.55), implies
In summary, we have proved:

THEOREM 3.15. Let F: V-»IR be coercive and weakly lower semicontinuous,
K be a nonempty, closed, convex subset of the reflexive Banach space V, and
P: V-»IR a penalty functional satisfying (3.55). Then, for every e>0, there exists
a solution ue to (3.57). In addition, there exists a subsequence {ue} of such
solutions which converges weakly to ue V, where
Moreover, if F and P are G-differentiable, the ue satisfy (3.58) for each e > 0
and the limit u satisfies the variational inequality
Application. As an illustration of these ideas, let us again consider the special

constrained minimization problems (3.43):
To apply the penalty method to this problem, we must first introduce a

penalty functional P satisfying (3.55). A natural choice in this case is
52 CHAPTER 3
where | • | is the norm on Q, and ( • ) + is the positive part of ( • ) in Q as define

by (3.23). It is clear that for this choice, conditions (3.55) for penalty functional
are satisfied. Moreover, it is possible to show that P is G-differentiate on V
and, in fact,
where B* is the transpose of B and [ • , • ] is the duality pairing on Q' x Q.

Indeed, for every u and v,
where ( • , • )0 is the inner product on Q. Then, using (3.25),
Exchanging v and u yields
i.e.,
where we have used the easily verified fact that
Thus, we have
This means precisely that the functional P is Frechet (and thus Gateaux)
differentiable on V, and its gradient DP(u) is given by
Thus, in accordance with (3.58), the corresponding characterization of the

minimizer of Fe of (3.54) and (3.57) is
4
We have encountered this variational problem once before: we recognize

(3.65) as precisely the problem (3.53) characterizing the component uf of the
saddle point of the perturbed Lagrangian Le. The following theorem, therefore,
follows either from Theorem 3.14 or from the results of the previous section.
THEOREM 3.16. Suppose that (3.14) and (3.17) hold. Then the unique solution
ueK of the constrained minimization problem (3.62) can be obtained as the
limit of the sequence {ue}& V as e -> 0 of the solutions of the penalized problem
(3.65).
In view of (3.47), if we identify the perturbed or regularized Lagrange
multipliers p£ by
then we easily establish that pe converges to the Lagrange multiplier p associ-

ated with the constraint Bv - g < 0. Using arguments similar to those employed
in the analysis of the perturbed Lagrangian, we have:
THEOREM 3.17. Suppose that (3.14) and (3.17) hold. Then the sequence
{(Ue,Pe)} obtained from (3.65) and (3.66) converges to the saddle point (u,p)e
V x N of the Lagrangian L of (3.45), as e -» 0.
As a final result, we shall establish that {(M E ,P E )} of (3.65) and (3.66), in
fact, converge strongly to ( u , p ) in VxN and we will obtain the rate of
convergence of \\ue -u\\ and \pE -p\* in terms of the penalty parameter e.
THEOREM 3.18. Suppose that (3.14) and (3.17) hold. Let ( w , p ) e VxN be
the saddle point of the functional L( • , • ) of (3.45), let u£ be a solution of (3.65)
for given e > 0, and let pE be given by (3.66). Then
Proof. Since ( u E , p e ) and (u, p) satisfy
and
respectively, we have
Putting V = UE-U in (3.69) yields
But (3.47)2 implies that

54 CHAPTER 3
because [p, Bu -g] = 0 and pe = -e~lj(Bue -g)+. Thus,
Therefore, this result, (3.70) and (3.14) yield
On the other hand, it follows from (3.17) that
Therefore,
and
The estimates (3.67) and (3.68) show that the sequence { ( u e t p e ) } of the
penalized solutions, i.e., the saddle points of the perturbed Lagrangian L6,
converges to (M, p) strongly in VxQ' as e-»0.
General properties of penalty methods for more general problems can be
found in Oden [6] and Kikuchi [5]; the latter work contains estimates of the
rate of convergence of more general penalty approximations. For applications
to constrained problems in elasticity and fluid mechanics, see Oden and
Kikuchi [4], Oden [7], and Oden, Kikuchi, and Song [1].
Chapter 4
Finite Element Approximations
4.1. Introduction. Our objective in this chapter is to develop several results

on the theory of finite element approximations of variational inequalities. We
review, in particular, the theory of finite element interpolation of functions in
Sobolev spaces and we derive general error estimates that establish conditions
for the convergence of finite element approximations to the actual solutions
of certain general classes of variational inequalities. These estimates provide
a basis for determining asymptotic rates of convergence of the approximations
as the mesh size h tends to zero.
Most of our discussion here focuses on finite element approximations of
abstract variational inequalities of the type,
Find
where a ( - , • ) and / ( • ) are bilinear and linear forms on a Hilbert space V

which satisfy (3.31) and B is a continuous linear operator from V onto another
Hilbert space Q, as described in the previous chapter. We shall also consider
finite element approximations to two other formulations, the saddle point
and penalty formulations:
and
where [ •, • ] is the duality pairing on Q' x Q,
55
56 CHAPTER 4
and j: Q -» Q' is the Riesz map. The notation and results of Chapter 3 are used
throughout this chapter.
As is well known, there is an extensive literature on finite element methods
for the numerical analysis of a wide range of problems in mechanics and
mathematical physics; see, for example, the.voluminous bibliography by Norrie
and de Vries [1]. Accounts of the mathematical theory of finite element
approximations of elliptic equations can be found in the books of Ciarlet [1],
Oden and Reddy [1]; for a summary, see Oden and Carey [4]. Elaborate
accounts of the approximation and numerical analysis of variational
inequalities are given in the two-volume work of Glowinski, Lions, and
Tremolieres [1] and the monograph of Glowinski [1]. A major approximation
theorem for elliptic variational inequalities was established by Falk [1] and
some applications and extensions of Falk's results were reported by Kikuchi
[1], [2], [3], Oden and Kikuchi [1], [3], Brezzi, Hager, and Raviart [1],[2],
and Pires and Oden [1]. We will cite additional sources relevant to the present
work in the discussions to follow.
4.2. Some properties of finite element approximations. Our first step toward
an approximation theory for variational inequalities by finite element methods
is to briefly review some of the results of Ciarlet and Raviart [1] and Ciarlet
[1] on the interpolation theory of finite elements. The problem is this: given
a function u in a Sobolev space Wlc+1'p(O), fe^ 1, 1 </?<oo, and an interpolant
uh of u constructed using finite elements over which u is approximated by poly-
nomials of degree k, estimate the interpolation error u — uh in a Sobolev norm on
Wm'q(tt), 0<m^k, 1 < g <oo. These estimates are, in general, asymptotic in
the sense that they hold as /j-»0, h being an appropriate mesh parameter
(typically h is the diameter of the largest element in the finite element mesh).
The principal ideas are summarized as follows:
1. Let H be a convex polygonal domain in R N and suppose that we construct
a partition Qh of O into a number E = E ( h ) of subdomains {He}. These domains
are referred to as finite elements if
£le is closed and d£le is Lipschitzian.

For an element H e , we denote
pe = sup {dia (Se): Se is a sphere contained in Cle},

FINITE ELEMENT APPROXIMATIONS 57
2. Let G be a typical element in Qh (we suppress the label e momentarily

for simplicity in notation and write G for H e ). We introduce a space P(G)
of local basis functions ({/ such that 3Pk(G)^ P(G) where ^(G) is the linear
space of polynomials of degree </c on G. In addition, we introduce a set
D(G) of linear functionals on P(G) which are P(G)unisolvent; i.e., if D(G} =
{/, 11 <^ = 0. The set
D(G) is the space of degrees-of-freedom of element G. If v is any smooth
function defined on G, its finite element interpolant over G is
where U0 is a projection operator mapping v onto P(G).

3. Each element G e Qh is regarded as the image of a master reference
element G under an affine invertible map T: G-* G (in the case of curved
isoparametric elements, T is a perturbation of an affine map). We denote
A A A - A A A A A
dia (G) = h, sup {dia ( S ) \ S a sphere jn G} = p, «// = $ ° T, D(G) the space of

degrees of freedom, n£ = £ I = , /,(t>)0,, etc. The map T will be of the form
where B is an invertible matrix, b and N x 1 translation vector, x =

(*i > X2,' ' ' , ^N ) e G, and x = (xi, x 2 , • • • , XN ) e G. Using these conventions,
we easily prove that
A
where || • ||RN is the Euclidean norm of the matrices B and B"1,
is a seminorm on W m>p (G), C is a constant (independent of G, v, and G),

v = v ° T, etc.
Using the results described in step 3 above, it is not difficult to prove the
following interpolation theorem for finite elements:
A A A
THEOREM 4.1. Let G be a reference finite element, P(G) a space of local

interpolation functions, and D(G) a set of P-unisolvent degrees of freedom in
which partial derivatives of order <s are prescribed. For integers k > 0 and m > 0
58 CHAPTER 4
and numbers p, q e [1, oo], let
Let G be any finite element which is the image ofG under a bijective affine map
andletveWk+l>p(G).FinallyJetUGe£(Wk+l'p(G), Wm'p(G)) be a projection
map such that
A A A A A
Then there exists a constant C, depending only on G, P(G), and D(G), such that
wherein h0 = dia (G) and pG = sup {dia (5): 5 is a sphere contained in G}.
The first complete proof of interpolation results of this type for Lagrange
and Hermite elements in 1RN was due to Ciarlet and Raviart [1] who also
extended them to curved isoparametric finite elements [2]. Theorem 4.1 rep-
resents a further refinement of the original work and is due to Ciarlet [1], [2].
If aN is the volume of the unit sphere in R N , then dia (fl e )=s o~Nh". Also
note that \v\k+l<p<[le< |H|fc+iip,ae, ||-|U+i.p.n. being the Sobolev norm on
Wk+l'p((le). Moreover, if 5 h (H)c: Wm'q(Sl) is the linear space spanned by the
global finite element basis functions obtained by "connecting" elements
together in the usual way, and if 0^(0) £ S h (ft), we may define an operator
II: Wk+l'p((l) + Sh(tl) such that n/> = />VpG0» k (n) and n|ft = nfte. Then, for
u e Wk+l>p(Cl),
Thus, from Theorem 4.1, we easily arrive at the following corollary.

THEOREM 4.2. Let the conditions of Theorem 4.1 hold. Moreover, let all
refinements of the finite element mesh be regular in the sense that
and let II: Wk+l'p(Cl)-> Wm'p(Sl) satisfy Up = p Vpe^tt), n|fte = nfte. Then
In most of the developments to follow, we will be concerned with the finite

element approximation of functions in the Hilbert spaces Hr(Cl) = W'2(fl).
Let veHr(CL) and suppose r</c; then the elements in the finite element
subspace 5^(0) <= Hm(£l) can approximate v no better than that which would
be possible using complete polynomials of degree r. It follows from (4.5) that,
in this case, as h -> 0, we have
where || • ||r = || • ||r,2,n, etc.

The estimate (4.6) is the standard interpolation estimate for finite element
methods under the assumption of regular or quasi-uniform mesh refinements.
In view of (4.6), we will hereafter assume that the finite element spaces
5^(H)c // m (fl), generated using piecewise polynomials of degree <k, are
endowed with the following asymptotic interpolation property: For v e f/ r ((l),
there exists a constant C, independent of v and h, and an element </>/, e Sh((l),
such that
We have assumed so far that parameters m and r are all nonnegative

integers. However, as Babuska and Aziz [1, Chap. 4] have shown, the interpola-
tion property (4.7) for finite element approximations may hold for m e R, r e IR,
and m < r , provided that the finite element space Sy,(O) satisfies the inverse
assumption : for every s such that 0<m-e^s<m, the inequality
holds for the constant C independent of h and all (f>h e 5/,(O). If the inverse
assumption holds on Sh(fl), the inverse inequality,
is valid for 5 j < s 2 ^ m , and the constant C is independent of h and all (f>h.
Furthermore, if the domain fl is smooth, a function ge// r ~ 1 / 2 (F) can be
approximated by the traces of a function <£,, e Sh(fl) with the following interpo-
lation property: for the constant C independent of g, h, and $/, e S/,(ft),
where -y is the trace map from Hm(£l) into Hrn~l/2(Y). In the following analysis,
we shall use the interpolation properties (4.7) and (4.10) and the inverse
inequality (4.9) with the understanding that m and r are arbitrary real numbers.
Because we intend to analyze approximations of variational inequalities,
we need to introduce interpolation properties, due to Falk [1], valid for
functions in closed convex subset of H m (ft): Let S be the set of all nodal
points in the finite element model, and let g E Hm(tt) D C°(f}). Then we have:
60 CHAPTER 4
THEOREM 4.3. Let (f)h e Sh(£l) be a unique element such that (f>h = v on 2 for
a given function v e Hr(Cl) fl C°(n). Let
and
Then, if v e K, we have (j>h £ Kh and the following inequality holds for C a

constant independent ofh and <f>h, and 0< m < r:
The proof of the above theorem follows from Falk [1] and the interpolation
theory on the whole space Hm(fl) and Sh(£l). In the following analysis, we
use the notation Vh to express a finite element approximation of V such that
Ho(fl) c Vc // m (a). Thus, Vh may be a subset of the space Sh(fl) introduced
above.
4.3. Approximation of variational inequalities. Let us now turn to the ques-

tion of approximation of elliptic variational inequalities by finite element
methods. Our aim here is to describe a general approximation theorem for
variational inequalities which will play an important role in some of our
subsequent studies.
We will consider such approximations in the abstract setting described in
§3.3: find w e K such that
where a( •, • ) is a continuous bilinear form on a Hilbert space V satisfying
for constants m, M > 0, and K is a subset of V given by
Here, B is a continuous linear mapping from V onto another Hilbert space

Q, and Q is partially ordered as in (3.18). We denote by A the continuous
linear map from V into V defined by
Unlike § 3.3, we will not assume a( • , -) is symmetric in subsequent discussions

in this section.
To approximate the variational inequality (4.14), let us introduce a finite

dimensional subspace Vh of V constructed using finite element methods, and
a nonempty, closed, convex subset Kh of Vh which need not be a subset of
K. We then consider as an approximation of (4.14) the discrete problem of
finding uh e Kh such that
Note that the definition of the set Kh is ambiguous at this stage, because its
precise definition depends upon characteristics of the constraint and the type
of finite element approximation. The parameter h is related to the dimension
of Vh and corresponds to the mesh parameter described in the previous section.
It suffices to consider approximations by families of finite dimensional spaces
with the property that
We then say that Vh "converges to V as fc-»0."

As a last preliminary, we assume that V is densely embedded in a Banach
space H equipped with a norm |||-|||. The injection i of V into H is assumed
to be continuous, so we have
We shall denote by ( • , • ) duality pairing on H' x H.

With the problem and hypotheses now established, we are at the point where
we can consider an important result due to Falk [1] which gives an estimate
of the error u-uh.
THEOREM 4.4. Suppose that (4.15) and (4.20) hold, and that the solution
u € K of (4.14) satisfies the regularity condition
Then, ifuh e Kh is the solution o/(4.18), there exists a constant C> 0, independent
ofh, such that
where |||-|||* is the norm of the dual space H' of H.

Proof. For every vh e Kh and v e K,
Also,
62 CHAPTER 4
Adding these two inequalities yields
Applying (4.15) and the Schwarz inequality, we have
The estimate (4.22) now follows from Young's inequality (e.g., ab<ea2+
b2/4e, e>0) and the fact that for positive a, b, c, a < 6 + c implies that
v/a<v/fe + x/c. D
Remark 4.2.1. If Kh c: K, then we can set v = uh in (4.22). Then (4.22) reduces
to the simpler estimate
In the special case in which K = V and Kh = Vh, the variational inequalities

(4.14) and (4.18) reduce to the equations
Then Au-f = 0 and estimate (4.22) reduces to the classical result for linear
elliptic problems
A more general approximation theorem than Theorem 4.4 is established for

friction problems in Chapter 11; see Theorem 11.5.
We observe that the arbitrary vh appearing in (4.22) must belong to Kh. An
estimate of the interpolation error on Kh can generally be made using (4.13).
Remark 4.2.2. The estimate (4.22) and its variations in Remark 4.2.1 will
be applied to obtain the rate of convergence for finite element approximations
of the variational inequality (4.14). However, for certain problems the determi-
nation of the rate of convergence can be very difficult even though convergence
of the method can be proved. In such problems, the following convergence
analysis is helpful in justifying the approximation: Suppose that the closed
convex constraint set K c V is approximated by a closed convex set Kh <= V
such that
We note that the solution uh e Kh of (4.18) is uniformly bounded in V with

respect to h, since the bilinear form is coercive. Then there exists a subsequence
of uh converging weakly to a limit u*. Furthermore, for such a subsequence

we use the properties (4.24) to obtain
for every ve K. This shows that w*e K is the solution of (4.14) and that this
solution is a unique solution. Thus, it has been established that the sequence
uh converges weakly to u = u* as h -> 0.
Now the estimate (4.23) yields
for the choice v = u G K. The coercivity of the bilinear form (4.15), thus, implies
that the sequence uh converges strongly to u e K, i.e.,
Therefore, the convergence of the approximation is concluded by only the

requirements (4.24) on the approximation Kh of the constraint set K. A similar
convergence result has been contributed by Cea [1].
In the special case in which the bilinear form a ( - , « ) is symmetric, the
variational inequality (4.14) is equivalent to the constrained minimization
problem,
In such cases, an error estimate in terms of the error in the total potential
energy F(u) =|a(u, t>) -/(u) can be obtained which is more convenient to use
in numerical experiments.
THEOREM 4.5. Let the conditions of Theorem 4.4 hold and suppose that the
bilinear form « ( - , - ) is symmetric. Let F ( v ) = \a(v, v)-f(v), u e V. Then, for
every v e K and vh e Kh,
where u and uh are the solutions of (4.14) and (4.18), respectively.

Proof Using identity (3.29) with u = uh and v = u and taking the limit as
6 -» 0, we obtain
64 CHAPTER 4
But, since uh satisfies (4.18), a(uh, uh-vh)-f(uh -vh)^Q. Moreover,
Hence, for any vhe.Kh,
On the other hand, convexity and differentiality of F imply that for any v e K
Collecting these results, we obtain inequality (4.25). D

Remark 4.2.3. If Kh c K, we can set v = uh in (4.25) to obtain
Furthermore, if K = V and Kh = Vht then
4.4. Finite element approximations of saddle point problems. We now con-

front the question of finite element approximation of saddle point (or mixed)
formulations of the type given in (3.46) or (3.47). Using the notation introduced
in § 3.3, we consider the abstract system,
Throughout our analysis we assume that conditions (3.14) and (3.15) are in
force:
(i) B e £( V, Q) is surjective,
(ii) a(-,-):VxV-*Uis continuous and coercive.
Let Vh and Nh denote finite element approximations of the space V and

the set N (such that Vh -> V and Nh -> N as Ji -»0 in some sense). Note that
Nh may not be contained in N. The finite element approximation of the saddle
point problem (4.26) is as follows:
In addition to the assumptions introduced in § 3.3, we assume that the space

Q is densely and continuously imbedded in a Hilbert space H with norm ||| • ||.
The space H now plays the role of the pivot space, i.e., we identify H with its
dual and use this identification to pass from functions to functionals in specific
applications. Thus,
A typical example of H is L2(Y) for the boundary of some domain ftc|RN.

THEOREM 4.6. Suppose that conditions (4.27) hold and that there exists a
number ah > 0 such that
Then there exists a unique solution (uh,ph)E Vh x Nh of the finite element approxi-
mation (4.28) of the saddle point problem (4.26).
Proof. This follows from Theorem 3.12. D
Our next task is to obtain an estimate of the errors || u — uh \\, ||| p — ph ||| under
the assumption that
where p is the multiplier satisfying (4.26).

THEOREM 4.7. Let (u,p)e V x N and (uh, ph) eVhxNh be solutions of (4.26)
and (4.28), respectively. Suppose that (4.27), (4.29), (4.30) and (4.31) hold.
Then there exist positive constants C\, C2, and C3 such that
and
for every q e N, qh e Nh, and vh£ Vh, where \ - * is the norm on Q'.
66 CHAPTER 4
Proof. From (4.26) and (4.28),
Using this identity with vh replaced by vh - uh, we obtain
We next observe that the following inequality holds:
In this last step we have used the last inequalities in (4.26) and (4.28) to show
that
Collecting these results, we have
for every vh e Vh, qh E Nh, and q e N.

Thus, applying (3.14), we have
This is almost the desired result, (4.32); but we have not yet used the critical
condition (4.30). Toward this end, we again apply (4.34) to obtain, for each
qheNh, vhe Vhi
Then from (4.30) it follows that
Application of the triangle inequality yields (4.33).

The inequality (4.32) now follows from (4.35), (4.33), and Young's inequality
(ab<ea2+b2/4e, e>0). D
Finally, we show that we can obtain an estimate of \pn~P* instead of

\\\ph -p\\\ by using a duality argument.
THEOREM 4.8. Suppose that the conditions of Theorem 4.7 hold and that, for
each v e V, an element v^ e Vh exists such that
Then there exists a positive constanC 4such
Proof. By definition of the norm on the dual space of Q,
According to Yosida [l,p. 206], the open mapping theorem guarantees that
if Rg(B) = Q, then a constant c > 0 exists such that for each </> e Q a v^ e V
exists such that Bv(t, = (f> and ||uj| < c|</>|. Thus, \(f>\'1 ^ cHuJI' 1 , </>^0. Hence,
for any vh e Vh,
Choosing vh to be the projection of v^ satisfying (4.36) and simplifying, yields
Theorems 4.6 and 4.7 above can be obtained by slight modification of the
analysis in Kikuchi [9], see also Oden, Kikuchi, and Song [1]. In some
applications, the result in Theorem 4.7 enables us to study the "stability
condition" (4.30) using the norm |||-||| rather than the dual norm • *.
4.5. Finite element approximations of penalty formulations. We next con iider

properties of finite element approximations of the penalty formulation (3.65),
introduced as an alternate description of the constrained minimization (3.62).
The notation and setting of the problem are the same as those in §§ 3.5 and
4.3; i.e., we are interested here in approximations of the problem
68 CHAPTER 4
If the form a( •, • ) is symmetric, then we recall that the solution ue of (4.38)

is, in fact, also the minimizer of the penalized functional F e (u) =
\a(v, v) -f(v) + (l/2e)\(Bv - g)+|2 on all of V. Under the conditions established
in § 3.5, the sequence of solutions {ue} obtained for each e > 0 converges in
V to the minimizer u of the original function F which satisfies the constraint
Bu ^ g. The quantity
is, in fact, an approximation of the Lagrange multiplier p and, under suitable

conditions, the sequence {pe} converges to p in the space Q' as e-»0.
To approximate (4.38), we proceed as before by constructing a family of
finite dimensional subspaces Vh of V which approximate V as the mesh
parameter h tends to zero. A direct approximation of (4.38) on Vh leads to
the discrete problem
It is frequently difficult or impossible to evaluate the penalty term [j(Bue-

g)+, Bvh] exactly in numerical applications, so an approximation of this term
is needed. For instance, in contact problems this term may assume the form
of the boundary integral, JFc (ueh* n - g) + tv n ds, and a numerical quadrature
scheme is introduced to evaluate this integral. We shall investigate abstractions
of such approximate penalty terms for the finite dimensional problem sub-
sequently.
Let {Qh} be a family of finite dimensional subspaces of the space Q intro-
duced in the previous section; i.e., Q = Rg(B), Be^(V, Q). Suppose that
Q c; H = H' c; Q', as before. Then / [ • , • ] will denote an abstract quadrature
operator satisfying the following conditions:
(i) /: Qh x Qh -» R, /[ •, • ] is a symmetric bilinear form and satisfies
where ||| • ||| is the norm on H.

(ii) If lim/,.,0 vh = v in V and lim/,^0 <lh = 9 in Q', then
In particular, we demand that
for all qh, qh e Qh.

(iii) For CQ^ a positive cone in Qh, we define </>£ for </>h e Qh by
Then V </>,,, «fo e Qh, and for fa = 4>l ~ <fo
Throughout this section, we shall also impose additional regularity assumptions

on the data g e Q. In particular, we require that
The question which naturally arises at this point is "where does the space
Qh enter the formulation?" It so happens that intrinsic to any finite element
penalty method is a space Qh of approximate Lagrange multipliers. We will
show below that an appropriate finite dimensional space Qh is determined by
each choice of Vh and quadrature operator / [ • , • ] .
With these preliminaries now established, we pose the following finite
element approximations of (4.38):
Given e > 0, find ueh e Vh such that
Let us assume for the moment that (4.41) can be solved for a unique uEh in
Vh. Then as our approximation peh of the Lagrange multipliers associated with
the constraint Bueh - g < 0 we will take the unique peh in Q^ satisfying
for all vh e Vh. As will be seen later, this relation contributes to the characteri-
zation of the space Qh. Note that with (4.42) in force, (4.41) can be written
A mixed method. Let {ueh} and {pKh} denote sequences of solutions to (4.43)
(peh being defined by (4.42)) obtained for a fixed mesh as e tends to zero.
We will now demonstrate that the sequence {(ueh,pEh}} converges to a pair
(uh, ph) e Vh x Qh which is a solution of the system
where
Clearly, (4.44) describes a type of mixed finite element method in which the
approximate rule / [ • , • ] is used in place of the exact scalar product when
evaluating the penalty term.
70 CHAPTER 4
THEOREM 4.9. Suppose that (4.27) and conditions (4.39) hold and let peh be
defined by (4.42). In addition, suppose that there exists a number ah>Q such that
Then the sequence {(ueh,peh)} converges to the pair (uh,ph) satisfying (4.44) as
e-»0.
Proof. Equation (4.43) and condition (4.46) yield
Since it is clear from (4.27) that the sequence of numbers \\ueh\\ is uniformly
bounded in e, the uniform boundedness of \\\peh\\\ m e follows from this last
inequality. Thus, there exists a convergent subsequence of {peh} in any
topology. Introducing these convergent subsequences {(ueh,peh)} into (4.43)
and taking the limit as e -» 0 yields
Since peh^Nht as is clear from the definition of peh, it suffices to show

that the limit ph of a convergent subsequence of {peh} satisfies (4.44)2. The
definition of peh leads directly to the fact that
for any qheQh. Passing to the limit as e -»0, we have
for every qh e Qh.

We next show that
Indeed (4.41) and inequality
imply
for every vhe Vh such that I[(Bvh-g)+, (Bvh-g)+] = Q. Passing to the limit
e -+0 yields (4.47). Therefore, for qh e Nht
The uniqueness of the solution (uh,ph) of (4.44) implies that the full
sequences {uBh} and {peh} converge to uh and ph, respectively, instead of only
subsequences of {ueh} and {peh}- 0
Our ultimate objective is to determine estimates of the errors ||ueh — u\\ and
HIp eh -jp|||. As an intermediate step, we will next develop estimates of \\ueh - uh\\
and\\\pEh-ph\\\.
THEOREM 4.10. Let the conditions of Theorem 4.9 hold and let (ush, pEh) and
(uh> Ph) be solutions of (4.41) and (4.44), respectively, pEh being given by (4.42).
Then there exist positive constants C\ and C2, independent of e, such that
Proof. From (4.43) and (4.44), we have
Assumption (4.46) yields
Putting vh = ueh - uh in (4.49), we get
Next, noting that
we use (4.39) to obtain
Thus
Inequality (4.48)2 now follows from (4.50).

72 CHAPTER 4
We now find estimates of \\uh -u\\ and \\\ph -p\\\, where (u,p)e Vx N is the
solution of the saddle point problem (4.26). Let
for every vh e Vh and qh e Qh.

THEOREM 4.11. Let (u,p) and (uh,ph)e VhxNh be solutions of (4.26) and
(4.44), respectively. Suppose that all conditions in Theorem 4.9 and (4.51) hold.
Further suppose that there exists a positive number ah such that
Then the following estimates hold:
and
for every vheVh, qhe Nh, and q e N, where C,, i = 1, • • • , 4, are constants
independent ofh and (u,p).
Proof. Equations (4.26) and (4.44) imply
Then for any vh,
By using definitions (4.51) and the facts that I[qh-ph, Buh-g]^QVqheNh,

and [q-p, Bu-g]>Q Vqe N, we are able to deduce the following relation:
Thus, this result and (4.55) lead to
for every vh e Vh, qh e Nh, and q e N.

Thus, for arbitrary qh e Nh and vh e V/,,
and
Using this result and the triangle inequality, we obtain (4.53). Combining
(4.56) and (4.58), using (3.14) and applying Young's inequality gives (4.54). D
As a supplementary result, we note that by employing arguments similar to
those used in the proof of Theorem 4.7 we can obtain an estimate of \ph -p\*.
THEOREM 4.12. Suppose that the conditions of Theorem 4.10 and (4.36) hold.
Tlien there exists a constant C such that
for the interpolant vh e Vh of an arbitrary function VE V.

Combining all results in Theorems 4.9, 4.10, and 4.11, and applying the
triangle inequality, we can get estimates
in terms of e, h, ah, ah, and interpolation errors of u and p on Vh and Nh,

respectively.
The results given in this section represent generalizations of those of Oden,
Kikuchi, and Song [1], [2], Kikuchi and Song [2], and Kikuchi [9].
Chapter 5
Orderings, Trace Theorems.,

Green's Formulas, and Korn's
Inequalities
5.1. Introduction. The preceding chapters have dealt with certain classes
of abstract constrained minimization problems and their approximations
which, we will ultimately show, have direct application to contact problems
in elasticity. In this chapter, we complete our development of mathematical
preliminaries by establishing several key results of a concrete analytical flavor.
The considerations here have to do with more detailed questions of analysis:
for specific cases of variational problems in elasticity, what forms do the
functions « ( - , • ) > /(•)» F ( - ) , B, etc. assume, what are their mathematical
properties, in what spaces do the displacements, stresses, and contact pressures
belong, how are these spaces related, and, in other words, what precisely is
the mathematical framework for contact problems in elasticity?
These and related questions lead us herein to the study of various properties
of Sobolev spaces, trace theorems, Green's formulas, and, finally, of Korn's
inequalities which are crucial in the study of the existence of solutions to
variational problems in linear elasticity. Trace properties of Sobolev spaces,
for example, are essential if we are to define precisely kinematic contact
conditions on the candidate contact surface Fc. Since such contact conditions
involve inequalities, we must consider the meaning of partial orderings in
Sobolev spaces as an extention of the ordinary ordering defined by inequalities
of real numbers. Green's formulas for functions in Sobolev spaces are needed
to characterize and interpret weak or generalized solutions of variational
problems and to assess the relationship of such solutions to classical solutions.
In other words, their use demands a consideration of the regularity of solutions.
Furthermore, trace theorems and Green's formulas are used to assess which
of many various boundary conditions may be taken into account in a given
variational formulation of a boundary value problem. Finally, Korn's
inequalities enable us to establish well-posedness of variational formulations
75
76 CHAPTER 5
and are crucial in the proof of the existence of solutions to variational boundary
value problems.
To set the stage for this study, we begin by considering the deformations
of a hyperelastic body He R N subjected to applied body forces f and surface
tractions t. The fact that the body is hyperelastic means that there exists a
differentiable stored energy function w, representing the strain energy per unit
volume of material, which characterizes the mechanical behavior of the material
of which the body is composed. The function w is assumed to be given as a
function of the material gradient Vv(x) of the displacement field v at x and
possibly, of the material particle x, and we express this fact by writing
Now let V denote a suitable linear space of admissible displacements. Then

the total potential energy of the body is defined by the functional
where dx = dxl dx2 • - • dxN and / is a linear functional on V representing the

work done by the external forces f and t. For example, if f and t are sufficiently
smooth measurable functions of x, / will assume the form
where FF is the portion of the boundary F of the body on which tractions are
applied and ds is an element of surface area. However, we will frequently find
it advantageous to view / as purely a given linear functional on V which may
not be generated by measurable functions f or t.
The precise definition of the space V will, in general, depend upon the form
of the strain energy function w. In the present chapter, we confine our attention
to "small" deformations of Hookean bodies for which the strain energy is
given as a quadratic form in the infinitesimal strain tensor e:
where 1 ^ i, j, k, I ^ N, and formally,
In (5.3), the functions Eijk, are the elasticities characterizing the material. We
assume that these functions satisfy the following conditions:
(i) Ey-fc/e L°°(n); thus, there exists a constant M such that

ORDERINGS AND TRACE THEOREMS 77
(iii) There exists a constant m > 0 such that a.e. in O,
for every e e RN*N such that e,y = e,,.

When (5.3)-(5.5) hold, we may take V as a subspace of H^ft) such that
where
The product space H ! (n) is a Hilbert space equipped with the inner product
and associated norm
When (5.3) and (5.4) hold, the total potential energy functional assumes
the form,
and whenever (5.5) holds,
Thus, F is well defined on the subspace V of the Sobolev space HÔ) whenever
/is continuous; i.e., whenever/belongs to the topological dual V of V. Then
|/(v)|<C|M|, and F(v)<((M/2)||v|| 1 + C)||v||1 for all veV.
Moreover, for 6 > 0,
where a( •, •) is the bilinear form,
with
78 CHAPTER 5
M being the constant appearing in (5.5). Thus the functional F in (5.9) is

G-differentiable on V and, for all u, ve V,
where ( • , •) denotes duality pairings on V x V.

The remainder of this chapter is devoted to the study of various properties
of the forms a ( - , •) and /(•), the space V, and to sets K<= V defining contact
constraints on the motion of linearly elastic bodies.
5.2. Order properties of spaces H^ft) and Hm(fl). The class of problems^
we have identified for study are naturally posed in the setting of Sobolev
spaces. It is important to record certain of their properties which have special
significance in the analysis of contact problems. Our first step is to define a
partial ordering relation ">". Let ft' be a subset of ft, ft'<=ft. A function
w e //'(ft) is said to be nonnegative on ft' in the sense of //'(ft), or simply
" w > 0 on ft' in //'(ft)," if there exists a sequence {wm}e W1>X>({1) such that
Using this notion, consider the set
It can be verified that C+ is a closed convex positive cone in //'(ft). Indeed,

let {u m }eC+ be a sequence converging to ue//'(ft). Then vm>Q on ft' in
//'(ft), for each m e N. This implies the existence of a sequence {v^} e W'>00(ft)
such that t>™(x)>0, xeft', and vkm^> vm in //'(ft) as fc-»oo. But then
Hence, vkm-» v in //'(ft), which means that t>>0 on ft' in //'(ft), i.e., C+ is
closed. Likewise, if veC+, vke Wl'°°(£l), vk(\)^0 for xeft', and vk-*v in
//'(ft), then avk(\) > 0 and avk -> av for a > 0, a e R. Therefore, av e C+ for
a > 0; in other words, C+ is a positive cone with vertex at the origin in //'(ft).
It follows that ">", as defined above, is a partial ordering on //'(ft). Indeed,
if ("ml, {vm}, {wm}e W''°°(ft) and um-*u, vm^>v, wm->w in //'(ft) as m-*oo,
then we have
(i) M m (x)s=i> m (x) => M m (x)-u m (x)>0, xeft', => w - u > 0 on ft' in
//'(ft); i.e., u-v is nonnegative on ft' in //'(ft);
(ii) M m (x)±sO, xeft' =» - w > 0 on ft' in //'(ft); i.e., M is nonpositive on

ft' in //'(ft);
(Hi) For we //'(ft), if M > U on ft' in //'(ft) then ti + w > t > + w on ft' in
//'(ft).
(iv) If a > 0, a e R, and u > u on ft' in //'(ft), then aw > ay on ft' in //'(ft).
Frequently, we omit the qualifying phrase "on ft' in //'(ft)" for simplicity
and just write u > 0, u > v, etc. when no confusion is expected.
We can replace the requirement of strong convergence of {um}e W 1>00 (ft)
by weak convergence in the definition of the ordering ">" on //'(ft). Suppose
that
It is well known (see Mazur's lemma in, e.g., Yosida [1, p. 120]) that for any
weakly convergent sequence {um} in a reflexive Banach space with limit u,
there exists a sequence {vk} of convex combinations,
such that {vk} converges strongly to u. Clearly, u f c (x)>0, xeft'. Hence, u > 0
on ft' in //'(ft). Conversely, if (5.13) holds, then w > 0 since every sequence
strongly convergent in //'(ft) also converges weakly. That is, (5.15) provides
an equivalent definition of the ordering ">" on //'(ft) in that it implies w > 0 .
THEOREM 5.1 (Kinderlehrer and Stampacchia [1]). Let ft be a bounded
domain in IRN, and let ft'c ft. For u e //'(ft),
(i) i / M > 0 on ft' in //'(ft), then w > 0 a.e. on ft', and
(ii) i / w > 0 fl.e. o« ft, f/ie« w > 0 on ft in //'(ft).
Proo/ (i) If {tij converges to u in //'(ft)(w m (x)>0,xeft', u m e W'-°°(ft)),
then {um} also converges strongly to u in L 2 (ft). But then it is known that
there exists a subsequence [um] which converges to u almost everywhere in
ft; i.e., M m >(x)>0 and um<->u a.e. in ft', which implies w > 0 a.e. in ft'.
(ii) Let {um}<= W''°°(ft), w m (x)>0, satisfy umû in //'(ft) and umû a.e.
on ft in a pointwise sense. We will always have max ( u m , 0 ) > 0 (pointwise);
also, by hypothesis, u = max (u, 0) a.e. on ft, where
Note that we//'(ft), but we do not know at this point whether or not
max (u, 0)e //'(ft). In the present proof, however, we need only have
max (u, 0) e L 2 (ft). We will show later that, in fact, max (u, 0) does belong to
//'(ft). Continuing, we now have
so that max(u m ,0) converges to u in L 2 (ft). Moreover, the sequence

max(i/ m ,0) is uniformly bounded in //'(ft), since um is uniformly bounded
in //'(ft). Thus there exists a subsequence {um} of (max (um, 0)} which conver-
ges weakly to some u e / / ' ( f t ) as m-»oo. Since {max(t/ m ,0)} converges to u
80 CHAPTER 5
in L 2 (ft), M must, in fact, coincide with M. We have thus shown the existence
of a sequence {wm} of Wl'°°(ft)-functions such that w m (x)>:0 and umû in
//'(ft). But this is precisely what is meant by M > 0 on ft in //'(ft). D
Thanks to Theorem 5.1, we see that in //'(ft), if ft' = ft we need not
distinguish the set C+ defined by (5.14) from the set
Thus, we will use the order notation suggested by (5.14) and (5.16) interchange-
ably in subsequent discussions.
We next consider a function max (M, 0) for a given function u e H'(ft). We
shall investigate whether or not max (u, 0) e //'(ft).
LEMMA 5.1 (Kinderlehrer and Stampacchia [1]). Let t^> d(t) be a C ! (R)-
function such that 6' is uniformly bounded; say, |0'(0| — MO- Let ft be an open
bounded set of UN and let !</><oo. J/ue Wl'"(ft), then 6(u)e Wl'p(ft) and
Proof. For any u e Wl'p(ft), there exists a sequence {wm}e C'(ft) such that
w m -» M in W 1>p (ft) and um^>u a.e. in fl. Since the mapping 6 is continuously
differentiate, 0(w m )e Cl(&). Moreover, since &' is uniformly bounded
This shows that 6(um)-* d(u) in L P (O). On the other hand, we have a.e. in fl,
The first term of the right-hand side of this inequality converges to 0 as m -* oo

in Lp(il), since O'(um) is bounded uniformly in m. The second term converges
to zero a.e. on ft. However, the second term of the right-hand side is uniformly
bounded with respect to m in L p (ft). Thus, this term converges to zero in
L p (ft) by the Lebesgue theorem and, therefore, 6'(um)umti-* 6'(u}u» in L p (ft).
The distributional derivative 0(w),, is the limit in 3)'(ft) of (B(um)),j. Let
(j> e 2)(ft) be a test function. Then, clearly,
or
V4>e$(ft). Thus, 0(w),, = 0'(w)w,, in 3)'(£l) and 0(u),, must be in L p (ft).

Since 9' is uniformly continuous, 0(u),,= d'(u}u,i a.e. in ft. D
Using this lemma, the following result can be established:
LEMMA 5.2 (Kinderlehrer and Stampacchia [1]). Let w e Wl'p(tl). Then
for i = 1, • • • , N. In addition u\ el'p(fl).

Proof. For each ye[-l, 1], define
so that o-ye(0) = y and
Define
Then flêC^R) and {|6>;e(0| ^ 1}. Hence 0 y e (w)e Wl-p(Sl) and
(see Lemma 5.1). Since ^ E (U)-»|M| as e-»0 pointwise a.e. in ft, 0 y E (w)->|u
in L p (ft). In addition, we have
a.e. in ft, and
Hence
82 CHAPTER 5
Thus u\e Wl'p(Sl) and
In particular,
Since y is arbitrary in [-1,1], we have
THEOREM 5.2 (Kinderlehrer and Stampacchia [1]). Let ft<=RN and let
we Wl'p(Cl), !</><oo. Then max(w,0)e Wl-p(fl) and
in the sense of distribution for i = 1, • • • , N.

Proof. From Lemma 5.2, max (w,0) = (M + |w|/2e Wl'p(£l),
and
The definition (5.15) of nonnegativeness of the function u e H l ( f l ) clearly

carries over to functions ueHm(£l), m>2. The function ueHm(£l) is non-
negative on H'cH in the sense of Hm(£L) if there exists a sequence {M,}E
W^Sl) such that
Properties similar to those listed in Theorem 5.1 may be shown to hold for
functions in Hm(tl). However, if w e Hm(fl), m > 2, the function max (w, 0)(x)
defined by
may not belong to JF/ m (fl)! Consider, for example, M(X) = X in H2(-l, 1). It
is clear that max (u, 0)^ H2(-\, 1) since (max(w, 0))' is not C 1 at x = 0.
However, the set
is closed in H m (a).
5.3. Boundary spaces and trace theorems. For the components vt of admis-
sible displacements belonging to the Sobolev space Hl(Ct), it is possible to
assign a precise meaning to extensions of such components to spaces of
functions defined on the boundary if we are to deal with boundary conditions.
We will now show several properties of such spaces of "boundary values" of
H'(n)-functions.
The spaces Z/(F), W fc>p (r). Recall, in particular, that we describe the smooth-
ness of the boundary F of a bounded domain (I by introducing a finite open
cover {(/ r }ff=i of F and a set {Ar}?Ll of coordinate transformations satisfying
properties (1.18). Suppose that such a construction is available which com-
pletely characterizes F. Then a subset G <=• F will be referred to as a zero subset
of F if the sets G'rÛN'1 defined by
have zero measure in IR*"1 for each r. Moreover, we will say that a function
u is defined almost everywhere on F if the points of F at which u is not defined
form a zero subset of F. Continuing, let a function u be defined almost
everywhere on F. Then u is said to belong to L P (F), 1 <vp<oo, if each of the
functions ur defined by
belongs to Lp(Sr) where 5r is defined in (1.18). The space I/(F), l</?<oo,

is a Banach space when equipped with the norm
In particular, L 2 (F) is a Hilbert space with inner product
We shall denote integration on the boundary F symbolically:
with {0 r }fli a partition of unity subordinate to the cover {£/r}?ii, for any finite
cover, since any other cover with the same properties leads to an equivalent
norm on I/(n). Similarly, the space Wk>p(r) fc>0, 1 < /> < oo, F e C f c ~ u , which
is a subspace of LP(T), is defined as the set of all (equivalence classes of)
functions w e L p ( f l ) such that w r e Wk>p(Sr), r = l , - - - , M . Then Wk'p(r)
becomes a reflexive Banach space for !</><oo with the norm
for any positive real number k > 0.

84 CHAPTER 5
We again emphasize that the norms defined in (5.22) and (5.24) appear to
depend upon the particular covering {U r } we have chosen for F. However, it
can be verified that these various norms defined in (5.22) (or (5.24)) are all
equivalent for any choice of covering and family of local coordinate systems
(for the case of a C°°-boundary see Lions and Magenes [1, p. 35]).
Spaces Lp(2) or W^CL) are defined as above for an open subset 2 of F.
For the subsequent analysis, we shall only be interested in the spaces L2(F)
and //1/2(F), i.e., LP(F) and W^T) for the choices p = 2 and k = 1/2.
The space H^2(L). Let the boundary F consist of the union of the closure
of two or more open subsets FD and 2, e.g., F = FD U 2. In general boundary-
value problems with mixed boundary conditions, we frequently encounter
cases in which we must deal with traces of Hl(fl)-functions on such boundary
segments. In some instances, the space //1/2(2) is inappropriate for dealing
with such traces. One difficulty is that the extension by zero of a function in,
say, H 1/2(2) to all of //1/2(F) is often impossible. Indeed, //1/2(F) is the image
under the trace operator of Hl(£l), but one can easily construct functions on
F which are not traces of functions in Hl(fl). For example, if <f> = constant
on 2 and </> = 0 on F0, then <f> is not the trace of a function in Hl(£l) (ft cz R 2 ).
These technical difficulties will be resolved by introducing a special subspace
of H 1/2(2) given in Lions and Magenes [1, Chap. 1]. To define this space, we
first introduce a function p on 2 which has the properties:
(i) p is sufficiently smooth,
(ii) p is positive on all of 2,
(iii) p vanishes on the boundary 32 of 2,
(iv) p vanishes on 32 at a rate
Then the space //oo2(2) shall be defined as the subspace of H 1/2 (2) given by
Thus, functions v in //oo2(2) must decay rapidly enough at 32 for the product
p~l/2v to be an L 2 (2)-function. An inner product and norm can be defined
on f/oo2(2) according to
When assigned this inner product, Hô2(2) becomes a Hilbert space strictly
contained in H1/2(2) with finer topology which is such that the imbedding
Hio2(2)c: H1/2(2) is continuous. Again, the norm on ffoo2(2) appears to
depend upon the choice of the function p, but we may verify that all such
norms are equivalent.
The dual of H^ 2 (2) is "larger" than that of //1/2(S) in the sense that a
functional 1e (f/oo 2 (l))' can be represented in the form
where we define
To appreciate the role of f/oo 2 (2), we recall the classical trace theorem for
the Sobolev space //'((I):
THEOREM 5.3 (trace theorem I). Let O e c#°'1 and let y be the operator defined
by
Then y can be extended to a continuous linear operator, also denoted y, from

H\£l] onto // 1/2 (F).
Proof. See, for example, Lions and Magenes [1, p. 33], Aubin [1, p. 10], or
Necas [1, Chap. 2]. 0
The operator y in Theorem 5.3 is called the trace operator. A key property
of y is that it is surjective as a map from //'(O) into H 1/2 (F) with ker y = Ho(fl).
This surjectivity may be lost when we pass to the space H 1/2 (2) defined on a
subset 2 of F.
Indeed, let F D denote a nonempty open subset of F and let V denote the
subspace of H'(O) given by
where y0 is the map which associates u e Hl(£l) with the restriction of y ( v ) e

H l / 2 ( Y ) to F D :
Complementary to yD, it is also natural to consider the trace operator
defined in a manner analogous to yD.

Properties of y\ have been studied by Baiocchi and Capelo [1]; see also
Hanouzet and Joly [1]. In particular, we note that:
(5.31) The trace operator y| mapping V into Hoo2(£) is continuous, linear,
and surjective for C°°-boundary dS.
It is noted that y£ is not surjective from V into H 1/2(2).
Trace results for elasticity problems. We continue our examination of trace
properties and boundary spaces, now turning towards results of special import-
ance to problems in elasticity theory. Our first result concerns the existence
of a unit normal n to the boundary of a domain.
86 CHAPTER 5
THEOREM 5.4. Let He <#0>1. Then a unit vector n, outward and normal to the
boundary F, exists almost everywhere on F, that is, nt e L°°(F), i = 1, • • • , N.
Proof. By using the system of local charts of the boundary F, the boundary
F is represented by the form
Then the unit vector n outward normal to the boundary can be given by
if the functions fr are differentiate on Sr, r = 1, • • • , M.

Because O e <#°'1,/,. is Lipschitz continuous, and therefore dfr/dyr exists a.e.,
as in L°°(Sr), r = 1, • • • , M, and hence is measurable. D
Details of a proof of Theorem 5.4 can also be found in Necas [1, Lemma
2.4.2], It is clear that for H e <#°'1, the normal component of displacement
vn = v • n can be unambiguously defined on the boundary for v e V. Indeed, if
tyeH^ft), then we can set un = y(u,)«i almost everywhere on F. Moreover,
for every v 6 L2(F) the decomposition
makes sense in L2(F), i.e.,
where
Thus, the decomposition V^{U O ,V T } is an isomorphism from L2(F) onto

L^DxL^F), and
where
We next consider the decomposition of H 1/2 (F) following the plan of L2(F).
Suppose that fie < # 1>I ; that is, suppose that each component n, of the unit
vector outward normal to the boundary F is Lipschitz continuous with uniform
constant on F. Then, applying properties of products of functions in Sobolev
spaces (Grisvard [1]), we have
Thus, for ve H 1/2 (F) = (H 1/2 (F))",
where
That is, the decomposition v-»{u n ,v r } is an isomorphism from H 1/2 (F) onto
H 1 / 2 (F)xH I r / 2 (F) (i.e., HV /2 (F) is closed in H 1/2 (F) and H 1/2 (r) = H1T/2(r)8
{ve H 1/2 (F)|v= vnn, vn e H 1/2 (F)}). Hence
Therefore, the trace theorem, Theorem 5.3, can be replaced by the following
"decomposed" trace theorem:
THEOREM 5.5 (trace theorem II). Let the domain fie < # 1>1 . Then there exist
uniquely determined linear continuous maps yn of H^ft) into f/ 1/2 (F) and yT
o/H'(fi) into HV /2 (F) such that
where
Furthermore, for a given (h, g) e H 1/2 (F) x HV /2 (F), there exist a ve H'(ft) and
a constant C such that
The maps yn and yT are thus surjective.

Passing to the duality arguments, it can be argued that q6H~ 1 / 2 (F) is
decomposed by {qn, q r } e H~1/2(F) x Hr' /2 (F) so that
where Hr 1/2 (F) is the dual space of HT /2 (F). The decomposition q^{^ n ,q T }
is again an isomorphism from H~ 1/2 (F) onto H~1/2(F) x Hr 1/2 (F). We note that
88 CHAPTER 5
//1/2(F) and HV 2 (F) are densely and continuously imbedded in L2(O and
Lr(F). We introduce the inner products,
*
for every qn e L2(F), q r e L2T(r), and ve H1/2(F).

In view of Theorem 5.5, let us denote by FD a nonempty open subset of
the boundary F, and let yD be the trace map which associates ve H^fl) with
the restriction of y(v) to H 1/2 (F D ), y:H 1 (n)^H 1/2 (F). As in (5.30), let
Then, in view of (5.31), there exists a surjective linear continuous map y^: V-»
Hio2(2), where 2 = int (F-F D ). Thus, in a manner similar to Theorem 5.5, we
have
THEOREM 5.6 (trace theorem III). Let the domain fte < # 1>l . Then there exist
surjective linear continuous maps
such that
We now define a partial ordering relation "s:" in the space Hio2(2). Let
v E Hoo2(2) and let Fc be contained in 2. Then the function v is nonnegative
on Fc in the sense ofH^(L}, or simply vÔ on Fc in //oo2(2), if there exists
a sequence {vm} of Lipschitz continuous functions such that
We easily verify that C+ = {ue H^ 2 (S)|u>0 on Fc in H1/2(S)} defines a

closed positive convex cone on //oo2(2)«
Thus we have
THEOREM 5.7. Let the domain (1 e c#1>1 and let g be given in //oo2(2). Th£n
with the ordering > on H1/2(S) defined above, it is meaningful to define the set
Moreover, K is a closed convex subset of Vc H^d).

The case in which Fc is strictly contained in 2 (and dFc is smooth) is of
special interest. Then
We then define on Hl/2(Yc) an ordering > in the usual way, and construct
the closed convex subset of K defined now by
where g is given data in // 1/2 (F C ) and yCn is the normal trace operator from
V onto H 1/2 (r c ). Moreover, by arguments similar to those used in the dis-
cussion of Theorem 5.1, we find that we need not distinguish between "u >0
in H 1/2 (r c )" and " u > 0 a.e. on Fc."
We will refer to the sets K in (5.51) and (5.52) frequently in subsequent
discussion since they characterize contact constraints in Signorini problems
in elasticity.
5.4. Green's formulas. In the preceding sections, we have established several
properties of spaces of admissible displacements u and their traces on segments
of the boundary. In the present section, we consider properties of spaces of
stress tensors and their boundary values and we derive some general Green's
formulas which play a key role in the analysis of contact problems in elasticity.
We first provide a brief summary of some general properties of Green's
formulas for linear operators on Hilbert spaces due to Aubin [1], [2], and
then specialize these results so as to apply to problems in linear elasticity.
We begin by introducing five spaces: 2), V, H, Z, and y (and their duals
2\ V, H\ Z', and #") such that
2> is a linear topological space contained in V and dense in H,
,.,.,. V, H, Z, and y are Hilbert spaces, with V contained in H with
a finer topology,
H is a pivot space, i.e., H is identified with its dual (H = H').
Also, we denote by V0 the closure of 3) in V. Then we have the inclusions
where <=• indicates the inclusion is dense.

The space 2 is an abstraction of the usual space S)(O) of test functions
(i.e., S>(ft) = C*(ft) with the standard locally convex topological structure)
and V will ultimately be identified with the space V of admissible displace-
ments; y, we will find, corresponds to a space of stresses and Z will correspond
to a space of boundary values containing traces of elements of V.
We next introduce a continuous linear operator A from V into y, and denote
by AQ its restriction to V0:
Let A*e £(&', V) be the transpose of A; i.e.,

90 CHAPTER 5
where [ •, • ] and {•, •) denote duality pairings on y'xy and V x V, respec-

tively. Then the formal adjoint A* of the operator A is defined by
Next we introduce the space &"(A$) and its inner product ( ( • , • ) ) defined by
and
Here ( • , • ) # » and ( • , • )H are the inner products defined on Hilbert spaces #"
and H, respectively. With these conventions and notations in force, we can
establish the following fundamental theorem:
THEOREM 5.8 (abstract Green's formula). Suppose that V0 is the kernel of a
surjective map y e Jz?( V, Z] from V onto a Hilbert space Z. Then there exists a
uniquely determined operator TT e 3?(&"(A*), Z'} such that the abstract Green's
formula
holds Vr e &"(A$) and Vv e V, where « • , • ) ) is duality pairing on Z' x Z.

Proof. Since y is surjective, there is a right inverse 5 e £(Z, V) of y. Then
Si y is a projection (i.e., a continuous linear operator satisfying (S • y)2 = (S- y)
whose kernel is V 0 > and its transpose y* - 8* is a projection of V onto
V£ = ( k e r 6 - y)± = {u*e V'\(u*, u) = 0 Vueker 5- y}.
We next shall show that for any T(=3"(A$), (j*A$-A*)re VQ, where; is
the injection map of V into H and j* is its transpose. Indeed, for re #"(ô)
arid v e V0, we have
where ( - , - ) H is the inner product on H. Thus, (j*A* — A*)TE VQ. Let TT

dettote the operator
Then,
and, for all v e V,
Thus, (5.59) is proved.

It remains to be shown that the operator TT does not depend upon the choice
of the right inverse 5 of y. For this purpose, note that if 7re«S?(#"(Ao)> -2>')
satisfies Green's formula (5.59), we have
for all r. Thus, if 8 is an arbitrary right inverse of y and if 5* is its transpose,

y* is injective, and we have
for any 8. Hence, (5.59) holds for any choice of 8. The fact that TT is uniquely
determined is also verified. D
The operator y in Theorem 5.8 is an abstraction of the trace operators
described earlier.
Before considering applications of Theorem 5.8 to the operators of elasticity,
we record some additional properties of A0, A*, and the space y"(A*). Let
G(A$) denote the graph of Aj,
and, by symmetry, we introduce
Note that duality pairing on (y xH)x(^xH) is characterized by the bilinear

form
We shall show that G(A$) c y x H is the orthogonal complement of G(A0) c

tfxH.
If an element (r, fc)e £f" x H is orthogonal to G(A0), we have
By the definition of the formal adjoint,
that is, h = A$T&H. Thus re SP'(A$) and (T, h) = (r, A$T) e G(Aff). Therefore
G(A£) = G(A 0 ) ± . It follows that G(A$) is closed. This means that
(5.62) 9"(A*) is a Hilbert space with the inner product ( ( • , •)).
Green's formulas for stresses. As a concrete application of the theory just
presented, we take
92 CHAPTER 5
where O is a bounded, Lipschitzian domain in UN with boundary P. For the

operators A, A* and y we have
y e ^(H ! (ft), H 1/2 (F)) = trace operators

withH 1/2 (r) = (// 1/2 (r)) N and
We can easily verify that the spaces (5.63)-(5.65) satisfy the hypotheses (5.53)
and (5.54).
We now take for the spaces y and &"(A*) stresses on H defined by
where
The spaces y and & become Hilbert spaces when endowed with inner products
( - , - ) and ( ( - , - ) ) defined by
f»
Norms \\-\\y and \\-\\y for tf and ?T are then
respectively. The real-valued function | • defined by
is a seminorm on the space ST. Clearly, the space & is the set of all symmetric
stress fields and 3~ is the subspace of stresses the divergence of which is in
L2(O). By standard arguments and an application of Theorem 5.8, we have
THEOREM 5.9 (trace-theorem for stress I). Let He C6°'1. Then there exists a
uniquely determined linear continuous mapping IT from ZTinto H~ 1/2 (F) such that
and such that the following generalized Green's formula holds for every TE 2T
and every veH'Cfl):
where ( • , -) r denotes duality pairing on H~ 1/2 (r)xH 1/2 (O.

Our next step is to consider the decomposition of the virtual work on the
boundary into two parts: the first is the work due to forces acting in the normal
direction and the other is that due to forces in the tangential direction. Toward
this end, we record the following theorem:
THEOREM 5.10 (decomposition theorem). Let fte^1'1. Then there exist
uniquely determined maps irn of 9~ into H~l/2(Y) and TTT of V into Hr 1/2 (O
such that
for every TE 3~ and veH^fl), and
for TE CÔ), where rn = Trn(r).

Similarly, we can extend this result to the space
using the trace map TT|, instead of H'((l) and TT, that is,
THEOREM 5.11 (trace theorem for stress II). Let Oe <#°'1. Then there exists
a uniquely determined linear continuous mapping TT^ from 3~ into (Hoo 2 (£))'
such that
and
Moreover, if ile < # u , TT^ can be decomposed into operators 7r^n and TT\T such
that
for every r e 3~, and v e V, and, moreover,
for re C^fl), where here rn = TT^T).

Results similar to those given in §§ 5.3 and 5.4 have been obtained by
Hiinlich and Naumann [1].
5.5. Boundary conditions. The decomposition theorems and Green's for-

mulas described in the previous section set the stage for the study of variational
94 CHAPTER 5
principles for elasticity problems involving a variety of boundary conditions.

We will give a general method for providing various types of boundary
conditions in a way compatible with the theory laid down thus far.
We will confine our attention here to boundary conditions that arise naturally
in the minimization of certain convex, lower semicontinuous energy functionals
on closed convex subsets of Hilbert spaces. If we demand that the energy
functional be convex and lower semicontinuous, then, as noted in Chapter 3,
we are guaranteed that it (the functional) will be weakly lower semicontinuous,
and this property is critical in establishing the existence of minimizers satisfying
the constraints. In turn, these requirements restrict the choices of boundary
conditions that can be made for the variational boundary value problem
characterizing the minimizes
For our present purposes, we will assume that the total potential energy of
an elastic body subject to certain boundary conditions is given by the functional
where the elasticities EijM satisfy (5.5). In this case, the work done by the
external forces/eV is assumed to be of the form
where the body forces
and
J = a convex, lower semicontinuous functional on H1/2(F)

and y is the trace operator mapping V onto H1/2(F). The boundary conditions
will enter our formulation through various choices of the functional /.
Let K be a nonempty closed convex set in V and suppose that there exists
a solution u e K to the problem
As shown in Theorem 3.3, this solution u e K also satisfies the variational

inequality
Suppose that
Then substitution of v = u±w, for arbitrary weHj(ft), into (5.86) leads to the
equality
Observing that the stress tensor at the solution u is
and choosing that we®(O), we arrive at the conclusion that
in the sense of distributions. However, according to (5.83), / e L 2 (ft); hence
Since cr l7 (u) v -e L 2 (ft), we can now apply Green's formula (5.73), and reduce
inequality (5.86) to
where < - , - ) r denotes the duality pairing on H~ 1/2 (O xH 1 / 2 (r).

Inequality (5.90) describes general and abstract boundary conditions for
problems in elasticity. We shall now consider several special cases of (5.90)
obtained for particular choices of the functional /. Illustrations of these
examples are given in Fig. 5.1.
(i) Dirichlet boundary conditions (Fig. 5.1(a)). Suppose that the displace-
ments u of points on the elastic body are prescribed as g, i.e.,
or equivalently,
Then this condition can be represented by (5.90) by taking
Alternatively, we can regard / as a proper functional with codomain of the

extended real line IR = IRU{±oo}. Then we can take / to be the indicator
function for the set of functions v satisfying the boundary conditions:
96 CHAPTER 5
FIG. 5.1. Examples of boundary conditions obtained as special cases of the general formula (5.90).
FIG. 5.1. (Continued).

98 CHAPTER 5
In this case, J(y(v)) - J(y(u)) ><-7r(or(u)), y(v-u)) r so that, in view of (3.5),

-7r(cr(u)) is the subdifferential of / ° y. Since the minimizer u of F produces
finite energy, we must have y(u) = g; hence, (5.94) is a description of the
boundary condition y(u) = g on F (in H 1/2 (F)).
(ii) Neumann boundary conditions (Fig. 5.1(b)). If there are no kinematical
restrictions, and if the elastic body is subjected to applied surface tractions t
(or tn or t r ) on F, then this boundary condition is realized by taking
whenever f, are L2-functions on F.

Equivalently, we can also set
where
for given functions teL 2 (F), f n eL 2 (F), and tTeL2T(r). Since / is now
differentiate, inequality (5.90) can now be reduced to the equality
i.e.,
(iii) Boundary conditions of the third type (Fig. 5.1(c)). Let us consider the
case in which elastic springs are attached uniformly to the boundary of the
body. This condition can be represented by
where
or more simply,
Here we assume that
Since /„ and JT are differentiable, substitution of (5.100) into (5.90) yields the
general condition
i.e.,
If, instead of (5.100), we define
then the inequality (5.90) yields for the boundary condition
That is, the boundary conditions now assume the form
Similarly, the choice
characterizes the boundary condition
(iv) Nonlinear boundary conditions of the third type; normal direction (Fig.
5.1(d)). Suppose that the elastic body O is supported unilaterally on the
Winkler foundation (i.e. on a blanket of continuously distributed springs) with
100 CHAPTER 5
the normalized gap g, and that the surface of the foundation is lubricated so
that no tangential forces can be developed. For this situation, we set
where, for <£ and ge Hl/2(Y),
a.e. on F, wherein I is the spring modulus of the foundation. It is clear that

jn is a finite convex and continuous function on R; and that ./ n (<^)eL 1 (r)
for <£ e Hl/2(Y). Thus, the functional / is also finite and weakly lower
semicontinuous on Hl/2(T) (see Theorem 3.6). Moreover, if <f>^jn(<f>) is
differentiate on R, then / is also G-differentiate. Thus, for the choice (5.110),
inequality (5.90) yields
i.e.,
where <£+ is defined by 04'(x) = max{0(x), 0} a.e. on F, for a function (f>

defined on F.
The limiting case of (5.112) as/l-» +00 corresponds to the Signorini's boundary
condition (Fig. 5.1(e)) discussed at some length in Chapter 2:
Mathematical details of the precise limiting process used to obtain boundary

conditions (5.113) will be given in Chapter 6; here we are content to provide
only an intuitive argument. From (5.112), we have
Under the assumption that 7r n (or(u)) is uniformly bounded for any /C>0,
passing to the limit <£-*+oo yields
i.e.,
as asserted.
(v) Nonlinear boundary conditions of the third type; tangential direction (Fig.
5.1(f)). Suppose that a uniformly distributed system of springs and sliders is
attached to the boundary in such a way as to resist tangential motions, as
indicated in Fig. 5.1(f). In this case, for gn given in // 1/2 (F), we set
where /£eL°°(F), ^ > 0 a.e. on F, and, for e > 0 and êlR",
The function jT is finite, convex, differentiate, and continuous on UN and,

therefore, the functional J is finite, convex, G-differentiable and continuous
on H 1/2 (F), as shown in Theorem 3.6. Substitution of (5.115) into the inequality
(5.90) yields
where
That is,
X"
102 CHAPTER 5
Thus, the choice (5.114) represents the boundary condition
We now consider the limiting case obtained as e -» 0. From (5.118), we have
with |7rr(cr(u))| always ^4, these holding for any e>0. Passing to the limit
as e -» 0, we have
Likewise, the second member of (5.120) can also be written in the form
(5.121b) 3A > 0 such that y T (u) = -A7r T (or(u)) if |irT(a(u))| = &

which is quite similar to the condition of quasi-static Coulomb friction. Indeed,
if we set
instead of (5.114), we can obtain the corresponding boundary condition
where v > 0 and p e L2(F). Passing to the limit as e -> 0, we have (see Fig. 5.1g)
Thus if v is identified with the coefficient of friction, and if p is considered

to be the absolute value of the normal stress irn(v(ii)), the form (5.124) becomes
the expression of the quasi-static Coulomb friction law.
(vi) Boundary conditions of the third type with locking phenomena

(Figs. 5.1(h), (i)). As a final example, we set
where
Once again, the functional / is finite, convex, and differentiable. The choice
(5.125) yields the corresponding boundary condition
If /£ 2 - >00 > then the body is supported by a rigid foundation as well as con-
tinuously distributed springs (Fig. 5.1(i)).
5.6. Korn's inequalities. We have established that the total potential energy
F defined by (5.1) is a well defined, G-differentiable functional on the Sobolev
space H^ft), and that the admissible set for the Signorini problem described
in Chapter 2 can be precisely characterized as a nonempty closed convex
subset of H'(n). Furthermore, by applying a general form of Green's formula,
a variety of boundary conditions can be obtained which include the contact
conditions for Signorini problems. According to the theory of constrained
minimization problems given in Chapter 3, a remaining question that must be
resolved before we can guarantee the existence of a solution to such variational
problems in linear elasticity is whether or not the total potential energy F is
coercive on the admissible set K, that is, we must determine if
where || • ||i is the norm on H1^). The answer to this question is based on
so-called Korn's inequalities, discussed below, which play a fundamental role
in elasticity theory.
We first assume that a domain (1 satisfies the segment property in the sense
of Agmon [1, Def. 2.1]: a domain fl is said to satisfy the segment property if
there exists an open covering {Ur}^=l of fl and corresponding vectors y r such
that
We will also consider the possibility that the domain O may be unbounded.
104 CHAPTER 5
Our proof of Korn's inequalities makes use of the so-called Calderon-

Zygmund inequalities for singular integral equations following Govert,
Fichera, and Ting. We begin by recording the following lemmas, proofs of
which can be found in, e.g., Stein [1, p. 39] and Ting [1].
LEMMA 5.3. Suppose that a function f satisfies:
(i) /(Ax) = A/(x), VAe(0,oo) and x€R N .
(ii) For the unit sphere SN'1 of R N , /€L 1 (S N ~ 1 ) and J S N-./(X) <fr = 0,
v = Euclidean measure on SN~l.
(iii) Let sup|x_x1s5|/(x)-/(x')| = »v(S), |x = X'| = l, then
For l</?<oo, andueLp(UN), let
Then there exists a constant Ap (independent ofu and e) such that
Moreover lim e _ 0 Te(u)= T(u) exists in LP(UN), and
Following Stein [1, p. 57], let us next introduce the Riesz transform RjU of
ueL p (R n ), for l<j<N, Kp<oo,
where CN = r(N 1 )/7r N ', JV1 = (N + l)/2, and Y ( N l ) is the gamma function.
LEMMA 5.4. The Riesz transform Rj defined by (5.130) is such that the
following hold for each j,
(i) Rj: LP(UN)^> LP(UN) is bounded, i.e., a constant C(N, p) exists such that
(ii) Rj satisfies for u<=Lp(UN)
(iii) For the operator A = Rj(d/dXj),
For additional details and properties of these transforms, refer to Stein [1,
Chaps. 2 and 3].
THEOREM 5.12 (Ting [1]). Let H be a possibly unbounded domain in UN.

Then there exists a positive constant C, independent of functions v, such that
for Kp<oo and for every veW^(n) = (W^(O)) N , where e;,(v) =

^((dVi/d^ + Ovj/dXt)), 1 < i, j<N.
Proof. Let uf be an arbitrary element of Wo'p(CL) for 1 , by zero to all of RN and obtain a
function, also denoted u,, which belongs to L P (IR N ), !</?<oo. Since Wo p (ft)
is the closure of C*(ft) with respect to the || • ||1>pin-norm, C^(il) is dense in
Wo' p (H). Therefore, it suffices to establish (5.134) for veC*(a) and then to
arrive at the result by continuity.
We recall the identity,
From (5.132) and (5.133) ARkVij = A( J R k e lj + Rj£ik-R^). Multiplying both

sides by A and applying (5.132) and (5.133), we obtain
Solutions of (5.136) differ by a harmonic function (/> and clearly $ = 0. Hence,
Finally, applying Rk again to both sides of this equation and using (5.132) gives
It now follows from (5.131) that
i.e.,
for some positive constant C. The theorem now follows from continuity after
successive applications of the inequality,
Remark 5.5.1. For the case p = 2 and a smooth boundary, Lions [4] showed
that the above theorem can be proved by a simple integration by parts. Indeed,
106 CHAPTER 5
for every u, € C2(O), we have
Noting that
for every ve Co(n), inequality (5.134) (with /? = 2) then follows by continuity.

We now restrict the domain H to be bounded and Lipschitzian. Then O has
the cone property: there exists a finite open covering {Ur}^L0 of H and a cone
F(0, /?, a)} with vertex 0, radius R, and interior solid angle w, such that every
point of F is the vertex of a translate of the cone which lies in ft. We first
recall the following property of singular integral equations:
LEMMA 5.5. Let v-* i/>(v)e!R be a continuous and bounded function defined
on the unit sphere SN~l, and let its first derivatives be bounded, where v = {*>,-},
vt — (A:,- ->>,•)/|x-y| for \, yeUN. Then there exists afunctionfe Ll(SN~l) such
that
and
V tj
Proof. Mikhlin [2, p. 60] and also see Ting [1, p. 300].
THEOREM 5.13 (Ting [1]). Let the domain H be bounded and Lipschitzian in
UN. Then there exists a positive constant, independent of v, such that
for every v e W llp (O), 1< p < oo.

Proof. Let the functions {i?^(x)}flo be a partition of unity over O subordinate
to the covering {t/r}fi0 such that the support of TJO(X) is contained in O and
has positive distance from the boundary Y. Since C 2 (ft) is dense in W 1>p (ft),
it again suffices to show (5.139) for veC 2 (ft). Because 17^ = 1 in H and
2T
?rl?rJ = ( l 7 r ^ r ) , j = O i n (1,
Then the Minkowski inequality yields
Successive applications of (5.137) yields
for some positive constant C. Thus, to show (5.139), it suffices to show that
for every fixed index r.

For r = 0, the inequality (5.140) follows from (5.134). Thus, we consider
r = 1, • • • , M. Let «< denote the functions
defined for each fixed index r. In view of our assumptions on the domain O,
there exists a cone F(x, R, to} with vertex at x 6 Ur fl O, lying in Ur U H. Define
a unit vector v by
so that x + pv e F(x, R,<o) for 0< p < R. Since we can define R and Ur so that
Uij(\+ Rv) — 0, we have
Using the identity (5.135),
Let tjj(v) be a C°°-function defined on a unit sphere SN~* with support in

the set (o such that
108 CHAPTER 5
Multiplying (5.141) by ^(v) and integrating over w, we have
where
Since the support of eij>m(\ + pv)i)/(v) is contained in F(x, R, <u), an integration

by parts gives
Indeed,
where dS is the Euclidean measure on the surface of the set F(x, R, <o)-
F(x, e, a)). Noting that e 0 (y)i/f(v) has its support within the cone F(x, R, v),
w e h a v e
This is precisely the same as (5.142). Similarly

Let
and
Then after defining Cmj, Cmi, Kmj and Kmi similarly, we have
Applying Lemmas 5.3 and 5.4, and Minkowski's inequality, we can conclude
that
Summing over indices i and j, and using inequality (5.137), we obtain (5.140)
for a fixed r. Thus now (5.139) has been proved.
We remark that by contradiction and an application of the above theorem,
we can establish the following corollary. We postpone details of the proof of
this corollary to the next Chapter (see Lemma 6.2).
COROLLARY 5.13.1. Under the same conditions in Theorem 5.13, there exists
a positve constant C > 0 such that for all ve W 1>p (fl), Kp<oo,
whenever
Remark 5.5.2. Korn's inequalities were first formulated by their namesake,

Korn [1], [2] and were proved by various means by Friedrichs [1], Mikhlin
[1], Govert [1], Fichera [2], Ting [1], Necas [1], and Duvaut and Lions [1].
The proofs by Friedrichs and Mikhlin are based on the properties of solutions
of the auxiliary problem
By exploiting special properties of the solution of this problem, they derived

110 CHAPTER 5
a contradiction to the assumption
which is equivalent to the proposition that Korn's inequalities do not hold.

The proofs by Govert, Fichera and Ting are based on the results of singular
integral equations, and are somewhat simpler than available proofs by other
methods. The proofs of Korn's inequalities by Necas, Duvaut, and Lions
employ similar methods and are easily extended to a much wider class of
operators. Indeed, their methods can be used to show coercivity of quite
general strongly elliptic systems. However, their approach makes use of
stronger assumptions on the smoothness of the boundary. In the present study,
we have used the approach of Ting [1], since it applies to the slightly more
general case of functions belonging to Wi'p(fl), 1 </?<+oo.
Chapter 6
Signorini's Problem Revisited
6.1. Introduction. In Chapter 2, we presented mechanical preliminaries for

contact problems of the Signorini type in elasticity theory. We also outlined
there in rather descriptive terms a variational principle which provided an
alternative weak formulation of Signorini problems. With the more elaborate
mathematical apparatus established in Chapters 3, 4 and 5 now in hand, we
return to Signorini's problem for a more detailed investigation of properties
of solutions.
In particular, we shall lay the mathematical framework for a variational
statement of Signorini's problem and take up the question of existence and
uniqueness of solutions in § 6.2. We also provide interpretations of weak
solutions and discuss their relationship to the classical solution given earlier
by the system (2.34) in § 6.3. Section 6.4 discusses finite element approximations
of Signorini's problem using either three-node triangular or four-node quadri-
lateral elements. A priori error estimates and asymptotic rates of convergence
are obtained for the primal formulation of the Signorini problem. A solution
method is also introduced which is based on the projectional SOR (successive
over-relaxation) method for handling the unilateral constraint.
In § 6.5, a finite element approximation is developed for the (exterior)
penalty formulation of the Signorini problem using 9-node isoparametric
quadrilateral elements. Error estimates and asymptotic rates of convergence
are established and a numerical scheme is developed which employs a success-
ive iteration algorithm for solving the system of nonlinear equations reduced
from the penalty formulation. Many example problems are solved by the
penalty finite element method in § 6.6.
Section 6.7 describes an extension of Signorini problems. Here a class of
rigid punch problems is discussed, i.e., the problems of indentation of a
deformable body by a rigid punch. We derive contact conditions for this class
of contact problems and provide a solution method based on Uzawa's iterative
scheme for solving saddle point problems. Finally, the extension of the
formulation of Signorini's problem to the two-body contact problem is studied
in
112 CHAPTER 6
in § 6.8. The corresponding contact conditions are derived in a manner very

similar to the Signorini and rigid punch problems.
6.2. Existence theorem for Signorini's problem. We employ the notation

and ideas discussed in Chapter 5. Throughout this chapter, we confine our
attention to problems on domains (1 <= R N with N < 3. We begin by introducing
once again the following sets, spaces, and trace operators:
D being t h e trace m a p from H'(n),

being the normal trace from V.
Here V is the space of admissible displacements of a linearly elastic body (1
and K is the constraint set consisting of those displacement fields v which
satisfy the kinematical contact constraint / y| n (v)^g on the contact surface
fc c: 29 -y|n being the normal trace operator defined in (5.48). It is clear from
results presented in the preceding chapter that the set K in (6.1) is a nonempty
closed convex subset of V and of H'(ft) = (Hl(tt))N, N = 1, 2, or 3.
Let a ( - , - ) be a symmetric and continuous bilinear form of V, which
corresponds to the virtual work in the elastic body:
Again, the elasticities Eijk, satisfy (5.5). Under the assumptions that
the linear form
is bounded, i.e., VveV,
The total potential energy F is then defined by
as in § 5.1. The functional F is well defined on H^fl) and, therefore, on K

and V.
SIGNORINI'S PROBLEM REVISITED 113
Using the above notation, Signorini's problem (2.38) can be given in the
variational form:
Find u e K :
or by
Find u 6 K:
We will now show that the energy functional F satisfies the conditions of
Theorem 3.5 and that, therefore, (6.9) or (6.10) are uniquely solvable.
Convexity of F. As shown in § 3.2,
for every 6 e [0,1]. Under the condition (5.5),
Thus, for any u, v e V ,
The strict inequality (<) holds if u / u; M, v ^ 0 provided 0 ^ 0 , 1.

G-differentiability of F. As in § 5.1 (recall (5.11) and (5.12))
where ||/||f = ||f||0+ C||t|| 0 r F . The functional F is thus G-differentiate on

H'(ft), i.e.,
Coercivity ofF. Coercivity of the functional/follows from Korn's inequalities

discussed in § 5.5. We will consider two possibilities: the cases mes (F D )>0
and F D = 0. Details of proof of the following lemma can be found in, e.g.,
Necas and Hlavacek [1].
LEMMA 6.1. Let He ^0>1. Then the following two conditions are equivalent:
(i) e,,(v) = 0 mL 2 (0), /, ; = 1, 2, 3, veH ! (n),
(ii) v(x) = a + b x x , a, beIR 3 , a.e. in O,
where x denotes the vector product and \ is the position vector of a point
(x,,x 2 ,x 3 ) in H.
Sketch of proof. Throughout this proof, it is important to treat subscripts as
fixed integer labels and not indices describing components of vectors and
tensors.
114 CHAPTER 6
(i)=»(ii): Let i *j * k, 1 < ij, fc < 3, be fixed integers. Then, if e y (v) = 0 Vi,./,
we must have
(no sum)
in the sense of distributions. This is possible only when (see Schwartz [1])
for constants a,, ch dif and et. Similar relations hold for Vj and vk. Then the
condition ey(v) = (v^ + vjti)/2 = 0 yields
i.e.,
Similarly,
Thus we have
These imply
Putting 6, = -cjt bj -~ck, and bk - -c, yields
i.e.,
(ii)=>(i): This follows from direct substitution.

Similar arguments show that the conclusion also holds for the cases N = 1
and N = 2. That is,
en(ui) = 0 in L 2 (ft) if and only if t>i = a 1} a,e!R, for H ^ R 1
and
and
We can therefore regard the relations in Lemma 6.1 as being valid for IRN,
1 < N < 3 (with appropriate interpretation of b x x).
A motion x+v of the body, with v e V, is (affine) rigid if and only if e,y(v) = 0.
We shall denote by R2 the set of all rigid body motions of the material body
under consideration. Formally, we define
The case that mes (F^) > 0. We start from a modification of Korn's inequality
(5.139).
LEMMA 6.2. Let fl £ <#0>1. Then there exists a positive constant c > 0 such that
for every v e V.
Proof. It is noted that the inequality (6.14) follows from Korn's inequality
(5.139) if the inequality
Suppose that this is not true. Then there exists a sequence {vfc} e V such that
/•
Uniform boundedness of {vfc} in k and in H*(n) implies the existence of a

subsequence which converges weakly to a limit v in H!(£i) and strongly in
L2{ft). Since the functional W,
is convex and G-differentiable on H^ft), it is weakly lower semicontinuous

on H'(ft), i.e.,
This means that the limit v belongs to R2 and

116 CHAPTER 6
However, since V is (weakly) closed, we have v e V, and
Thus v = 0 a.e. on O, and ||v||0 = 0. This contradicts the assumption

linifc-,00 ||vfc||0= ||v||0= 1 since the identity map of H'(n) to L2(O) is compact. D
The following estimates now follow from Korn's inequality (6.14):
and
where m, c, and m are positive constants and
Thus, the functional F defined by (6.8) is coercive on V provided that

mes(r D )>0.
The case YD = 0. In the event that the body fl is unrestrained from rigid
motions, additional conditions must be enforced in order to ensure the coer-
civity of E In particular, if TD = 0, then Korn's inequality (6.14) is not
applicable to prove the coercivity of F. In this case, we decompose the space
H'(H) into two parts so that H^d) is isomorphic to the set
where © denotes the direct sum of two spaces, and R2 is the intersection of
H^ft) with the orthogonal complement of R2 for the L2(O) inner product:
Here ( • , • )o is the inner product on L2(O). Since R2 fl R2 = {0}, Korn's

inequality (6.14) holds for ve jR2, and, in view of the steps leading to (6.16),
F is coercive on Kfl R2.
We determine if F is coercive on K D R2 • Note that R2 is finite dimensional.
If v e K n / * 2 , then, from (6.8),
Suppose that for any r e R2 fl K, r ^ 0, we have
Let
Then S is compact, because S is bounded and closed in a finite dimensional

space R2. Since F is continuous, the functional F is bounded below and
attains its infinimum on the compact subset S, i.e., there is a constant c > 0
such that
For an arbitrary element v e K f l / ^ , we set v x =v/||v|| 1 for v ^ O . Since vêS,

and since F is linear on R2
must hold. For v-0, the inequality (6.20) is obvious. Thus, we can conclude
that
If F ( v ) > O V v e K n # 2 , v ^ O , then there exists a constant c>0
such that F(v)>c||v||, V v e K n # 2 .
It is now clear from this result that the functional F is coercive on K if the
data (f, t) satisfy the compatibility condition (6.19).
With the major properties of the functional F : K c V ^ I R of (6.8) now
established, we call upon Theorems 3.4 and 3.7(i) to immediately obtain the
following fundamental existence theorem.
THEOREM 6.1. LetF:KÛ be the potential energy functional defined in (6.8),
where K is the nonempty closed convex subset of the space V of (6.2). Let (5.4)
hold and H e (#0<1 and suppose mes (F D ) > 0. Then there exists a unique displace-
ment field u e K which minimizes F on K; i.e.,
Moreover, the minimizer u is a solution of the variational inequality,
that is,
If all of the above conditions hold but F D = 0, then a unique minimizer u of F

exists in K, which is also characterized by (6.22), if the data f and t are such that
where R2 is defined by (6.13).

118 CHAPTER 6
We refer to (6.22) as the primal variational principle for the Signorini problem.
Observe that since the stress tensor or corresponding to the displacement field
u is, formally, defined by
the inequality (6.22) can also be written in the form
where
When written in the form (6.23), it is evident that (6.22) corresponds to a

principle of virtual work for such unilateral problems in elasticity.
The above Signorini problem can be extended to the case in which a nonzero
tangential stress
is prescribed on the contact surface. If, somehow, the tangential stress or* is
prescribed along the possible contact surface Fc in which the true contact
surface is contained, the variational statement (6.9) of the Signorini problem
must be changed to
where now,
and the bilinear form a( • , •) and the linear form/( •) are defined in (6.4) and
(6.6), respectively. The nonempty closed convex subset K is defined as in (6.1).
If the tangential stress a* is smooth enough, e.g., if
then the linear form /, ( • ) becomes continuous on the space V of (6.2).

Thus the same conclusions in Theorem 6.1 can be established for (6.24) if
the compatibility condition (6.19) is replaced by
f o r v e K n # 2 and vÔ.
6.3. Interpretation of weak solutions. In Chapter 2 we found that the classical

solution u = u(x) of the Signorini problem is a vector-valued function satisfying
the system of equalities and inequalities,
We also found that any solution u of (6.27) is also a solution of the variational
inequality (2.38) or, equivalently, (6.23).
The question which naturally arises at this point is what is the relationship
between the solution of the variational inequality and the solution to (6.27)?
In essence, how must we interpret the weak or variational solution of (6.23)
and why and how is it related to (6.27)?
The first steps toward answering these questions are not difficult and follow
immediately from properties of F, K, and V established earlier (see § 5.3 and
5.4). Consider (6.23) (or (6.27)) and note the following properties of this
formulation:
1) M, = 0 on r D c r . This boundary condition arises automatically in the
definition of V. Since Vc H ! (ft), we have y D (v) = 0, where yD:Hl(Cl) +
H 1 / 2 (r D ) is the trace operator (recall after Theorem 5.3). Hence v = 0 is
interpreted as yo(v) = Q in H 1/2 (r D ).
2) Let < f o e @ ( f t ) c V ; i = l,2, • • • , N. Then taking v = u ±<{> in (6.23) yields
Since <f> is a test function, this integral defines a distribution
where here [ • , • ] denotes duality pairing on S>'(Q)x@(£l) and a comma

denotes a distributional derivative. Hence,
or
in the sense of distributions.

120 CHAPTER 6
Thus, if ft£ L2(O) and H is smooth (e.g., He <# M ), then we have
This means that we can call upon Theorem 5.9 to obtain a general form of
the traction boundary condition on FF. We summarize these observations for
future reference:
THEOREM 6.2. The solution u of (6.23), or equivalently the minimizer u of F
on K in (6.22), can be characterized by
and
provided
Here, 7r|(<r(u)), -y|(u), and < • , •) are as defined in § 5.3.

Our next step is to consider the decomposition of the virtual work on the
boundary into two parts: the first representing the work due to forces acting
in the normal direction and the other that due to forces in the tangential
direction. We begin by returning to (6.29) and selecting v e K so that y*i(v) =
y x (u)±<}> where 4>eHo£ 2 (2) is such that supp (<J>)<= FF. Then (6.29) yields
where we assume that d£€ c#°°, and from Theorem 5.9,
noting that t e L2(FF) and cr =CT(U).Next, taking v e K in (6.29) so that y|(v) =

y|(u) + <|>, where <f> e C^(I) is such that supp (<(>) <= Fc $„ = <|> • n ^ 0 not identi-
cally zero on Fc, and <|>T = <(> - (<f> • n)n = 0 on Fc, and applying Theorem 5.10,
we obtain
This implies that
Finally, choosing v € K so that y£ n (v) = g, -yL(v) = 2^ n (u) - g in H^2(2), and

rir(v) = yjr(u) + <>, supp (4>) c Tc, 0B = 0, «|> e C?(I) and applying Theorem
5.10, we obtain
Summing up, we have:

THEOREM 6.3. Let Oe <gu and ale ^°°. Then the solution u e K of (6.23)
satisfies
where <r(u) = |>0(u)], 0-^(11) = EI:/WWM.

This completes our interpretation of solutions of the variational inequality
(6.23) and establishes its relation to the classical problem (6.27). Obviously,
if the solution u of (6.23) is smooth enough (e.g. lie C 2 (O)), then (6.31)-(6.34)
collectively imply that
That is, a sufficiently smooth solution u e K of (6.23) may coincide with the
classical pointwise solution of problem (6.27).
6.4. A finite element approximation of Signorini's problem. We shall now
describe a typical finite element method for approximating solutions of the
variational inequality (6.23). We begin by representing O by a domain f l h
consisting of simplex elements (triangles in IR2, tetrahedra in IR3) over which
each component of displacement is approximated by linear polynomials. Upon
assembling these elements, we generate a system of piecewise linear global
basis functions {<£„} such that if v/, is an approximate displacement field defined
over Cth, then 2 we have
and, since </> a (x p ) = 5^ at a node x ^ e f i h , v" = (v^),(x a ) holds. The finite

element approximation of the bilinear form a ( • , • ) of (6.4) and the linear form
/ ( • ) of (6.6) are then
2
The summation convention is extended to the case
Here, the super and subscripts do not denote the contravariant and covariant components of
vectors/tensors, respectively.
122 CHAPTER 6
where F F is the approximation of FF. Thus, if Vh is the space spanned by

{(f>a}, the evaluation of these forms on V/, yields
wherein
In (6.36) repeated indices are summed throughout their ranges, 1 ^ i, k ^ N,

1 < a, ft < P. The corresponding approximation of the potential energy func-
tional F(v)=|a(v,v)-/(v) of (6.8) is
We next come to a crucial step: the approximation of the constraint set

KC V. There are many ways to proceed. We will choose the following scheme.
Let
2F, 2D, and Sc = the sets of all nodal points in FF, FD, and Fc, respectively.
v" = vfn" (no sum on a), where n" = {«", «"> w"} is the unit outward normal
on F at the ath nodal point.
Here N is the dimension of O (n<= R N ) and P is the total number of nodal

points in £ih. Thus, we may use as an approximation of the constraint set K:
Our finite element approximation of the variational inequality (6.23) is then,
or, equivalently,
Problem (6.41), of course, is also equivalent to the discrete minimization

problem
where Fh is defined by (6.38).

Let us suppose that ftfc <= O and let \h denote an extension to the domain
H of the function v,, defined on Clh constructed so that the value of vh in ft/A/,
is defined by constant extension in the directions normal to the boundary Yh
of Clh. To make clear this extension, consider the finite element on a part of
the boundary of f l h shown in Fig. 6.1. Within an element, a system of local
coordinates (£ 17) is defined so that the edge which coincides with the boundary
is the interval (0,1) of the £-axis. Suppose that the boundary of the domain
(I can be represented parametrically by
where </>(0) = cf>(l) = 0. Then the extension v^ of v,, is defined by
Let K,, be the set of such all extensions of functions in Kh. Then, for every
u h , v,, e Kh, the following identities clearly hold:
Moreover, we have the following result which will play an important role later.
LEMMA 6.3. Let </> 7 denote the linear interpolant of a function 0 defined on
the boundary Fc (i.e., </> 7 (x a ) = 0(x a ) for a node x" on Fc, <$>l being linear
between nodes}. Then, for every \h e
Proof. Since \h e K h , we have
FIG. 6.1 Local coordinate system on edge of boundary element.

124 CHAPTER 6
in the local (£17) coordinate system shown in Fig. 6.1. Multiplying the first
inequality by (1 -£), the second by £ and adding the results, we obtain
((l-f)(v f c (0,0)-n(0)) + f(v l l (l f O)-n(l)))-((l-f)g(0) + &(l))sO f
i.e.,
since g' = (l-£)g(0)+ &(!). D

As a second preliminary step, we construct a function uh e Kh which is the
solution to the following auxiliary problem:
The existence of a unique uh satisfying (6.47) follows immediately from the

facts that the bilinear form a( -, • ) is continuous and elliptic (coercive) on the
subspace V/, of V and because the set Kh is nonempty, closed, and convex in
V,.
LEMMA 6.4. Let He (#1'°, let the bilinear form a:VxV-*IR be coercive and
continuous, and let
Moreover, suppose that
Then, if uh e Kh and u e K are solutions of (6.47) and (6.23), respectively, there

exists a positive constant C, such that, for arbitrary vh e Kh,
where vhn = v h • n, ti JL = (ufc • n)7, etc.

Proof. From (4.23) we have, for arbitrary ve K and v/, e K^,
fl(u-u fc ,u-u fc )â(u-u fc ,u-v fc ) + a(u,v-u f c +v f c -u)-/(v-u f c +v f c -u).
Applying Green's formula (Theorems 5.11 and 5.12), we obtain
Then (with y|n(v) = vn),

It is possible to choose a function v such that
Then
where
Using the identity
we obtain
Substituting this inequality into (6.51), applying Young's inequality, and using
the inequality
we arrive at the inequality (6.50). D

In order to construct error estimates from (6.50), we must determine interpo-
lation properties of functions in the constraint set Kh instead of V/,. To this
end, we recall a result due to Falk, Theorem 3.5.
LEMMA 6.5. Let ueH 2 (O) and let u' be the unique element of the space Vh
such that u 7 = u at all nodal points of the finite element model. Suppose that
O/, cr fi and that \h is endowed with the usual interpolation properties (i.e. (4.7)).
Then u 7 e Kh and
where C^ and C2 are constants independent o f h and u.

Proof. Applying the results in Theorem 4.3 to each component of u yields
We next obtain an error estimate for the approximation (6.41).

LEMMA 6.6. Let the conditions of Lemma 6.4 and suppose that
126 CHAPTER 6
Then C>Q exists such that
Proof. Properties (6.53) imply that un e H3/2(F) and «r n (u) e H1/2(r). Apply-
ing Lemma 6.3 to each component of the displacement vector, and using the
extended interpolation properties of dual spaces established by Babuska and
Aziz [1, Chap. 4], we find that
Similarly,
and
The coerciveness of a ( - , • ) on V/, implies uniform boundedness of || u/, || j . Thus

(6.54) follows from (6.50).
Some additional results are still needed to obtain error estimates for the
finite element approximation. We next record the following lemma of Brezzi,
Hager, and Raviart [1].
LEMMA 6.7. Let a ( - , •) and ah(', •) be the bilinear forms defined in (6.4)
and (6.35),, respectively, and letf( - ) andfh( •) be the linear forms in (6.6) and
(6.35)2, respectively. Suppose that feL°°(ft) and teL°°(r F ). Then there exists
a positive constant C, independent ofh, such that
for all \h, vtheKh, where \h and wh are extensions of \h and wh into Kh,
respectively.
We now have essentially all of the ingredients needed to prove convergence
of our method and to construct an error estimate. Let uh be the solution of
the auxiliary problem (6.47) and denote by uh the extension to all of ft of the
solution u,, to (6.41). Then
Adding these two inequalities, we have
The coerciveness of the bilinear form a ( - , - ) and (6.55) lead to the final
estimate,
Thus, by a simple consolidation of the results in Lemmas 6.3-6.7, we can

conclude the following convergence theorem for our approximation of
Signorini's problem.
THEOREM 6.4. Suppose that fie <£2>1 and the solution u e K of the variational
inequality (6.23) is regular in the sense that u e H 2 (fl). Suppose that the function
g, which characterizes the distance of the body from the rigid foundation, belongs
to H 3/2 (r c ). Let uh e Kh be the extension of the approximate solution uh e Kh
of (6.41) onto the whole domain fl. Further, suppose that the bilinear form a( • , •)
defined by (6.4) is coercive and continuous on V, and that the linear form f( • )
defined by (6.6) is continuous on V. In addition, let the data {f, t} be smooth
enough, e.g., f e L°°(ft) and te L°°(rF).
Then, the sequence of extended finite element approximations {uh} converges
in V to the solution u e K of the variational inequality (6.22) as h tends to zero.
Indeed, a constant C independent ofh exists such that
where h is the mesh parameter for regular refinements of the mesh.

Error estimates such as these were first obtained by Kikuchi and Oden [1];
however, only suboptimal rates O(/i 3/4 ) of convergence could be proved.
Results similar to (6.57) but limited to polygonal domains for which fl = fl/,
and also with optimal rates predicted, were obtained by Hlavacek and Lovisek
[1]. The analysis given here makes use of ideas of Kikuchi [1] and Brezzi,
Hager and Raviart [1]. It is interesting to note that in the works of Hlavacek
and Lovisek [1] and Kikuchi [1], the convergence of the finite element method
to the exact solution can be proved without the use of regularity assumptions
(see Remark 4.1.2); error estimates, of course, require statements of the
regularity of u. Some regularity results on the solution u to the Signorini
problem are obtained by Necas [2] and are recorded in the following theorem:
THEOREM 6.5. For fie <£1'1, let (5.5) hold, and let
Suppose that the part Yc of the boundary Y is smooth enough, and that there
exists an element u1 such that
for every compact domain fl* c fl U Fc.

128 CHAPTER 6
Then, for a compact set ft0 in ft U Fc whose relative neighborhood to ft belongs

to ft*, we have
that is, u e H2(ft°).

Having established the mathematical soundness of the finite element
approximation of the variational inequality (6.23), our next goal is to find a
numerical method for solving the discrete variational inequality (6.41) (or
equivalently (6.42)). We shall describe a representative iterative method with
projections into the discrete constrained set K/,. Our scheme is based on the
following classical lemma:
LEMMA 6.8. Let K be a closed convex subset of a finite dimensional Euclidean
space R". Then the Riesz projection x e K of a vector f e R " into K which is
defined by
is the solution of the inequality
where \\ - \\ is the Euclidean norm of R" and ( - , - ) is the inner product on R" x R".
Furthermore, the converse is also true, that is, if the projection o f f e R" into K
is denoted by \ = Pkf, then
Proof. It suffices to note that (6.59) is equivalent to
that is, x is the minimizer of the functional
on the closed convex set K. The consequence then follows from Theorem
3.7. D
A solution method. When the Signorini problem is described by the primal
variational principle (6.22), the admissible set K is restricted by the kinematic
boundary condition vn-g^Q on Fc. For the discrete model, this condition
assumes the form,
i.e., v" < ga at each node on the possible contact surface Fc as shown in
(6.39). Whatever strategy we employ for solving the discrete system (6.42), it
must be such that the above inequality is simultaneously satisfied with pre-
assigned tolerances. Since this inequality constraint involves only the nodes on
Fc, the iterative procedure need be applied only to those nodes in order to
satisfy the constraint due to contact. The first step of our solution method,
then, is to "sub-structure" the variational inequality (6.42) into two parts:
where {u}'"} and {uâ} are the vectors of degrees of freedom of the finite
element model excluding nodes on Fc. The stiffness matrix E'^p and the load
vector f'a are also decomposed accordingly. Since there are no constraints on
the displacement u}'a, the variational inequality (6.61) yields
Indeed, taking
for an arbitrary constant e and a vector {wj' a } leads to
Since {wj1"} is arbitrary, we have (6.62).

Now solving (6.62) for u^
we can modify the variational inequality (6.61) by one consisting of only the
degrees of freedom on F c :
Here
This result is seen to be equivalent to the standard matrix condensation

procedures for linear finite element analyses.
Now, for Pa>0, (6.63) is equivalent to the form
for every v]'a satisfying the constraint. Here we do not take summation in i
and a. Applying Lemma 6.8, we have
130 CHAPTER 6
where Pk is the projection to the constraint set which shall be constructed as

follows: Let
and set
where n? is the ith component of the normal vector n at the a node. Then
define the projection of M? into KH, i.e., x" = Pku", and x° satisfies the
inequality
for a fixed a. Indeed,
for every y"-g^Q. Thus (6.65) makes sense. Furthermore, (6.65) suggests
the iterative method
for t = 1, 2,3, • • • , starting from an initial approximation °wf a , i = 1, • • • , N,

a = 1, • • • , P. Here P is the total number of nodes on 2 C > and summation is
not taken in i and a. We expect 'u2'" to converge to u*'a as t goes to infinity,
but we terminate the iteration if the quantity
is less than a preassigned tolerance, e.g., 10~3~1(T5. If the constant p'a is

identified with
(no summation on i and a)
for 0 < CD < 2, (6.68) becomes the successive over-relaxation method with
projection.
6.5. Resolution of contact conditions by penalty methods. It is sometimes
difficult to construct approximate functions within the constraint sets K and
K fc . In this section, we shall relax the constraint condition yL(v)-gÔ by
using the penalty method discussed in § 3.5. To this end, we first recall notations
and conventions given in § 6.2 and 6.3. For reference purposes, we restate the
primal problem: find u such that
where
We note that if the condition
is satisfied, the constraint set K can be equivalently represented by
We shall discuss problem (6.71) in this section under the assumption that
r c c:I.
Following the general theory for penalty methods given in § 3.5, we define
where Q = Hl/2(Yc)J is the Reisz map from H 1/2 (r c ) onto (H 1/2 (r c ))', and
[ •, • ] denotes duality pairing on Q' x Q. Then the penalty formulation of
problem (6.71) is, according to (3.65),
As noted in Chapter 5, (5.48), the map y^n: V-» // 1/2 (F C ) is surjective linear,
and continuous. Thus the following result follows easily from Theorems 3.16,
3.17 and 3.18.
THEOREM 6.6. Let He ^ I J and let the conditions in Theorem 6.1 hold. Then:
(i) The sequence {ue} of solutions to the penalized problem (6.75) converges
to the solution u e K of the constrained problem (6.71) as e-»0.
(ii) The sequence {(u c , <re)}, defined by
converges to the solution (u, cr) e V x N of the (mixed) formulation of (6.71):
(iii) Moreover, there exist positive constants C, and C2 such that, for
every e > 0,
132 CHAPTER 6
Finite element approximations. We now consider finite element approxima-

tions of the penalty formulation (6.75) of Signorini's problem as an application
of the general approximation theory for penalty methods given in § 4.4. For
simplicity we adopt the following notation and conventions:
Suppose that the domain (1 is exactly covered by finite elements {fle}, i.e.,
Let &k(&e) be the space of polynomials defined on fte, the order of the
complete part of which is less than or equal to k, and let
As noted in § 4.4, we wish to include in such formulations the flexibility of

integrating the penalty terms inexactly. As an approximation of the integral
of two continuous functions / and g defined on Fc, we use the numerical
quadrature formula
where xf and wf are the coordinates of quadrature points and weights for
numerical integration, E' is the number of segments of Fc, and G is the
number of integration points within a segment. For example, if Fc is a
one-dimensional manifold, and if Simpson's rule is applied within a segment,
we have G = 3 with
he being the length of the eth segment and {xf} given in the local coordinate
system in the master line element.
The properties (4.39) of the quadrature operator "/" of (6.80), which were
assumed in the study of convergence of the penalty method (see § 4.5), will
be proved in the underlying Lemma 6.9 to follow.
Under the assumption that the weights {wf} in (6.80) are nonnegative, let
the positive cone CQH be defined by
where Qh is the space of all piecewise polynomials on Yc spanned by the

shape functions 7c{Na(x)} that are traces of the set of shape functions defining
\h. Using the quadrature operator /, we define the reduced integration finite
element approximation of (6.75) as follows:
The approximation crfh of the contact pressure cr is then constructed according

to aeh£Qh,
Here Qh is a space of piecewise (possibly discontinuous) polynomials on Fc,

the order of which is (G-1). For example, if Simpson's rule is used to define
f [ ' L Qh (~Q/i) is the space of conforming (i.e. continuous) piecewise quad-
ratic polynomials defined on Fc. Thus, the formulation (6.82) is equivalently
represented by the perturbed Lagrangian formulation
where
In order to apply Theorems 4.8-4.11 to this particular situation, we have to

verify all conditions stated in each theorem. To do this, specific choices of
both finite element for Vh and numerical integration schemes / [ • ] will be
considered.
Q2-(9-node; biquadratic) elements for O <= |R2. As a first example, we consider
approximations of a class of two-dimensional Signorini problems in which O
is polygonal and the spaces VH are constructed using a sequence of regular
meshes of 9-node biquadratic elements. We will choose Simpson's rule for the
integration scheme /[ • ]. In this case, the approximate contact pressures rh
are continuous piecewise quadratic functions defined on the contact surface Fc.
We define the integration error £,[/, g] and its variant £,[/, g] by
and
Some key properties of E, and E, are established in the following lemmas.

LEMMA 6.9. Let the quadrature rule / [ • ] be defined by Simpson's rule of
numerical integration and the above assumptions and conventions hold. Let \h
correspond to a regular family of finite element approximations for which the
inverse property (4.8) holds. Then, Vv h e Vh, rh e Qh,
134 CHAPTER 6
and
where \-\ denotes the mesh-dependent functional,
for every vh e Vh and Th,theQh.

Proof. Within an element segment Tec, 1 ^ e ^ E', let
where for simplicity we omit an element label "e" on the coefficients. Then,
and
Thus, it is clear that
Similarly, since rh has the same form as vhn,
Applying Schwarz's inequality
we have
Thus
A direct evaluation of the term Ef provides estimate (6.89). In fact,
where 0" denotes the second derivative of </> with respect to the global
coordinate 5. Similarly, we have
Applying the inequality
and the inverse property for such finite element approximations,
we can obtain the estimate
LEMMA 6.10. Suppose that Fc is a C2-manifold in R 1 . Suppose that Q2-elements

and Simpson's rule are used to construct the spaces Vh and Qh and that the
assumptions of Lemma 6.9 are true. Then
(i) There exists a constant j3 > 0 such that, for all rh€Qh,
(ii) Indeed, for all rh£Qh, we also have
(iii) There exists a constant Cl > 0 such that, for all rh e Qh,
136 CHAPTER 6
(iv) For every ve V, there exist an element v/, e \h and positive constants C2
and C3 for h ^ 1 such that
Proof, (i) For a given rheQh, rh^ 0, take any \h e V,, such that
Then we easily verify that
It follows from (6.88)! that
Applying the trace theorem and the inverse property of finite element approxi-
mation spaces, (see Ciarlet [l,p. 141]) we have
and
From these, we arrive at the inequality
Thus, (6.91) follows with p = C/C. If rh = 0, the result is obvious.

(ii) Since rh and vhn are piecewise quadratic within a boundary segment
(O being a polygon) we can take
Then (6.92) follows from the trace theorem and the inverse property.
(iii) Since the inverse properties are assumed to hold on y(Vh), we have
(see Ciarlet [2, p. 141])
Hence,
and (6.89)! yields
It follows from the trace theorem that
which is (6.93).
(iv) Every regular family of Q2-elements has the interpolation property

(recall Theorem 4.3)
Then the trace theorem gives
On the other hand, we have
from interpolation properties for (^-elements. D

Next we record the fact that the convergence of the penalty-finite-element
approximation (uKht crE/I) as e ^ O for a fixed h>0 follows immediately from
the established condition (6.91) and Theorems 4.8 and 4.9.
THEOREM 6.7. Let the conditions of Lemmas 6.9 and 6.10 hold. Let Q2-
elements and Simpson's rule be used for construction of V,, and Qh. Let ueh be
the corresponding solution of (6.82) for these choices and let aeh then be defined
by (6.83). Then the sequence {(uEh, <rE&)} converges to the solution (uh.,ah) of
the following discrete mixed formulation as e-»0:
Moreover, the following estimates hold for proper positive constants C{ and C2:
We next recall interpolation properties for finite element approximations

\h and Qh of V and Q, respectively; see §4.1. Let the superscript "/" mean
an interpolation of the function. Then, for every veH 3 (H) and r e H3/2(TC),
Falk's theorem for interpolation properties on closed convex subsets of \

or Qh (Theorem 4.3) can be easily generalized to the case in which functions
v or r are defined pointwise on the domain. For flc |R2, Sobolev's imbedding
theorem1.27)
Thus estimates (6.97)2 and (6.97)4 hold for the set Nh as well as Qh.
138 CHAPTER 6
Now we obtain error estimates of the penalty-finite element approximation

(6.81) in terms of the mesh parameter h.
THEOREM 6.8. Let Vh and Qh be constructed by Q2-elements and Simpson's
rule and the conditions of Theorem 6.7 prevail. Suppose that
0)
(ii) there exists qz H3/2(TC) such that its interpolant q1 e Qh coincides with
o~h in (6.97) and ||#||3/2(rc is uniformly bounded in h, i.e.,
Then the following estimates hold for positive constant C,, i = 1, • • -,5, indepen-
dent ofh and e:
and
Proof. 1) We shall apply the estimate (4.53) in Theorem 4.11. Noting that
ah •=• (3hl/2 and ah = f3hl/2 (see Theorem 4.11 and Lemma 6.10), we have
from (6.97) and Lemma 6.10. Applying Lemma 6.9 yields
Using assumption (6.100), we get
Thus estimate (6.101)i follows from (4.53).

2) We next use the estimate (4.54) in Theorem 4.11 in order to get (6.101)2.
Direct substitution of (6.97), (6.101), and (6.91) into (4.54) implies
3) From (4.52), we also have
by using (6.91) and (6.92). Then estimate (6.101) immediately follows.

4) Applying arguments similar to those in Theorem 4.12 (i.e., Theorem 4.8),
we can also obtain
from (6.96)2. Combining (6.96), (6.101) and (6.103), we finally arrive at the
estimate (6.102).
In view of the estimate (6.102), we will obtain the optimal O(/i 2 ) rate of
convergence if we choose the penalty parameter e so that
Similar results hold for Q,-(4-node quadrilateral isoparametric) elements

and Tr(3-node triangular) elements. Indeed, if u, r, g, and n are smooth
enough, the estimate
holds for positive constants C, and C2. Proofs for this can be found in Kikuchi
and Oden [2].
A solution method. The penalty approximation (6.82) of the Signorini prob-
lem is solved by the following successive iterative method. Let u'eh be the fth
approximation of the solution uEh of (6.82), and let
Then (6.82) is approximated by the linear equation
An advantage of this approximation is that (6.106) yields a system of linear

equations while the original formulation (6.82) is nonlinear. Furthermore, all
the terms, except the penalty, are exactly the same as the finite element
approximations for linear elasticity problems. This means that if we have finite
element codes already available, solving Signorini contact problems is a rather
simple task. The addition of a simple subroutine to the existing codes for
computing the penalty contribution to the stiffness matrix allows us to proceed
directly to the successive iteration process (6.106). We continue to iterate until
the tolerance llu^-UehHi/lliiet 1 !!! becomes sufficiently small, say 10~ 3 ~10~ 5 .
Using the notation of § 6.4, especially (6.36), and (6.37) for the case flh = ft,
we have
140 CHAPTER 6
where E1^ is the stiffness matrix of the elastic body and fa is the equivalent
nodal forces computed by the applied body force and the traction. Similarly,
the penalty term can be discretized by
(6.108) /[(«L-g) + ,^ n ] = (f) P^(«f) ( ' ) <- (0 g>r (t: no summation),
where
and
Here E' is the number of elements on Fc, G the number of integration points
in an element, (w/, xf} the set of weights and coordinates for the quadrature
rule /[•,•] given in § 6.5. This yields the system of linear equations for each
f, f = l,2, • • - ,
In practice, we sometimes simply set the penalty parameter e equal to a

constant computed directly from the data, e.g.,
where E is Young's modulus of elasticity for the body. The normalized e0 is

then a fixed number, and different parameters could then be used at different
points in a nonhomogeneous body.
Although we have no proof of convergence of the iterative method (6.111),
our experience is that in most applications it converges within few iterations.
6.6. Numerical solutions of Signorini-rype problems. We shall now describe

the results of application of the methods and algorithms discussed earlier to
several test cases.
Most of these test problems are designed to test and illustrate the
methodology more than to model actual contact phenomena, and thus nominal
or nondimensionalized units are used and deformations are given in an exagger-
ated scale so as to clearly exhibit features of the deformed geometry.
Example 6.1. We first consider an infinitely long half-circular cylinder resting
on a flat foundation, and subjected to a uniform load along its top of intensity
100 (in units of force per unit area). The cylinder is constructed of a
homogeneous, isotropic, elastic material with Young's modulus E = 2000 and
Poisson's ratio of v = 0.3. Clearly this is a problem of plane strain.
We will compare our numerical results with the Hertz solution (see e.g.
Goldsmith [1, Chap. IV]) which yields a contact pressure of
where F is the load per unit length, b is the half-width of contact surface
defined by
and R is the radius of the cylinder. It is noted that no friction is assumed to

exist on the contact surface. A finite element model of this problem is illustrated
in Fig. 6.2(a) along with physical dimensions and the value of the penalty
FIG. 6.2(a). A finite element model of a Hertz problem. From N. Kikuchi and Y. J. Song [2],
Quarterly of Applied Mathematics. Copyright 1981 Brown University.
FIG. 6.2(b). Deformed configuration by Q2-elements and Simpson's rule. From N. Kikuchi and
Y. J. Song [2], Quarterly of Applied Mathematics. Copyright 1981 Brown University.
142 CHAPTER 6
FIG. 6.2(c). Pressure distributions with the Hertz solution. From N. Kikuchi and Y. J. Song [2],
parameter e. The deformed configuration of the body, calculated using the

9-node biquadratic element with penalty described above, is shown in Fig.
6.2(b). A comparison of the computed contact pressure with the Hertz solution
for a full cylinder subjected to the same load is given in Fig. 6.2(c). We observe
that good agreement is obtained even though a rather course mesh is used.
Satisfactory solutions are obtained by the successive iteration scheme after
only three iterations. Again it is noted that we have not assumed any contact
surfaces and pressures. These are obtained naturally and automatically as part
of the numerical solution of the variational inequality.
Example 6.2. The second example involves a rigid circular cylinder indented
into a thick homogeneous, isotropic and linearly elastic plate with E = 1000
and v = 0.3. Using plane strain theory, we specify the depth of indentation of
the rigid circular cylinder. Let the depth of indentation be denoted d and the
FIG. 6.3(a). A rigid punch problem.

coordinate axes be set as in Fig. 6.3(a). Then the prescribed gap function is
taken to be
where R is the radius of the cylinder. Using the symmetry of the problem,
only half of the foundation is modeled by sixty-four 9-node biquadratic (<?2-)
finite elements as shown in Fig. 6.3(b). No body forces and tractions are
assumed to be applied. One objective of this example is to check the conver-
gence of the penalty method described earlier. Since the exact solutions u and
cr are not available, we consider relative errors EE and Eh of the strain energy
of the body defined by
FIG. 6.3(b). A rigid punch problem modeled by Q2-elements and Simpson's rule. From N. Kikuchi
and Y. J. Song [2], Quarterly of Applied Mathematics. Copyright 1981 Brown University.
144 CHAPTER 6
FIG. 6.3(c). Convergence of the penalty method (e->0). From N. KJkuchi and Y. J. Song [2],
where "A" indicates that a fixed value of e or h is used, and F(v) = \a(v, v).
If (6.94) holds, the relative errors EE and Eh satisfy the asymptotic bounds:
The reference mesh and the penalty parameter sizes are h =| and e0=\Q 4,
where e - e0E. It is clear that our numerical results shown in Figs. 6.3(c) and
6.3(d) indicate excellent agreement between theoretical estimates of the rates
of convergence with computed rates. Moreover, these rates are experienced
for relatively coarse meshes even though the theoretical results generally
guarantee these asymptotically as h tends to zero. Again, convergence of the
iterative method is obtained within few iterations for each problem.
Example 6.3 (rigid boh in a thick plate). Consider a thick plate partially
restrained by a rigid cylinder (possibly representing a steel bolt) as shown in
Fig. 6.4(a). We let R be the radius of the hole in the thick plate and R - e be
the radius of the rigid cylinder, where e is a small positive number. At an
edge of the plate, a uniform tensile force ty is applied. Again, we suppose that
the plate is homogeneous, isotropic, and linearly elastic and take E = 1000,
v = 0.3. Let the thickness of the plate be unity and we assume a state of plane
stress prevails. The contact surface of the bodies is assumed ttf be lubricated
so that there are no frictional forces.
FIG. 6.3(d). Convergence of the finite element method (Q2-elements /i-»0). From N. Kikuchi
and Y. J. Song [2], Quarterly of Applied Mathematics. Copyright 1981 Brown University.
FIG. 6.4(a). Rigid bolt in a thick plate. tv = 25/unit length; E = 1000; v = 0.3; R = 2.0; R - e = 1.9.
Symmetry of the problem enables us to consider only the upper half region
of the plate. Ten 9-node biquadratic quadrilateral elements are again used in
the discrete model, as shown in Fig. 6.4(b). The computed deformed configur-
ation and the distribution of the contact pressure are given in Fig. 6.4(c). The
separation point is located at 66°, and the half length of contact surface becomes
2.19 units.
146 CHAPTER 6
Fig6.4(b)m cvm,nvnnvkfmngffkng
FIG. 6.4(c). Numerical results for Example 6.4.
Our results indicate that the contact pressure in thexbolt inclusion problem
resembles that of the Hertz contact pressure for a rigid cylinder indented into
a half-space for these particular geometries and material properties.
Example 6.4 (beam contact problem). Next the contact of an elastic can-
tilevered beam over a foundation is considered, the beam being modeled as
a thin body in a state of plane stress. The loading and constraint situation are
illustrated in Fig. 6.5(a). We compare some computed results with those
furnished by elementary beam theory.
Let the rigidity El of the beam be constant, and let a uniform force / be
applied to the beam. If the distance of the beam from a flat rigid foundation
is given by d, then the location of the contact interface is computed from beam
theory as
FIG. 6.5(a) Contact problem of a cantilever.
and the deflection of the beam is
To find the solution, we have used the conditions
at the contact point x = a.

The 42-element mesh of CV(4-node bilinear) elements shown in Fig. 6.5(b)
is with
The computed deflected shape is indicated by dashed lines in the figure.

According to these results contact occurs at ah = 45 cm while the result fur-
nished by beam theory is a =45.7 cm, a difference of about 1.5 percent.
6.7. Rigid punch problems. A special and important class of contact prob-
lems involves the indentation of a deformable body by a rigid "punch"; i.e.,
a rigid body of specified shape. Such problems arise in numerous practical
applications; for example, metal and plastic forming, etc. Mathematically,
rigid punch problems have certain features which distinguish them from the
standard Signorini problems discussed in the previous chapter. The contact
conditions are, in a sense, more complicated and the solution of two-
dimensional punch problems is characterized by a pair (u, a) or a triple
(u, a, 6), where u is a displacement field and a and 6 are, respectively, the
displacement of a specified point on the punch and the rotation of the punch
about the origin.
Contact conditions. For simplicity, we confine our attention to plane prob-
lems. We begin by considering a deformable body fl c |R2, such as that shown
FIG 6.5(b). Deformed configuration of the cantilever.
in Fig. 6.6 being indented by an arbitrary rigid frictionless punch. We establish

a fixed cartesian coordinate system ( y i , y 2 ) , as shown. As in § 2.1, prior to
the indentation of the punch the labels (x,, x 2 ) of the material particles
composing the body are chosen as to coincide with the coordinates of the
position occupied by the particle, i.e., in the reference configuration, xl = y\,
*2= )>2 for (x\ > X2) G ^- Also, prior to the indentation of the punch, the surface
5 of the punch, which may include the contact surface, is assumed to be given
by the curve
whereas the material surface of the body which may include the contact surfac
FIG. 6.6. Indentation of a rigid punch into a deformable body.

150 CHAPTER 6
is given by the curve
where, for the moment, <j> and & are taken to be smooth functions. We will
choose the origin of our coordinates so that
We now assume that external forces and moments are applied to the punch
so that it is pushed into the body, as shown in the figure. We denote by a the
depth of indentation at the origin and by 6 the angle of rotation of the punch
about the origin. Then a point on the surface of the punch located at (yi, &(yi))
before indentation assumes a position ( Y l , Y2) after indentation where
Let (xi, x2) be an arbitrary particle of the body. The position of this particle
after indentation of the body by the punch is given by
and its components of displacement are
Given a point (j> t , &(yi)) on the surface of the punch, let (xj, $(*i)) denote
the particle, assumed unique on the surface of the body which is displaced by
the indentation in such a way that the >>j coordinate of its current position
equals Yl. Then
We shall always assume that the surface of the punches located above or on
the surface of the body, as in Fig. 6.6, so that the y2 coordinate of the particle
(x,, </>(*i)) must exceed Y2, i.e.,
By combining (6.121), (6.124), and (6.125) we arrive at the kinematic contact

conditions
The first member of (6.126) defines a specific particle (x1} <f>(xi)) for a given
point (yit iff(yi}) on the surface of the punch. The second member of (6.126)
describes a constraint on the motion of this particle.
Next, we seek linearizations of (6.126) whichare valid for "small" deforma-

tions. Setting cos 6 = 1, sin 6 = 0, and eliminating quadratic and higher order
terms in u{ and 6, we reduce (6.126) to the pair,
Also, to within quadratic terms,
where w,(>'i) = Ui(y\, (f>(y\)), i = 1, 2. Noting that the components (nlt n2) of
a unit outward normal to the material surface Yc are given by
we divide (6.128) by Vl + 0'2 and obtain
where
Finally, since x, and yl differ only by terms of order u , , \6\, a and higher,
we may write
(6.131) M n (x 1 ,x 2 )<g(x 1 ,x 2 )-Hi0»Mxi) + «2(M + a), (*i,x 2 )er c .
This is the linearized kinematical contact condition for the class of rigid punch
problems we will consider.
We assume, as before, that the contact surface is lubricated so that no
tangential frictional forces can be developed on contact. Then, if T is the
Cauchy stress, rn — Ty-n.-n,- its normal component on the contact surface, and
TT. = Ty/i; - rnnt the tangential components of stress on the boundary, we have
at each particle (x,, </>(*i)) s Fc. Here we have continued to confine ourselves
to infinitesimal deformations so that (6.131) holds and T is considered a
function of x = (xj, x2).
Let (v, j8, 0) denote a triple consisting of a displacement field v, an indentation
j8, and a rotation 6 which are arbitrary except that
152 CHAPTER 6
If (6.132) holds, then
at each xe Fc. Thus, for every (v, /3, 0) satisfying (6.133),
Conversely, suppose (6.134) holds. If un = g + n 2 (x,0 + a)-« 1 0j/r, then
Choosing vn so that the first term vanishes and vTi = uTi ± ewT., e > 0 and w
arbitrary, gives
On the other hand, if we set vTl = WT, and t;n = g + n2(xiO + a)-nÔ + wn,
wn =s 0, we have
Next, suppose that u satisfies the strict inequality in (6.131). If
then vn = un±ewn^g + n2(xld + a)-nl^6±ew and (6.134) yields
Finally, if (v, & 0) = (u± ew, a, 0) with wn = 0, (6.134) yields
Summarizing, the kinematical and stress contact conditions of rigid punch

problems involving infinitesimal deformations are
Analysis of rigid punch problems. We discuss here a numerical method for

solving plane rigid punch problems involving applied forces and moments.
The contact boundary Fc of the foundation is assumed to be a line, and the
rectangular Cartesian coordinate system is chosen as in Fig. 6.6.
Let the possible contact surface Fc be the interval (-a, a) of the x r axis,
and let the shape of the rigid punch be given by
Here the rigid punch initially touches the foundation at the origin, i.e., <£(0) = 0.
Let P denote the applied force (P<0) and T the total applied moment about
the origin. If the depth of indentation is given by the absolute value of a, then
the rigid punch problem is described by the boundary value problem
where g = 0 in this case. Here the value of a is expected to be negative for

the case of the indentation into the deformable body.
for every (v, /3, 5) such that t>2 ^ (3 + Sxl + g. Thus, a variational formulation
associated with the rigid punch problem (6.137) is defined as
where, as usual,
The elasticities EijU satisfy (5.5) and

(6.140) K = {(v,0, S ) e V x [ R x R : r |(r 2 )< j8 + 5x, + g in H 1 / 2 (F C )}
where a and 0 are the depth of indentation and the rotation of the rigid punch
about the origin, and 2 = int (F - F D ) ^> f c .
154 CHAPTER 6
Because of symmetry of a ( - , - ) > the variational inequality (6.138) is

equivalent to a constrained minimization problem
where
THEOREM 6.9 (existence and uniqueness). Let H be a two-dimensional

Lipschitzian domain, i.e., He^ 0 ' 1 , and let Fc be the interval (-a, a) of the
xâxis as defined in (6.136). Suppose that (5.5) holds, and that the applied force
P and moment T satisfy the compatibility condition
Then there exists a unique solution (u, a, 0)eK to the problem (6.144), or,
equivalently to the variational inequality (6.138).
Proof. It suffices to show that the functional F is coercive on K, i.e.,
for (v, ft, 8) e K. From the constraint in K,
Putting this into (6.142) yields
Korn's inequality with assumptions (5.5) and mes (F D )>0 implies
for every/3 e IR since (6.143) is assumed. For (3-> -oo, we must have y|( ^2) ~* ~°°
a.e. on Fc or \S\ -> +00. Thus F(v, /3, 5) -> -oo. For the case /3 -»• +00,
Therefore, we have
We now describe a solution method for the rigid punch problem (6.137) for
a given force P and moment T based on Lagrange multiplier methods. By
introducing the Lagrange multiplier q for the constraint y^tfzJâ +ftKi+ g,
we arrive at the Lagrangian
where ( • , -)r c denotes duality pairing on H 1/2 (F C ) such that for <£e L 2 (F C )
and«Ae// 1 / 2 (F c )
It is clear that the Lagrange multiplier corresponds to the contact pressure.

Because of the form of the inequality constraint on the kinematic contact
condition, the Lagrange multiplier has to be restricted by q < 0 in (H 1/2 (T C ))'.
Thus, the minimization problem (6.14) can be solved as a saddle point problem:
where
The stationary condition for the Lagrangian yields the system of equations
and an inequality:
For systems of this type, a well-known iterative method, called Uzawa's

method, is usually very effective. It involves the following strategy: for pw e JV,
a ( 0 ) €lR, and 0 ( 0 ) elR, we construct the iteration procedure, i = 1, • • • ,
(i) Solve u ( l ) € V satisfying the "equilibrium equation"
(ii) Using the w ( l ) obtained, compute the contact pressure p(l) by
that is,
(iii) Using p (l) on Fc, compute the depth of indentation 5 ( l ) and the rotation
(0
0 by
for adequately chosen positive "constants" pp, pa, and pg. We repeat the above
iteration procedure until the quantity
156 CHAPTER 6
becomes very small, say 10~3~10~5. For further details on methods of this
type, see Glowinski, Lions, and Tremolieres [1].
Example 6.5 (rigidpunch with rotation). Consider an almost incompressible
linearly elastic foundation indented by a flat rigid punch subjected to an
applied moment and force. We assume that the foundation is homogeneous
and isotropic with E = 1000 and v = 0.499. The problem is one of plane strain.
The elasticity tensor EijM is then given by
for 0< i, j, k, /< 2. Notice that the first Lame constant A becomes a very large
number for v = 0.499. Physical dimensions and other data of the problem are
given in Fig. 6.7(a). We consider four cases each involving different values of
the applied moments T but with a constant applied force P.
A finite element mesh consisting of ten 9-node isoparametric elements is
used, as shown in Fig. 6.7(b). Special considerations are needed when we
integrate numerically the term
FIG. 6.7(a). Rigid punch problem with rotation.

FIG. 6.7(b). Finite element model for Example 6.1. From N. Kikuchi and Y. J. Song [1],
International Journal of Engineering Science. Copyright 1980 Pergamon Press Ltd.
We employ "selective reduced integration" here since only 2x2 Gaussian

quadrature is used to integrate this term whilst 3 x 3 Gaussian quadrature is
required for an exact integration. For a nearly incompressible material (one
with v close to 0.5) the dilatation cannot be modeled well by coarse meshes,
and the solution "locks," i.e., the computed solution uh is nearly zero. This is
roughly because too much weight is given to the volumetric constraint for
large h. This locking can be overcome by selective reduced integration: using
a low order integration rule on the dilatational terms on the stiffness matrix.
We take up this subject in some detail in the next chapter. For additional
details, see Oden, Kikuchi, and Song [1], Oden and Carey [1], and Oden and
Jacquotte [1]. Calculated deformed profiles of the surface of the foundation
and the distribution of the contact pressure are given in Fig. 6.7(c),(d).
Note that the rate of convergence of the iterative algorithm increases with
an increase in the applied moment. Smooth surfaces for the deformed founda-
tion are obtained for T = 0, 60, and 90. But for T= 120, the left half of the
surface of the foundation is not smooth and a considerably finer mesh may
be required to obtain a smoother representation of the surface around the left
end point of the rigid punch.
6.8. Two-body contact problems. In this section, we shall generalize the

Signorini problems studied previously to cases that involve the contact of two
surfaces of deformable bodies. In this case, the kinematic contact condition
is written in terms of the relative normal displacement of points on the two
158 CHAPTER 6
FIG. 6.7(c). Numerical results (1) for Example 6.1. From N. Kikuchi and Y. J. Song [1],
surfaces in contact. This generalization covers, for example, two-body contact

problems, crack closing problems for arbitrarily shaped cracks, and others,
since the basic formulation of these problems is very similar to that of Signorini
problems.
For simplicity, we shall consider a deformable body with two surfaces which
are located close to one another but not necessarily in contact in its reference
configuration, as indicated in Fig. 6.8.
Contact conditions. We begin by describing the contact conditions for the
two-dimensional case for simplicity; conditions for the three-dimensionl case
are then straightforward. To do this, we shall assume that displacements,
stresses, and other functions used in this section are defined pointwise.
We confine ourselves to a restricted class of motions: the body fl is fixed
on a portion FD of its boundary F and finite rotations are not permitted. Our
aim is to derive contact conditions analogous to those of § 2.2 for infinitesimal
deformations. We denote by F£ and FC the possible contact surfaces which
are portions of the boundary F. For convenience, we assume that F£ lies above
FIG. 6.7(d). Numerical results (2) for Example 6.1. From N. Kikuchi and Y. J. Song [1],
FC in the reference configuration, as shown in Fig. 6.8, and that the contact
surfaces are defined parametrically by
where, for the moment, $ and i/> are assumed to be smooth functions. No
summation convention is assumed on the indices a and b which represent
opposite surfaces of the contact region.
Let xa = (x°, (f>(x°)) be the coordinate labels of a particle A on the contact
surface Yac and x b = (xf, i^(xf)) those of a unique particle B on Ybc which has
the property that the yl -position of both particles is the same in the current
160 CHAPTER 6
FIG. 6.8. Contact of two surfaces.
(deformed) configuration of the bodies. Then, if u is the displacement field in

ft, we have
Assuming infinitesimal deformations, we obtain the approximation
higher order terms
To simplify notation, we write

for i = 1 and 2. Since
the condition (6.151) for infinitesimal deformations reduces to
that is
where
Noting that the unit vector inward normal to the boundary Ybc is given by
we have the kinematic contact condition
where u* = UR • n and g is the "gap" function defined by
under the assumption that 0(x?) > «//(x°), Vx°. Since the two surfaces PC and
TC can be identified with their projection Fc on the y coordinate line, we can
also write (6.156) in the form
so that the contact condition is essentially of the same form as the kinematic
contact condition for the Signorini problem, except that now the relative
displacement fields are used. Thus, if T denotes the Cauchy stress tensor in
the body O, the contact condition can be represented by
where rn = r^nî and rTi = r^n, - Tn«,-.

On various potential contact surfaces that are not nearly parallel to a global
yi coordinate axis, we can simply establish a real coordinate system, (0,, 02),
such as that shown in Fig. 6.9, and the same representation given earlier can
be made.
A primal variational principle. As in Chapter 2 and § 6.2, a primal variational
formulation of the problem for the contact condition stated above is given by
the constrained minimization problem
162 CHAPTER 6
FIG. 6.9. Inclined contact surfaces FC and PC to the yl-axis.
or the variational inequality
where F is the total potential energy of the body
a(u, v) the virtual work by the virtual displacement v of the body at the
equilibrium configuration given by u, and /(v) is the work done by applied
body and traction forces. The constraint set K is now defined by
where
All the mathematical analyses in § 6.2 and 6.3 carry over to the above case
(6.161) or (6.162) which now represent contact of two surfaces, and we need
not provide further details.
In finite element methods based on penalty treatments of the contact condi-
tions for two-body contact, two different approaches suggest themselves.
1. Pre-discretization penalty. In this approach a penalty term is added to the
variational formulation prior to the finite element discretization. For example,
we can add to the energy functional in (6.162), the penalty
where Fc is the projection PC, FC on ^2 = 0. We then use finite element

methods to discretize the resulting variational boundary value problem.
2. Post-discretization penalty. In this approach, finite element models of
bodies a and b, particularly PC and FC are constructed and a discrete set of
contact conditions are reduced to constraints on nodal displacements on the
approximate contact surfaces F^, Fc'1. Then an exterior penalty is used to
handle these nodal constraint conditions.
In the pre-discretization penalty method, we begin by constructing the
penalized functional
where v^ = yi,,( vR )- Then the solution u e e V of the penalty problem
is a solution of the variational boundary value problem,
where u° = ua • n on FC and ubn = ub • n on Ybc. It is noted that the domains of

the integrands in the boundary integrals labelled FC and Tbc are the same.
Next we discretize the domain fl as, for example, shown in Fig. 6.10. In this
case, it is necessary that the nodes opposite to one another on F^ and FC have
the same y\ coordinate. Indeed, this method effectively represents the discretiz-
ation of a single projected contact line on the local y} -axis. The evaluation
of the penalty terms in (6.167) in this case is quite simple because u" - ubn can
be defined within an element by values at only two nodes on each side of FC
and FC- After solving (6.167) by finite element methods, the contact pressure
at each node on FC and FC is calculated using the relation,
In the post-discretization penalty method, greater flexibility is affordable in

selecting the location of nodes. Suppose, for example, that the domain O is
discretized as shown in Fig. 6.11. It is clear that the locations of nodes on FC
and FC are arbitrary. Let EC be the set of all node numbers on FC- If we
approximate the contact condition (6.158) by
164 CHAPTER 6
FIG. 6.10. A discretization of the domain along the contact boundaries TC and TC using a
pre-discretization penalty method.
FIG. 6.11. A discretization of the domain along the contact boundaries Tac and Ybc using the
post-discretization penalty method.
then u* = uan - ubn can be computed by finding an element which contains the
projected point of the fcth node onto the boundary Ybc along a line parallel
to the }>2-axis passing through the fcth node on FC- Once the corresponding
element segment is found, ubn = n-ub is computed using the value of the
displacement at the nodes in this element segment. For example, the third
node on FC in Fig. 6.11 is projected vertically into the third element on r£>
Suppose that the fcth node on FC corresponds to the eth element on FC, and
suppose that the eth element consists of two nodes (x*, «A(xf)) and (xf, «A(x*))
on FC- Then the projected point of the /cth node has the coordinates (x*, x£),
where
under the assumption x* < x*. The kinematic contact condition at the kih node
becomes
where
Since both ubn(xl, <A(*0) and ubn(x\, $(x\}} are normal displacements at nodes
on FC, (6.171) represents a finite element approximation of the contact condi-
tion which is well defined in terms of displacements of nodes on the respective
contact surfaces of O.
It is noted, however, that the approximation (6.171) of (6.158) is based on
the premise that a preferred boundary, FC is projected onto the other contact
line. Thus there is a possibility that the kinematic contact condition (6.158) is
not satisfied along certain portions of the boundary, as illustrated in Fig. 6.12.
A contact condition similar to (6.171) is not generally applied to nodes on
FC, to avoid a so-called "locking" phenomenon: Consider the situation
FIG. 6.12. Violation of the contact condition.

166 CHAPTER 6
FIG. 6.13. Locking phenomenon on Tc.
described in Fig. 6.13, where point P cannot be allowed to displace beyond

a line A if both nodes Q and R contact the boundary FC- This implies that
the approximation (6.158) should be defined by using nodes only on either
Tac or Tbc.
For these reasons, the projected boundary FC is sometimes referred to as
the slave boundary and is subjected to the contact condition (6.158), the fixed
surface FC, being called the master boundary. This "master-slave" strategy
then acquires some features of an elaborate scheme proposed by Hallquist [1].
If a finite element approximation Vh of V is introduced, the second approach
leads to a discrete formulation of the form
where
Here P' is the number of nodes on FJ. In this case, the values identified with
become the equivalent nodal contact force at the fcth node on Tac.
We shall briefly outline an algorithm for determining the corresponding
element which contains the projected point of a node on FC for plane problems:
Step 1. Store element connectivities of line elements on the boundary FC
so that the coordinates of two end nodes of each line element can be obtained
from the data of a finite element model of the domain O.
Step 2. Scan elements on FC and locate the elements containing the projection
of each node in 2c- For the node whose yi coordinate is x*, we carry out the
routine:
a) e = 0
b) e = e + l
c) Using element connectivity of the eth element on FC, find yl coordinates
of two end points, say x\ and x\.
SIGNORINPS PROBLEM REVISITED 167
d) Check the signs of x^-x* and X j - x f .

e) If both signs are positive or negative, return to b).
f) If one sign is positive and the other is negative, store the element number
e and the computed ratio 0 = (x\ - x\)/(x\ - x\}.
g) Go to step a) and re-initialize process for fc = k+ 1.
Once corresponding elements are found for nodes on FC, it becomes possible
to evaluate the penalty term, and then the additional stiffness matrix due to
the penalty can be easily obtained. Recall that by the normal "vector n" at
node, we mean the normal to a line drawn between nodes on the F^-element
on which this node is projected. Let n = n^ + n2\2 at the /cth node on Fc, and
let the node numbers of the corresponding element on F6 be denoted by fc,
and k2. Then the penalty term is written
where v^nt = Vhn(x^9 (xf)), gfc = g(x*), etc. If the /cth node is a contact node,
then the additional stiffness matrix contribution is given by
and the additional load vector is
After obtaining the equivalent nodal contact forces at each node on F c ,

one remaining issue is the determination of the distribution of contact pressure.
To illustrate how this can be done, suppose that a piecewise linear pressure
is assumed on an edge of 3-node or 4-node elements. Note that equivalent
nodal forces at two end nodes are computed by
where he is the length of the edge, and (p\, p2) are the values of the pressure
at two edge nodes. Applying this idea to the contact force at each node
computed by (6.175), we can compute the value of the contact pressure at
each node by solving the system of linear equations obtained by assembling
(6.179) for all edges of elements of FC-
Example 6.6 (a two-body contact problem). We solve the two-body contact
problem described in Fig. 6.14(a) applying the first approach in the above.
168 CHAPTER 6
FIG. 6.14(a). Two-body contact problem.
Suppose that both bodies are characterized by the same Young's modulus and
Poisson's ratio, E = 1000 and *> = 0.499. The problem is again one of plane
strain and both bodies are almost incompressible. As in Example 6.5, we use
the reduced integrating method to avoid locking for "large" h.
Let us consider a finite element model of the two-body contact problem
using four 9-node biquadratic elements for the hollow cylinder and six such
elements for the foundation as shown in Fig. 6.14(b). The computed deformed
geometries are shown in Fig. 6.14(c). The hollow cylinder suffers quite severe
deformations while the surface of the foundation is indented only 4 percent
of the vertical motion of the cylinder.
As indicated in Fig. 6.14(c), we compute a significant displacement in the
horizontal direction on the contact surface. This suggests that the approxima-
tion of the unilateral contact condition (6.158) may be inadequate since the
assumption x° « x\ may not be valid. One way to compensate for such errors
is to relocate the nodes on FC according to
FIG 6.14(b). Finite element model for Example 6. FIG 6.14(b). Finite element model for Example 6.
170 CHAPTER 6
FIG. 6.14(d). A finite element model of a three-dimensional contact problem.
FIG. 6.14(e). Side view of a finite element model.

FIG. 6.14(f). Side view of the deformed ring.
FIG. 6.14(g). Deformed configuration of the elastic foundation.

172 CHAPTER 6
FIG. 6.14(h). Contact pressure distribution.
where x" is the new location, x? is the original location, and («?,«?) is the
displacement of the nodes computed by the assumption x? = xf. If we recalcu-
late the deformation after shifting the nodes on FC, we generally reduce
substantially large discrepancies in the contact conditions. However, it is noted
that rather large differences M ? - M ? in the displacement in the horizontal
direction would not affect the size of the contact area or the contact pressure.
For the example in Fig. 6.14, corresponding to a plane strain problem, we
next investigate three-dimensional effects on the contact area and pressure.
Exploring the symmetry of the problem, only a quarter portion of the structure
is discretized by 8-node trilinear brick elements as shown in Fig. 6.14(d). The
planes x, z and y, z are symmetric surfaces on which the sliding condition is
applied. The bottom surface is also assumed to be sliding without friction.
The side view of the model is also given in Fig. 6.14(e). The side view of the
deformed configuration is shown in Fig. 6.14(f) which is quite similar to Fig.
6.14(e) after prescribing the displacement on the top surface as in the two-
dimensional example. Again, most of the deformation is realized in the elastic
ring. However, if we magnify the displacement of the elastic foundation,
three-dimensional effects can be easily observed, see Fig. 6.14(g). The center
surface which is on the x, z plane experiences the largest deformation. The
profile of the computed contact pressure is given in Fig. 6.14(h).
Chapter 7
Signorini's Problem for

Incompressible Materials
7.1. Introduction. We have seen that Signorini's problem in the theory of

elasticity can be formulated as a constrained minimization problem, the objec-
tive being to minimize the total potential energy subject to the contact constraint
wn < g on Fc. We now turn our attention to a more difficult subclass of Signorini
problems in which an additional constraint is imposed: that of incompressibil-
ity of the material of which the body is composed. For infinitesimal deforma-
tions, this constraint is manifested in the requirement that the displacement
field be solenoidal, i.e., div u = 0, so that our analysis covers as a special case
of the classical Stokes problem of steady, incompressible, viscous flow.
Following this introduction we discuss several formulations of the incom-
pressible Signorini problem, including a formulation of the problem as a
variational inequality and a saddle point formulation using the ideas discussed
in Chapter 3. Portions of these studies amount to direct applications of the
theory laid down in Chapter 3, but we are also able to establish certain key
conditions here which play a fundamental role in the study of the numerical
stability of corresponding finite element approximations. Specifically we
describe a Babuska-Brezzi condition for the existence of solutions to saddle
point problems and we subsequently take up the implications of this condition
on the behavior of discrete approximations.
Sections 7.3 and 7.4 are devoted to finite element approximations of Signorini
problems for incompressible materials. There we derive error estimates for
mixed finite element approximations and we discuss the role of the discrete
Babuska-Brezzi condition in the selection of stable and convergent numerical
schemes. Finite element approximations of contact problems for incompress-
ible materials were studied using various penalty and mixed methods by Oden,
Kikuchi and Song [1], Song, Oden and Kikuchi [1], Oden and Kikuchi [1],
[2], and Kikuchi and Song [1], Mixed finite element approximations of
incompressible flows (Stokes problem) were studied by Oden and Wellford
[1], Oden [4], Glowinski and Pironneau [1], Bercovier and Pironneau [1],
Oden and Jacquotte [1] and many others. Our analysis of these problems in
173
174 CHAPTER 7
the present chapter generalizes and extends the results obtained by these
authors.
7.2. Incompressible elasticity. In the classical theory of linear elasticity, it

is sometimes convenient to represent the strain tensor e,-, (=(t>,j + t>;,)/2) as
the sum of a deviatoric strain e® and a volumetric strain eu in the form
The volumetric strain, as the name implies, represents the deformation of an

infinitesimal element of material volume: e,, = (dv - dvQ)/dvo, dv and dvQ being
current and initial volume elements, respectively. In terms of the displacement
vector v, we have simply
where div ( • ) denotes the divergence operator. The deviatoric strain represents
that part of the deformation for which no change in volume occurs; i.e.,
An isotropic, linearly elastic material can be characterized by a constitutive

equation of the form
where n is the second Lame coefficient (the shear modulus) and K is the bulk
modulus of the material. Clearly, for an isotropic incompressible material, we
will have
We shall now focus on the problem of deformation of an incompressible

linearly elastic isotropic solid for which (7.3) holds with
and ft c RN. Using notation similar to that in Chapter 6, we pose the following
variational principle for a contact problem of Signorini type for a material
obeying (7.3) and (7.4): Find a displacement field u such that
In this case,
SIGNORINI'S PROBLEM FOR INCOMPRESSIBLE MATERIALS 175
with
for any u, ve K, where now
The space V, of course, is still the space of admissible displacements defined

in (5.47) and elsewhere. Since the divergence operator div:H 1 (n)-»L 2 ((l) is
linear and continuous, the constraint set K is again closed in V and is convex.
Recall that the displacements v of the body are zero on a fixed portion FD
of the boundary F. If mes F D > 0, then a direct application of Korn's inequality,
(6.14), reveals that a constant m > 0 exists such that
i.e., a( - , -) is V-elliptic or "coercive" on all of V. Likewise, a( • , • ) is continuous

in that
with M = \\n\\ L°°([i). Finally, when (7.7) holds, the functional / defined in (7.6)
is bounded on V. Thus, all of the conditions of Theorem 3.4 hold, and we
immediately have the following result:
THEOREM 7.1. Let He ^l'1 and let mes F D >0. Suppose that (7.4) and (7.7)
hold. Then there exists a unique solution ue K to the variational inequality (7.5).
Equivalently, u is also the unique solution to the constrained minimization problem
where K is as defined in (7.8) and
ALagrange multiplier Jormulation. We shall investigate an alternative formu-

lation of problem (7.5) which provides a framework for several powerful
methods of approximation of problems of this type. Specifically, we shall use
the method of Lagrange multipliers to "relax" the constraints div u = 0 and
yL(u)=sg.
First let us establish some convenient notation and conventions. Throughout
this chapter we will use the notation
for ve V, where y^n is the operator defined in (5.48) and we shall assume that
where S = F-F D . Also, we shall use the brackets [ • , • ] to denote duality

pairing on (H 1 / 2 (F C ))' x H 1 / 2 (F r ). For the constraint "div u = 0 in L2((l)", we
176 CHAPTER 7
introduce Lagrange multipliers, p e L2(fl) where, as usual, L2(H) is identified

with its dual, and for the contact constraint "«„ ^ g in H 1/2(FC)" we introduce
multipliers ere (//1/2(FC))'. Physically, p represents the hydrostatic pressure in
the material (i.e., the hydrostatic part of the stress tensor) and cr represents
the contact pressure.
With these conventions in force, and with the saddle point theory discussed
in § 3.4 in mind, we pose the following "mixed" boundary value problem
for Signorini problems for incompressible materials:
where Q = L 2 (H)« Q', ( • , •) is the usual L2 inner product, and
We easily verify that problem (7.14) is equivalent to the following saddle point
problem:
where
By recalling Theorem 3.12, we easily verify that most of the conditions

sufficient to guarantee the existence of a unique solution to problem (7.16)
hold for fixed (q,r): the function v-»L(v, q, r) is convex, G-differentiate,
and coercive; for fixed v, (q, T) -> L(v, q, r] is concave (linear) and continuous.
To show coercivity of (q, r)-» L(\, q, T), we must generally show that
If, for a given pair (q, T) in Qx(// 1/2 (F c ))', we define v e V by
Then we can easily obtain the relation
Thus, to show coercivity of (q, T)-*L(v, q, T), it suffices to show that

Condition (7.18), in turn, can be shown to hold whenever the Babuska-Brezzi

condition of Lemma 3.2 holds. In the present case, this condition assumes the
following form:
There exist positive numbers a and ft such that
To interpret (7.19), let 5:V-> Qx H 1/2 (r c ) denote the constraint operator

and B*:Q'x(H 1 / 2 (r c ))'-*¥' its transpose:
Here U = Qx H { / 2 ( T C ) . Then (7.19) guarantees that B* is bounded below,

that, therefore, B has closed range in U and, in fact, is surjective.
THEOREM 7.2. Let fl be an open bounded Lipschitzian domain in R N with a
boundary T consisting of three mutually disjoint open manifolds YD, Fc and F F
such that r = r D U r c U r F , r D n r c = 0, mesr D >0, and mesr F >0. Let
(7.4) hold. Then there exist positive numbers a and ft such that the Babuska-Brezzi
condition (7.19) holds.
Proof. A detailed proof of this theorem was given by Oden, Kikuchi and
Song [1] which made direct use of the results of Temam [1, Chap. 1] on the
Navier-Stokes equations. This proof is lengthy and technical and requires the
proof of several auxiliary results. The reader is referred to these sources for
complete details.
For simplicity and clarity, and also for more completeness of this exposition,
we shall provide a simple constructive proof for the case of a two-dimensional
^2>1-domain due to Babuska and Aziz [1, p. 172]. We begin by considering
an auxiliary problem. In particular, we shall first show that for every q e L2((l)
and re (H 1 / 2 (r c ))' there exists a displacement field ueH 1 ^) such that
where y''1 is the inverse of the Rieszmap./: Hl/2(Yc)->(Hl/2(Tc))'. Moreover,

a constant C > 0 exists such that
Our proof requires five steps; four to prove (7.20) and (7.21) and a final simple
manipulation to complete the proof.
178 CHAPTER 7
1) We begin by recalling a classical result of linear elliptic theory (see e.g.

Agmon, Douglis and Nirenberg [1]): for given qe L2(fl) and O satisfying the
conditions stated, there exits a unique $, e H2(£l) such that
where C is a constant independent of q and $,.

2) Next, we choose an /£ //1/2(O such that
and
This choice o f / is possible because d<j>Jdn e Hl/2(T) and mesF F >0. Then
a regular solution $2 e H2(Cl) exists to the Neumann problem
with
3) Let ^ satisfy
and
where d/Br means the tangential derivative along F. Since $t and </>2 are in
H2(O), d^/dr and <9«A/an are in H1/2(r). We recall the fact that for a given
fe Hl/2(T) there exists a (biharmonic) function ê //2(H) such that
and
Then it is assured that there exists a function «// satisfying (7.22) and
Simple computations show that (7.20) is equivalent to relations
and
4) We next set
Combining all results in l)-3), we arrive at (7.20) and (7.21).

5) Finally, with (7.20) and (7.21) now established, we note that for arbitrary
q€ Q, r£(// 1 / 2 (r c ))', and u given by (7.20),
This is precisely (7.19) with

We now can establish immediately the following existence theorem using
Theorem 3.14.
THEOREM 7.3. Let the conditions of Theorems 7.1 and 7.2 hold. Then there
exists a unique triple (H, p, cr) e V x Q x Nsatisfying (7.14). Moreover, (u,p, a)
is the saddle point of the functional L of (7.17).
A penalty formulation. Another popular formulation for incompressible
materials is obtained by the (exterior) penalty method which has very close
relation to the Lagrange multiplier formulation. Since we have already studied
the penalty method for the unilateral contact problem in § 6.5, we shall briefl
describe the penalty formulation to resolve the incompressibility constraint
div u = 0. Applying the theory described in § 3.5, we define the Lagrangian
180 CHAPTER 7
where Fe is the functional with penalty:
for a positive function e = e0/^, where e0 is a fixed positive number and ju is

the shear modulus of the body. Then the variational inequality (7.5) is approxi-
mated by the saddle point problem
It is noted that this is equivalent to the problem
If we put
this becomes a perturbed Lagrangian formulation
Recall that Q = L 2 (H) = Q'. We shall also denote by Wthe space (/T1/2(rc))'.
Since the Babuska-Brezzi condition (7.19) holds, the developments in § 3.4
lead to the following conclusions:
THEOREM 7.4. Suppose that the conditions of Theorems 7.1 and 7.2 hold. Then:
(i) There exists a unique solution («e, cr e )e Vx N to (7.26) for every fixed
positive number e0.
(ii) The sequence {(ue, pe, cre)} e V x Q x N converges strongly in V x Q x W
to the solution (u,p,cr)eVxQxN of the saddle point problem (7.14), or
equivalently (7.16), as the penalty parameter e0 tends to zero.
The penalty method can be applied to both constraints divu = 0 and
«„ - g < 0 by using as a penalized functional,
for two penalty parameters e = e 0 //A and 5 = 50/V> eo>0, 5 0 >0. Then the
constrained minimization problem (7.10) is approximated by the unconstrained
minimization problem,
Taking the first variation, we characterize the minimizers u e of (7.29) as follows:
The Babuska-Brezzi condition described earlier holds under the stated condi-
tions. Thus, we can conclude that the solution U F of the penalty approximation
converges strongly to the exact solution u e K as e0-» 0 and S0-» 0. Furthermore,
the functions
converge to components p and cr of the solution of the mixed formulation

(7.14) in the appropriate norms as e 0 H»0 and <50->0.
THEOREM 7.5. Suppose that the conditions of Theorems 7.1 and 7.2 hold.
Then:
(i) There exists a unique solution u E e V to the penalty formulation (7.29)
and equivalently, to (7.30).
(ii) The sequence {(u e ,p E , <r e )} constructed by (7.29) and (7.31) converges
strongly in V x Q x W to the solution (u, p, a) e V x Q x N of the mixed formula-
tion (7.14) as eoÔ and 5 0 -»0.
7.3. Mixed finite element approximations. A mixed finite element
approximation of the Signorini problem for incompressible materials is
obtainec) by formulating problem (7.14) on appropriate finite dimensional
subspaces of V and Q and on approximations of the set N constructed using
finite element methods. We shall now consider a class of conforming mixed
methods constructed using finite dimensional spaces
and an approximation Nh of the set N satisfying
For such conforming finite element approximations, we have

182 CHAPTER 7
for all qh e Qh and all \h e Vh, wherein 2 is the interior of F - FD and vhn = vh • n.
In (7.34) and throughout this section, it is assumed that Cl coincides with its
finite element approximation £lh for all h.
Since Qh is constructed using conforming finite elements, the traces (or
restrictions) of functions in Qh on the boundary Fh = F are in // 1/2 (F C ). In
the present study, we shall demand that the approximation Nh of the set N
be such that
Having constructed the families of subspaces and subsets described above,

we introduce formally as a mixed finite element approximation of (7.14) the
following discrete problem:
Most of the key properties of the "continuous problem" (7.14) are preserved
on subspaces Vh and Qh with one major exception: the discrete spaces must
be such that a form of the Babuska-Brezzi condition (7.19) holds. For approxi-
mate methods of the type (7.36), this condition assume a form completely
analogous to (7.19):
There exist positive numbers ah and (3h such that
The discrete Babuska-Brezzi condition (7.37) represents a compatibility

condition between the finite dimensional sets Qh and Nh and the finite
dimensional space Vh which provides for the solvability of the discrete
equations of each fixed mesh. For the discrete problem, other forms of this
condition can be imposed, these being obtained by strengthening or weakening
the topology on the spaces V and Q (e.g., replacing the L 2 -norm of qh in
(2.37) by the //'-norm or the //"'-norm and appropriately changing the norm
on v h ). We give an alternate form of this condition below.
Our primary objective at this point is to estimate the error inherent in the
approximation (7.36). It is possible to obtain an error estimate for such a
mixed method (7.36) of Brezzi [1], Brezzi, Hager and Raviart [1], and others.
However, it is known that such direct methods are usually inadequate for this
particular class of problems: error estimates so obtained are usually not of

optimal order in h and, what is worse, condition (7.37) may hold only for
parameters ah and fth which depend strongly on the mesh size h, a property
which generally signals poor behavior (and instability) of the method. For a
more restricted class of problems (specifically, the Stokes problem in two
dimensions) Bercovier and Pironneau [1] have shown that optimal rates of
convergence for mixed methods of the general type considered here can be
obtained by replacing (7.37) by an alternative discrete Babuska-Brezzi condi-
tion in which the norm (topology) on qh is lifted while that on v,, is lowered
in the manner mentioned earlier. Our next theorem makes use of a similar
device and extends the results of Bercovier and Pironneau [1] to Signorini
problems for incompressible materials:
THEOREM 7.6. Let (u, p, <r)e Vx Qx N be a solution of (7.14) and
(uh,ph, ah)eV^hxQhxNhbea solution of (7.36). Let p e H'(O) and let positive
numbers ah, f$h, and yh exist such that the following discrete Babuska-Brezzi
condition holds:
Then there exists a positive constant C,, independent of h, such that
where
184 CHAPTER 7
Proof. Our proof is divided into four steps.

1) Setting \ = VH in (7.14), and subtracting (7.36),, we obtain
Thus, replacing v/, by v,, -uh and rearranging terms, we have, for any \h in V/,,
On the other hand, (7.14)2, (7.36)2, and (7.34) yield
where we have used the fact that (-p,d\vuh) = (p-qh,div (u-uh)) for any
qh€ Qh. Likewise, (7.14)3 and (7.36)3 can be used to obtain the inequality
In (7.46) and (7.47), of course, v h , qh, and rh are arbitrary elements of V/,,
Qh, and Nht respectively.
2) Using (7.9), (7.45), (7.46), (7.47), and the Schwarz inequality, we have
for T € N,
3) A direct application of the identity (7.44) leads to the relation,

(qh-ph,di\vh) + [Th-o-h, vhn] = (qh-p,divvh) + [Th-o; vhn] + a(u-uh,vh)
for arbitrary (vft, qh, rh) e. \h x Qh x Nh. It follows from this result and assump-
tion (7.38) that
4) Combining (7.48) and (7.49), applying Young's inequality, and the

inequality a2+ 6 2 < (a + b)2 for a, b e R + , we can arrive at the estimate (7.39).
Estimates (7.40), (7.41), and (7.42) then follow from (7.49) and the triangle
inequality
We noted that the terms \\p-qt, ||o,r> arjd \\p~qt, ||o,i> appear in the estimate
(7.39), since the integration-by-parts formula (7.46) has been used in the
Babuska-Brezzi condition (7.38).
For a concrete application of these estimates, suppose that we consider
regular families of finite element approximations of the spaces V and Q and
the set N which are of the form
where O = Uf = 1 &e, Tc = Ufli fe, k>2, ^ k (fl e ) is the space of polynomials

of order less than or equal to k, and Sc is the set of all nodal points on the
manifold f c . Applying the interpolation theory of § 4.1 and the result of Falk
[1, Thm. 4.3], the following asymptotic estimates can be obtained:
Here u 7 e V/,, p1 e Qh, cr' e Nh are interpolants of u, p, and cr, respectively,

s<k, and we have used the convention that
Moreover, it is noted that
under the assumption
Further, suppose that the parameters appearing in condition (7.38) are of

the form
for a 0 , /30, Jo, 5, A e R. Then the following a priori error estimates for mixed
finite element approximations can be obtained immediately from Theorem 7.6.
THEOREM 7.7. Let the conditions of Theorem 7.6 hold and suppose that
186 CHAPTER 7
In addition, let (7.51)-(7.55) hold. Then there exist positive constants C,,
/ = 1, • • • , 10, independent of the mesh size h, such that
for every r e N.
Arguments similar to those used in the proof of Theorem 4.7 yield an estimate
of llp-Pfc||o+lk-Oj,||*/2.r c -
THEOREM 7.8. Under the same conditions in Theorems 7.3 and 7.4, we have
for proper positive constants Cn, C12, and C13 independent ofh.
Proof. Applying the surjectivity of the constraint operator B defined by
such that the Babuska-Brezzi condition (7.19) holds, it follows from (7.44) that
Applying (7.51) yields the estimate (7.57).

An examination of the estimates (7.56) and (7.57) reveals that the behavior
of the "stability parameters" ah, /3h, and yh as functions of h represents a
critical factor in the accuracy and stability of such mixed finite element
methods. Indeed, these results show that it is desirable to choose, if possible,
finite element approximations which yield a/,, (3h, and yh independent of h
(e.g., 6 = A = 0 in (7.44)). In the next section, we shall focus on this particular
aspect of our theory for a representative class of two-dimensional mixed finite
element methods.
Remark 7.3.1. The finite element approximations described above are based
upon the assumption that all \h, qh, and rh are continuous in fl and F c , and,
that "conforming elements" are used for all approximations. Now, if we
introduce a nonconforming approximation to the hydrostatic pressure qh,
identity (7.34) is clearly not applicable nor is the alternative Babuska-Brezzi
condition (7.38). In such cases, we can still obtain error estimates, but these
are obtained using orginal form (7.17) of the Babuska-Brezzi condition.
If (7.37) is employed, we can derive the following estimates using a proof
similar to that of Theorem 7.6: for v,, e \h, qh^Qh, and rh e Nh,
If a condition analogous to'(7.54) is assumed on ah and /3h, and if (7.55)

holds, the finite element approximation (7.50) exhibits the following asymptotic
rates of convergence:
for some positive constants C,, C2, and C3 independent of the mesh size h.
An advantage of the nonconforming approximation of the pressure can be
realized when a perturbed Lagrangian formulation to (7.36) is considered.
188 CHAPTER 7
Indeed, if the perturbed Lagrangian method is applied to the hydrostatic

pressure, (7.36) is modified by
Since qh is nonconforming, the second equation can be solved in each finite

element Cle independent of the value of the pressure peh in other elements.
Then peh satisfying the second equation can be substituted into the first. The
resulting equations have only two unknowns, ueh and aeh. The corresponding
global stiffness matrix then has a form very similar to finite element approxi-
ation obtained by the penalty formulation (7.26). As shown in Oden and
Kikuchi [4] and Oden, Kikuchi and Song [1], this approach has become very
popular, and is referred to as a "selective reduced integration" owing to its
equivalence to an underintegrated penalty method. Further details can be
found in the volume edited by Reddy [1]; see, in particular, the papers of
Oden [6] and Oden and Jacquotte [1], [2].
7.4. A specific mixed method. As a representative example of a mixed finite

element method of the type analyzed in the previous section, we now consider
a class of two-dimensional problems for which <?2-elements (C° 9-node
biquadratic quadrilaterals) are used for the space V,, of displacement approxi-
mations and Ql-elements (C° 4-node bilinear quadrilaterals) are used for the
space Qh of approximations of the hydrostatic pressures. To approximate the
contact pressures rh, we use conforming PI-elements (C° 2-node piece wise
linear line elements).
Our principal objective here is to demonstrate an analysis of the stability
condition (7.38) for these choices; i.e. we wish to determine if stability para-
meters ah, fih, and yh exist in this case such that (7.38) holds and, if so, how
these parameters depend upon the mesh size h. For this purpose, it suffices
to consider problems set on geometrically simple domains. Hence, we shall
assume that (1 is rectangular, as indicated in Fig. 7.1, and that a uniform mesh
of rectangular elements is used. The boundary segments IV, Fc, and FD for
this model problem are indicated in the figure. For these choices of domains
and spaces, we may formally set
We shall study condition (7.38) in three steps, one for each of the three
parameters and each covered by an independent lemma. To do this, suppose
that the rectangular domain O shown in Fig. 7.1 is divided into a uniform
mesh of squares, and that the coordinates transformation between an element
H e and the master square element is given by
for -!<£<!, -1<17<1, h is the size of element O e , and (xe, ye) is the
centroid of fl e . The coordinate system (x, y) is used for each element, and
(£17) is used for the master element. Then the integrations of a continuous
function / over fl c or the master square are related by
and the gradient of/ obeys
where /(£, 17) is the value of the function / at the point (x, y) corresponding
to the above coordinates transformation.
190 CHAPTER 7
LEMMA 7.1. Let Vh and Qh be defined by (7.62) for a uniform mesh of square
elements covering the domain O shown in Fig. 7.1. Let
where £ M is the set of all nodal points located at corners of elements on the
boundary of the domain. Then there exists a positive constant a0) independent
ofh, such that
for every qh&Qh.

Proof. 1) Our proof makes use of the fact that Simpson's rule for numerical
integration will integrate the inner product (Vqh, \h) exactly for our particular
choices of elements. Let /[ • ] denote the quadrature formula corresponding
to Simpson's rule in both the x and y directions within an element such that
where {w,} and {(£, 17,)} are weights and the integration points in the master
element. Then, for every qh e Qh and vh £ VM, integration by parts yields
Noting that Jl, £3 dg = Q and J!_, rj3 di\ = 0, we have
that is,
2) We next consider two typical pairs of finite elements as shown in Fig.

7.2. Let the labels by n and m indicate points spaced along the x and y
directions, respectively, and let
FlG. 7.2. Typical pairs of adjacent elements in a uniform mesh.
where v h = uhi+ vh\ in Oe, and u'h - u h (£,, rjj), etc. Then
for V#fc = (4h,f)i + (4M)J. and (4fc,«)( = 9fc,f(^»'7«), etc.

Since qh is conforming, we have
for adjacent elements Oe and f l e . Thus, it is possible to take

192 CHAPTER 7
for every e, 1 < e < E. This implies
3) We note that within an element £le,
for proper constants qit Q<i<3. Since Simpson's rule can integrate quadratic
polynomials exactly, we can conclude that
Applying the relations
we thus have
It now follows from the inverse inequality that, for some constant C > 0,
The proof given in the above lemma essentially follow^ the work by Bercovier
and Pironneau [1, Prop. 1] in which other choices of finite elements for Vh
and Qh are also discussed as well as our choice of (7.62).
Remark 7.4.1. According to Bercovier and Pironneau [1], the combinations
shown in Fig. 7.3 satisfy the alternative Babuska-Brezzi condition (7.64), that
is:
• The displacement \h and the pressure qh are approximated by quadratic
and linear polynomials in an element, respectively (Fig. 7.3(a)).
• A composite element consisting of four 4-node elements for the displace-
ment v,,, and \h is approximated by a bilinear polynomial in each 4-node
element. The pressure qh is then approximated by a bilinear polynomial in
the composite element (Fig. 7.3(b)).
• An element consisting of four 3-node elements for the displacement v,,,
and vh is approximated by a linear polynomial in each 3-node element. The
FIG. 7.3. Conforming finite elements for displacement and pressure. From M. Bercovier and O.
Pironneau [1], Numerische Mathematik. Copyright 1979 Springer-Verlag.
pressure qh is approximated by a linear polynomial over the composite element

(Fig. 7.3(c)).
Remark 7.4.2. If nonconforming elements are used to approximate the
pressure qh, the identity (7.34) is not applicable. Then (7.38) is not applicable.
In this case, we again derive error estimates based upon the original Babuska-
Brezzi condition (7.37), as discussed in Remark 7.3.1. Figure 7.4 shows the
combination of \h and qh which satisfies the Babuska-Brezzi condition (7.37)
for a positive constant ah independent of the mesh parameter h.
LEMMA 7.2. Let the conditions of Lemma 7.1 hold and let rh be given on a
part 2 of the boundary T. Then there exists a positive constant (3>0 such that
where
and 2t is the set of all nodal points located on

194 CHAPTER 7
FIG. 7.4. Nonconforming finite elements for displacements and pressures.
Proof. If /[ • ] again denotes Simpson's rule along the boundary segment 2

then
Taking vhn(x1) = r h (xf) on each integration point yields
Noting that
we have
so that, upon applying the inverse property of such finite element approxima-
tions, we have, for vhn & 0,
Finally, making use of the trace theorem, we conclude that

Remark 7.4.3. If the contact pressure rh is approximated by a polynomial

of the same degree as vhn on the boundary Fc, Simpson's rule need not be
used in the proof of inequality (7.68). In this case, the choice vhn = rh on each
boundary segment of Fc is possible, and then (7.68) easily follows from a
proof similar to that of Lemma 7.3. Thus, it is not difficult to prove that the
elements shown in Fig. 7.5 satisfy the discrete Babuska-Brezzi condition (7.68).
Now it is an easy matter to derive the stability condition (7.38) by a direct
application of Lemmas 7.2 and 7.3.
THEOREM 7.9. Let \h, Qh, and Nh be defined by (7.62) for a uniform mesh
of rectangular finite elements covering the domain O shown in Fig. 7.1. Then
there exist positive constants a 0 , /30, and y0 such that
for every qh e Nh and rh e Nh. That is,
FIG. 7.5. Conforming finite elements for displacements and contact pressures.
196 CHAPTER 7
Proof. We first note that
where
2F and 2C are sets of all nodal points in &-TD-rc and &-TD-TF,

respectively. Then
Applying Lemmas 7.1 and 7.2 and (7.24) to each term of the above inequality
yields (7.70) or equivalently (7.71). D
Since rh is approximated by a piecewise linear polynomial, crh belongs to
N as well as Nh. Then it is possible to take
in the estimate (7.56), for the above choice of finite elements. Putting k = 2 in
Theorems 7.7 and 7.8, we can obtain the following error estimates of the finite
element approximation.
COROLLARY 7.9.1. Under the same conditions in Theorems 7.3, 7.8, and 7.9
with k = 2,
and
The reason we cannot obtain estimates of the form
as is normally expected for biquadratic finite elements, is that the terms

IIP ~ <7/i ||o,rF and \\p-qn ||o,rc have to be estimated in order to use the alternate
Babuska-Brezzi condition. Since p is interpolated by a piecewise bilinear

polynomial, at best we have
for p G H 2 (fl). If p is interpolated by a piecewise biquadratic polynomial, we

can derive a bound of C7i3/2 for p e H 2 (O). This feature yields the fractional
powers 7/4 and 3/4 in (7.72).
It is also clear that the contact pressure a can be interpolated by a continuous
piecewise quadratic polynomial, i.e., in general,
(see (7.40)). In this case, Nh could be constructed by the trace of \h; Lemma
7.3 also holds. Thus, all the results in Corollary 7.9.1 are valid. Because of the
regularity of p, we cannot expect improvement of the rate of convergence. If
we drop the incompressibility condition from the definition of the constraint
set, and if only the unilateral contact condition is treated by mixed finite
element methods, deleting all terms related to the pressure p in the above
derivation leads to the bounds,
7.5. Solution methods for the mixed finite element formulation. Using the
notation of §§ 6.4 and 6.5, we shall briefly discuss solution methods of the
mixed finite element approximation (7.36). Defining global shape functions
{</»a(x)|, {^«(x)}, and {rfa(\)} for the displacement, the hydrostatic pressure,
and the contact pressure, respectively, we have
Approximating \h, qh, and rh similarly, (7.36) reduces to the discrete system
198 CHAPTER 7
where
Because of the variational inequality (7.79), the mixed finite element

approximation (7.36) yields the discrete nonlinear problem (7.77)-(7.79).
One possible method for the numerical solution of (7.79) is Uzawa's method
described in Chapter 6. This method is based upon the equivalent algebraic
relations
(i: no summation),
I (i: no summation).
Applying these to (7.77)-(7.79) we obtain
for any p", pa, and p a >0. Here summation is not taken on a and i. The
operator "min" indicates the minimum value. If cra < 0, then (7.79) yields
since r a = cra ± efa ^ 0 for sufficiently small e > 0 and for every fa. Since
cra < 0 is required, we have to restrict ara to be nonpositive. This yields the
operator "min." The following iterative method is suggested by the structure
of (7.81): for adequately chosen numbers pf, p", pa > 0, and initial approxima-
tions °u", °pa, and V", compute
where t = 1, 2, • • • . If p", pa and pa are sufficiently small, Uzawa's method

is expected to be rapidly convergent.
Another method is constructed by introducing the "slack variable"
which implies
Suppose that s a <0 is given. Then (7.77), (7.78) and (7.79) yield the system
of linear equations
Solving this for a given sa, we obtain u", pa, and cra. Then we check o-a,
a = 1, • • • , K: If cra <0, then aa satisfies the constraint, and sa = 0 must be
set at the next iteration. If cra > 0, then the constraint is violated. Thus we
reset sa using (7.77) at the next iteration. Using the new approximation of the
slack function sa, we solve the system of linear equations (7.85), and obtain
M?, p", and aa. This process is continued until a desired accuracy is attained.
Chapter O
Alternate Variational Principles

for Signorini's Problem
8.1. Introduction. We shall now introduce several alternate variational

principles for Signorini's problem in elasticity, following the development of
the primal variational principle described in Chapter 6. These include dual
principles, in which a complementary energy formulation is used, mixed
principles of the Reissner type, and what we refer to as a reciprocal variational
principle in which the problem is formulated in terms of a surface (boundary)
integral on the contact surface Fc.
Again, these principles are given as existence theorems for several distinct
variational inequalities corresponding to different but equivalent formulations
of Signorini's problem. Each provides a basis for quite different interpretations
of solutions and for different finite element approximations.
8.2. A dual variational formulation. We shall consider a dual variational

principle which generalizes the well-known principle of complementary energy
for problems in linear elasticity so as to include contact constraints. Similar
dual principles for the Signorini problem were studied by, e.g., Valent [1].
As in § 6.2, let us assume that the domain O be of class c£1'1 so that the unit
vector n normal to the boundary F of the domain Cl is a Lipschitz function.
Suppose that Y consists of mutually disjoint open manifolds, Fc, FD, FF, and
F N such that
The boundary Fc includes the true contact surface of the body fl which is
fixed along F D . Surface tractions t will be applied on FF, and F N is a free
surface (i.e., F N can be regarded as part of F F whereon t = 0).
201
202 CHAPTER 8
We now introduce the space V* and its subset K* defined by
and
Here the given data {f, t} are assumed to belong to L2(H) x (H1/2(rF))', and
the space 3~ is defined by (5.66):
Operators IT, TTT, and irn are the trace operators for stress given in Theorems
5.10 and 5.11, and their existence is assured by the condition TG^". Recall
that if T6C°(a), then
The total ordering relation "TT,,(T)<O in (//1/2(rc))"' in the admissible set

K* means that
Next, we consider the inverse of the constitutive law <ry = EijMeM. When
conditions (5.5) hold, the fourth-order tensor E = [Eijkl] is invertible a.e. on fi
and we denote its inverse by C = [Cyw]. Then strain is related to stress by
and the functions Cijki satisfy the conditions:
(0 Cijkl(\) e L°°(n); there exists a constant Wi such that
Next, let u denote the solution of the Signorini problem (6.27) and denote
ALTERNATE VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLES 203
i.e., o-j, is the actual stress field corresponding to u. Then, for any T e K* fl CXH),
we have
Since the displacement field u is the solution of our problem, u|ro = 0, and since
we can obtain the form
where rn = ly^n,-, etc.

We refer to (8.7) as the dual variational principle for the Signorini problem
(2.38). We will now describe a more precise formulation of (8.7).
Letge// 1 / 2 (r c ), and let
Then (8.7) can be rewritten in the form
where <</», ^>r c =Jr c <fcM* for <f>eL2(Yc) and «/>e H 1/2 (F C ). Clearly, (8.9)
can also be described in terms of the constrained minimization problem,
where
Indeed, the functional F* is G-differentiate on ?T and
for every a, TG ST. The equivalence of (8.9) and (8.10) follows from Theorems
3.4 and 3.7(i).
204 CHAPTER 8
Conditions on the data f and t in (8.2) sufficient to guarantee the existence

of solutions are given in the next result.
LEMMA 8.1. For each (f, t)eL 2 (a)xH~ 1/2 (r) such that
for every FE R2, R2 being the space of rigid motions (recall (6.13)), there exists
a T 6 3~ such that
Proof. By Korn's inequalities of Theorem 5.14, there exists exactly one

u6H ! (ft)/K 2 such that
for every veHl(£l)/R2. Here u and v are cosets modulo R2 with respect to
representative elements u and v, respectively, and eij(u) = 2(uij + ujii). Set r,-, =
e 0 (u)e L 2 (ft). Taking v = <|>, <|>e 0(ft) in (8.15), we conclude that
in the sense of distributions on ft. Since ft e L 2 (ft), TI:/J e L 2 (ft), i.e., T e &. By
the generalized Green's formula (5.73),
that is, 7r(T) = tinH" 1 / 2 (r).

LEMMA 8.2. Let fte^0'1. If mes(r D )>0, then K* is nonempty for any
(f,t)eL 2 (ft)x(H 1/2 (r F ))'. Alternatively, let fte^1'1 and suppose that
mes(r D ) = 0. Then K* is nonempty, if (f, t)eL 2 (ft)x(H 1 / 2 (r F ))' satisfies
for every re R2 such that y n (r)<0 on Fc.

Proof. For the case that mes(r D )>0, a functional t D e (H 1/2 (r D ))' can
always be chosen so that
for every reR2. Then h = t D + t satisfies (8.13). Thus, K* is nonempty by

Lemma 8.1.
For the case that mes (F D ) = 0, we cannot use the above construction. From
(8.16) and the fact that fte^1'1, there exists (t c ) n e(// 1/2 (r c ))' such that
(t c ) n <Oin(H 1 / 2 (r c ))'and
Taking h = t + t c shows that such an h satisfies the condition (8.13). Then

Lemma 8.1 implies the nonemptiness of K*. D
We easily verify that K* is closed and convex. By the above lemma, the set
K* is nonempty if either mes(r D )>0 or if mes(r D ) = 0, (8.16) holds, and
He < # M . Strict convexity and G-differentiability of F* on K* also follow from
(8.6). Thus, we have
THEOREM 8.1. Let fte^1-1. // mes(r D ) = 0, let (f, t)L 2 (O)xH~ 1 / 2 (r F )
satisfy
for every r e K 2 such that yLOOÔ in Hl/2(Tc). Further, suppose that (8.6)
holds. Then there exists a unique solution cr e K* to the variational inequality
(8.9) and cr is also the unique minimizer of F* in K*.
Proof. In view of the results already established, it suffices to show that the
functional F* defined by (8.11) is coercive on K*. From (8.11) and (8.6), for
any reK*,
Since, for T € K*,
\\t\\r -*+00 if and only if \\v\\y -> +00 where & - {T{J e L 2 (O) | r(> = T,,, 1 < ij < N}
is a Hilbert space, see (5.66). Then
That is, F* is coercive on
8.3. A resolution of dual variational formulations. We have shown that there

exists a solution a e K* to the dual formulation (8.9) of Signorini's problem
(2.38). The constraint
is used in the definition of the admissible set K* of this formulation. In this

section, we relax this constraint by using penalty methods of the type discussed
in §3.5.
Let
206 CHAPTER 8
and let
for T e 3~. It is easily verified that the functional T -* P(T) is convex and
G-differentiate on 3~. Indeed,
and
where ( • , • ) is the L 2 (H) inner product. Moreover, since
the functional P defined by (8.21) is a penalty functional for the set K*.
Following the general theory of penalty methods (§ 3.5) a penalty formula-
tion of the constrained problem (8.10) can be defined by the minimization
problem
where
or, equivalently, we seek
THEOREM 8.2. Under the conditions stated in Theorem 8.1, there exists a
unique solution tre e K* to the dual penalty problem (8.25), or equivalently (8.27).
Moreover, \\<re\\g- is uniformly bounded in e if 0 < e < 1.
Proof. The existence of a solution ore e K* follows from arguments similar
to those in Theorem 8.1. We need only prove the uniform boundedness of
Putting T = 0 in (8.27) yields
Then, for e < l ,

Applying Young's inequality, we have
fore<l.
Because of the uniform boundedness of {||cFe||^} in e, we can extract a
convergent subsequence from {0%}, the weak limit of which is a solution of
the original constrained problem (8.9) or (8.10):
THEOREM 8.3. Under the same conditions as in Theorem 8.1, the sequence
{cre} converges to oreK* which satisfies the variational inequality
as e -> 0.
Proof. From the variational inequality (8.27), we have for reK*,
because -TijJ=fi. Then
Let a be the limit of a weakly convergent subsequence of {cre}, also denoted

{crj. Since the functional T-> a*(i, T) is weakly lower semicontinuous, passing
to the limit as e ^ O in (8.29) yields
We next show that the limit o-e Kj belongs to K*. For every re K*, (8.27)
implies
i.e.,
Taking lim inf e ^ 0 in the inequality, we
from which we conclude that a e K*.

Because of uniqueness of the solution to the variational inequality (8.28),
the limit of all convergent subsequences of {crE} is unique. This implies the
original {CTE} must converge to the limit
8.4. A mixed variational formulation. We next consider a "mixed"
variational formulation in which both displacements and stresses are treated
as unknown.
208 CHAPTER 8
Suppose that (u, cr) is the classical solution of the Signorini problem (2.31):
Let Cijki be the inverse of Eijkl in the sense that
for symmetric matrices or = [cr,y] and e = [e0], and let Cijkl and EiJU satisfy (8.6)
and (5.5). Then for every (v,T)eC 1 (ft)xL 2 (H) such that v = 0 on TD, vn<g
on Tc, and Tfj = rjl5 we have
and
Let ( • , •) be the L2(fl)-inner product defined by
and let
for
We now recall the admissible set K of (6.1) for Signorini's problem discussed
in § 6.2, and the space tf for stresses on the body:
and
where
Under the assumption that
the constraint set K can be represented by
Using the above notation, (8.32) and (8.33) can be rewritten in the form
Alternatively, if we define
(8.32) and (8.33) can be defined as a saddle point problem,
We also observe that
i.e., ((d/du)L(cr, u))(v) can be identified with the duality pairing on (H'({l))'x
H'(ft),
Likewise, if (8.6) holds,

210 CHAPTER 8
Then ((d/da)L(a, U))(T) can be identified with the duality pairing on S^'x5^
according to
The first inequality in (8.43) implies (8.32) and the second inequality implies
(8.33). In fact, from the first inequality in (8.43), we obtain
by taking v = (1 - 0)u + 0w, 6 e [0,1]. Dividing by 6 > 0, taking the limit 6 -* 0,

and using (8.44), we obtain
for every weK, which is precisely (8.32), i.e., (8.41 ) 2 . Similarly, from the
second inequality in (8.43),
where we have replaced T by a ± 0T e !? in (8.43). Dividing by 0 > 0 and taking

the limit 0 -» 0 gives
which we recognize as (8.33) or (8.41),. Thus, (8.41) characterizes saddle points

of the functional L of (8.42) under the assumptions stated above.
From (8.6),
and for a > 0,
Indeed, for a given ve V the choice of
yields, for any v e V,
Applying Korn's inequality (6.17) for the case that mesr D >0, we have
Thus,
Taking a = m yields (8.48). If mes r D = 0, then Korn's inequality (6.17) is not

directly applicable.
Having established these results, the following theorem for the existence of
a saddle point (cr, u) e y x K follows immediately from Theorem 3.14.
THEOREM 8.4. Let fls < # 1>1 and let (5.5), (8.6), and (8.36) hold. Suppose that
mes FD > 0. Then there exists a unique solution (or, u) e tf x K to the saddle point
problem (8.43). Moreover, (or, u ) e 5 ^ x K is also a solution of the variational
problem (8.41).
We remark that the interpretation of the solution (or, u) of (8.41) as a weak
solution of the Signorini problem (2.31) parallels that discussed in detail in
§6.3.
8.5. Finite element approximations of the dual problem. Let V/,, K/,, and Sh
be finite element approximations of V, K, and y, respectively, such that K/, is
a closed convex subset of \h. Suppose that there exists a positive number
ah > 0 satisfying
Further, let us suppose for simplicity that the domain O of the problem is
exactly covered by finite elements. Then, with these conventions in force, we
introduce the following finite element approximation of (8.41):
Find (<rh,uh)€ShxKh:
The corresponding saddle point problem is of the form
where
LEMMA 8.3. Let (a, u) and (vh,uh) be solutions to problems (8.41) and
(8.51), respectively. Then the following estimate holds for every The^T\Sh,
212 CHAPTER 8
vêK,,, and v e K :
Proof. From (8.41)! and (8.51)!, we have
Applying (8.54),
Since (8.41 )2 and (8.51)2 yield
we can obtain (8.53) from (8.55). Indeed,
Applying arguments similar to those used in the proof in § 4.5 we can

construct the following estimates.
THEOREM 8.5. Let (a,u) and ((rhtuh) be solutions of (8.41) and (8.51),
respectively and let cr^£L2(F), i = 1, • • • , N. Suppose that Sh^y and that
(8.50) holds. Then there exist positive constants Ci andQ, independent of (cr, u)
and (cr/,,11,,), such that
and
for every th e Sh, \h e K/,, and ve K.

Proof. 1) We first note the characterization of the solution (a, u) of (8.41).

Because of feL 2 (il), Green's formula (5.73) implies
Then
2) Applying (8.50),
It follows from the triangle inequality that
3) On the other hand, from (8.53) and (8.59), we have
After substituting (8.60) into the inequality (8.61) and applying Young's
inequality, we obtain the estimate (8.56). Here we have used the fact that
Va + b < \Ta + \fb for ct>0, b>0. Then (8.57) is easily concluded from
(8.60). D
Let us now introduce interpolation properties of finite element approxima-
tions, following §4.1. Let
and
214 CHAPTER 8
where ^ fc (n e ) is the space of all polynomials, the order of the complete part
df which is equal to k defined on fl e c fl, e = 1, • • • , E, and 2C is the set of
all nodal points on the boundary Fc. It is clear that Sh c y. Making use of
the interpolation properties listed in § 4.1, we see that interpolants v 7 € \h and
j'eSa of veH k + 1 (n) and TeH k (ft), respectively, can be found such that
for sufficiently regular families of elements and refinements of the mesh.

THEOREM 8.6. Letk^l, and let fie <#0>1. Let (a, u) and (a/,, u/,) be solutions
o/(8.41) and (8.51), respectively, and let the interpolation properties (8.65) hold
for \h and Sh. Further, suppose that Kh is defined by (8.64) and that
where ah is the positive number appearing in the stability condition (8.50) and
h is the mesh parameter. If areH k (n) and u€H f c + 1 (ft), then numbers C,,
i = 1, • • • , 4, exist, independent ofh, such that
and
Proof. It suffices to note that neL°°(r) since fte < tf° fl . Estimates (8.67) and
(8.68) then follow from (8.56), (8.57), (8.65), and (8.66).
We have obtained error estimates for the finite element approximation (8.51)
in terms of parameters k and 8. We now consider particular choices of finite
elements for Vh and Sh, and obtain 8 for each case.
Examples. Let flc R 2 be divided into triangular elements, and let k = 1; that
is, the components of vh are linear polynomials and th is a constant function
on each finite element fl e . Then
Taking
for a given \h e \h, we can obtain
Thus, from Korn's inequality (6.17),
This means that
On the other hand K,, c K since k - 1. Then taking vn = uhn in (8.67) yields
Therefore
for C = C(||u|| 2 , Hall,), if ueH 2 (ft), aeH^H), and fte <g u .

Similar arguments can be applied for the choice of k = 2 with triangular
elements. That is, if \h is approximated by a conforming piecewise quadratic
polynomial, and if rh is interpolated by a nonconforming piecewise linear
polynomial, then
for an appropriate 3-point numerical integration rule /( ) on triangles (see

Zienkiewicz [1, p. 201]). Taking TMj = eij(vh) at the integration points reveals
the existence of ah = C > 0 such that
Thus, 5 = 0 and (8.67) yield the estimate
for a sufficiently smooth domain O and solutions u and CT.
8.6. A reciprocal variational formulation. In this section, we consider a

special variational formulation which differs considerably from those discussed
216 CHAPTER 8
thus far. We refer to it as a reciprocal formulation as it involves the inverse of

the elasticity operator appearing in standard variational statements of equili-
brium problems in linear elasticity. This particular formulation is characterized
by a variational inequality involving integrals on only the candidate contact
boundary Fc in which the true contact area is contained.
To fix ideas, it is convenient to first investigate certain aspects of the
unconstrained problem, i.e., the principle of minimum potential energy for a
body without the complications of contact conditions. For this purpose, we
assume that (5.5) holds, mes (r D )>0, and H € <#0>1. Then Korn's inequalities
of Lemma 6.1, the results of § 6.2, and Theorem 3.4 guarantee the existence
of a unique solution u e V of the problem
where a( •, •) is the usual symmetric continuous coercive bilinear form on V x V,
and V is our usual subspace of HÔ),
Again, / is a given continuous linear functional on V, e.g.,
for
In this case, (8.71) is equivalent to the variational equality,
If {•, •) denotes duality pairing on V x V, the bilinear form a( •, •) can be

used to define a linear operator A:V-» V bysetting
Formally, in V0<=^ V, A is the elasticity operator
which is the gradient of the strain energy functional \a(\, v). In view of (8.72),
the operator A is linear, continuous, and V-elliptic;
for every u, u e V . It follows that A is bijective and that A has an inverse

G = A"1: V'-» V. Indeed, if f and g are arbitrary elements of V, then
Thus, if || • ||f is the norm defined on the dual space V,
Therefore, the inverse operator G is continuous and V'-elliptic:
Returning to (8.76) and (8.77), we observe that since (8.76) can be written
in the abstract form
the solution u of (8.76) can be expressed as
In order to be more specific about typical generalized forces /e V, we recall

Sobolev's imbedding theorem (1.27) and the trace theorems in § 5.2. Let a
functional /e V be defined by,
where £ = interior of P-P D , and y^ is the trace map. Then if v e V , i.e.,

ve H'(n) and if N = 2, Sobolev's imbedding theorem and the trace theorems
imply that
Thus, whenever
the functional / defined by (8.84) is continuous on V, i.e., the assumption

(8.75) can be replaced by (8.85).
Note that if JV = 2, then H'(n)£ C°(ft) by (1.27). This means that if a, is
a given point in the domain O, then the form
is no longer meaningful as a functional on H^H). For example, a point load

inside the domain cannot be considered in our variational arguments on H'(fl)
for N = 2.
218 CHAPTER 8
Let us now return to the Signorini problem. In the present study, the
kinematical restriction on possible deformations is given by
instead of
If g(0) = 0, i.e., if the gap function takes on a zero value at the origin, the
new constraint physically represents the situation in which the rigid support
(more precisely, a rigid body or punch) is indented into the body and its initial
depth of penetration is specified as a. If the shape of the rigid punch is
arbitrary, the contact surface and pressure are unknown a priori, even though
the depth a of indentation of the rigid punch is given. Thus, Signorini's
problems include a class of rigid punch problems if the constraint is defined
within some given constant a.
Now the stress condition for the Signorini problem is given by
where crn is the normal stress on the boundary F. Combining the kinematical
and stress contact conditions, we have
In the primal variational formulation, we have emphasized the primal structure

of the contact condition (8.87), that is, (8.87) is equivalently written
on rc, when crn and un are defined pointwise on the boundary Fc.
We now focus on the reciprocal structure of the contact condition (8.87), i.e.,
on Fc. If the normal displacement un is determined by the normal stress (i.e.,

pressure) an, say un = ^(a-n), (8.89) assumes the standard form common to
variational inequalities. We will now develop a variational formulation
embodying such a "reciprocal" contact condition using the inverse operator
G described above.
Suppose that the generalized force /e V consists of three components: the
body force feL 2 (H), the boundary traction te (H 1/2 (r F ))', and the contact
pressure which is unknown a priori. From this point onward,
we will denote by p the contact pressure which equals o~n on Fc. Since the
inverse operator G is linear on V, the resultant displacement u due to the

generalized force / can be decomposed as follows:
where, with obvious notation,
Here, ueH^ft) if feL 2 (H), t€ (H 1/2 (r F ))', and pe (f/ 1/2 (r c ))'. Then, if
fie ( # u , the normal trace of u, i.e.,
where
belongs to H 1/2 (F C ), as shown in § 5.2. Here we have assumed that
Therefore, the pointwise reciprocal relation (8.89) leads to the variational

inequality
where
and
Here ( - , -)r c is the duality pairing on (H 1 / 2 (r c ))'x J/ 1/2 (r c ), and the partial
order "^s" follows from (3.19), in §3.1. We refer to (8.95) as a reciprocal
variational inequality.
Since G is positive definite on V, the variational inequality (8.95) is
equivalent to the following constrained minimization on KR:
where
Since G is positive definite on V, the functional FR is strictly convex, G-

differentiable, and coercive on KR. It is also clear that the set KR is a closed
convex and nonempty subset of (H 1/2 (F C ))'. Thus, we have
220 CHAPTER 8
THEOREM 8.7. Let mes(r D )>0 and let fte c£1>1. Suppose that (5.5) holds.
Suppose that G is the inverse of the operator A defined by (8.77).
Then there exists a unique solution pe KR to the problem (8.95), i.e.,
or equivalently, to the minimization problem (8.98), i.e.,
One of the advantages of the formulation is that the problem itself is reduced
to one involving functions defined only on the contact surface Tc. It is then
often possible to approximate the system using considerably fewer unknowns
than with the formulations derived previously. Moreover, the inverse operator
G does not depend upon the applied force (f, t) and the gap function g between
the elastic body and the rigid foundation. This property can be used to
advantage in designing economical solution methods for cases in which a large
number of loading conditions and initial gap functions need to be considered.
Remark 8.6.1. It is necessary to distinguish between the operator A: V-» V
defined by (8.77) and the operator s&:\-*\' defined by
Since C*(ft) is densely imbedded in the space Ho(ft), the operator M is

formally given by
in the sense of distributions on ft. The operator si then is called the formal
operator determined by the duality pairing (A(u), v) of (8.77).
Let us define the set
Then we can consider the functional on V defined by
which defines the difference between A(u) and jtf(u). Here ( • , • )o denotes the
inner product on L 2 (ft). Roughly speaking, the difference <£ represents the
boundary conditions which are imbedded in the definition of the functional
A(u). In Theorem 5.12, we observed that
for the case in which V = H^ft), e.g., FD = 0. Thus the inverse G of A is not
simply the inverse of the differential operator ^(-) defined by (8.100). More
details on arguments such as these can be found in the book of Showaiter [1],
8.7. A numerical method for reciprocal formulations. We now consider

numerical solutions obtained using the reciprocal variational inequality (8.95)
and the projectional SOR method. As shown previously, the Signorini problem
can be represented by the following variational inequality involving the Green's
operator:
where
and
Here p is the contact pressure, f and t are applied body forces and tractions,
the subscript "n" denotes quantities associated with the outward normal unit
vector n to the boundary F, and the Green's operator G is the inverse of the
linear positive definite operator A defined by (8.77). In general, explicit closed
forms for Green's operator are not available except for a few simple cases
such as for semi-infinite domains. Thus, it must generally be approximated
numerically.
Suppose that f i h = n < = I R 2 . First, the bilinear form (8.77) is discretized by
finite element methods and a "discrete operator" [A] is obtained:
Here {V} and {U} are generalized displacement vectors corresponding to

components of v/, and uh, respectively, and [A] is the positive definite matrix
on the set
The total number of nodal points of the finite element model is assumed to
be P, and 2 D is the set of all nodal points on the boundary F D . Then the
approximation of Green's operator [G] is identified with the inverse of [A] on
the set RD. A
Let components of a matrix [C] related to G be given by
where 2C is the set of all nodal points on Fc.

Noting that the variational inequality (8.103) is defined only on the boundary
Fc, the approximation of (8.103) becomes
222 CHAPTER 8
where
and Mc is the total number of nodal points on the possible contact surface Fc.
The inequality (8.109) can be solved by the projectional SOR method, which
assumes the form
(i) Choose the initial trial vector {P1} as an approximation of {P} so that
(ii) Calculate {P'+1} by
(iii) Continue the procedure (ii) until a sufficiently small tolerance e is

reached, where
Since the matrix [G] is positive definite on RD, the compliance matrix [C]
for the unilateral contact is also positive definite. Then, as shown in Glowinski,
Lions and Tremolieres [1], the projectional SOR method described in above
converges as the number of iterations t -> oo on the constraint set Rh for any
value of the iteration parameter <o such that 0 < a> < 2.
It is also clear that the discrete variational inequality (8.109) can also be
solved using the penalty method. Indeed, for penalty formulations, the vari-
ational inequality (8.109) is approximated by the equation
for an arbitrary e > 0, where {P*} is defined by P^, = max (0, Pe,} for 1 0.

Since the equation (8.115) is linear at each iteration step, (8.115) can be
resolved by standard linear system solvers. Although {P°} = {0} is chosen as
the starting vector in the iteration scheme (8.115), the successive iteration
scheme usually converges within a few iterations in most applications.
In most practical problems, the size of the compliance matrix [C] for contact
is relatively small and both the projectional SOR and the penalty methods
prove to be quite efficient and effective for problems of this type.
We further note that the full inverse [G] of the matrix [A] is not used in
the construction of the [C] matrix described above. That is, the inverse [G]
need be obtained only for entries which are associated with the contact
conditions.
We recall that the jth column of the inverse [G] of the invertible matrix
[A] is the solution of the linear system
where {i,} is the unit vector such that
Moreover, since the contact pressure occurs only on the contact surface, we
need solve (8.116) only for j related to 2C. Therefore, once the upper-triangular
factor [Av] of the matrix [A] is obtained, the vector {g} and the part of the
inverse matrix [G] which is used to construct the matrix [C] are easily
calculated by using (8.116).
Example 8.1 (contact of an almost incompressible hollow cylinder). The
reciprocal formulation and the projectional SOR method described in (8.109),
(8.111) and (8.112) were used to solve the contact probem of an elastic hollow
cylinder on a rigid foundation shown in Fig. 8.1(a). The material of the elastic
ring is assumed to be almost incompressible: v = 0.499, and Young's modulus
E - 1000. The inner and outer radii are r = 4 and R = 8, respectively, and a
FIG. 8.1(a). Elastic ring on rigid foundation.

224 CHAPTER 8
FIG. 8.1(b). Finite element model for Example 8.1.
uniform line force is applied along the top of cylinder. Using symmetry, we
take only a quarter of the cross section to define a finite element model. Ten
9-node biquadratic isoparametric elements are used as shown in Fig. 8.1(b)
and the selective reduced integration method is applied to form the stiffness
matrix in order to avoid locking solutions, as in Example 6.5. The stiffness
matrix is formed and inverted after applying the boundary condition along
the y-axis and the constrained displacement on the top surface. Then the 9x9
compliance matrix (8.108) is generated, and the variational inequality (8.109)
is solved by the projectional SOR method with w = 1.0. In these numerical
experiments, the method converged at the 12th iteration for a tolerance of
10~4. The computed deformed configuration and the contact pressure are
illustrated in Fig. 8.1(c).
The stiffness due to near incompressibility is resolved by the selective reduced
integration method using a 2 x 2 Gaussian rule to integrate the term related
FlG. 8.1(c). Numerical results for Example 8.1.
to the virtual work due to volumetric change. This avoids an over-constrained

state in the finite element approximation using the nine-node quadrilateral
isoparametric element. Other parts of the virtual work are integrated using a
3 x 3 Gaussian rule. Details of the analysis of such penalized problems for
almost incompressible materials can be found in Oden, Kikuchi and Song [1]
and Kikuchi and Song [1].
8.8. A reciprocal formulation of a rigid punch problem. A reciprocal vari-

ational principle can also be constructed for more general rigid punch prob-
lems. Again, an advantage of such formulations from the point of view of
approximations is that the problem can be completely defined in terms of the
contact pressure exerted on the surface if Green's operator G for the foundation
226 CHAPTER 8
is known. In particular, in the case of an isotropic, hdmogeneous, semi-infinite

foundation, the operator G can be obtained easily.
For simplicity, only plane problems are considered here, and the possible
contact surface Fc of the foundation ft is assumed to be flat, as shown in Fig.
8.2. Both identation and rotation of the rigid punch are allowed in the present
analysis. Then, as shown in § 6.7, the contact conditions on Fc are given by
(kinematical restriction), .
(stress restriction),
(frictionless condition).
Here a and 6 are the depth of indentation and the rotation of the rigid punch,
respectively, and g is the gap between Fc and the surface of the rigid punch.
Furthermore, if the rigid punch is not fixed, the total applied force and moment
have to be balanced by the total reacting force and moment, i.e.,
if o-22 and (T22x} are integrable on Fc, where P and T are given applied force
and moment around the x3-axis on the rigid punch. The force P is naturally
assumed to be positive.
Let u and cr be sufficiently smooth and let q be an arbitrary function such that
FIG. 8.2. A model of a rigid punch problem.

Then, if u and a satisfy (8.118) and (8.119), we have
Here we have used the fact that
For simplicity in notation, we set
Then, for every q which satisfies (8.120), the following integral inequality is
obtained:
We next consider a variational formulation to (8.121). To this end, we return

to the Green operator G of the foundation discussed in § 8.5.
Suppose that the foundation ft is fixed on a portion FD of its boundary F,
and that mes (F D )>0. Then the linear operator A: V-» V defined by (8.77) is
invertible and we denote A~} - G as in § 8.4. Then, once the body force
feL 2 (fl), the surface traction te(H 1/2 (F F ))', and the (unknown) contact
pressure pe (H 1/2 (F C ))', are given, the displacement field u can be expressed
in the form (recall (8.90))
where
Supposejhat ueH ! (ft), its trace y(u) belongs to H 1/2 (F), and g£// 1 / 2 (F c ).
Then if Fc c int (F-F D ),
Thus, in analogy to condition (8.121) for smooth u and cr, we have the reciprocal
variational inequality
where
228 CHAPTER 8
and
Here "1" in the definition of KR represents functions of unit value almost

everywhere on Tc, and {•, • >Fc is the duality pairing on
Using the symmetry of G, the variational inequality (8.125) can be alterna-
tively formulated as the constrained minimization problem
where
As shown in § 8.5, the functional FR is strictly convex, G-differenti-

able, and coercive on V, if mes (r D ) > 0 and if ft e (#0>1. Moreover, closedness
and convexity of the set KR in (Hl/2(Tc)Y are clear. Thus, if KR is nonempty
for given data P and T, there exists a unique solution pe KR to the minimi-
zation problem (8.128), and, then, equivalently to the variational inequality
(8.125). Before pursuing this question, we summarize the results established
up to this point.
THEOREM 8.8. Let ft e <#0>1 and let mes (F D ) > 0, let Yc be a flat surface.
Suppose that the elasticities EiJM satisfy (5.5). Then there exists a unique solution
pe KR to the variational inequality (8.125) or, equivalently, to the minimization
problem (8.128), provided the data (P, T) is given so that the admissible set KR
is nonempty.
The solution pe KR is identified with the contact pressure and the portion
of r c such that
is the true contact surface if p is continuous on Fc.

We now provide a sufficient condition for nonemptiness of the set KR. To
this end, suppose that the rigid punch occupies an interval ( d l ) d 2 ) in the
x-axis in which the origin is included. That is, the left limit of the punch is
located at x = dl < 0, and the right limit of the punch is located at x = d2 > 0.
Let e be an arbitrary small positive number, and let Qi and Q2 be some
positive number. Define a function q on Fc = ( d l } d2) by
Here Fc has been identified with the interval (dl, d2) of the rigid punch, since
the rotation 8 of the rigid punch around the origin has been assumed to be
infinitesimal. It is clear that q e (f/ 1/2 (F c ))' and q > 0. Next we solve the system
for Qi and Q2, and we obtain
Thus, if
(8.131)
then Q,e and Q2e (i.e., Q, and Q2) are positive numbers. This means that if
the data (P, T), P> 0, satisfies the compatibility condition (8.131), a function
q can be constructed on Fc as in (8.130) which satisfies constraints in KR,
i.e., qzKR.
THEOREM 8.9. If condition (8.131) is satisfied by the data (P, T), P>0, then
the set KR of (8.126) is nonempty.
Physically, the compatibility condition (8.131) means that the given moment
T should be small enough so that the rigid punch remains in contact with the
foundation after undergoing rotation.
8.9. Numerical method for rigid punch problems by reciprocal formulations.

We describe here a numerical method of the problem of a rigid punch indented
into a semi-infinite homogeneous isotropic linearly elastic foundation using
the reciprocal formulation discussed in the previous section. Only plane
problems are considered here; the semi-infinite domain (1 is identified with
the set R2d = {(x, y) e R2| 0 < y < d}.
According to Fung [1, pp. 247-248], the formula for the deflection of the
surface of the semi-infinite foundation subjected to a point load P at the origin
is
where d is the depth from the surface to the point where the vertical displace-
ment is zero. Then, if a pressure p is applied along Fc, the vertical displacement
230 CHAPTER 8
of the surface becomes
where
Then the variational inequality (8.125) becomes
where
Here P and T are the total force and moment applied to the rigid punch. We
note that the operator G in (8.135) is defined by (8.133).
Let the domain Fc be divided into Mc -1 segments {Fc}^"1, and let 2C
be the set of all nodal points of Fc. Let fa be the global interpolation function
of the ath nodal point defined by
Suppose that <je(// 1/2 (F c ))' is approximated by
That is, since <M*)e L2(YC), the functional q on (H(Fc))' is assumed to

be approximated by an L 2 (F C ) function. Moreover, duality pairing ( • , • )r
on
c
1/2 1/2
(// (F c ))'x# (r c ) can then be computed by
Then
where
Suppose that u e H 1/2 (r c ) is also approximated according to
That is, the smooth function u€// 1 / 2 (T c ) is approximated by the piecewise

step function belonging to L 2 (F C ). Then (8.141) becomes
On the other hand, from (8.133),
where here and hereafter we sum repeated Greek indices. Putting
yields
Then the variational inequality (8.135) can be approximated by
where
Putting
yields
Thus the variational inequality (8.135) is approximated by (8.148). By the

change of variables
(a: no sum),
232 CHAPTER 8
(8.146)-(8.148) become
(8.150)
(a: no sum)
and
i
The matrix GQ/3 defined by (8.144) can be explicitly obtained by using the
formula
Indeed,
where
We now introduce an iterative scheme to obtain the solution of the variational

inequality (8.152). This algorithm is again a variant of Uzawa's method:
(i) Choose an initial guess ({/>?}, al, 00 such that p\^0, I ^ a =£ N.
(ii) Using ({p"}, a,, 6,), t = 1, 2, • • • , obtain the (f + l)th approximation
{#"+,} by
(iii) Obtain a,+, and 0,+1 by

(iv) Continue iterations (ii) and (iii) until sufficiently small tolerances ep,
ea, and ee are obtained:
The above iterative scheme converges for sufficiently small iteration factors;
CD, pa, and p6, as shown in Glowinski, Lions and Tremolieres [1, Chap. 1].
Example 8.2 (a Hertz problem by the reciprocal formulation). Suppose that
a rigid infinitely long circular cylinder is indented into a semi-infinite
homogeneous isotropic linearly elastic foundation. This can be modeled as a
plane strain problem. We suppose that the boundary Fc is larger than the
width of the rigid punch, i.e., the diameter 2R of the cross section of the
cylinder, is 16 and the size of Fc is 20 in the example.
Our model of Fc consists of the twenty uniform segments with Young's
modulus £ = 1000 and Poisson's ratio ^ = 0.3. The depth d, see (8.132), is
assumed to be d -15. The iteration factor a) in (8.155) is set as w = 1.0. The
calculated distribution of the contact pressure is shown in Fig. 8.3 together
FIG. 8.3. Hertz problems for a semi-infinite foundation. From N. Kikuchi [4], Journal of Structural
Mechanics. Copyright 1979 Marcel Dekker, Inc.
234 CHAPTER 8
with the Hertz solution. A somewhat smaller value of the contact pressure is
obtained around the center of the punch. However, very good agreement with
the Hertz solution is obtained.
Example 8.3 (semi-infinite foundation with irregular punch). Consider the
semi-infinite foundation in Example 8.2. Suppose that either of the two rigid
punches in Fig. 8.4(a) are indented into the foundation by the application of
a force P and a moment T. In these cases, the condition (8.131), i.e., Pdl<T<
Pd2 has to be satisfied by the force P and moment T in order that a solution
exists. The forces and moments used satisfy this condition.
For Model 1, we choose as the iteration factors o>, pQ, p6 in (8.155) and
(8.156):
Convergence of the projectional SOR method is obtained in 99, 48, and 99

iterations for the cases 7=100, 7 = 500, and 7 = 750, respectively. Here
tolerances ep, ea and ee are chosen as follows:
FIG. 8.4(a). Discrete model of the semi-infinite foundation for Example 8.3.
FIG. 8.4(b). Numerical results for Model 1 in Example 8.3.
Computed deformed shapes of the surface of the foundation are shown in

Fig. 8.4(b).
Similar calculation methods are used for Model 2. Numerical results are
shown in Fig. 8.4(c).
If the linearly elastic foundation is identified with a semi-infinite domain
in the three-dimensional field R 3 , the Boussinesq solution yields the following
relation between the displacement and the contact pressure:
FIG. 8.4(c). Numerical results for Model 1 in Example 8.3.

236 CHAPTER s
Here isotropy and homogeneity of the foundation are assumed, v is the Poisson
ratio, and JJL is the shear modulus.
Exactly the same variational form as (8.125) is obtained for this problem
for the case of a three-dimensional semi-infinite domain:
where
for a given applied force P and moments Tx and Ty on the punch. Here g is
the gap function to the foundation. A proper discretization to (8.160) yields
a form similar to (8.148) which is again solved by Uzawa's iteration method.
In the above discussion, we neglected all other stress components except
the normal contact pressure p. However, we have to deal with the case that
the tangential stress is prescribed on the surface Fc if friction effects are taken
into account for rigid punch problems. If the tangential stresses
are prescribed on the surface Fc, these produce the normal displacement
where
and A is the first Lame constant. Then the gap function g in (8.160) must be
replaced by g + vv3. The form (8.163) is derived from the Cerruti solution found
in Love [1, § 166]. Some further details on friction problems are discussed in
Chapters 11 and 12.
The reciprocal method described above is quite useful for solving contact
problems if contact surfaces are almost flat and if the solutions of Boussinesq
and Cerruti provide good approximations of the displacement and stress fields.
Indeed, this approach has been widely used to determine contact areas and
pressures; see e.g. Singh and Paul [1], Hartnett [1], Kalker [2], and others.
Although the solutions of Boussinesq and Cerruti are obtained for the semi-
infinite domain whose surface is flat, they are often applied even for smooth
curved contact surfaces with good approximation. Extensions to two-body
contact problems are taken up in the next section.
8.10. Reciprocal methods for two-body contact problems. To illustrate the

application of the reciprocal method to two-body contact problems, we follow
Kikuchi [10] and consider contact problems shown in Fig. 8.5. Suppose that
there are no other tractions on the boundary of the second body O b except
the unknown contact pressure p on Fc. Let the equilibrium of the second
body H b be characterized by the principle of virtual work, e.g.
where
Eijk, is the elasticity tensor of H6, f 6 is the force body applied in £lh, and F6
is the boundary of H6. Then, as shown in § 8.6, (8.165) can be solved to yield
where N is the unit vector outward normal to the boundary F6,, G is the inverse
of the operator A defined as in (8.82) using the bilinear form b ( - , • ) of (8.166),
and u is the displacement due to the body force f b ,
Using this, the contact condition (6.108) to two-body contact problems can
be represented by
FIG. 8.5. A model of two-body contact problems.

238 CHAPTER 8
that is,
where n is the unit vector outward and normal to the boundary YC of the first
body ft0 and gR is the gap function between two surfaces YC and YC-
Approximating N = -n on the contact surface, we have
where
Noting that p<0 on Ybc, i.e., p < 0 on YC, (8.169) yields
for every q < 0 on YC, if all the terms are smooth enough to have an integrable
integrand in (8.171). In general, (8.171) is represented by the duality pairing
ON
where
On the other hand, if the equilibrium of the first body fla is considered
under the assumption that the contact pressure p is known, we have the virtual
work principle,
where
and
(8.176) Va = {v6H I (n a )|y(v) = OonrS,}.
Here E°jM is the elasticity tensor of the first body H fl and Ya is the boundary
of (la. Therefore, two body contact problems are formulated by the system of
inequalities
It is noted that the system (8.177) is also obtained as the characterization of

a saddle point (ua, p) of the Lagrangian
Indeed the relation
yields (8.177); see Theorem 3.13. Since a ( - , •) is a coercive and continuous

bilinear form if E°jk{ satisfies condition (5.5) and since G is elliptic on
(H 1/2 (Fc))' according to (8.80), it can be easily proved that (8.179) has a
unique solution (u fl , p)e V° x N whenever mes(ro)>0 and mes(Fo)>0.
Therefore, the formulation (8.177) is also meaningful for two-body contact
problems.
One solution method for (8.177) is the successive iteration method: Assuming
°p e N, we solve ( r u a , 'p) e N by using
for t = 1,2, • • • . Details of the finite element approximations and of the solution
method are essentially the same as those discussed in Chapter 6 and in previous
sections of this chapter.
Chapter 9
Contact Problems for Large

Deflections of Elastic Plates
9.1. Introduction. Among the most important contact problems encountered

in structural mechanics applications are those involving the deformation of
thin elastic beams or plates which bend or buckle out-of-plane and then come
in contact with adjacent supporting structures. These problems are highly
nonlinear: unlike the problems examined in previous chapters, the operators
appearing in the governing equations are nonlinear and of fourth order; there
frequently exist multiple solutions, and considerations of bifurcations in sol-
utions is a necessary part of the analysis.
In this chapter, we consider some representative problems in this area. In
particular, we focus on the problem of large transverse deflections, including
buckling and post-buckling behavior, of thin elastic plates subjected to trans-
verse and in-plane loads, for which the lateral motion of the plate is restrained
by the presence of a flat frictionless foundation a distance b from the under-
formed plane of the plate, as indicated in Fig. 9.1.
The classical theory of von Karman [1] provides an acceptable model of
phenomena of the type indicated in the figure. According to the von Karman
theory, the transverse deflection in tangential (in-plane) components of dis-
placement ua (a = 1,2) of a point on the middle surface of a flat elastic plate,
in equilibrium under the action of transverse loads of intensity / per unit area
satisfy the system of nonlinear partial differential equations
where D — Et3/\2(l - v2} is the flexural rigidity of the plate (a constant),

u = (MJ , M 2 ), t is the thickness, and <ra/3(u, w) is the membrane (in-plane) stress
241
242 CHAPTER 9
tensor:
Here 1 < a, ft, A, /A < 2, commas denote differentiations with respect to the
material coordinates xa, E is Young's modulus and v is Poisson's ratio; ft c (R2
is the middle plane of the plate while in its undeflected reference configurations.
In the case of a clamped plate, we have as boundary conditions
whereas, for a simply supported plate, fixed along F, and subjected to applied
in-plane tractions Sa on F2 (F = F, UF 2 ), we have
where Mn is the "normal" bending moment,
In physical situations such as those indicated in Fig. 9.1, the transverse

displacement w must satisfy the inequality constraint,
Clearly, if w > -b, then the plate does not come in contact with the foundation
and equations (9.1) hold throughout the domain ft. On the other hand, if
w = — b, the plate comes in contact with the rigid foundation and there is a
transverse reaction for p = p(*i , x2) developed on the plate. Thus, p(x,, x2) = 0
if w(xl, x2) > —b and p(x^, x2) > 0 if M>(XI , x2) = —b, (xlx2) e ft, and we have
The net transverse force is then p+f, where/ is given in (9.1)!.

In the present chapter, we consider the analysis and approximation of a
class of nonlinear contact problems of the type characterized by (9.1)-(9.7).
For definiteness, we shall concentrate our attention on the problem of a simply
supported plate subjected to in-plane tractions as in (9.4), so that the model
problem under consideration is governed by the system
where
CONTACT PROBLEMS FOR LARGE DEFLECTIONS 243
FIG. 9.1. Examples of large deflections and buckling of thin plates with lateral constraints. Reprinted
in modified form with permission from K. Ohtake, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [1], Computer
Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1980 Elsevier Science Publishers.
and o-ap(u, H>) and Mn(w) are defined in (9.2) and (9.5), respectively. We note,
however, that the methods and results we develop in subsequent sections are
easily modified so as to apply to other choices of boundary conditions.
The study of unilateral problems for von Karman plates has been considered
by a number of authors. We mention, in particular, the work of Duvaut and
Lions [2], Naumann [1], John and Naumann [1], Do [1], and Ohtake, Oden
and Kikuchi [1]. Much of present study is based on this latter work, wherein
more details of the analysis can be found. The use of finite element methods
for the numerical analysis of problems of this type has been discussed by
Ohtake, Oden and Kikuchi [2] and a summary of the methods and results in
their paper is given in the present chapter.
9.2. Variational formulation. We shall now describe a variational principle

governing the nonlinear plate problem (9.8). Throughout this analysis, we take
244 CHAPTER 9
O to be a connected, bounded, Lipschitz domain in IR2 with boundary F. We

begin by introducing the spaces
and the forms
where /e L2(O) and Sa e L2(r2), = 1, 2.

Clearly, the spaces Z(H) and M(ft) are Hilbert spaces. For we Wm'"(fl)
and ue W m>p (n), we denote norms, as usual, by
and we endow Z(ft) and M(ft) with norms || • ||2(2 and || • ||li2, respectively. It
is then not difficult to show that constants Ci, c\, c2, c 2 >0 exist such that (see,
e.g. Naumann [1])
The various forms defined in (9.10)-(9.13) have an important physical

interpretation. The quantity Â(w, w) represents the strain energy in the plate
due to bending, iJ3(u, u) is the strain energy due to in-plane deformations of

the middle surface, excluding the effects of finite rotations w,a on the net
transverse forces, and a(u, w, w) represents the potential energy of the com-
ponents of membrane stress acting in a direction normal to the undeformed
middle plane due to the rotations w,a of the middle surface. The quantity
/(w, u), of course, represents the negative of the potential energy of the external
forces / and Sa (or, equivalently, the "virtual work" done by the external
forces due to admissible (virtual) displacements w and u a ). It follows that the
total potential energy of the plate is given by the functional,
We easily verify that F is G-differentiable on M(O) x Z(H) and that
where
It seems natural to continue characterizing the solutions of equilibrium

problems as minimizer's of the total potential energy F subject to some
constraint. For the unilateral plate problem (9.8), we take as the constraint set
We easily verify that K is a nonempty, closed, convex subset of Z(H). Thus,

from the theory outlined in Chapter 3 and considering (9.16), we are led to
the following variational principle:
The relationship between (9.19) and the "classical formulation" (9.8) is not
difficult to establish. By direct substitution, we can easily verify that any
solution of (9.8) is also a solution of (9.19). Moreover, if (u, w) e M(ft) x Z(H)
is a solution of (9.19), then an integration by parts shows that
provided /G L 2 (fl) and Sa e L 2 (F 2 ), i.e. (9.8) holds in a certain distributional

sense. By "/>>0 in 3)'(fl)" (or in the sense of distributions) we mean the
246 CHAPTER 9
following: let S>+(n) = {0eS>(a)|0>0}. Then 2>+(H) is a positive cone of

test functions. We then define a distribution pe2>'(Cl) to be nonnegative,
written p s 0, whenever (p, 0)2, ^ 0 V</> e ^(O), where < •, • )D denotes duality
pairing on 2>'(ft)x®(n). Finally, we note that if H is Lipschitzian and
w e W4'2(a) 0 Z(n), then p e L2(n), <ra/3(u, w) 6 H'(O), and
the relationship of the variational problem (9.19) and problem (9.8) is thus
clear.
There remains the question of whether or not solutions to (9.19) exist. We
will resolve this question by calling upon a lemma which is basic to the theory
of nonlinear operators:
LEMMA 9.1 (see, e.g., Brezis [1] and Oden [2]). Let Z be a reflexive Banach
space, K a nonempty closed convex subset of Z, and T a bounded continuous
operator from Z into its dual Z' satisfying the following conditions:
(i) T can be expressed as the sum of two operators, T=T{ + T2, where T\ is
monotone: (Tlzl- Tiz 2 , z\ - z2) ^ 0 for all zi, z2e Z. T2 is completely continuous-,
i.ei if zm-^z weakly in Z, then T2zm-+ T2Z strongly in Z'.
(ii) T is coercive, i.e.,
Then, for each /e Z', there exists at least one we K such that
We can now establish conditions for the existence of solutions to (9.19).

THEOREM 9.1. Let
for some suitable 5 0 >0. Then there exists at least one solution (u, w)e
)Vl((l)xZ(n) to the variational boundary value problem (9.19).
Proof. Our proof is divided into four steps. The first step effectively eliminates
the in-plane displacement vector u from the equations. We then verify that
the resulting operator satisfies the conditions of Lemma 9.1.
1) For arbitrary fixed z 0 e Z(H), we consider the linear elliptic problem of
determining u e M((l) such that
where
and b(-, • ) is given by (9.17). Clearly, FZo is linear in v; moreover, a simple

calculation reveals that
Thus, FZo is a continuous linear functional on M(O), i.e., F 2o eM'(n).

2) It follows that there exists a unique solution u to (9.21) for each choice
of z0 in Z(H). This means (by the classical Lax-Milgram theorem) that a
correspondence G: Z(fl)-»M(n) exists such that
Moreover, we easily verify that constants cl, c2 exist such that
for every z, z l 9 z 2 eZ(fl). This latter inequality shows that the map G is
completely continuous; since W2'2(£l) is compactly embedded in W 1>4 (H) by
the Sobolev embedding theorem, any sequence wm converging weakly to w in
Z(fl) will converge strongly to w in !VM(ft) fl Z(O). Thus, if wm-^ w in Z(O),
then,by(9.22) 2 ,
In other words, G(w m ) converges strongly to G(w) in M(fl).

3) Next, we introduce the nonlinear operator T:Z(fl)-»Z'(n) defined by
where {•, •) is now duality pairing on Z'(O)xZ(O). We will show that T is

the sum of a monotone operator T, and a completely continuous operator T2
and that, therefore, satisfies condition (i) of Lemma 9.1. Indeed, if
then, by (9.14),,
Hence, T, is monotone. Likewise, if
then, using Holder's inequality, we have
for all w, z e Z(H). Since W 2>2 (fl) is compact in W 1>4 (fl), whenever a sequence
wm converges weakly to w in Z(il), it converges strongly to w in W 1>4 (n).
Hence, by (9.27), T2wm converges strongly to T2w in Z'(H), which means that
T2 is completely continuous. It follows that T=T\+T2 is the sum of a
monotone operator and a completely continuous operator and, hence, fulfills
condition (i) of Lemma 9.1.
248 CHAPTER 9
4) It remains only to show that T is coercive whenever ||S||0>r2 is sufficiently

small. But this follows from the fact that
where eAM ^(G A (z) i/t + G M (z), A +Jz, A z, M ). Thus, <rz,z)->+oo as ||z||2.2-*oo
provided ||S||0,r2 is small enough for (^-CaHSJlo.rj) to be positive.
Hence, T satisfies all of the conditions of Lemma 9.1 for ||S||0,r2 sufficiently
small. This completes the proof of the theorem.
9.3. A penalty formulation. To provide a more satisfactory basis for approxi-

mations and computations, we consider as an alternative to (9.19) a penalty
formulation of this problem. Let us again introduce the notation,
Then, as a candidate penalty functional for the constraint w ^ -b, we consider

the functional,
Clearly, irp is convex on Z(ft) and positive-semidefinite: w>-bîrp = Q,

w < -b -» TTP > 0. Thus, if TTP is weakly lower semicontinuous, it will satisfy all
of the requirements listed in Chapter 3 for penalty functionals. We establish
this final property in the next lemma (cf. Ohtake, Oden and Kikuchi [1]).
LEMMA 9.2. The functional TTP : Z((l) -> R defined in (9.30) is a legitimate
penalty functional: it is positive semidefinite on the set K of (9.18) and it is
weakly lower semicontinuous. Moreover TTP is Frechet differentiate on all of
Z(ft); indeed, at weZ(a),
Proof. Let us first establish some properties of the real valued function
We begin by noting that
Thus, </>(X,)H» c/>(x 2 ) as xl-:>x2, i.e., </> is continuous.

Next, we observe that it is possible to decompose </> so that it can be
represented as the composition of a convex function tff(x) - \x2 and an increas-
ing function p(x) = (x + b)_: </>(x) = ^ ° p ( x ) . From this it follows that $ is
convex. Hence, J n </>(w) dx is weakly lower semicontinuous (see Theorem 3.6).
It remains to be shown that TTP is Frechet differentiate. Toward this end,
we recall that TTP(W} = Jn 4>(w} dx, where now (f>(w)^^(w + b)2., is Frechet
differentiable at w in the direction z — w if and only if
where (o(w, z- w) is the remainder,
Furthermore, if (9.33) holds with <o(w, z - v v ) as defined above, then, by

definition,
where {•, •) denotes duality pairing on (H 2 (ll))'x H 2 (O).

Let y denote the function
250 CHAPTER 9
With x = x+ + X-.
Exchanging x and y gives y(y)-y(x}-^-y_(x-y). Hence,
front which we can verify
In other words, (y - x)2 > (y, - x_) 2 , |y - x\ > \y- - x_. Therefore
Now setting 4>(w)-^(w + b)2. = y(w + b), we have (using (9.32) and the
notation (9.34))
rfefice, (o(w, z-w) satisfies (9.33) and the proof is complete.

Since TTP is convex and Frechet differentiable, it is a simple matter to show
that DTTP is necessarily a monotone operator from Z(O) into Z'(H). Thus, the
operator
where T is defined in (9.23) is also the sum of a monotone operator (7\ + Dirp}
arid a completely continuous operator T2. Hence T+DTTP satisfies condition
(i) of Lemma 9.1. Likewise
Hence, T+ DTTP is coercive, in the sense of part (ii) of Lemma 9.1, for ||S||0,r2
sufficiently small.
We list the consequences of these properties as well as some other properties
of the penalized variational problem in the next theorem.
THEOREM 9.2. (i) For ||S||0)r2 sufficiently small, there exists at least one solution
(u e , w e ) £ M(O) x Z(H) of the following penalized variational boundary-value
problem for each e > 0:
(ii) There exists a subsequence {(ue, vv e )} of solutions of (9.36) which con-

verges strongly in M(O) x Z((l) to a solution (u, w) of (9.19) as e tends to zero.
(iii) Moreover, let w be the limit of WB as e -» 0 and let p denote the linear
functional corresponding to the contact pressure on the deflected plate,
Let pe be the sequence of linear functionals defined by
Then there exists a subsequence of approximate contact pressures pe which

converges weakly to p in Z'(H).
Proof, (i) This part of the theorem follows immediately from Lemma 9.1
and the properties of DTTP listed earlier.
(ii) To prove assertion (ii), we will first show the existence of weakly
convergent subsequences. Since the problem (9.36)2 has a unique solution fpr
every choice of w e , it suffices to first show that sequences {vve} of solutions of
(9.36), are uniformly bounded in e. But, from (9.28) and (9.35)
Thus for ||S||0,r2 sufficiently small, || VVE ||2)2 is bounded by a constant independent
of e. The sequence {vve} must, therefore, have a weakly convergent subsequence,
which we also denote by we.
To show that the weak limit w of we is a solution of problem (9.19) with
u = G(w), we observe that
from which we conclude that
Hence,
which means that w e K, i.e., w > —b in O.

Next we note that, z e Z(O),
252 CHAPTER 9
Choose z e K so that DTTP(Z) = 0. Then
because DTTP is monotone. Therefore,
but T= Tj + T2, T2 being completely continuous. Thus,
Likewise, the fact that Tt is monotone and linear implies that
Hence, the limit w of the subsequence {vve} is a solution of the variational

inequality (9.19)i. We will now demonstrate that, in fact, {we} converges
strongly to w. Indeed, since
and
and since,
(because D7r p (w) = 0 and (/, w-M> e )-»0), we have
Here we again used the fact that {VVE} converges strongly to w in Wl'*(£l).
Thus, we have shown that limô || w - we ||2)2 = 0; hence, {we} converges strongly
to w in Z(H).
(iii) Since
we have
Hence, {pB} is uniformly bounded in e in the norm || • )(,„ on Z'(H). If {pe}

denotes the subsequence weakly convergent in Z'(il), then (pe, z)-*(p, z) =
</- Tw, z) Vz e Z(ft), as asserted.
There are other properties of the penalized problem (9.36) which are also
worth noting. For example, it can be shown that if the transverse loads
/e L"(ft), l < / 3 <oo with H smooth and if Sel/(r), then solutions (u e , w e )
of (9.36) are sufficiently regular that
where 6 is a nonnegative number, 0 > 0 for 1< /3 < 2, 6 = 0 for p > 2. Likewise,
constants cf, i = 0,1,2, 3, exist such that
for 2 < p < oo, where
Proofs of estimates such as this are given in Ohtake, Oden and Kikuchi [1].
9.4. Approximations. Let us consider discrete approximations of the penal

ized variational problem (9.36). The general problem we have in mind is a
rectangular simply supported plate subjected to transverse loads /e L 2 (fl) and
in-plane surface tractions 5a e L2(F2), and located a distance b from a plane,
frictionless, foundation.
254 CHAPTER 9
We partition the plate into a uniform mesh of finite elements and over each
element we approximate the admissible transverse displacements zh and the
in-plane displacements \h by piecewise polynomials. By considering regular
refinements of the mesh, we obtain in this way families of finite dimensional
spaces {Zh} and {M/,} of Z(ft) and M(ft), respectively. The finite element
approximation of (9.36) then consists of seeking (weh, ue/,) e Zh x Mh such that
Having calculated weh, we can, in view of (9.38), compute as an approximation

of the contact pressure
We remark that, regardless of the type of approximating spaces we use in

(9.41), the errors
satisfy the identities
for all zh e Zh and vh e Mh. The identities (9.44) are obtained by subtracting
(9.3) from (9.41) and rearranging terms.
To provide some focus for our analysis, let us consider the specific case in
which the composite quadratic element shown in Fig. 9l2(a) is used as a basis
for constructing the subspaces Zh while the standard 8-node quadratic element
in Fig. 9.2(b) is used to approximate M! and u2 in M. Thus, if ft = Uf = 1 fte,
and fte is a typical finite element,
where W* are subtriangles of fte over which zh is a cubic polynomial in xl,

x2 and Q2(ft<?) is the space of biquadratics over ftc with the center node
removed (i.e., the 8-node serendipity element). The plate bending element has
16 degrees of freedom: w, w,1} w,2 at each corner and the normal derivative
w,n at the midpoint of each side. Such elements were proposed by de Veubeke
[1].
FIG. 9.2. (a) A plate bending element consisting of a composite of four cubics and (b) an 8-node
quadratic element for approximation of in-plane displacements.
For such approximation spaces, the following interpolation properties may

be assumed to hold:
(9.46)
For w e W r ' p (n)nz(n), and ueW r ' p (a)nM(O) there exists w f c e£ f c
and lib e M H SUCH HAT
with 1< p < oo.

256 CHAPTER 9
It is possible to construct error estimates for approximations of (9.41) when

the parameter e is kept as a constant. As an example, we cite the following
result of Ohtake, Oden and Kikuchi [2].
THEOREM 9.3. Let (u e , w£) e M(ft) x Z((l) be solutions of (9.36) (ueh, weh) e
Mfc x Zh be solutions of (9.41), and let Mh and Zh be such that (9.46) hold. In
addition, let there exist a positive constant A0, independent ofe and h, such that
Then, for each fixed e>0, there exist positive constants A,, i = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
independent ofh, such that
Proof. Our proof is divided into seven steps.

1) First, we estimate the error ||u£ -UeJd 2 - Clearly, (in view of (9.14) and
(9.44))
for all v/,eM h . Since
we obtain
An application of Young's inequality yields

for arbitrary 5t > 0. The interpolation properties (9.46) imply
2) We next estimate the term a(u; w, y)-a(v; z, y). We will need two
inequalities. First, note that
Secondly, we observe that
Adding (9.50) and (9.51) yields
for arbitrary u, ve M(n), w, z, y e Z(ft). Thus, we have for any zh e Zh,
Similarly, (9.52) implies that

,4
258 CHAPTER 9
3) We next return to the identity (9.44) established earlier. Using (9.44) and
introducing (9.53) and (9.54) into the result, we obtain
4) Let
Then
where S2 is a positive real number and
Similarly, another application of Young's inequality gives
where
5) Continuing in this fashion, we find that
where
Likewise,
where
Substituting these results into (9.44) and again applying Young's inequality,
we arrive at the estimate
for an arbitrary positive number 53.

6) By the hypothesis stated and by virtue of the interpolation property
(9.46), we have
where now
A rearrangement of terms gives (9.47); (9.48) then follows from (9.49). D
9.5. Numerical studies. We shall now describe a numerical scheme for

solving problem (9.19) based on the penalty finite element method (9.41) and
the results of some numerical experiments obtained using this scheme and the
elements in (9.45).
First note that the finite element approximations to we and u e are of the form
where the N, and $, are global basis functions corresponding to the elements
shown in Fig. 9.2. Thus, upon substituting these functions into (9.41) and
simplifying, we arrive at a system of nonlinear algebraic equations of the form,
K B is the bending stiffness matrix, K G (a) and K N (<j) are geometric stiffness
matrices whose elements depend on a and q, respectively, K p is the penalty
stiffness matrix, f and s generalized load vectors, and K m is the "membrane"
260 CHAPTER 9
stiffness matrix, i.e., the stiffness matrix corresponding to the in-plane deforma-
tions of the plate.
On the element level, K B is the usual stiffness matrix for linear plate bending
problems; entries of K B for the element in Fig. 9.2(a) have been tabulated by
de Veubeke [1]. The remaining matrices are of the form
wherein N is a 1 x 16 vector of local shape functions for the element in Fig.

9.2(a), B is a 3 x 16 matrix of derivatives of the local shape functions for the
element in 9.2(b), D is the elasticity matrix,
The local penalty matrix Kp is of the form
where H is the Heaviside step function, i.e.
The following algorithm can be used to solve the system (9.57):

1) Pick a starting value for q; q D is typically the solution of the linearized
system of equations
2) Introduce q D into (9.57)2 and solve for the vector a } ,
3) Use a, to compute the matrix KG^) and form the nonlinear system
for a new iterate q,.

4) We attempt to solve the nonlinear system in step 3 by the Newton-

Raphson method. Specifically, if we denote the left-hand side of (9.61) by
F(q,), then (9.61) reduces to
and the Newton-Raphson algorithm assumes the form
where dF/dq is the Jacobian matrix.

There is one major difficulty: formula (9.62) cannot be applied directly
because the penalty term K p qj is not differentiate.
We overcome this difficulty by introducing a regularization technique due
to Duvaut and Lions [2] which involves smoothing the Heaviside Step function
H. Instead of (9.60), we define, for small 6,
Then
and (9.59) is replaced by
5) Having calculated q!, we go to step 1 and repeat the process, calculating

a2 from K m a 2 = S-S G (q 1 ), etc.
In the case of buckling of the plate and the calculations of post-buckling
transverse deflections, we must also solve an eigenvalue problem. Suppose
f = 0. We then seek a critical value of the edge traction Sa which will produce
nontrivial solutions of the eigenvalue problem,
We solve the eigenvalue problem (9.65) by a standard inverse iteration scheme

with shifting described, for example, in Bathe and Wilson [1]. The overall
procedure employed in this phase of the analysis is essentially an adaptation
of the method of Bauer and Reiss [1] to finite element approximations.
To illustrate typical numerical results, we shall describe two applications
considered by Ohtake, Oden and Kikuchi [2].
262 CHAPTER 9
FIG 9.3. Comparison of mesh size effect for the deflection of unilateral constraint plate, small
deflection model. Reprinted with permission from K. Ohtake, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [2],
Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1980 Elsevier Science
Publishers.
Example 1 (square plate with unilateral constraint). We consider a simply-

supported square plate of length 2a = 120mm, thickness f = 2mm, E =
7000 kg/mm 2 , v = Q.3, subjected to a uniform transverse load of intensity
q = 100, where q =fa4/Dt. Taking advantage of symmetry, we discretize only
a quarter of the plate using 4, 9, 16, and then 36 elements. For the constraint,
we select b = -2 mm. Results are shown in Fig. 9.3. Notice that for the relatively
coarse mesh (4 elements), undesirable oscillations occur which cause the plate
to leave the foundation near the center, which is impossible. These oscillations
disappear as the mesh is refined, and the solution obtained with the fine mesh
(36 elements) appears to be physically reasonable.
Figure 9.4 shows results obtained for the same problem, but with q = 100
and 500, compared with results obtained using the classical linear plate theory
which does not account for in-plane stretching of the middle surface and for
large rotations. We observe that for large transverse loads, the effects of
stretching can be appreciable.
The inadequacy of the linear theory is even more apparent if we plot the
contact areas obtained by the small deflection theory and by von Karman's
theory. The results of such calculations for b = -2 mm, -3.5 mm, and -4 mm
for a nondimensional load q of 800 are shown in Figs. 9.5 and 9.6. Note that
the in-plane stiffness accounted for in the nonlinear theory stiffens the plate
to lateral movement and results in a smaller contact area than that predicted
by the classical "small deflection" theory of plates.
Example 9.2 (bifurcation and post-buckling behavior of plates with unilateral
constraints). As a final example, we consider a plate-buckling problem in which
FIG. 9.4. Deflection of uniformly loaded simply supported square plate with unilateral constraint
(u>> -2 mm). Reprinted with permission from K. Ohtake, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [2], Computer
two parallel sides of a square plate are fixed against in-plane motion while
the remaining sides are prescribed to move uniformly toward or away from
each other, a distance /, always remaining parallel. No transverse loads are
applied, and when the prescribed inward edge displacements reach a critical
FIG. 9.5. Deflection contour of unilateral constraint plate (1) small deflection theory, q = 800.
Reprinted with permission from K. Ohtake, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [2], Computer Methods
in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1980 Elsevier Science Publishers.
264 CHAPTER 9
FIG. 9.6. Deflection contour of unilateral constraint plate (2) for large deflection theory, q = 800.
Reprinted with permission from K. Ohtake, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [2], Computer Methods
value lcr, the plate buckles out-of-plane. An analytical solution to this problem
can be found in the book of Timoshenko and Gere [1]. However, in the present
case the behavior is further complicated by the presence of a unilateral
constraint: after buckling, the plate may come in contact with a rigid frictionless
FIG. 9.7. Unilateral deflection of simply supported post-buckling plate, N = l/lcr. Reprinted with
permission from K. Ohtake, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [2], Computer Methods in Applied
Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1980 Elsevier Science Publishers.
FIG. 9.8. Edge displacement vs. edge compressive force for simply supported square plate after
buckling. Reprinted with permission from K. Ohtake, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [2], Computer
plane foundation located a distance b = 2 mm below the plate. We use the

same dimensions and mechanical properties of the plate as those in the previous
example.
Numerical results for both the small and large deformation cases are shown
in Figs. 9.7 and 9.8. A comparison of computed results with those in
Timoshenko and Gere [1] in Fig. 9.8 shows excellent agreement. We observe
that upon buckling, the plate eventually comes in contact with the foundation.
As / is increased, the contact area increases and significant increase in transverse
stiffness is observed. As can be seen in Fig. 9.8 an increase in lateral stiffness
of approximately 20 percent is observed in this problem when the plate comes
in contact with the foundation.
Chapter 10
Some Special Contact Problems

with Friction
10.1. Introduction. As a prelude to more general treatments of contact

problems with friction to be taken up in the next three chapters, we now focus
on a special class of contact problems with friction in which the normal contact
pressures on the contact boundary are assumed to be prescribed. We also
discuss in this chapter a rather general algorithm for the analysis of general
contact problems with friction which utilizes properties of these special
problems.
One physical situation which is roughly simulated by the special conditions
is when a thin belt or tape is pressed against an elastic body by prescribed
pressures and the belt or tape simultaneously resists tangential motion by the
development of frictional stresses on the contact surface: an is then given on
Yc but tangential stresses a r due to friction are unknown (Fig. 10.1). While
this particular class of problems may at first seem to be a bit contrived, we
shall discover that, in fact, this special case is the key to many important
results pertaining to the general contact problem with friction. Indeed, the
analysis of problems with prescribed crn coupled with the results for Signorini
problems with prescribed tangential stress can be combined to yield informa-
tion on the behavior of finite element approximations of contact problems in
elastostatics with Coulomb friction. Moreover, as we shall show in § 10.4, a
general algorithm for the analysis of friction problems can be developed which
makes use of independent formulations of contact problems in which either
an or CTT are prescribed. Finally, we note that the results established in this
chapter play a key role in studies of the existence, uniqueness, and approxima-
tion of contact problems with nonclassical friction laws in the next chapter.
Much of the present treatment represents an extension of the results of
Campos, Oden and Kikuchi [1] and Oden and Campos [1].
10.2. The Signorini problem with Coulomb friction. Before focusing on the
special problem, we begin by considering the following general Signorini
267
268 CHAPTER 10
problem with Coulomb friction:
and
if un = g on Fc, then cr n (u) < 0 and
(lO.lb) if, in addition, |<r r (u)|< ^F|o-n(u)| then u r = 0 while
if |ar(u)| = ^ F |cr n (u)| then 3A S:0 such that u r = -Aer r (u).
Conditions (lO.lb) define a form of Coulomb's law of friction for elastostatic
problems: VF is the coefficient of friction
As in elementary statics of rigid bodies, (10.1) asserts that if contact is made

at a point on Fc, then no sliding of the point can occur if the magnitude of
the tangential stress \VT\ is below a critical value which is precisely VF times
the magnitude of the normal stress cr n (u) at that point. When |<rr| reaches this
critical level, however, there will be impending sliding in a direction opposite
to OTT.
The friction conditions can also be written in the equivalent, perhaps more
familiar forms (see Demkowicz and Oden [1]):
We shall assume throughout this chapter that conditions (5.5) on the elas-
ticities hold:
n c ( R N and 5(1 is sufficiently,
Our first objective is to derive a variational formulation of problem (10.1)

following the plan of Duvaut and Lions [1]. We begin by reintroducing some
familiar notation:
CONTACT PROBLEMS WITH FRICTION 269
In addition, we now introduce a nonlinear functional j( •, • ) which shall serve

to characterize the virtual work of the frictional forces
Here crn(u) = a-ij(u)ninj = Eû^ninj is, as usual, the normal stress developed
on Fc and v r is the tangential component of the displacement v on Fc. The
functional v-*j(v, v) is a nonconvex, nondifferentiable and nonquadratic func-
tional of the admissible displacements v e K.
For simplicity, let us use the following conventional notation:
The traces of the stress tensor and the displacement on the boundary are
defined in Chapter 5, and we shall not address these details in this chapter.
With the above preparations in place, we now consider the general variational
principle for the Signorini problem (10.1) with Coulomb friction:
The relationship between (10.1) and (10.5) is made clear by the following
theorem due to Duvaut and Lions [1] (for an alternative approach, see
Demkowicz and Oden [1]):
THEOREM 10.1. 7/u is a sufficiently smooth solution of (10.5) then u satisfies
(10.1). Conversely, any solution of (10.1) satisfies (10.5).
Proof. Let u be a "classical" solution of the Signorini problem with friction.
It is taken for granted here that the classical solution u of (10.1) is sufficiently
smooth. We first recall the Green's formula
where ve K. Since o- v (u),j = -/i and
we have
270 CHAPTER 10
Hence,
for all v e K .
Recall that crn(u)(vn-g)>0 for ve K. To obtain (10.5) from (10.6), we will
need the inequality
where, for simplicity in notation, we have denoted
and u is a solution of (10.1). Suppose that |a r (u)|<5. Then u T = 0 and
On the other hand, if crr(u)| = s, then
Hence, (10.7) holds. Incorporating this result into (10.6) yields (10.5).
To prove the converse (that a sufficiently smooth solution of (10.5) satisfies
(10.1)), we must assume that we have a vector field u e K that satisfies (10.5).
Pick v = <|>e ( C ^ ( f l ) ) N (which belongs to K because gs:0). Then, we easily
establish that, in the sense of distributions, o-y(u),7 +ft = 0 in 11. Hence,
L2(fl). Likewise, u e K implies u = 0 on FD (or y(u) = 0 on F D ) and un — g ^ 0.
Next, we choose ve K such that v r = u r . This yields,
and, from arguments used in Chapter 5, this implies that cr n (u)^0 in

(// 1/2 (r c ))', c r n ( u ) < O i f u n - g = Oand C r n (u) = O i f M n - g < 0 .
For veH'(n), vn is in //1/2(F) and vTi = y(tf,)-u n H, is in the subspace of
1/2
H (F) of functions satisfying n • v r = 0. Following the plan of Duvaut and
Lions [1] in which s e L°°(TC) is assumed, we note that from these results and
(10.5),
where crT = a r (u), v r = y(v)--y n (v)n, etc. Let 4> = {<j>eH 1/2 (F)|supp<J)C
intF c } and set <!> = </>„ n + <f> r , <|> e4>. Taking v r = «|>T in the above inequality
and noting that aT' n = 0, or T <J> T = crr 1 <J>, and |<J>|>|<|>r , we have
Replacing <j> by ±A<}>, A ^0 gives
from which we conclude that V<£ £ ,
We note that |rc s|<J>| ds is a norm on (L 1 (r c )) N and that, according to

these last inequalities, the function
is continuous on 4> when endowed with the topology inherent in (L^Fc))*,

and has a norm J rc s|<J>| ds< 1. Since $ is dense in (L'(r c )) N , s~l<yT&
(L°°(rc))N with norm :<!. This implies that |crT =£s a.e., on Fc, andCTT-UT +
s|u T |3=0 so that,
But this inequality and &T <s are equivalent to the friction-contact condition
in (lO.lb). Hence, the variational inequality (10.5) is formally equivalent (in
the sense outlined above) to the Signorini problem (10.1) with friction.
Difficulties with the model (10.5). Unfortunately, there are major mathemati-
cal difficulties inherent in the variational problem (10.5) which have stood in
the way of the development of an existence theory for this class of problems.
First, we note that the friction term J Fc i/ F |cr n (u)||u r ds has no meaning for
ueK: in this term, |o-n(u)| is defined by duality as a member of (jF/ 1/2 (F c ))'
while if u e K then we have only cr tf (u)g L 2 (ft). In addition, the term j(u,u)
is nonconvex and nondifferentiable, and, therefore, cannot be analyzed by th
methods we have developed thus far. The fact is that the question of existence
of solutions to the general problem (10.5) remains open. There are available,
however, existence proofs for some very special cases in which the contact
pressures happen to be very smooth, and we mention in this regard the existence
theory of Necas, Jarusek, and Haslinger [1] for the very idealized problem of
an infinite strip in R 2 uniformly loaded and resting on an infinite rigid founda-
tion. On the other hand, the absence of a complete existence theory for the
general problem together with physical evidence on friction have led some
investigators to question the validity of the Coulomb friction law (lO.lb).
272 CHAPTER 10
To overcome these difficulties, two alternatives suggest themselves: First,

we can abandon the characterization (lO.lb) of Coulomb friction in favor of
a more general law of friction, or, second, we can simplify problem (10.5) by
placing restrictions on the contact stresses. We shall explore the first alternative
in some detail in Chapters 11-13. In the present chapter, the second line of
attack shall be followed: we shall construct a reduced version of (10.5) that
represents a contact problem in which it is assumed that the contact pressure
is known. We shall discover that this reduced problem is not only more
manageable from a mathematical and computational point of view, but also
that its analysis can form a step in an iterative process for obtaining numerical
solutions to the general problem (10.5) when such solutions exist.
10.3. A reduced variational inequality. We now turn to the problem discussed

briefly in § 10.1: the elastostatic contact problem in which the normal stress
crn(u) is prescribed on Fc. In this case, Fc is known in advance and, in fact,
is part of FF and the unilateral constraint ( w n - g < 0 ) may or may not be
imposed. For simplicity, we shall not impose this constraint for the present
so that points on Fc can displace freely in a direction normal to the boundary
upon the application of loads. However, tangential displacements U T of points
on Fc are resisted in accordance with a Coulomb friction law of the type
(lO.lb).
The classical statement of this restricted class of friction problem is to find
a sufficiently smooth displacement field u such that
where s is regarded as given. In this case, the friction functional j: V x V -»IR

of (10.4) reduces to a functional j :V-»R defined by
In addition, the linear functional/defined earlier is now replaced by the linear

form
where, throughout, we assume that / e L2(O) and, for instance, seL 2 (r F ).

The variational boundary value problem (10.5) now reduces to
The variational boundary-value problem (10.11) is characterized by a vari-

ational inequality of the "second kind:" the constraint set K has been replaced
by the entire space V and there appears in the left-hand side of the inequality
the difference j(v) -j(u) in values of a nondifferentiable functional j. This
problem falls into a category covered precisely by Theorem 3.8; indeed, we
easily verify that the functional j of (10.4) is
continuous on V, convex, and nondifferentiable.
Thus, j is convex and lower semicontinuous on V, and, therefore, subdifferenti-
able on V. Moreover, the potential energy F0: V -» R due to nonfrictional effects
is, as usual, given by
and is strictly convex, coercive, and Gateaux differentiable on V.

Thus, even though a true potential energy functional does not exist for the
nonconservative system with friction, we can formally make use of the energy
functional F:V-»R,
The functional F, being the sum of a convex differentiable functional F0 and

a convex lower semicontinuous functional j, is weakly lower semicontinuous
on all of V.
To resolve the question of minimizers of F, there remains the question of
coerciveness of F, and this depends upon whether or not mes YD > 0. If
mesr D >0, then F 0 (u) grows as O(||v||?) as ||v||-»oo, as we have shown
repeatedly in previous chapters. Since 0^j( v )— ll v lli> P — Po^J ls clearly
coercive. For the case TD = 0 we set v = 0 and then v = 2u in (10.11), and are
led to the observation that (10.11) is equivalent to
Thus, replacing v by -v, we see that (10.11) holds if and only if
the equality holding when v = u.

Let R2 be the finite dimensional space of infinitesimal rigid motions intro-
duced in Chapter 6 (recall (6.13)). Taking v = re R2 in (10.14) and recalling
that a(r, r) = 0, we arrive at the following necessary condition for the existence
of a solution to problem (10.11):
274 CHAPTER 10
Following Duvaut and Lions [1], we will continue our analysis under the
stronger assumption that a constant c>0 exists such that
Let (10.16) hold and (since V = R2@R2 as R2 is finite dimensional) take
P being the L2-orthogonal projection of V onto R2. Then we can easily verify
that a(w, w)^m||w||? and that ||v||i is a norm on V equivalent to IMd + Hrllo.
Thus,
from which it follows that F(v)-»+oo as ||v||,-»oo. We have thus shown that
if (10.16) holds and TD = 0, F is coercive on V.
We sum up these results in the following existence theorem for problem
(10.11):
THEOREM 10.2. If either mes T D > 0 or TD = 0 and (10.16) holds, then there
exists at least one minimizer u e V of the functional F defined in (10.13). Moreover,
each minimizer u is a solution of the variational inequality (10.11); specifically,
u is characterized by
In the case mesT^Ô, and we can conclude that there exists a unique
solution to (10.11) from the strict convexity of F. However, if YD = 0, solutions
to (10.11) are unique only to within an arbitrary rigid motion r€ R2: i.e., if u,
and u2 are distinct solutions of (10.11), then u t -u 2 e R2.
10.4. A regularized problem. A complicating aspect of the reduced boun-

dary-value problem (10.11) is that the friction functional j is nondifferentiable.
This property is especially troublesome when one attempts to develop numeri-
cal schemes for the analyses of problems of this type. On the other hand, the
fact that j( • ) is not Gateaux differentiate at the origin is not too surprising
because the Euclidean norm |-| in R N is also not differentiate at the origin,
nor is the function x-» |x| in R1.
From a mechanics point of view, the source of the nondifferentiability of
] ( • ) is the fact that this particular model of friction depicts the separation of
the sliding and full adhesion portions of the contact surface as a point or line.
Physical experiments on friction on metallic surfaces show that no such line
of separation of sliding and full adhesion exists; rather, there is a boundary
layer between regions of full "stick" and "slip."
For example the experimental results of Courtney-Pratt and Eisner [1],

shown in Fig. 10.1, clearly exhibit the nonlinear behavior of frictional stresses
on metal-to-metal contact surfaces. We shall discuss observed physical aspects
of dry friction on metallic surfaces such as these in more detail in the next
chapter, where the obvious elastoplastic character of this type of friction is
shown to arise from the deformation of junctions on the contact interfaces.
This fact, in turn, suggests that an approximation of j( • ) that is differentiate
at the origin can be designed which leads to a representation of such a boundary
layer but which, at the same time, can be made arbitrarily close to the functional
j( • ) in some sense. We note that the approximation of such nondifferentiable
functionary ( • ) by differentiate regularized functionalsy' F ( • ) that depend upon
a real parameter e > 0 has been used by Moreau [1] and Brezis [1] in the
study of optimization problems and by Glowinski, Lions and Tremolieres [1],
Campos, Oden and Kikuchi [1], and Kikuchi and Oden [5] in the development
of numerical methods for the solution of variational inequalities of the type
(10.11).
FIG. 10.1. Experimental results of Courtney-Pratt and Eisner [1] designed to show the variation
in the coefficient of friction over a load history; the experiment involves polished platinum at a normal
load o/920gwt. in which the tangential force is decreased and increased again (in the "reversibility
branches") a number of times, as shown, (a) The displacements, (b) The "reversibility branches" in
detail. • , VF decreasing; x, VF increasing. From J. S. Courtney-Pratt and E. Eisner [1], Proceedings
of the Royal Society of London, Series A. Copyright 1957 Royal Society of London.
276 CHAPTER 10
Toward the construction of a regularization ofj( •), we first consider smooth

approximations of the function x -»\x . As examples, consider the functions,
and
It is easily verified that all of these approximations converge in R to the

absolute value function as eÔ. The most popular approximation is the
function $1 shown in Fig. 10.2 which exhibits a piecewise linear first derivative.
Functions $1 and <t>\ have nonlinear smooth derivatives as indicated in Fig.
10.3.
To fix ideas, we shall describe a regularization of j( • ) based on the functions
0e = <t>l given in (10.18). We emphasize that essentially the same results can
be obtained for other choices of (f>e such as in (10.19) or (10.20). Note that a
generalization of(10.18)to vectors x € IR " is immediate: i f \ = (xltx2, • • • ,x n )e
IR" and |x| = Vx • x, then we set
Thus, for a vector ve V, we define <j>e: V-» Ll(Tc) by

FIG. 10.2. Regularization of \x\ by a differentiable approximation (/» E (x).
wherein v r is understood to mean the tangential component of the trace y(v)

of v on the portion Fc of the boundary. We easily verify that v-»^» E (v) is
convex, continuous, and, that [0, 1]^ <£ E (u+ 0v) is C1 [0, 1] for any u, v e V .
As an approximation of the friction functional j, we introduce
where now we assume 5 e L 2 (F C ), s > 0 a.e. on Fc. The major properties of je

are summarized in the following lemma (cf. Campos, Oden and Kikuchi [1]):
LEMMA 10.1. The functional),,: V-»R defined by (10.22) is convex and Gateaux
differentiable and, hence, weakly lower semicontinuous on all of V for every e > 0.
Moreover, its Gateaux derivative is given by
In addition,
for all v e V so that jf (v) -+j(\) as e -»0.

278 CHAPTER 10
FIG. 10.3. Derivatives of various regularization functions.
Proof. The convexity and differentiability of je follows from straightforward

calculations, and (10.23) follows easily from the definition of (f>E. We shall
prove (10.24).
A direct calculation gives
where, on sets of nonzero measure on rc, we define

Thus, \VT\- e and we have, for arbitrary ve V,
from which (10.24) follows

Having produced a regularization of j, we can now turn to the regularized
total potential energy functional FE: V-»R given by
(10.25) F.(v) = |fl(v,v)-/(v)+7 e (v).
This functional is easily seen to be strictly convex and Gateaux differentiable;
it is coercive on V for mes F D > 0 and coercive on \/R2 if F D = 0 and if the
external forces are such that (10.16) holds with7' replaced byjE. We will confine
our attention to the case mes F D > 0. Then we have:
THEOREM 10.3. Let conditions (10.3) hold, s e L°°(rc), and mes F D > 0. Then,
for any e > 0, there exists a unique minimizer U E G V of the perturbed potential
energy functional FE of (10.25). Moreover, u e is characterized as the solution of
the variational equality,
It is clear that if the solution u e is smooth enough, e.g., U E e H 2 (fl), then u e

satisfies the equation
on the contact surface Fc. This means that the friction condition (lO.lb)
is approximated by the regularized nonlinear friction law (10.27). As shown

in § 5.5, Case (v), |or r (u e )|<s is always satisfied by a solution U E . Again we
note that the nonlinear friction law (10.27) is also a very realistic approximation
of measured friction affects (for no increasing loads) of the type shown in
Fig. 10.11.
For each e>0, there is a unique solution to (10.26). The obvious question
at this point is whether or not the sequence u e of solutions obtained as e -»0
will converge in V to the solution of (10.17). The next theorem establishes that
u E converges strongly to u in V and also provides an estimate of the rate-of-
convergence (cf. Campos, Kikuchi and Oden [1]).
THEOREM 10.4. Let u and U E be solutions of (10.17) and (10.26), respectively.
Then there exists a constant C independent of e such that
Thus, u e -* u strongly in V as e -> 0.

280 CHAPTER 10
Proof. Setting v = u e in (10.17), v = u e - u in (10.26), and subtracting, we

obtain
Since je is convex and Gateaux differentiate,
Hence,
The assertion now follows from (10.24).
10.5. Finite element approximations. Finite element approximations of

problem (10.11) or its regularization (10.26) are constructed in the usual way.
We construct a family offinitedimensional subspaces \h of Vby approximating
the test functions v, by piecewise polynomials over a partition fl/, of (1
consisting of E = E(h) finite elements. In the present case, we shall assume
that the spaces Vh exhibit the following interpolation properties as in § 4.2:
Given veV = (H m (n)) n , m > 0 , and supposing that V/, is generated by

local element shape functions that contain complete polynomials of degree
=s/c, there exists a constant C, independent of v and the mesh size h, and
a vector field vh e Vh such that
In addition, for p e R, there exists a C such that
whenever y(v)eH r (r c ).
The finite element approximation of (10.11) is of the form
whereas the finite element approximation of the regularized problem (10.26)

is characterized by
We easily verify that under the assumptions of Theorems 10.2 and 10.3,
there exist unique solutions uh and ueh to (10.30) and (10.31) respectively, the
latter existing for each e > 0. Moreover, arguments identical to those leading
to (10.27) show that for fixed h, a constant C exists such that
Before obtaining a full estimate of the error, we need to establish the

following intermediate result:
THEOREM 10.5. Let u denote the solution of (10.11) and suppose that
In addition, let uh be the solution of (10.30) and suppose that Vh is such that
the interpolation properties (10.28) and (10.29) hold. Then
where C is a constant independent ofh.

Proof. For arbitrary ve V and \h e V h we have
Setting v = uh and simplifying yields
for all \he\h, where in the last step we use Green's formula and the regularity
assumptions stated in the hypotheses of the theorem to replace a(u, v,, -u)-
f(\h -u) by integrals on Fc.
We next use the coercivity of a( • , • ) and Holder's inequality to obtain
282 CHAPTER 10
Here we have used the inequality |v/,T| - U T | ^ \\hT -UT\. Introducing the inter-
polation properties (10.28) and (10.29), we have
The estimate (10.33) now follows from this last result after an application of
Young's inequality.
The final error estimate is now an immediate consequence of (10.32) and
(10.33) and the triangle inequality:
THEOREM 10.6. Let (10.32) and the conditions of Theorem 10.5 hold. Then
the error in the approximation of (10.11) by (10.31) satisfies
In particular, ifr = 2,
10.6. Numerical solutions to the reduced friction problem. Standard Newton-

Raphson algorithms can be used to solve the nonlinear algebraic system arising
from the finite element approximation (10.31). If a regularization of the friction
terms such as (10.18) is used, it is necessary to define an approximation of
the full adhesion ("stick") zone and the sliding or slip zone on the contact
surface. For a given small e > 0, we set
We shall discuss details of the finite element approximation (10.31) to the

regularized problem. The notation in § 6.5 is again employed. As is now
obvious, the bilinear and linear forms, fl( •, • ) and /(•) assume the following
forms for the discrete problem:
respectively, where
and {(f>a(\)} is the set of shape functions such that

Similarly the additional term arising from the work done of the frictionftl
forces is discretized as
where
and
Thus the finite element approximation (10.31) yields the nonlinear system
A standard Newton-Raphson scheme for solving (10.43) is characterized

by the recurrence formula,
for t = 1,2, • • • , where 'u£ is the fth approximation of u£, 'Auf the increment
for the (f + l)th approximation of uj, and '&R'a is the remainder at the end
of the fth iteration defined by
Solving the linear equation (10.44) in the increment 'Au£, we obtain the
approximation
Here the derivative of is defined by
where
A successive iterative method can also be used to solve the system of

nonlinear equations (10.43). Indeed, (10.43) yields the linear system in ( + 1 u£:
for t = 1, 2, • • • , and the initial approximation lu£h. In many problems, use of

(10.49) provides very rapid convergence.
It remains to be shown how the initial approximation 'u/, is calculated. In
the following examples, we simply compute lueh under the condition that all
of Fc is in the stick condition.
284 CHAPTER 10
Example 10.1. As one numerical example of such a scheme, consider a thin

elastic slab of unit thickness and 8 units in length in a state of pla<»e strain.
The material has a Young's modulus E = 1000 and a Poisson's ratio of v = 0.3.
The slab is fixed at one end, rests on rollers on a rigid foundation, and is
subjected to a uniform normal pressure of 300/unit length along its upper
surface through a frictional surface Fc with a coefficient of friction VF = 0.3.
In addition, the slab is subjected to a compressive force of 300/unit length at
its free end. The situation is shown in Fig. 10.4.
The numerical analysis was done using the uniform mesh of 16 9-node
quadratic elements shown and a regularization parameter of e = 10~5 was
employed in all calculations. Convergence of the Newton-Raphson algorithm
to five significant figures was obtained in only four iterations.
Computed deformed shape and frictional stresses are shown in Fig. 10.5.
In this case, crn = 300 and VF = 0.3 on Fc, so the prescribed function s = 90
stress units. We observe that the stick and sliding portions of the contact
surface are easily identified by establishing those points at which |CTT|SS.
It is clear that a homogeneous deformation is developed under most of the
sticking zone, while nonhomogeneous deformations are observed under the
sliding zone. The high friction effects cause a rapid decay in the effects of the
end thrust, and the influence of the end loads is confined to a relatively small
region of the body near the free end.
10.7. Extensions to the general contact problem with Coulomb friction. We

shall now describe an algorithm, due to Campos, Oden and Kikuchi [1], for
solving the general variational inequality (10.5) which corresponds to the
Signorini problem with Coulomb friction:
Find u e K:
FIG. 10.4. An elastic slab with an applied normal pressure on the top line CD on which Coulomb's
law of friction holds. Reprinted with permission from L. T. Campos, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi
[1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1982 Elsevier Science
Publishers.
FIG. 10.5. Computed results: (a) frictional stresses along line CD and (b) the deformed finite
element mesh. Reprinted with permission from L. T. Campos, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [1],
Publishers.
where
In order to consider this problem, we shall decompose (10.50) into two parts:
Case 1. The prescribed tangential stress. Assuming that the friction stress is
known, we shall solve the Signorini problem obtained from (10.50),
where
and VT is the prescribed tangential (i.e., friction) stress.

Case 2. The prescribed normal stress. Assuming that the contact stress is
known, we shall solve the reduced friction problem studied in § 10.3 which is
a special case of (10.50),
where
286 CHAPTER 10
and crn is the prescribed normal stress (i.e., contact pressure).

The general problem (10.50) could be resolved iteratively using these two
special cases alternately. For example, at the odd steps of iteration, Case 1 is
solved, and at even steps of iteration Case 2 is solved, etc. In some cases, even
these two special cases might not be necessary. Indeed, consider a modified
reduced problem
on the constraint set K in which the unilateral contact condition un - g =£ 0 is

satisfied, and the functional j is given by
for a "prescribed normal contact pressure <rn" It is noted that the pressure crn
used to form the functional j need not match the contact pressure which is
obtained by solving the modified reduced problem (10.58). Now if we can
compute the solution u to (10.58) and the contact pressure on Fc, say am the
functional j can be updated by the newly obtained &„. If crn and an are close,
then the solution u of (10.58) could be identified with the solution to the
original Coulomb friction Signorini problem (10.50). If crn and <rn are not
close, this process could be repeated until the difference between an and <rn
is sufficiently small. We shall use this idea to show the existence of a solution
to a more general class of friction contact problems in Chapter 11.
We shall now describe an algorithm for solving (10.50) which makes use of
the Signorini problem in Chapter 6 and the reduced problem discussed in
§§ 10.3-10.6. The basic strategy is outlined as follows:
1) First, a finite element approximation of the problem is obtained for a
prescribed tangential stress on Fc. The idea here is to compute as a first
approximation, normal contact pressures produced to be used later as data
for a problem with friction but with prescribed normal pressures. For this
purpose, we employ the reduced integration, exterior penalty method described
in Chapter 6 for contact problems without friction, but for which tangential
stresses are prescribed on Fc. In this method, we seek a minimum of the
penalized energy functional
(e, a penalty parameter>0), except that in the discrete approximations, the

integral JVC is replaced by a suitable quadrature rule / which may be of an
order lower than that necessary to evaluate this integral exactly. The load
functional f\ in this case is given by (6.24) and the numerical analysis of this
case is discussed in detail in Chapter 6. The basic finite dimensional variation^!
problem is of the form
Note that this problem is nonlinear: the function (uehln - g) + is the positive part
of (Uhn~g) and is, therefore, unknown. However, any of several iteratiqn
schemes can be used to solve this problem without difficulty. In subsequent
numerical experiments, we employ the successive over-relaxation scheme
described in Chapter 6.
2) Having calculated u£» for a specified e, and h, we calculate nodal values
of the normal contact pressure by setting
where £, are the quadrature points used in /. In subsequent experiments, / is

taken to be Simpson's rule. Then the normal contact pressure aehln is a con-
tinuous, piecewise quadratic polynomial on the contact surface Fc. Of course,
if ei>0, the unilateral condition uhn-g<Q will not be satisfied exactly ori
this surface.
3) Having calculated the approximate displacement u£' and normal contact
pressure crln for the frictionless case, we now use these results to compute
data for a reduced problem of the type described by (10.55) with Coulomb
friction but with prescribed normal pressures with fF now given by (10.57),
Thus, we next select e > 0 and, using the available function u£', identify "stick"
or "sliding" conditions on Fc. We set
and
for any iij,, \h£\h, where </> e (v h ) is defined in a similar way to that iri
(10.18)-(10.20).
Then a correction u£ of u£> for frictional effects is computed by solving the
linear problem
We remark that if the "sliding condition" (|u£r > e ) holds at a node, the
contribution to (10.64) from {D/e,;,(u£), v h ) is represented by the addition of
terms to the load vector of the system; on the other hand, contributions of
these frictional terms for |uh' T |<e are added to the stiffness matrix of the
problem. (The first iteration is performed under a stick condition.)
288 CHAPTER 10
4) Having obtained the solution ueh of (10.64), we can now calculate tangen-
tial stresses vehT on Fc. We return to the problem without friction described
in step 1 and, treating &ehT as data, resolve the contact problem for the case
in which tangential nodal forces cr^t/) are applied on the contact surface.
This leads to new iterates u£ l(2) , or£},(2) of the displacement field and the normal
contact pressure. We then repeat step 3 using these corrected solutions and
obtain a second (corrected) approximation of <rehT.
We continue this process until successive solutions do not differ by a
preassigned tolerance. We remark that while the above procedure has proved
to be convergent for many test cases, it may not always converge; one can
visualize cases in which tangential forces are applied in Signorini's problem
in the second iteration and no contact takes place. The process may terminate
or diverge. Also, there are no features of the process that would allow for the
detection of multiple solutions. Nevertheless, the process has proved to be
convergent and very effective for a wide class of friction problems and it
appears to work especially well in problems in which adhesion prevails over
significant portions of the contact surface.
Numerical examples. We shall now apply the above algorithm to several
contact friction problems. Some of these examples are drawn from the papers
of Campos, Oden and Kikuchi [1].
Example 10.2. The first example concerns the deformation of a thick elastic
slab resting on a Winkler foundation on which Coulomb's law holds.
Dimensions and material data are given in Fig. 10.6, the spring constant k of
the foundation being k = 100 units of force/length2. In this case, 4-node bilinear
elements are used and the regular mesh indicated in the figure was employed
to model the problem as shown in Fig. 10.6(a). A regularization parameter
e = 10~5 was used in the formulations (10.40).
Computed results are indicated in Fig. 10.6(b), where we find the deflected
shapes computed with and without friction compared, the latter corresponding
to a value of VF = 1.0. As expected, the contact area is smaller in the nonfriction
FIG. 10.6(a). Finite element model of an elastic slab resting on a Winkler foundation. Reprinted
with permission from L. T. Campos, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [1], Computer Methods in Applied
FIG. 10.6(b). Computed displacements for an elastic slab resting on a Winkler foundation: (i)
without friction and (ii) with friction. Reprinted with permission from L. T. Campos, J. T. Oden,
and N. Kikuchi [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1982
Elsevier Science Publishers.
case and the magnitude of the deformation is smaller owing to the absence
of frictional forces. Note also that the presence of friction forces creates
significant shear deformations not experienced in the nonfriction case. In fact,
it is clear from the computed results that the classical Kirchhoff hypotheses
of beam theory are not valid when frictional forces are present since plane
sections normal to the slab's axis before deformation are not plane and normal
to the deformed axis after deformation. The computed variations in normal
contact pressures and tangential frictional stresses along segment AB are
illustrated in Fig. 10.6(c).
Example 10.3. Consider an infinitely long slab lying on a flat rigid foundation,
and suppose that its cross section is rectangular. If we assume friction exists
between the bottom surface of the slab and the foundation, and if the slab is
subjected to a downward uniformly distributed force on the top surface, a
friction contact problem can be defined. In this case, the contact pressure crn
is not specified although the contact area Fc is known a priori. Thus, we must
use the general formulation given by (10.50).
Suppose that the height and width of the cross section are h = 5 units and
b = 10 units, respectively, and that Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio are
E = 2.1 x 107 psi and v = 0.29, respectively. Assuming a constant coefficient of
friction VF = 0.3, we apply a uniform traction t = 104 psi in the negative direction
of the y axis without any body forces. Using the symmetry of the problem,
290 CHAPTER 10
FIG. 10.6(c). Computed frictional stress and contact pressure along surface AB. Reprinted with
permission from L. T. Campos, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [1], Computer Methods in Applied
we solve only a right half portion, and obtain the distribution of the normal
and tangential stresses on the contact surface F shown in Fig. 10.7. It is obvious
that the contact pressure is no longer uniform, as in the frictionless contact
problem. High pressures are observed at the edges, but these remain finite
because the sliding condition is imposed.
Example 10.4. The next example involves the indentation of an elastic
half-space by a rigid spherical punch, as shown in Fig. 10.8(a). The material
is isotropic and homogeneous, with E = 1000 and v = 0.3, and we take vp = 0.6.
The half-space is modeled by the nonuniform mesh of biquadratic 9-node
elements indicated in the figure.
The algorithm described earlier was employed to solve this problem with
and without friction, with a penalty parameter e, = 10~10 and a regularization
parameter of e = 10~8. The results indicated in Figs. 10.8(b)-10.8(d) were
obtained after ten iterations. Figure 10.8(b) shows the computed deformed
shape of the "half-space" for the case with friction. The deformed configuration
suggests large shear deformations near to the separation point. Figure 10.8(c)
compares the contact pressure and the friction stress with classical Hertz
solution without friction. For frictionless problems, our finite element approxi-
mations are in excellent agreement with the Hertz solutions. If friction is taken
into account, the maximum contact pressure increases about 7 percent, while
the amount of contact area is reduced. An interesting feature of the numerical
result obtained is that the distribution of the friction stress has a sort of singular
FlG. 10.7. The contact pressure an and the friction stress crT.
behavior at the limit point of the sticking zone. Indeed, the friction stress is
gradually developed in the center portion of the contact surface, and it rapidly
increases to the friction force created by sliding near to the interface of the
sticking and sliding zones. Computed stress distributions in the foundation
under the apex of the punch are shown in Fig. 10.8(d) and the computed
results are again compared with the classical frictionless solution. Note that
the presence of friction has brought about an increase in the maximum
longitudinal stress (<rzz) under the punch, but a substantial reduction in the
radial stress cr RR .
Example 10.5. In this example, we repeat the rigid punch problem of Example
10.4 except that we use a flat annular rigid stamp of the type shown in Fig.
10.9(a). The nonuniform mesh of 9-node biquadratic elements shown was
used, with EI = 10~10, e = 10~4. In this case, reasonable convergence of the
292 CHAPTER 10
FIG. 10.8(a). Indentation of an elastic body by a rigid spherical punch: undeformed configuration.
Reprinted with permission from L. T. Campos, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [1], Computer Methods
FIG. 10.8(b). Indentation of an elastic body by a rigid punch: deformed configuration. Reprinted
with permission from L. T. Campos, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [1], Computer Methods in Applied
FIG. 10.8(c). Comparison between distribution of computed pressure and stress due to friction and
a classical Hertz solution along surface AB. Reprinted with permission from L. T. Campos, J. T.
Oden, and N. Kikuchi [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright
1982 Elsevier Science Publishers.
FIG. 10.8(d) Comparison between stress distributions along AC. Reprinted with permission from
L. T. Campos, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and
Engineering. Copyright 1982 Elsevier Science Publishers.
294 CHAPTER 10
FIG. 10.9(a). Indentation of an elastic body by a flat annular rigid stamp: undeformed configuration.
Reprinted with permission from L. T. Campos, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [1], Computer Methods
numerical process outlined earlier was obtained after only 5 complete iter-
ations.
Numerical results for the case of pure adhesion are summarized in Figs.
10.9(b)-10.9(d). The computed deformed shape of the mesh is shown in Fig.
10.9(b). Figure 10.9(c) contains plots of the displacement components at the
FIG. 10.9(b). Computed deformed configuration. Reprinted with permission from L. T. Campos,
J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [ 1 ], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright
FIG. 10.9(c). Computed displacements and comparison with analytic solutions, from the results
of Shibuya, Koizumi and Nakahara [1]. Reprinted with permission from L. T. Campos, J. T. Oden,
FIG. 10.9(d). Computed stresses and comparison with analytic solutions, from the results of
Shibuya, Koizumi and Nakahara [I]. Reprinted with permission from L. T. Campos, J. T. Oden,
F.lsevier Science Publishers.
296 CHAPTER 10
surface of the foundation and Fig. 10.9(d) shows the stresses under the
punch for the nonfriction and friction cases. Also indicated in the figure
are results obtained by Shibuya, Koizumi and Nakahara [1] for this case
using an analytical method. The results are seen to be in quite good agree-
ment with the analytical solution.
We remark that in this example a strong singularity in stress exists at the
edges of the stamp, the character of which is unclear from the numerical
results. It is known (e.g., Muskhelishvili [1]) that in the case of full adhesion
of a rectangular punch indented in a half-space, a logarithmic singularity in
stress exists in a small neighborhood of each corner. For a stamp of length /,
the singularity is such that the stress changes sign in a neighborhood of diameter
roughly .003 /; hence, the singularity is very localized. On the other hand, if
full sliding occurs (i.e., |CTT| = vF\crn\ throughout Tc), a singularity of O(l/Vr)
is developed in the stress, r being the distance from the corner of the stamp.
The analysis of Shibuya, Koizumi and Nakahara [1] indicates a singularity
of 0(l/-/r) for the general case. Our results, which may not be sufficiently
refined to give a full picture of this singularity, seem to indicate a singularity
of strength O(l/Vr).
Example 10.6. Let us next consider a two-body contact problem with friction.
This example involves the contact of the circular disk and a rectangular plate
shown in Fig. 10.10(a) which are assumed to be in plane stress and to both
be constructed from the same material (Young's modulus E = 2.1 x 104psi,
FIG. 10.10(a). A plane stress model of a two-body contact problem.

Poisson's ratio v = 0.29) and to have the same thickness, t = 1 unit. The width
of the plate is twice the radius of the disk and the height is the same as the
radius. We shall model this problem using 99 4-node (Qr) elements and we
exploit the symmetry with respect to the vertical axis through the centroid of
the disk. We take for the radius of the disk R = 50 units and for the applied
force at the top of the disk P = 104 Ibs.
The computed deformed configuration is shown in Fig. 10.10(b), and the
corresponding contact pressure ov, and the friction stress crT are given in Fig.
10.10(c) for the case in which the coefficient of friction is vp = 0.3. In this case,
we cannot find any portion of the contact surface that is sliding and the friction
force is very small compared to the contact pressure. This differs from the
results obtained in Example 10.4 for the rigid punch problem. If a rigid disk
is used, considerably larger friction stresses are created on the contact surface
and the sliding zone appears near the separation point. It is easily understood
that if two identical disks are in contact, there should not be any friction
stresses and sliding zones. Figure 10.10(d) shows the principal stresses at the
FIG. 10.10(b). The deformed configuration of the two bodies.

fig10.10(c).Distibutions stresesss.tresses. fig10.10(c).Distibutions stresesss.tresses.
FIG. 10.10(e). Iso-Tresca stress lines of a two-body contact problem.
centroid of each element, and Fig. 10.10(e) gives contour lines of the Tresca
stress measure,
where cr, and cr2 are the principal stresses for plane stress problems.
Example 10.7. This example involves the two-body contact problem with
friction illustrated in Fig. 10.11(a), which features bodies constructed of two
different materials. The elastic punch is characterized by a Young's modulus
E=2.1xl0 4 and Poisson's ratio i> = Q.29, while the elastic foundation is
constructed of a material with E = 2.1xl0 3 and ^ = 0.45. Plane strain is
assumed in the formulation.
We assume that a horizontal thrust P is applied along the right edge of the
punch, while the punch is simultaneously indented into the foundation to a
depth d = 0.4. We shall solve the friction contact problem for two cases: P = 25
300 CHAPTER 10
FIG. 10.1 l(a). A finite element model of a two-body contact problem.
FIG. 10.1 l(b). Deformed configurations for two applied horizontal thrusts P.
FIG. 10.1 l(c). Displacement vectors of the elastic punch and foundation for two different horizontal
thrusts.
and P = 400. To this end, we shall assume the coefficient of friction is

»>F = 0.5.
Figure 10.11(b) shows the computed deformed configurations, and Fig.
10.11(c) describes the displacement vector at each node for both the P = 25
and P = 400 cases. It is clear that if the horizontal thrust P is small enough,
the deformation is almost symmetric about the centerline. However, if a large
horizontal force (P = 400) is applied, the motion takes the punch toward the
right-hand side of the foundation in the same direction as the horizontal thrust.
It is clear that the horizontal force P is transmitted into the foundation through
friction.
Figure 10.1 l(d) gives the computed distribution of the contact pressure and
the frictional stresses for both cases P = 25 and P = 400. The distribution of
the contact pressure appears to be insensitive to the amount of the friction
302 CHAPTER 10
FIG. 10.11(d). Distributions of the normal and tangential stresses.
stress, while the distribution of the friction stress is significantly effected by

changes in the magnitude of the applied horizontal force P. For P = 25, almost
all of the contact area is in the "sticking zone" (full adhesion) except for the
left edge. For P = 400, the distribution of the friction stress becomes nearly
symmetric about the centerline since only the very center portion of the punch
remains in the stick region. Thus the stresses related to contact are almost
symmetric for the large horizontal force P = 400. However, overall we have
very unsymmetric results for P = 400, as shown in Fig. 10.1 l(e) and (f). It is
clear that for the small horizontal force P = 25, the stress distribution is almost
symmetric inside of the domain.
FIG. 10.11(e). Distributions of the principal stresses developed in the structure.
Example 10.8. As a final example, we analyze a simplified model of a portion

of turbine blade roots and their anchor as shown in Fig. 10.12(a). The vector-
valued applied body force is defined by
where (o is the given angular velocity at 30,000 RPM. Fixing the left end of
the structure, and sliding the right end without any friction, we shall consider
contact of two separated structures near to the center. We assume that both
structures have a Young's modulus of E = 2.1 x 105 and Poisson's ratio v = 0.29,
and that the bodies are in a state of plane strain. The coefficient of friction is
*/F = 0.3.
304 CHAPTER 10
FIG. 10.11(f). ho-Tresca stress lines of the structure for two different horizontal thrusts.
FIG. 10.12(a). A finite element model of a part of blade roots.

FIG. 10.12(b). The deformed configuration of a part of blade roots.
FIG. 10.12(c). Distribution of the contact pressure and the friction stress.
306 CHAPTER 10
FIG. 10.12(d). The principal stresses of a part of blade roots.
FIG. 10.12(e). The Iso-Tresca stress lines.
Figure 10.12(b) shows the computed deformed configuration, and Fig.

10.12(c) gives the distribution of the contact pressure and the friction stress.
In this problem all of the contact area is sliding. Because of the rather large
gap between the two structures, only two elements actually come into contact.
Computed stress contours are shown in Fig. 10.12(d) and (e). Maximum
stresses occur near the contact surfaces, as expected.
Chapter 11
Contact Problems with Nonclassical

Friction Laws
11.1. Introduction. This chapter is concerned with the study of a class of

contact problems with friction in linear elastostatics assuming nonclassical,
particularly nonlocal and nonlinear friction laws, instead of the classical
pointwise Amonton-Coulomb law studied in the previous chapter.
Our objectives include the presentation of physical and mathematical argu-
ments in support of these more general friction laws, the formulation of
appropriate variational principles for the corresponding boundary value prob-
lems, the establishment of sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness
of solutions, the approximation of such problems by finite elements, the
derivation of a priori error estimates, the consideration of algorithms for
solving the discrete variational inequalities, and finally the numerical resolution
of representative example problems.
Following this introduction, we give a brief account of the history and
physics of friction as well as a justification of specific friction models. Several
variational principles for boundary-value problems in elasticity in which non-
local and nonlinear laws are assumed to hold are derived in §§ 11.4 and 11.5.
There we establish sufficient conditions for existence and uniqueness of sol-
utions to the nonlocal nonlinear friction problems. A penalty formulation of
these problems is introduced and a convergence theorem with explicit estimates
of penalty resolutions of the variational inequalities previously examined is
developed. Section 11.6 is devoted to the approximation and numerical analysis
of nonlocal nonlinear friction problems. There we describe finite element
approximations of the variational inequalities developed in § 11.5 and we
establish a priori error estimates for such approximations. Algorithms for
solving finite element approximations of nonclassical friction problems are
presented in § 11.7, and the results of several numerical experiments are
307
308 CHAPTER 11
described. Finally in § 11.8 in order to take into account the history of the
loading, quasi-static friction problems are considered and variational prin-
ciples, in an incremental form, are introduced.
Portions of this chapter are based on the works of Oden and Pires [1], [2],
[3], [4] and Pires and Oden [1] where further details can be found.
Why more generalfriction laws ? The classical pointwise friction law presented
by Amonton in 1699 and extended by Coulomb in 1781 asserts that relative
sliding of two bodies in contact will occur when the net tangential force reaches
a critical value proportional to the net force pressing the two bodies together.
This remarkably simple idea, which was actually known to da Vinci in the
fifteenth century, has been the basis for most friction studies for almost three
centuries.
As friction phenomena and the structure of mathematical models of friction
become better understood, however, it becomes increasingly clear that the use
of these classical "laws of friction" as a basis for contact problems in the
theory of elasticity is neither acceptable from a physical nor a mathematical
point of view. From the purely physical side, it has been recognized for many
years that the Amonton-Coulomb law is capable of describing only friction
effects between effectively rigid bodies and gross sliding of one body relative
to another. Indeed, it is very doubtful that Coulomb himself intended that his
law be applied in a pointwise way in contact problems in elasticity. In 1781
when Coulomb presented his "Theorie des Machines Simples" to the French
Academy, the foundations of continuum mechanics were in an early stage of
development; the concept of stress and the general equations of linear elasto-
statics were not to come until a half-century later in the writings of Cauchy,
Navier, and others, and a full century would elapse after Coulomb's work
(and 182 years after Amonton's) before the simplest contact problems in
elasticity were dealt with successfully by Hertz. From the mathematical point
of view, it is shown in Chapter 10 that if Coulomb's law is applied pointwise
in contact problems involving linearly elastic bodies, then the contact stress
an developed normal to the contact surface may be ill defined. Except for
some very special cases (e.g., Necas, Jarusek, and Haslinger [1]) the funda-
mental question of existence of solutions of the friction problem is open (for
other related open questions, see Duvaut and Lions [1]).
Independent of the nonlinear character of local friction phenomena, there
are also mathematical reasons to expect that a nonlocal friction law might
lead to a more tractable theory. Duvaut [3] observed that the source of
difficulties in establishing an existence theory for Signorini's problem with
Coulomb friction was the lack of smoothness of the normal contact pressure
crn. Therefore, by considering, instead, a proper mollification of the normal
stresses on the contact boundary he was able to state that the principal obstacles
in the way of deriving an existence and uniqueness theory for contact problems
with friction could be overcome. One interpretation of such a smoothing of
NONCLASSICAL FRICTION LAWS 309
the contact pressure is a result of nonlocal effects arising from micromechanical

phenomena taking place on the contact regions.
In the present chapter, we introduce some nonclassical friction laws for
contact problems involving linearly elastic bodies. Among these are nonlocal
laws, which reflect the nonlocal characteristics noted above, and nonlinear
laws which arise from models of normal interfaces compliance. We study the
nonlocal version in the present chapter and return to the nonlinear normal
contact laws in Chapter 13. Here we present variational principles for contact
problems in elastostatics in which nonlocal laws hold. Roughly speaking, a
nonlocal friction law proposes that impending motion at a point of contact
between two deformable bodies will occur when the shear stress at that point
reaches a value proportional to a weighted measure of the normal stresses in a
neighborhood of the point. The character of the effective local neighborhood
and the manner in which neighborhood stresses contribute to the sliding
condition depends upon features of the microstructure of the materials in
contact.
An interesting feature of our results is that these nonclassical friction laws
are given in terms of three positive material parameters: v, p, and e. The
parameter v is the coefficient of friction, although its actual interpretation is
somewhat more complex than that of classical mechanics. The parameter p
quantifies the nonlocal character of the response—for p = 0 a fully local law
is obtained. Finally, e is a measure of the tangential stiffness of the elastoplastic
junctions on the contact surface; the case e = 0 corresponds to a fully rigid
response—full adhesion or full sliding of contact surfaces. Thus, by allowing
p and e to approach zero, we can recover the classical, local, pointwise
formulation of contact problems in elastostatics based on Coulomb's law.
11.2. Historical review. As stated in § 1.2, the first successful analysis of

contact problems in elasticity is due to Hertz who formulated and solved
problems of frictionless contact of two elastic bodies in 1881. It was a half
century later that "the unilateral problem" in elasticity was formulated in the
work of Signorini in 1933.
The first extension of Hertz's theory to the contact of two elastic bodies
when the influence of friction at the contact interface is considered, was
introduced by Cattaneo [1] in 1938 and independently, using a different
method, by Mindlin [1] in 1949. A summary description of Hertzian contact
problems and their extensions to include the effects of friction and other types
of loading can be found in the article of Lubkin [1] in the Handbook of
Engineering Mechanics. For an historical account on early works on friction
and on the laws that govern friction phenomena the treatise of Bowden and
Tabor [2] can be consulted. Mindlin's analysis shows that if no slip between
the contacting surfaces exists, then the tangential shear stress at the boundary
of the contact region has a singularity. In order to relieve these infinite shear
310 CHAPTER 11
tractions, Mindlin uses Coulomb's law of friction: the shear traction at any
point in the interface cannot exceed the product of the normal pressure at
that point with a constant coefficient of friction representative of the material
and of the surface. The assumption of a finite coefficient of friction between
the surfaces in contact was also used by Spence [1], who formulated the
axisymmetric contact for a flat indentor as a mixed boundary-value problem
governed by a pair of Volterra equations.
Extensions of Hertz's theory to the case where no slip or full adhesion is
assumed were considered by Goodman [1] who sought a solution by a method
in which the load and the contact area were allowed to grow incrementally,
and also by Muskhelisvili [1, p. 476] and Gladwell [1, p. 160]. Their solutions,
however, exhibit physically unrealistic logarithmic singularities at the periphery
of the contact area. Other extensions taking into account the roughness of the
contacting surfaces were introduced, among others, by Archard [1], Green-
wood and Williamson [1], Greenwood and Tripp [1], Nayak [1], and Johnson
[2]. These authors simulate a rough contact surface by considering a statistical
distribution (Gaussian or exponential) of spherical protuberances covering
the surface of the bodies that deform elastically and independently according
to Hertz's theory.
The first variational formulations of static friction problems in the context
of linear elasticity were given by Duvaut [1] in 1970. In 1971, Duvaut and
Lions [2] presented an existence theorem for displacements and uniqueness
for stresses and strains for the problem of an elastic body whose surface is
submitted to a given density of normal forces and whose tangential displace-
ments of surface points are prescribed displacements with friction following
Coulomb's law. Variational formulations of other friction problems, in par-
ticular of Signorini's problem with Coulomb friction, are given in Duvaut and
Lions [1] together with proofs of equivalence between the classical and the
variational statements of these problems. (Details of this class of friction
contact problems have been studied in the previous chapter.)
Due to the lack of an existence theory for the Signorini problem with
Coulomb friction and the mathematical difficulties associated with this problem
(see §§ 10.2 and 10.7), Duvaut [3] introduced a variational formulation of the
Signorini problem using instead a nonlocal law of friction. Statements of
theorems on existence and uniqueness of solutions are given, as well, in the
brief note of Duvaut [3], Variational principles of this type have also been
studied mathematically by Demkowicz and Oden [1] who, unlike Duvaut,
based their analysis on the theory of pseudomonotone variational inequalities
and also by Oden and Pires [1], [2] who not only gave complete proofs of all
relevant theorems but also generalized these principles in order to include the
tangential compliance effects that occur on the contact surface.
Finally, we wish to review briefly some of the experimental work that has
been done in the study of friction between metallic surfaces. The classic
NONCLASS1CAL FRICTION LAWS 311
reference here is again the treatise of Bowden and Tabor [1] who describe an
experimental study of the physical and chemical processes that occur during
the sliding of solids, particularly of metals. These investigations were continued
in a second volume by Bowden and Tabor [2]. The direct experimental
demonstration of junction growth and its role in adhesion was first shown by
McFarlane and Tabor [1] in their study of the behavior of indium in air. The
use of normal adhesion as a means to determine the area of contact between
the surfaces as well as the effect of surface films on the adhesion of solids was
also experimentally shown by McFarlane and Tabor [2]. Their results also
show that the smallest tangential stress initiates movement. Johnson [1] and
Courtney-Pratt and Eisner [1], among others, studied experimentally under
static conditions the microdisplacements produced when tangential forces,
less than those necessary to produce gross sliding are applied to contacting
metal bodies.
The frictional behavior due to the formation and inelastic deformation of
junctions was the subject of experimental work of Green [1] and Greenwood
and Tabor [1]. The experimental study of microdisplacements under oscillatory
conditions, i.e., involving oscillatory tangential forces, was also considered by
Johnson [1], [2] and by Mindlin et al. [1]. In this case, vibrational energy is
dissipated at the interface and fretting of the surfaces occurs. Measurements
of the energy loss were made and the results compared with the analytic theory
of Mindlin et al. [1]. We particularly refer to the microphotographs shown in
Johnson [1], [2] (and also in Bowden and Tabor [2]) of surfaces subjected to
oscillating forces of different amplitudes. A careful study of these photographs
shows that intimate metal-to-metal contact occurs only at the crests of the
surface asperities and that an annular region of damage takes place, spreading
inward with increasing tangential force. As a last reference we mention the
experimental analysis of displacements and shears at the surface of contact
between two loaded models made of transparent polyurethane rubber (photo-
flex) done by Bremond and Durelli [1].
11.3. The mechanics of dry friction between metallic bodies. The

phenomenon of static dry friction between metallic bodies has been the subject
of intense experimental and theoretical research for the last half century, and
its study is a popular and important aspect of modern engineering design.
There exists extensive literature on the physical mechanisms associated with
friction. As noted earlier, the standard reference is the monumental two-volume
treatise by Bowden and Tabor [1], [2]; more concise introductory accounts
can be found in various textbooks on the subject (e.g., Rabinowicz [1], Bowden
and Tabor [3]); detailed surveys have been published by Tabor [1], [2].
In the present section we shall describe certain aspects of the micromechanics
of friction which are relevant in supporting the construction of nonclassical
laws.
312 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.1. Reproduction of a microphotograph in Bowden and Tabor [1] showing asperities on a
copper surface. From F. P. Bowden and D. Tabor [1], The Friction and Lubrication of Solids.
Copyright 1950 Clarendon Press.
To understand friction, one must first appreciate the role of the microstruc-
ture of the materials involved. Consider an experiment in which two metallic
bodies are placed in contact along two apparently flat machined surfaces. At
microscopic levels, specifically at magnifications of lOOx to SOOOx machined
metal surfaces are seen to be not smooth homogeneous planes but rough
contours with numerous irregularities which are large compared with molecular
dimensions. We refer to these deviations from the plane as asperities (see Fig.
11.1 for a reproduction of a photograph given in Bowden and Tabor [1, Plate
II]).
When we press together two surfaces, actual contact initially occurs only at
the peaks or summits of the asperities. Large areas of the surfaces are separated
by a distance which is large compared with the range of molecular action, so
that these gaps in the surfaces are completely separated and have no interaction
with one another. The load is, therefore, initially supported at the tips of the
asperities; the area of contact is extremely small, and the pressure at the points
of contact is high even for lightly loaded surfaces. Plastic deformation of the
tip of the asperities occurs at small loads while the bulk of the underlying
metal deforms elastically. As the normal load is further increased, the asperities
deform and fracture with the result that the local load is distributed over an
area surrounding each deformed asperity. At this stage, each asperity has been
flattened and the local contact forces are distributed over a neighborhood of
the asperity. Hence the real area of contact Ar is only a fraction of the nominal
or apparent area and is given by the sum of the areas of all the surface
irregularities which are touching and which support the load. The true contact
pressure is therefore also discontinuous since it is transmitted through the
deformed asperities as indicated in Fig. 11.2.
It is often assumed that the local plastic yield pressure p0 is nearly constant
and is comparable to the indentation hardness of the metal. Under these
FIG. 11.2. Surface roughness, asperities; contact between two surfaces, junctions.
circumstances, the real area of contact for any one asperity bearing a load N;
is A( = Nj/Poi f°r the assembly of the asperities, the real contact area is
where JV is the total normal force pressing the surfaces together. The real area
of contact is, thus, proportional to the load and independent of the size of
the surfaces. Over these regions where intimate contact occurs, strong adhesion
and welding of the metal surfaces takes place and the specimens become, in
effect, a continuous solid. We refer to these regions as junctions.
314 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.3. Surface films according to Rabinowicz. From E. Rabinowicz [1], Friction and Wear
of Materials. Copyright 1965 John Wiley, Inc.
Under most working conditions, metal surfaces are covered by a thin film
of oxide, water vapor, and other absorbed impurities, as shown in Fig. 11.3.
The shear strength of these junctions can be strongly dependent upon the
shear strength of these surface films. In particular, it is the shear strength of
this layer of oxide and impurities that often determines the coefficient of
friction and not, in general, the shear strength of the parent metals (see Bowden
and Tabor [2, p. 74]).
The application of a tangential force T creates a tendency for the two bodies
to slide relative to each other. The contact pressure must then decrease (since
it was near or equal to the plastic yield stress). Some microscopic motion will
occur even when T is small (see Fig. 11.4). If T is steadily increased, a value
of sufficient magnitude to fracture the contaminant films is eventually reached
and gross sliding occurs. It is,customary to set the ratio of the magnitude of
T at which sliding occurs to the net normal force N equal to the coefficient
of friction v. If s is the average shear strength of the interface, it follows that
approximately
i.e., T is independent of the apparent area of contact (since Ar is). Then,

substituting for An we obtain
i.e., T is directly proportional to the load (or v is independent of the load).

As an idealization of the contact surfaces, one may assume that the asperities
are superposed upon the surface of spherical protuberances with a larger
radius of curvature. It is then possible to consider that although each individual
asperity at the interface will deform plastically, the deformation of each
spherical protuberance will be elastic. This idealization has two purposes: first,
FIG. 11.4. Deformation of a junction.
FIG. 11.5. Reproduction of microphotographs in Bowden and Tabor [2] showing damage produced
by an oscillating tangential force for two different values of its amplitude. From Bowden and Tabor
[2], The Friction and Lubrication of Solids. Copyright 1964 Oxford University Press.
316 CHAPTER 11
the area of real contact still remains approximately proportional to the load,
although the overall deformation is elastic (see Archard [1]); second, it allows
us to treat each region of contact as being roughly circular (see Fig. 11.5 for
a reproduction of microphotographs given in Bowden and Tabor [2, Plate
IX]) and to regard the contact pressure as being essentially symmetric, attaining
its maximum magnitude at the center of the circle of contact, in a manner
consistent with the well-known analysis of Mindlin [1].
We emphasize that the junctions through which loads are transmitted from
one body to another are not rigid; indeed, they are composed of a deformable
composite of metal, metal oxide, and surface contaminant that, for our pur-
poses, can be assumed to be elastoplastic or nonlinearly elastic. Several
researchers have actually measured the tangential micro-displacements that
occur, in friction experiments on metals, prior to gross sliding of the surfaces,
and we mention as examples the works of Johnson [1] and Courtney-Pratt
and Eisner [1]. Figure 11.6 reproduces a typical result of a static displacement
test of Johnson [1] which involved the contact of a hard steel ball with the
flat end of a hard steel roller. Micro-displacements are produced by an applied
shear force varying progressively from zero to the value necessary to produce
slip. The deformation of individual junctions from their formation to fractur
was also studied by Green [1] using plasticine models. Greenwood and Tabor
[1] performed several experiments simulating three basic types of junctions:
(1) strong welded junctions, which are formed when the contact surfaces are
very clean, (2) weak, dry junctions, which are formed when the surfaces are
contaminated by dust and oxides, and (3) lubricated junctions, which are
formed when there is a film of fluid between the surfaces. The materials used
were aluminum, indium, lead, and plasticine. Their results are shown qualita-
FIG. 11.6. Measured shear-tangential displacement variations after the experiments of Johnson.
From K. L. Johnson [1], Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series A. Copyright 1955
Royal Society of London.
FIG. 11.7. Values of the normal force N and tangential force Tfor (a) strong junction, (b) weak
junction, (c) lubricated junction according to Greenwood and Tabor. From J. A. Greenwood and
D. Tabor [1], Proceedings of the Physical Society of London, Series B. Copyright 1955 Physical
Society of London.
lively in Fig. 11.7. The experimental investigation of the mechanism of sliding

friction of both Green [1] and Greenwood and Tabor [1] was achieved by
shearing large-scale models of friction junctions under conditions where no
normal displacements were allowed.
The fracture and damage of the junctions is a principal contribution to the
wear of the metallic surfaces. In the case of weak dry junctions the size and
structure of the asperities are substantially reduced by these fractures, so that
if the direction of the applied tangential force is ultimately reversed, the
strength of new junctions that may be formed can be somewhat lower than
that of the original ones, depending on the magnitude of the net normal forces
on the contact surfaces. Globally this corresponds to a reduction in the
coefficient of friction.
11.4. Nonclassical normal contact and friction laws. We shall introduce

nonlinear normal contact laws characterizing interface deformability and non-
local friction laws for static contact phenomena where large normal forces
may produce local plastic deformations of asperities. For more detailed dis-
cussions, the work of Oden and Pires [1] and Oden and Martins [1] can be
consulted.
11.4.1. Normal contact models. We shall now summarize several theoretical

and experimental results on the static normal contact of rough surfaces which
will lead to another class of nonlinear friction laws. Further details on the
theoretical issues can be found in the survey papers of Archard [1], [2], Thomas
[1] and Whitehouse [1]. For the experimental work we follow essentially the
survey papers of Back, Burdekin and Cowley [1] and Woo and Thomas [1].
We are especially interested in answers to the following questions: What is
the stiffness of two asperity-covered surfaces when pressed against each other1
What is the corresponding true area of contact ?
Because surfaces are rough, the true area of contact is much smaller than
the apparent area of contact. As a result, the true contact surfaces may often
318 CHAPTER 11
support pressures so large that they are comparable with the strengths of the
materials of the contacting bodies. Bowden and Tabor [1] suggested that these
pressures would be always high enough to produce plastic flow. The contacting
regions would deform plastically until the true area of contact would be just
large enough to support the load. The true area of contact Ar would be then
proportional to the applied load N. With this proportionality, ArocN, it is
possible to provide a simple and elegant explanation of Amonton's laws of
friction.
Objections to the concept of plastic deformation of the asperities were put
forward by Archard [1]. According to this author, when materials of compar-
able hardness rub together, a protuberance may be plastically deformed at its
first encounter with the other surface, but its relaxation would be elastic. At
its many subsequent encounters with the other surface the protuberance would
bear the same load by elastic deformation. Archard shows then that although
the simple Hertzian theory does not predict the proportionality between Ar
and N, a generalized model in which an asperity is covered with microasperities,
and each microasperity with micro-microasperities, gives successively closer
approximations to the law ArocN as more stages are considered (Fig. 11.8).
Archard explained that the essential part of the argument was not the choice
of asperity model: it was whether an increase in load creates new contact areas
or increases the size of existing ones. For physically plausible surfaces any
elastic model in which the number of contacts remains constant, we find that
Aroc N2/3; but if the average size of contacts remains constant (and its number
increases) then Ar oc N. Although, admittedly artificial, Archard's models were
thus very important in showing the admissibility of elastic deformation of the
asperities and the effect of the superposition upon the surfaces of asperities
of widely differing scales of sizes.
FIG. 11.8. Models of surfaces containing asperities of differing scales of sizes. The relationships
between the true area of contact (Ar) and the normal load (N) are: (a) Arx N4/s; (b) Aroc N14/IS;
(c) /4r°cN44/45. From J. F. Archard [2], Surface Topography and Tribology, Tribology Inter-
national. Copyright 1974 Butterworth Scientific Ltd.
The next step came with the development of surface models based on
knowledge gained from the examination of the actual surface topography.
Greenwood and Williamson [1] and others have shown that for many surfaces
the distribution of heights is very close to Gaussian. These authors also
investigated the distribution of peak heights and concluded that it was also
close to Gaussian (see Fig. 11.9). The model developed by Greenwood and
Williamson thus assumed a Gaussian distribution of peak heights (asperity
heights). They also assumed that the asperities, at least near their summits,
were spherical with a constant radius of curvature. The topography of the
surface was described in terms of three parameters: cr*, the standard deviation
of the distribution of asperity heights, Rt the mean radius of curvature of the
asperity tips (assumed constant in the model), and 17, the surface density of
asperities (later, Whitehouse and Archard [1] showed that these parameters
are not independent).
FIG. 11.9. Cumulative height distribution of bead-blasted aluminum. (x) Distribution of all heights.
(•) Distribution of peak heights. A perfect Gaussian distribution would give, with the vertical scale
used, a straight line. From J. A. Greenwood and J. P. B. Williamson [1], Proceedings of the Royal
Society of London. Copyright 1966 Royal Society of London.
320 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.10. Relation between separation and load. From J. A. Greenwood and J. P. B. Williamson
[1], Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Copyright 1966 Royal Society of London.
FIG. 11.11. Relation between true area of contact and load. nominal area A = 10 cm2;
2
nominal area A = \ cm . From J. A. Greenwood and J. P. B. Williamson [1], Proceedings of the
Royal Society of London. Copyright 1966 Royal Society of London.
The results obtained using this theory, for typical values of or*, R, 17 and
E' are shown in Figs. 11.10 and 11.11. In Fig. 11.10, the separation h* is the
distance between the mean planes of the distribution of peak heights of the
two surfaces. It is clear that the separation decreases approximately proportionally
to the increase of the logarithm of the normal load and that the real area of
contact is approximately proportional to the normal load. Greenwood and
Williamson observed that the above proportionalities hold exactly if the distribu-
tion of asperity heights is assumed exponential rather than Gaussian. For such
a distribution, which is a fair approximation to the uppermost 25 percent of
the asperities of most surfaces, it is possible to obtain closed form expressions
for the relations: load-separation, area of contact separation and, consequently,
area of contact-load:
where p is the nominal contact pressure, A is the nominal area of contact, A,

is the real area of contact, and E' is the Hertz effective modulus of two
dissimilar materials: E' = ElE2/[El(l-v*) + E2(l- v\}\.
Tsukizoe and Hisakado [1], [2] developed a statistical model for the contact
of rough surfaces under the assumption of plastic deformation of the asperities.
They further assumed a Gaussian distribution of surface heights and that the
material displaced due to plastic deformation could be neglected. This
approach, which works well for light to moderate loads, leads to the following
relations involving load, area of contact and separation:
Here the separation h is the distance between the mean planes of the distribu-
tions of surface heights (see Fig. 11.12), and H is the indentation hardness.
(H = applied load/permanent indentation area when a hard indenter is pressed
into a "flat" surface.)
322 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.12. Separation and penetrating approach between a rough and aflat surface. current
mean line of the rough surface; mean line of the rough surface at the beginning of contact;
h = current separation; h0 = separation at the beginning of contact; a = h0 — h = penetrating approach.
Some of the limitations of these early statistical models of elastic or plastic

contact have been successively overcome by more sophisticated models pro-
posed by other authors. Whitehouse and Archard [1] used the fact that, if a
surface profile is of a random type, then it can be defined completely (in a
statistical sense) by two characteristics: the probability density of the height
distribution and the autocorrelation function. More recently, Whitehouse and
Phillips [1] have generalized the previous model in order to incorporate a
general autocorrelation function C(A) and in order to have a fully two-
dimensional surface model (rather than a one-dimensional profile model).
An alternative model was developed by Nayak [1]. In his model, the height
of a rough surface z = z(x, y ) is considered to be a two-dimensional random
variable, the Cartesian coordinates x and y being the independent variables.
The essential differences between this model and those of Whitehouse et al.
are the following: this model is based on continuous (rather than discrete)
properties of random waveforms and uses the power spectral density function
(rather than the autocorrelation function). In this work Nayak also emphasized
the distinction between the statistics of the surface and the statistics of a profile
of the surface. This author then shows how the higher order surface statistics
of interest can be correctly obtained from the parameters cr, a-' and cr" (r.m.s.
values of z and its first and second derivatives, respectively) of a single profile,
for Gaussian isotropic surfaces.
Bush, Gibson and Thomas [1] developed a model based on Nayak's random
surface theory with the additional assumption that the cap of each asperity is
replaced by a paraboloid having the same height and principal curvatures as
the summit of the asperity. The asperity deformation was assumed to be elastic
(Hertzian). The authors conclude that for large separation the contact area is
proportional to the load and for smaller separation the proportionality is only
approximate. The normal stiffness becomes vanishingly small at large separations
and, at constant separation, the stiffness is proportional to the load. Also the
stiffness is inversely proportional to the square of the r.m.s. roughness.
O'Callaghan and Cameron [1], using a model with some features in common
with the previous one, obtained results (also for elastic contact) that are
qualitatively analogous to those of previous authors: approximate proportional-
ity between real area of contact and normal load and also approximate proportion-
ality between separation and minus the logarithm of the load.
Other authors have also modeled conditions on the contact surface that are
more complex than a simple elastic or plastic deformation of the asperities.
Mikic [1] modeled elastoplastic conditions. He assumed that the real contact
pressure is equal to the lower hardness of the contacting materials and that
the total deformation of each asperity is the sum of elastic and plastic deforma-
tions produced by that pressure. Analogous assumptions were later used by
Ishigaki et al. [1] to model loading-unloading situations. Work hardening of
the asperities was first considered by Hailing and Nuri [1]. Work hardening
and the mechanics of unloading-reloading were incorporated in the model of
Francis [1].
Some experimental results. Early experimental results on the stiffness of
contacting surfaces and their real area of contact can be found in Kragelskii
[1]. This author refers to the work of Sokolovskii [1], Bobrik [1] and Votinov
[1] who proposed a relationship between the approach (a) and the nominal
pressure (p) of the form:
where C, m and K are constants determined experimentally. According to

Sokolovskii, these constants are usually m = 0.3-0.5 and K =0. Figure 11.13
also from the same book, illustrates the experimental relationship between the
real area of contact (Ar) and the nominal pressure (p) for different metals in
contact with a glass prism. It can be seen that some of the curves obtained
depart appreciably from linearity. According to Kragelskii, the relationship
FIG. 11.13. Real area of contact vs. pressure for different metals in contact with a glass prism. (1)
lead, (2) cadmium, (3) magnesium, (4) aluminum, (5) copper, (6) steel 10. Maximum height of
surface asperities: 40 p.. From I. V. Kragelskii [1], Friction and Wear. Copyright 1965 Butterworth
Scientific Ltd.
324 CHAPTER 11
may only be considered linear at low pressures or for materials which do not
work harden appreciably.
Important sources of experimental results on the contact of metallic surfaces
can be found in the literature devoted to the design of machine tools. The
research of several workers who studied the stiffness, damping, friction and
wear characteristics of fixed and sliding joints has been summarized in a paper
by Back, Burdekin and Cowley [1]. The essential conclusions related to the
stiffness of contacting surfaces are the following:
(1) For low nominal pressures, characteristic of sliding connections, no plastic
deformation was observed and the approach-normal load relationship is of the
form of the above power law with K = 0 and with m having values in the
range m = 0.32-0.5, in perfect agreement with the observations of Sokolovskii
mentioned above.
While these authors' reference to "no plastic deformation" represents a mild
contradiction to those results described earlier, a study of available discussions
of the experimental set-up indicates that some rubbing of the surfaces may
have been done prior to the experiments in order to obtain reproducible results
(e.g., Dolbey and Bell [1]).
(2) For higher nominal pressures, characteristic of fixed or bolted connec-
tions, the general behavior to be expected when successive loadings and
unloadings of the surfaces are performed, is shown in Fig. 11.14. It is clear
FIG. 11.14. Penetrating approach due to successive loadings and unloadings of a metal surface.
The experimental values a contain the deformation of the surface asperities (penetrating approach)
and some deformation of the solid material in the neighborhood of the interface. From R. Connolly,
R. E. Schofield, and R. H. Thornley [l], The Approach of Machined Surfaces with Particular
Reference to their Hardness in Advances, in Machine Tool Design and Research, Proceedings of
the 8th International M.T.D.R. Conference, The University of Manchester Institute of Science
and Technology, September 1967, S. A. Tobias and F. Koenigsberger, eds. Pergamon Press,
Oxford, 1968, pp. 759-665. Copyright 1968 Pergamon Press.
that the total approach of the surface has an elastic and a plastic component and
that (if the joint orientation is not disturbed) the unloading and reloading paths,
are practically coincident. For these elastic paths, Connolly and Thornley [1]
proposed the following relationship between the approach and the normal load:
where B and Q are constants.

Tables with experimental values of the constants C, m, and B in the above
formulas can also be found in Back et al. [1], together with the corresponding
ranges of validity.
The elastic stiffness of the surface per unit area (5) is thus given by
when the power law is used, and by:
when the logarithm law is used. It was also found experimentally that for mild
steel specimens with shaped or turned surfaces the constant B is inversely
proportional to the surface roughness. Consequently, the stiffness is inversely
proportional to the surface roughness.
In recent years, much experimental work has been done to test the statistical
models of the surface geometry and contact. The essential conclusions of a
survey paper of Woo and Thomas [1] are the following:
(i) The bearing area ratio (AJA) increases as the 0.8 power of the
dimensionless load ( p / H ) up to values of p/H of the order of 0.1 (see Fig.
11.15).
(ii) The dimensionless separation (h/o~) decreases proportionally to the
increase of the logarithm of the dimensionless load ( p / H ) (see Fig. 11.16).
Since the assumptions on the roughness of the surfaces and their mechanical
behavior are different, the relationships involving area of contact, load and
separation derived from the models described earlier are also different and,
in some cases, difficult to compare. However, comparing the theoretical predic-
tions of those models with the experimental results presented above, some
broad conclusions can be drawn. We summarize them as follows:
On the mode of deformation of metal surfaces.
(i) The essential factors affecting the mode of deformation of a rough
surface are the material properties (E\ H} and the surface finish. The normal
load is expected to have little effect on the mode of deformation of the surface.
(ii) For most engineering materials and surface finishes the initial contact
of the surfaces is expected to be plastic even at light loads.
326 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.15. Bearing area ratio vs. dimensionless load. Least squares straight line obtained on the
basis of the experimental results of 6 different papers by various authors. From K. L. Woo and
T. R. Thomas [1], Wear. Copyright 1980 Webb Publishing Co.
(iii) The repeated loading-unloading-reloading of the metal surfaces, as

in normal sliding or in metallurgical polishing, produces changes in the shape
of the asperities, which lead to a subsequent elastic deformation, provided
that severe wear is prevented during the process of sliding.
On the stiffness of compressed rough surfaces.
(iv) At small penetrating approaches (large separations) the stiffness of
rough surfaces becomes vanishingly small.
(v) The stiffness of a surface is inversely proportional to its roughness.
(vi) The normal load increases roughly as an exponential function of the
penetrating approach (the separation decreases proportionally to the increase
of the logarithm of the load).
FIG. 11.16. Dimensionless separation vs. dimensionless load. Regression line obtained on the basis
)f the experimental results of 1 different papers by various authors. From K. L. Woo and T. R.
fhomas [1], Wear. Copyright 1980 Webb Publishing Co.
(vii) For light loads, because of (iv), the normal load is closely proportional
to a power, in the range 1/0.5 to 1/0.3, of the penetrating approach.
(viii) For the same normal load the stiffness during the first loading is
smaller than the stiffness during unloading or reloading, due to the plastic
deformation which occurs during the first loading.
On the real area of contact.
(ix) Most of the statistical models developed predict, for both elastic and
plastic contact, an exact or an approximate proportionality between real area
of contact and normal load.
(x) Experimental results show that, often, the real area of contact increases
with a power of the normal load which is slightly smaller than one, even for
light loads.
A definitive precise conclusion seems difficult due to the absence of a really
satisfactory method for the experimental determination of the real area of
contact—a fundamental difficulty pointed out by Tabor [2].
11.4.2. Interface models. The interface between contacting bodies is a
hypothetical medium of vanishing thickness, the mechanical response of which
depends upon the various geometrical and physical properties of the surfaces
in contact as discussed earlier. For the class of problems addressed here, we
wish to characterize the response of such an interface to normal deformations
in a way that is consistent with the experimental and statistical theoretic results
summarized previously.
First, the notion of a contact surface Yc is worthy of some elaboration. This
surface should represent the boundary of the parent bulk material 28 of which
the body is composed; see Fig. 11.17. One can regard it as parallel to a surface
marking average surface heights. We suppose that Fc has a well defined
exterior normal vector n and that the actual interface (asperities, oxide film,
gas, work hardened material, etc.) is initially of thickness t0, as shown. The
initial gap between Fc and the other body that may come in contact with 3ft
is defined as the distance, measured along a line normal to Fc, between the
highest asperities of the bodies in the reference configuration. The interface
thickness after deformation is denoted t in Fig. 11.17 and the actual displace-
ment of Fc in the direction of n is un = u • n. Thus, the approach of the material
contact surfaces is
This definition is valid whenever the body ^^ is rigid and bounded by a

surface opposing Fc which is ideally flat, as indicated in the figure. This model
is easily generalized to cases in which ^l is deformable and rough. The
constitutive properties of the interface are characterized by a relationship
between an and a. In Fig. 11.18 we have plotted the variation in the normal
force N on a unit block of the material with the penetrating approach. Except
for very large penetrations, where the response is essentially exponential, a
328 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.17. Initial gap, normal displacement and penetrating approach at the contact surface Fc.
Reprinted with permission from J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins [1], Computing Methods in
Applied Mechanical Engineering. Copyright 1985 Elsevier Science Publishers.
large body of evidence points to a power law relation between <rn ( = N/unit
area) and a:
Here cn and mn are material parameters independent of a.

Much of the experimental evidence described earlier indicated that the
material parameters cn and mn can be easily determined from interface com-
pression experiments. Other effects could be added to this interface law, but
it is sufficiently general to model many of the principal mechanisms.
We remark that the form of the interface constitutive equation (11.4) is
consistent with the experimental observations outlined earlier:
Finite element computations of static contact problems using such a normal

interface constitutive equation were reported by Back, Burdekin and Cowley
FIG. 11.18. Normal force vs. approach relationship suggested by experimental and statistical
theoretic results. Portion A, "light" normal loads characteristic of sliding interfaces. Portion B,
"heavy" normal loads characteristic of fixed interfaces.
[1]. A more detailed study of these types of normal contact models for dynamic
friction problems is given in Chapter 13.
11.4.3. Nonlocal static friction models for high normal loads. Based on the
experimental and theoretical results summarized earlier in this section, it
appears that a power law type normal compliance relation of the type indicated
in (11.4) and Fig. 11.18 is appropriate when 1) the constitution of the material
interface is more or less stable and 2) the response is essentially elastic (meaning
that physical experiments on interface properties are reproducible for given
specimens). When higher normal stresses are developed, significant plastic
deformation of asperities can take place and some other type of local friction
law would seem to be called for.
One possibility is to characterize the behavior of normal and tangential
stresses on Fc by using nonlocal friction laws. Oden and Pires [1] put forth
some arguments for nonlocal friction laws for certain cases of static behavior
of metallic interfaces with high normal stresses. Following these arguments,
consider the simple physical models shown in Fig. 11.19. In Fig. 11.19 a thin
weightless strip A of length 21 is pressed against a fixed elastic block B by a
330 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.19. (a) A thin strip A pressed onto an elastic block B with surface asperities, (b) The shear
stress distribution at the point of impending motion.
concentrated normal force N applied at its midpoint P; then a force T is

applied to the strip and is increased slowly in magnitude until motion (sliding)
of the strip relative to the block occurs. For this idealized situation, designed
to emphasize the local character of the classical Coulomb law of friction, we
are interested in calculating the distribution of frictional (shear) stresses
between the strip and the block, assuming that Coulomb's law holds and that
the coefficient of friction v is given.
We consider the origin of a coordinate axis x along the length of the strip
to coincide with the midpoint P of the strip. Then, the only point on the
contact surfaces between bodies A and B at which a resistive force can be
developed is at an isolated point beneath P. Thus, impending sliding is reached

when the resisting shear aT is formally given by
where 8 is the Dirac delta corresponding to the point source at the origin. Of
course, the relation is merely the symbolic representation of the distribution
Here 2(-1,1) denotes the space of test functions, i.e., the space of infinitely
differentiable functions with compact support in the interval (-/,/) and (•, •)
duality pairing on distributions and test functions. Alternatively, 5 can be
defined as the limit of a 8-sequence, {wp}0<p, <op € 2(-/,/):
Then we have, instead of (11.5),
We see that the classical pointwise version of Coulomb's law must be inter-
preted in the sense of distributions for this situation.
For illustration purposes we shall choose here the sequence of smooth test
functions which assumes nonzero values only within an interval of radius p
of the origin given by
where c is a constant chosen so that J'_, cop dx = 1 (see Fig. 11.19(b)). Then the
(Dp are positive-valued, infinitely differentiable functions symmetric with
respect to the origin, and the supports of these functions reduce to zero as
p -> 0. Additional details on properties of such test functions can be found in
Oden and Reddy [1, Chapter 2].
A more realistic model of friction from the physical point of view is obtained
if we take into account the microscopic aspects of the physics of friction
described earlier. Specifically, the contact surface of the body 08 will present
asperities deviating from a smooth plane. As the normal force N is gradually
applied, these asperities are gradually deformed and broken down until equili-
brium of normal forces is reached. The normal force reaching body 58 through
the strip A must then be distributed over the contact area of the deformed
asperity as indicated in Fig. 11.19. We shall now assume that the asperity's
finite transmission area is accounted for by using the 5-sequence {wp} of (11.8)
keeping p = p0, p0 being the radius of the contact area of the deformed asperity.
Since N = N(x) is now a function, we have, instead of (11.7),
332 CHAPTER 11
where * denotes the convolution of the two functions. Thus, we have arrived
at a friction law in which impending motion occurs at a point x on the contact
surface when the shear stress at that point reaches a value proportional to the
weighted average of the normal stress in a neighborhood of the point. If a)^
is used to characterize this weighting function, then the neighborhood is a
circular disc of radius p0 centered at x, the maximum weight is given to the
stress intensity at the center of the disc (the contact area of the deformed
asperity), and exponentially decreasing weights are assigned to stress intensities
as one moves from the center of the neighborhood outward to the periphery
of the disc.
We can now generalize these results to the three-dimensional case: let ur
denote the relative tangential component of displacement of a point x =
(x 1 ,x 2 ,x 3 ) on the contact surface between two deformable bodies and let
crn(u) and crrCu) denote the normal and tangential stresses on the contact
surface corresponding to the displacement field u. Then
where S^ is an operator mollifying the normal stress distribution, e.g.,
where x and y are points on the contact surface Fc, dy = dyl dy2 dy3 and
Several other models have been proposed with the same purpose of simulat-
ing the roughness of the contacting surfaces. These models assume that the
contact surface is covered with a large number of asperities of prescribed
shape, their scale being small when compared with the bulk scale of the bodies
themselves; their effect is also to "smooth out" the discontinuous contact
pressure into a continuous one. These theories usually start from some statis-
tical model of a nominally "flat" rough surface; i.e., the asperities are assumed
to be scattered over a reference plane, their heights following some statistical
distribution such as exponential or (normal) Gaussian distribution. The tops
of the asperities are assumed to be spherical in shape, all with the same radius
and deforming elastically and independently according to Hertz's theory. As
examples of such models we mention here the works of Greenwood and
Williamson [1], Greenwood [1], Greenwood and Tripp [1], Lo [1], Nayak
[1], and Johnson [3]. Figure 11.20 shows a comparison of pressure distributions
obtained in this way by Greenwood [1] with the Hertzian theory for the contact
of two elastic spheres. It is seen that the "real" contact area extends beyond
FIG. 11.20. Comparison between pressure distributions for the contact of two high loaded elastic
spheres. Hertzian, Greenwood's statistical distribution of heights of the surface asperities.
From J. A. Greenwood [1], Journal of Lubrication Technology. Copyright 1967 American Society
of Mechanical Engineers.
the Hertz contact surface, and the pressures are spread out more smoothly,
whereas the Hertzian pressures fall sharply to zero. This fringe around the
Hertzian contact is fully consistent with experimental evidence on friction (see
Fig. 11.20).
Finally, we mention that nonlocal theories for other classes of problems in
solid and fluid mechanics have been put forth by Eringen and Edelen [1]; a
detailed account of this work can be found in Edelen [1].
Model of nonlinear friction. Both Coulomb's law and the nonlocal law given
in (11.10) depict perfect rigid adhesion-sliding conditions on the contact
surface: they assert that there is absolutely no motion of points of one body
relative to those of another if the tangential stress on the contact surface
remains below some critical value r; but when this limit is reached, unbounded
motions can occur, the ensuing tangential displacement being directed opposite
to the tangential stress vector. It was pointed out in § 11.3 that physical
experiments on contact indicate that there is always some small relative
tangential displacement even when the tangential force developed on the
contact surface is small (recall Figs. 11.4 and 11.6). If this force is steadily
increased, a value is reached at which the junctions yield elastoplastically or,
in the case of weak junctions (Fig. 11.7(b)), actually fracture and sliding
occurs. At this point the resistance of the junctions to tangential motions is
greatly reduced and approaches zero.
We introduce here a family of nonlinear friction laws which captures these
tangential compliance effects and simultaneously leads to a generalization of
Coulomb's law and of the nonlocal law proposed in (11.10). They have the
form:
334 CHAPTER 11
where the function </> e (-) satisfies the following conditions:
(i) <f>E is a continuous, monotone, real-valued function of the nonnega-

tive real numbers r, depending on a parameter e > 0, such that
In (11.12), T is a nonnegative function of the displacement vector u representing

the critical value that the tangential stress cannot exceed, i.e., r= v\crn(u)\ for
the local case and T— i>Sp(o~n(u)) for the nonlocal case. It will also be of
interest, as will be seen later, to consider the case in which T is a given
(known) function of the position vector x, thus no longer dependent upon the
displacement u. We recognize the right-hand side of (11.12) as precisely the
derivative of the integrand of the regularized friction functional constructed
in §10.11.
As specific examples, we select for $e the following function:
This example represents an "elastic-perfectly plastic" type response in which

slipping can occur only after a tangential displacement |ur|> e. We notice that
these are not the only possible choices and that several others can also be
considered (e.g., arctan, tangent hyperbolic, etc.). Also, we observe that the
slope of (f>e at the origin, i.e., the derivative of $e at zero displacement equals
1/e. Thus e provides a measure of the rigidity or stiffness of the elastoplastic
or nonlinear elastic junctions.
We next consider the function i/Ô) which is the primitive of <f>e('), i.e.,
«Ae = <t>e, when both are considered real valued functions of the real numbers.
For (11.14), \}fe takes the form
The following result can be easily verified.

LEMMA 11.1. The function fye defined by (11.15) is bounded, convex, Lipschitz
continuous, and Frechet differentiate, and it satisfies the estimate
for any nonnegative real number t.

Nonclassical friction laws. Finally, we wish to comment on the combination
of a nonlocal law with a nonlinear law. A nonlocal nonlinear law of friction
will be of the form (11.12) with r replaced by vSp(crn(u)), i.e.,
where Sp is of the form given in (11.11). If we allow p-»0 maintaining e > 0

fixed we obtain a local nonlinear law, i.e.
On the other hand, if we allow e -»0 for a given positive p we recover the
perfect rigid adhesion-sliding nonlocal law given in (11.10). Finally, if both
e -> 0 and p -»• 0 the static Coulomb's law (local) for unilateral contact in the
contact surface Fc is obtained:
11.5. Signorini problems with nonlocal nonlinear friction. The classical Sig-
norini problem of elasticity concerns the analysis of deformations of a linearly
elastic body in contact with a rigid frictionless foundation. We examine here
a generalization of Signorini's problem to the case in which friction exists on
the contact surface, and this friction is characterized by the nonlocal nonlinear
laws introduced in the previous section. To do this, we shall recall the formula-
tion in Chapter 10 (10.1) for the Coulomb friction problem. In the present
case the condition (lO.lb) has to be replaced by
Unilateral contact condition,
Nonlocal and nonlinear law,
where
and (i)p and <£e are given, respectively, by (11.8) and (11.14).
We shall assume throughout this chapter that conditions (5.5) and (10.3)
hold on the material constants and the domain of the body. In particular, if
336 CHAPTER 11
mesFpX) is additionally assumed, conditions (5.5) yield the familiar

inequalities on the bilinear form « ( • , • ) •
which we continue to assume to be valid here. We shall also continue to apply

the same notation and conventions of Chapter 10.
The variational principle for a Signorini type contact problem with non-
classical friction is easily derived from well established arguments and assumes
the following form (see Oden and Pires [2]):
where K is the admissible set defined by
and the virtual work by the friction force jp,e(u, v) is now defined by the
nonlinear form,
Our analysis of problem (11.21) is based on some key properties of a special

auxiliary problem which is very similar to problem (10.58) studied in the
preceding chapter:
Clearly, if the nondifferentiable functional j in (11.21) is replaced by the

differentiable one j0e, (11.24) assumes precisely the same form as (10.58).
Furthermore, it follows from Lemma 11.1 that the functional j0e is convex,
Lipschitz continuous, and Frechet differentiable. Thus, (11.24) is equivalent
to the following problem:
where
THEOREM 11.1. Let conditions (5.5) and (10.3) hold and reL 2 (r c ), r > 0
a.e. on Yc be the data present in (11.24). Let mes (F D )>0. Then
(i) There exists a unique solution u T e K to (11.24).
(ii) The correspondence that gives for each T the solution U T of (11.24) defines
a continuous nonlinear map B: L 2 (F C ) -*• K:
(iii) The normal contact stress produced by the displacement U T , cr n (u T ) =

°y(u T )/vij, is a well defined functional in Q', where Q = // 1/2 (r c );
(iv) The map crn: K-» Q' is continuous.
Proof, (i) The existence of a unique solution to (11.24) follows immediately
from Theorem 3.4 if we set
In fact, in view of Lemma 11.1, the functional F: K-» R is Gateaux differentiable

on K. It is also strictly convex since the bilinear form a( •, • ) is strictly convex
as is the function «A e (-) and hence the functional 7o e (')- Finally, from the
definition of j0e, 7 0e (v)^0 Vv. It is not difficult to show that F is coercive on
K since we have assumed that mes (F D ) > 0.
(ii) Let T! and r2 be two distinct nonnegative functions in L 2 (F C ) and u t
and u2 the corresponding solutions of (11.24). Then, for any v, w e K ,
Setting v = u2 and w = U j , adding, and rearranging terms yields
Hence, by (5.5) and Holder's inequality,
Finally, in view of Lipschitz continuity of i//e,
i.e., B is Lipschitz continuous and hence continuous,

(iii) Set v = u±<|>, <t>e(®(O)) N , in (11.24). Then
338 CHAPTER 11
or, in terms of distributions,
Hence,
But ft E L2(O). Hence crv(u)tj e L2(ft). i = 1,2, • • • , N. But from this fact it
follows that the trace crn(u) = ir^n((r(u)) is a well defined functional in Q'.
(iv) From (iii) it follows that if U T is any solution of (11.24), then the stresses
crj,-(uT) = £i;/fc/(uT)M satisfy the following Green's formula:
By equilibrium <7y(uT),7 = -fit and /, of course, is a given function that does

not depend on U T ; also, a( •, - ) is a continuous bilinear form. Hence, the result
follows (in fact, we shall show later that crn is Lipschitz continuous from K
to Q')-
Next, we shall show that the regularization operator Sp introduced in the
nonlocal friction law (11.17) has a special property that proves to be critical
in our subsequent proof of the existence of solutions to (11.21).
THEOREM 11.2. The linear and continuous operator Sp: W-*L2(YC} in (11.17)
is completely continuous; i.e.t ifwn-^w weakly in W, then Sp(wn) •+Sp(w)
strongly in L 2 (F C ).
Proof. We have to show that given any sequence {rn} e Q' converging weakly
to T in Q', the sequence {5p(rn)}e L 2 (F C ) converges strongly to SP(T) in
L2(FC). Since Q' is a reflexive Banach space, we can identify it with its bidual
and therefore, by definition of weak convergence, rn -> r in Q' means that
Since S>(Fc)c: Q we also have
Taking 0 = wp(|x-y|) where a)p is the C^° mollifier proposed in (11.4), we

obtain
i.e., we have pointwise convergence. Moreover,

Since the sequence {rn} is weakly convergent it follows that \\Tn\\Q- is bounded.
Also,
and therefore the sequence S p (r n ) is uniformly bounded. By the Lebesgue

dominated convergence theorem, uniform boundedness together with point-
wise convergence imply L2- convergence
As a last preliminary to the major existence theorem, we record the classical
Schauder-Tykhonov fixed point theorem on fixed points of continuous
operators on compact sets. This represents Tykhonov's extension of the
Schauder fixed point theorem to weak topologies.
LEMMA 11.2. Let K be a nonempty weakly sequentially compact convex subset
of a convex linear topological vector space V. Let T:K-*Kbea weakly sequen-
tially continuous map. Then T has at least one fixed point.
Proof. A proof of this theorem can be found in Dunford and Schwartz [1,
pp. 453-456, 470]. D
We are now prepared to lay down the complete existence theorem.
THEOREM 11.3. Let conditions (5.5) and (10.3) hold. Let mes (F D )>0. Then
there exists at least one solution to the variational inequality (11.21) characterizing
the Signorini problem with nonlocal and nonlinear friction.
Proof. We first pick an arbitrary «ê L2(FC), i/Ô, and set r = «/> in (11.24).
By Theorem 11.1 there exists a unique u1/, = B(^) satisfying (11.24) for this
choice of T. The corresponding normal stress is ^(u^) and the regularized
normal stress is the image of ty under the composition T: L 2 (F C )H> L 2 (F C ):
If T has at least one fixed point if/*, then, since i//* = T(i//*) = S p (cr n (u lA *)), it
follows that u(/,* = B(i/f*) is a solution of (11.21). Therefore, the questions of
the existence of solutions to (11.21) reduces to the determination of the
existence of fixed points of T.
Towards this purpose we first show the existence of fixed points for the
composition T:Q'-* Q', T = crn ° B ° Sp, and then conclude that if T* is a fixed
point of f, i.e., if T* = T(T*) then there exists iff* e L2(TC) such that T( $*) = i[t*.
Let bR c Q' denote the ball
where R is a sufficiently large real number such that jR < c 2 (M/ m \\f\\ * + c3||f ||0),
and consider the map
A
We shall show that Rg (T)ci bR, that bR is weakly sequentially compact, and
that T is completely continuous and, therefore, weakly sequentially continuous.
It will then follow immediately from Lemma 11.2 that T has at least one fixed
point.
340 CHAPTER 11
Let r = Sp(<£) — 0 for some <f>tbR and consider the variational inequality
11.24. By Theorem 11.1 there exists a unique solution u^ = B(T) = B(Sp((j>))
to (11.24). Setting v = 0 in (11.24) yields
Since r>0, JFc rj/re(|u^T|) ds^Q and
Since (5.5) holds, we must have
i.e.,
V ••" »/
There exists ve(H 1 (ft)) N and c 2 >0 such that
Hence,
Then, if we denote by ( - , -)o the inner product in (L2(ft))N, application of

Green's formula (11.29) yields the estimate
where the Schwarz inequality and a generalization of Poincare's inequality

(there exists a constant c 3 >0 depending on ft such that ||v||osc3||v||,) were
used.
Clearly bR is nonempty, closed, bounded, and convex. Hence, it is weakly
sequentially compact as Q' is reflexive and complete. Moreover, for <f> e bR,
by (11.31) and (11.32). Hence, T maps a weakly sequentially compact set bR

into itself. A
It remains to show that T is weakly sequentially continuous. But this follows

immediately from the continuity of vn and B (Theorem ll.l(ii) and (iv)) and
the fact that Sp is completely continuous (indeed, T is also completely con-
tinuous). Hence, T possesses at least one fixed point r*e bR.
Finally, we observe that such fixed points satisfy
Let <A* = Sp(r*). Then B(i/r*) = B(Sp(r*)) and tr n (B(^r*))= T(T*) = T*.
Therefore,
Hence there exists i/r*e L 2 (F C ) such that T(^*) = i//*, i.e., the composition T
also has at least one fixed point and, thus, there is at least one solution to
(11.21).
The use of the Schauder-Tykhonov theorem was made possible by the
properties, listed in Theorem 11.2 that the smoothing operator Sp given in
(11.11) satisfies. That is, Sp must be such that T (or actually, the equivalent
operator T) is weakly continuous. As a consequence, we notice that the fixed
point theorem cannot be used unless we introduce the nonlocal form to the friction
law by the mollification Sp. In other words, the arguments employed above in
the proof of existence do not apply in general to problems in which the classical
"pointwise version" of Coulomb's law is assumed to hold.
In fact, except for very special cases (e.g., Necas, Jarusek and Haslinger
[1]) the question of existence of solutions to the general problem considered
in Chapter 10 of the Signorini problem with Coulomb's law is still open.
The same conclusion can be applied to the nonlinear local case (Case I).
The case e = 0 (Case II of the previous section) being nonlocal does not fall
into this category.
Finally, for a certain special case, uniqueness of the solution to the variational
inequality (11.21) can be proved. We then have the result:
THEOREM 11.4. Let the conditions in Theorem 11.3 hold. Then, for a sufficiently
small coefficient of friction v, (11.21) possesses a unique solution.
Proof. Let r t and r2 be two distinct nonnegative functions in L 2 (F C ) and u t
and u2 the corresponding solutions of (11.21) and consider Green's formula
(11.29). Then we have, for every ve V and v r = 0 on F c ,
Subtracting, we obtain
342 CHAPTER 11
By condition (5.5), there exists a constant M >0 such that
Hence,
i.e., the map <rn is Lipschitz continuous. Also, by (11.30),
Therefore, combining (11.28), (11.33) and (11.34) yields
where
If T! = vgi, T2 = vg2 with gj, g2 e L2(rc), gl, g2 > 0 a.e. on rc, and the coefficient
of friction v e L°°(rc), then
where r(g) = T(vg). It follows that for sufficiently small |HlL°°(rc), i-e., for v
such that
the map T is a contraction mapping and, therefore, has a unique fixed point.
We have thus established the existence of a solution to a nonlocal nonlinear
friction contact problem. As we mentioned uniqueness can be shown only for
sufficiently small friction coefficients v.
11.6. Finite element approximations of the nonlocal and nonlinear friction

problem. We next suppose that finite element methods of the type used
throughout preceding discussions are used to construct families of finite
dimensional subspaces V/, of V, the Vh being spanned by piecewise polynomials
defined over all elements in a series of meshes on f l . The constraint set K is
approximated, as before, by
where Dc is the set of all nodal points on Fc, and P is the total number of
nodes in ftfc. We shall assume the interpolation property described in §4.2
holds; more specifically, (10.28) and (10.29) are assumed to hold for v h e K h
and the conditions of Falk's theorem, Theorem 4.3, are in force.
We introduce as the finite element approximation of (11.21) the following
discrete problem:
Error estimates for this finite element approximation are established by

deriving a generalization of the estimate given in Theorem 4.4. To do this we
shall assume that there exists a Hilbert space H which is densely and con-
tinuously embedded in the dual space V of V. It is then possible to identify
H' with a subspace of V, dense in H' by a continuous injection. With this
hypothesis established we now derive the following general estimate:
THEOREM 11.5. Let ueK and ueKh be solutions of (11.21) and (11.38),
respectively. Let (5.5), (11.3), and mes T D > 0 hold. Denote by At ^(V, V) the
operator defined, for u e V, by a(u, v) = (Au, v), v € V. Finally, suppose Au -/e H.
Then, for small coefficients of friction (i.e., for \\v\\i^(rc) small enough), there
exists a constant c independent of h (and e), such that, for every v e K with
v r = uhj. on Fc and for every vh € K/,, the following estimate holds:
Proof. Applying precisely the same procedure used to prove Theorem 4.4,
we establish that for every ve K and v h € Kh we have
Using the assumption (5.5) with m e s r D > 0 and the fact that Au-/£H, we
obtain the following estimate for positive constants m and M:
Noting that
344 CHAPTER 11
for every u, v, w e V, the last four terms become
But
On the other hand,
and
Hence we have from (11.40), collecting the results obtained in Step 3 and
assuming that (11.31) holds,
where, since there are no restrictions on the tangential components of the

displacements on Fc, wejhave chosen v so that v r = u hr on Fc. Applying
Young's inequality and V a ^ v f e + v c + <Jd for a =sb + c + d, a, b, c, d^Q, the
estimate (11.39) can be obtained. D
Some immediate estimates of the rate of convergence can be obtained for
the case in which the components of displacement are approximated by bilinear
functions on quadrilaterals (i.e., when 4-node Q t -elements are employed). In

this case we have
THEOREM 11.6. Let ue (H 2 (fl)) N D K be a solution of the nonclassical friction
problem (11.21) and uh be a solution of the finite element approximation (11.38).
Let the interpolation properties (11.28) and (11.29) hold. Let the conditions of
Theorem 11.5 also hold. Finally, assume that u, the solution of (11.21) is
sufficiently smooth in the sense that Aue (L 2 (n)) N . Then, there exists a positive
constant, also denoted C, independent of e and h, such that
Proof. Noting that K h c K and Aue (L2(O))N, we have
By interpolation properties there exists a positive constant, also denoted c,

independent of u and h, such that
It remains to estimate the last term of the right-hand side in (11.43). Making
use of the trace theorem, we obtain
We have thus estimated all terms in (11.43).

Remark 11.1. Theorems 11.5 and 11.6 were established by Pires and Oden[l].
11.7. Numerical solution of Signorini problems with nonlocal and nonlinear
friction. Signorini's problem with nonclassical friction is well posed for a
sufficiently small coefficient of friction and finite element approximations of
it may also converge at an optimal rate of convergence. Now we shall develop
a solution method to find a u^ e Kh satisfying the finite element approximation
(11.38) of (11.21) using a modification of the solution algorithm described in
§ 10.7 for the Coulomb friction law. However, in this chapter, we shall take
advantage of the fixed point arguments in the proof of Theorem 11.3.
Let us assume that standard subroutines are available to generate the finite
element mesh, we specify material properties and boundary conditions, evalu-
ate the load vector and the stiffness matrix (excluding contact and friction
terms), and impose boundary conditions on YhD. In addition, let us define, for
346 CHAPTER 11
a given displacement field u/,,
where Sp is the stress mollifier and o-hn(nh) is the normal stress due to u/,:
(/ = quadrature rule for the mollification).

In subsequent calculations, we shall also use for the quadrature operator /[ • ]
for the integral over the contact surface either Simpson's rule when the 9-node
biquadratic elements are employed or the trapezoidal rule if the 4-node bilinear
elements are considered (we consider only two-dimensional problems here).
The choice of the integration rule /[ • ] for the mollification of the approxima-
tion of the normal contact stresses crhn(uh) was based on the calculation of
the constant c mentioned in § 11.4. As indicated there, c is chosen so that
Making the change of variables x = pz, we obtain
Hence the integral A = $_l exp[l/(z 2 -!)] dz needs to be evaluated. Use of

Gaussian integration with 4 integration points provided the following value:
We employ the 4-point Gauss quadrature rule for calculation of the mol-
lification of normal pressures in all subsequent computations.
The algorithm consists of the following steps:
1) Initialize rh: T(h0) = nodal forces required to maintain equilibrium; ( T/,O) = 0
when the problem has at least two mutually orthogonal axes of symmetry in
the plane; TJ,O) ^ 0 otherwise).
2) Solve the standard Signorini problem with prescribed limiting tangential
stresses VTJ,O) on the contact surface, for u/,0 using the exterior penalty to relax
the unilateral contact condition (the case T/,O) = 0 represents a problem without
friction):
or in general,
3) Compute
4) Compute
5) Set (using (11.47))
6) Use r(h} as data in problem (11.48) and evaluate a new corrected displace-
ment field ui,2) from (11.48) (with r = 2).
7) Let TOL denote a preassigned tolerance that we set for some measure
of the difference between successive smoothed contact pressures and check if
When this criterion is satisfied, we terminate the process and plot deformed
configuration of the mesh, stress distributions, contact stresses, etc.
A flow chart summarizing this procedure is given in Fig. 11.21.
We shall describe the results of several numerical experiments performed
with the algorithm discussed above.
Example 11.1. This is concerned with the indentation of an elastic half-space
by a rigid cylindrical punch. The problem is one of plane strain. Young's
modulus, Poisson's ratio, and the coefficient of friction were taken equal to
1,000 (nondimensional units), 0.3, and 0.6, respectively. Taking advantage of
the symmetry of the problem, the right half-space was discretized by 40
nine-node quadrilateral isoparametric elements, as shown in Fig. 11.22(a) for
a prescribed indentation d = 0.6, and values of the parameters p, e, and 8,
respectively, equal to 0.1, 10~4, and 10~8. Figure 11.22(b) shows the deformed
configuration of the half-space. The computed contact stresses (normal and
tangential) are indicated in Fig. 11.22(c) as well as the Hertzian distribution
of contact pressures calculated from the expressions given in Lubkin [1] for
the frictionless contact of two long cylinders along a generator. Convergence
was obtained after 5 iterations.
A refinement of the mesh near the separation point between the portion of
the contact area where the stick condition holds and that where slipping occurs
was needed for the computation of the tangential stresses. According to our
nonlocal nonlinear law, sliding takes place when <r r | = vSp(o-n). Consequently,
sliding will begin at the point A (Fig. 11.22(c)) of the contact boundary where
the value of \<TT\ is 0.6 S p (cr n ). The portion AB of the contact boundary OB
is in sliding and the part CB of the tangential stress is equal to 0.6 times the
corresponding part of the mollified normal pressure distribution. We also
observe that the tangential friction stresses do not reach a sharp peak, but are
smooth at the point of maximum transverse shear stress. The size of this
348 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.21. Flow chart for nonclassical friction algorithm.
"boundary layer" in the neighborhood of the maximum stress, of course,

depends upon the magnitude of p. As p -»0, a cusp is developed at the peak
stress corresponding to the case when the classical pointwise version of
Coulomb's law holds. For p > 0, this means that there is no sharp dividing
line between full adhesion (no-slip) and sliding areas, but rather a boundary
layer over which a transition from no-slip to slipping occurs. The existence of
this boundary layer is fully consistent with experimental evidence on friction
(see Bowden and Tabor [2]).
FIG. 11.22(a). Finite element mesh for the problem of indentation of an elastic block by a rigid
cylinder. Reprinted with permission from L. T. Campos, J. T. Oden, and N. Kikuchi [1], Computer
FIG. 11.22(b). Computed deformed mesh. Reprinted with permission from L. T. Campos, J. T.
Oden, and N. Kikuchi [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright
350 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.22(c). Normal and tangential stress profiles on the contact surface.
Example 11.2. This consists of a square rigid punch indenting an elastic

half-space. Figure 11.23(a) shows the geometry and mechanical data for this
problem as well as the rectangular mesh of 52 Q2-elements used to discretize,
owing to the symmetry, the right half-space. Again the problem is solved for
a prescribed indentation d = 0.2 and values of the parameters p, e, and 8,
respectively, equal to 0.01, 10"4 and 10~8. The computed deformed shape of
the mesh is indicated in Fig. 11.23(b) and the computed stresses on the contact
surface are shown in Fig. 11.23(c).
We observe that in this case the effects of the microstructure of the contact
surface (p = 0.01) have a dramatic influence on the stress distribution. Had
Coulomb's law been used, stress singularities in both the normal and the shear
stress on the contact surface could be expected. Here we obtain instead a finite
stress owing to the finite limit of the diameter of deformed asperities in the
microstructure. The maximum magnitudes of these contact stresses do not
change appreciably with a refinement of the mesh, indicating that the finite
values are a result of the choice of a nonlocal law and not discretization error.
We note also that there is not a sharp front separating the "full-stick" and
"sliding" regions on the contact surface. Again, this is due to the nonlocal
character of the assumed friction law. This result is in agreement with physical
experiments on friction between metallic bodies.
The influence of nonzero stiffness of the junctions between the punch and
the elastic body is not appreciable in the present example since e was taken
to be quite small (10 4). However, we expect this parameter to be critical in

calculating friction effects in many practical situations.
Convergence was obtained after 4 iterations.
Example 11.3. We considered the elastic half-space of the previous problem
to be nonhomogeneous. Specifically, we reinforced the elastic foundation with
vertical thin strips having the same Poisson's ratio but a Young's modulus 100
FIG. 11.23(a). Indentation of an elastic half-space by a rigid rectangular punch: undeformed

configuration.
FIG. 11.23(b). Computed deformed configuration.

352 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.23(c). Normal and tangential stresses on the contact surface.
times larger, i.e., equal to 105. The rectangular mesh of 52 C?2-elements was
rearranged and is shown in Fig. 11.24(a). The computed deformed shape is
shown in Fig. 11.24(b) and the stress profiles in Fig. 11.24(c).
We notice, as expected, that the vertical strips, being stiffer, support much
of the contacting stresses (see Fig. (11.24(c)) and that at the periphery of the
contact area both the regularized normal and tangential stresses attain a finite
value dropping to zero at a small distance (a function of the parameter p)
from the edge of the square punch.
Convergence was obtained after 5 iterations.
Example 11.4. We examine the problem considered in the experiment of
Bremond and Durelli [1]. This experiment is concerned with the indentation
of a plate with dimensions 12 x 100 x 120 mm by a rigid cylindrical punch with
a diameter of 40 mm. The plate was made of polyurethane rubber (photoflex),
and the punch was made of plexiglass. We only consider the cases of applied
normal loads of 200 N and 110 N, the measured depth of indentation at the
center of the contact being 3 mm and 1.3 mm for these loads, respectively. The
rectangular mesh of 4-node isoparametric elements used to discretize the model
is shown in Fig. 11.25(a).
FIG. 11.24(a). Indentation of a nonhomogeneous elastic half-space by a rigid rectangular punch:

undeformed configuration. Reprinted with permission from E. B. Pires and J. T. Oden [1], Computer
FIG. 11.24(b). Computed deformed geometry. Reprinted with permission from E. B. Pires and
J. T. Oden [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1983 Elsevier
Science Publishers.
354 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.24(c). Normal and tangential stresses on the contact surface. Reprinted with permission
from E. B. Pires and J. T. Oden [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering.
FIG. 11.25(a). Rectangular mesh used to discretize the model ofBremond and Durelli. Reprinted
with permission from E. B. Pires and J. T. Oden [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and
The results computed for different values of the data are compared with the
experimental results in Figs. 11.25(b), (c). A very good agreement was obtained
for the normal components of displacement on the contact area (vertical
displacements v). We also notice that a good qualitative agreement was reached
for the tangential stresses on the contact surface. Both computed and experi-
mental tangential stresses behave smoothly; no sharp peak is developed
separating the areas of sticking and sliding as we would expect to observe had
Coulomb's law (p = 0) been used instead, see Example 10.4. In our opinion a
better correlation would have been obtained if it were not for several difficulties
we encountered in modeling the experiment. To list only some of them, we
note that for a Young's modulus of 300 N/cm 2 and for prescribed depths of
FIG. 11.25(b). Comparison between computed and experimental results. Reprinted with permission
356 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.25(c). Comparison between computed and experimental results. Reprinted with permission
indentation of 3 mm and 1.3 mm we obtain a much smaller applied normal

load than that measured by Bremond and Durelli (200 N and 110 N, respec-
tively). This has led us to calibrate our numerical experiments by increasing
E in order to obtain the measured correlation of applied load on the punch
to indentation of the foundation. Also, according to Bremond and Durelli,
the choice of the grid method for measuring the displacements and of the
polyurethane for manufacturing the model had among others the purpose of
modeling conditions as close as possible to a state of plane strain. However,
the conditions of the experiment (dimensions of the model, loading) are much
closer to a state of plane stress than plane strain. In fact, our results have
shown that whereas in a state of plane stress the tangential displacements on
the contact area are antisymmetric and directed inwards (and therefore the
tangential stresses outwards) in agreement with the experimental results, in a
state of plane strain (and for E = 300 N/cm2 and p = 0.48) we obtain tangential
displacements on the contact area also antisymmetric but directed outwards
(hence the tangential stresses are directed inwards).
11.8. Quasi-static friction problems. We are interested here in considering

the case in which the applied (tangential) forces vary with time, although in
such a manner that we are able to neglect the linearized acceleration term
82u/dt2 in the equation of motion. We thus consider a so-called quasi-static
case as a one-parameter family of static cases, the parameter being the time t.
We shall restrict ourselves to the situation in which the threshold that the
tangential stresses on the contact surface cannot exceed is known in advance,
i.e., is a given function of the position vector x, independent of time. We shall
also replace the rigid foundation & by an elastic one with modulus 8~l, through
the introduction of a penalty term.
We can then write the equations of equilibrium at each instant:
with the boundary conditions
and the initial condition
Here se L 2 (F C ) is a given function of x, independent of t, s>0 a.e. on Fc,

and $f is a function of 5 and of the tangential displacement u r on the contact
surface; it is also a function of e (the measure of the tangential stiffness of
the junctions).
The function 5^ is determined so as to accommodate the effects produced
when the load is reversed in direction (unloading and reloading). Thus if we
consider the loop shown in Fig. 11.26 to be performed during the loading,
unloading, and reloading parts, the function 5^ will be given by
(ii) Unloading case,

358 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.26. Load (Li unload®, and reload (R) parts ofthe friction law considered for quasi-static
problems. Reprinted with permission from E. B. Pires and J. T. Oden [1], Computer Methods in
Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1983 Elsevier Science Publishers.
(iii) Reloading case,
where «r and UT denote the tangential displacement corresponding to load

reversals.
Following the standard procedure for obtaining a variational formulation
shown in Chapters 2 and 10, the boundary value problem (11.52) and (11.53)
is shown to lead to the variational formulation:
where f and t may depend upon time t, and

Hence setting
and considering the different forms the friction law y can take, we obtain the
following variational principles in an incremental form.
(i) Loading case.
360 CHAPTER 11
(iii) Reloading case.
Some remarks concerning friction problems for which load histories are
taken into account and the variational principles that we have formally just
derived are now in order. We discuss a general class of dynamic friction
problems in Chapter 13 which employs the interface model suggested by (11.4).
Existence results for such elastodynamics problems with friction were
developed by Martins and Oden [2]; their results extended the results of
Duvaut and Lions [1] on problems of elastodynamics with prescribed normal
pressures. In Chapter 12, we describe a significantly more general incremental
process applicable to contact problems in metal forming processes with large
elastoplastic deformations and friction. Kalker [2] derived, for quasi-static
problems, an incremental form of the variational principle corresponding to
the problem with prescribed normal pressures on Fc. A first extension of the
analysis of Mindlin [1] to take into account the effects of an oscillating
tangential force on the contact surfaces of two elastic spheres was considered
by Mindlin, Mason, Osmer and Deresiewicz [1]. By keeping the normal force
N pressing the two spheres together constant and allowing the tangential force
T to oscillate between the peak values ± T* (T* < vN), Mindlin et al. [1] were
able to establish a relation between tangential force and displacement and
also an expression for the frictional energy loss W per cycle which has the
form (for small T*/ vN)
where /u, = Poisson's ratio, G - shear modulus, a = radius of contact area.

Experimental observations of Johnson [1] and Goodman and Brown [1]

support the theoretical predictions of Mindlin et al. [1]. These authors point
out that the discrepancies found, mainly for small tangential displacements,
are probably due to surface roughness effects, i.e., since Mindlin's analysis
assumes a perfectly smooth contact surface, the elastic deformation of the
asperities is not taken into account in the theory. A further extension to the
case of varying oblique forces was considered by Mindlin and Deresiewicz
[1]. Their conclusions were subjected to experimental investigation by Johnson
[2], Finally, we wish to mention the numerical solutions obtained by Turner
[1] for the contact of rigid circular cylindrical indentor and linear elastic
half-space for the cases of frictional loading and unloading.
In our derivation we have assumed that the critical value of the tangential
stresses is given. Physically this corresponds to limiting ourselves to contact
problems for which the normal pressure distribution remains approximately
constant during the history of loading. Thus the example problems considered
deal exclusively with rigid punches indenting an elastic foundation for which
the normal force (or the depth) of indentation remains constant while the
applied tangential force is varied. However, we depart from the analysis of
Mindlin et al. [1] (see also Bowden and Tabor [2, pp. 80-81]) in that we
consider the behavior of the asperities to be elastic perfectly plastic instead
of rigid-perfectly plastic as Mindlin et al. assumed.
A solution method. Let us extend the algorithm discussed in § 11.7 to include
incremental loading and unloading according to the friction laws described
in (11.55).
As indicated in the above, we assume that the critical value 5 that the
tangential stresses cannot exceed is known in advance as a function of x,
independent of time. It was also mentioned in § 11.7 that, as a consequence
of that assumption, the problems considered deal exclusively with cases for
which the normal pressure distribution remains approximately constant during
loading and unloading. This situation occurs, for example, with rigid punches
for which the applied normal force (or the depth) of indentations remains
constant while the applied tangential force is varied. Thus, first, a displacement
field u° and corresponding stress field are found for the application of the
normal force only, by using the algorithm developed for the static case. We
then set
and start the incremental procedure by applying a tangential force T and

allowing it to oscillate between the peak values T = - T* and T = + T*, keeping
the normal force constant. At a certain value of the load, T = Tt the displace-
ment and stress fields are determined according to the following scheme:
1) We identify for each point on the contact segment where the pair
(o-'f \ u'f f ) lies.
362 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.27. Flow chart for quasi-static friction problems. Reprinted with permission from E. B.
Pires and J. T. Oden [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright
2) If (cr'f \ U'T*) lies on the loading part of the loop (see Fig. 11.28c), then
we compute (cr'T, u'r) using the law (11.55)i and check if e <|w'f'I and \u'rl >
|u'T|; if so, we need to re-evaluate (o-'T, M'T) by using the law (11.55)2.
3) If (cr'-f1, u ' r 1 ) lies on the unloading curve, we compute (a'T, u'T) using
(11.55)2 and check if reloading takes place, i.e., if o-'f ]| = s and the direction
is reversed; if so, (<r'r, M'T) is corrected according to law (11.55)3.
4) Finally, if (o-'f1, t/'f 1 ) lies on the reloading part, we compute (cr'T, M'T)
using (11.55)3 but if unloading takes place (cr'T, u'T) is corrected according to
law (11.55)2.
This procedure is described in the flow chart given in Fig. 11.27.
Example 11.5. Finally, we consider the application of the above algorithm
to problems involving oscillating applied tangential forces. Towards this pur-
pose the parabolic punch shown in Fig. 11.28(a) was examined. The resultant
T of the uniformly distributed normal tractions t was allowed to vary between
the values 40 and -40 (units offeree per unit length) as shown in Fig. 11.28(b).
The depth of indentation was kept constant and equal to 0.25. We notice that
unloading (and reloading) takes place only at nodes located at the periphery
of the contact segment (nodes 35, 40, 60, and 65 in Fig. 11.28(a)) while the
interior nodes never attained tangential displacements UT larger than the
value considered for the parameter e(0.01). The tangential stress-tangential
FIG. 11.28(a). Indentation of an elastic body subjected to oscillating normal tractions t, by a

parabolic rigid punch. Reprinted with permission from E. B. Pires and J. T. Oden [1], Computer
364 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.28(b). Load history for parabolic punch problem. Reprinted with permission from E. B.
Pires and J. T. Oden [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright
FlG. 11.28(c). Tangential stress-tangential displacement cycle on contact node 35. Reprinted with
permission from E. B. Pires and J. T. Oden [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and
FIG. 11.28(d). Stress-displacement cycle on contact node 40. Reprinted with permission from
E. B. Pires and J. T. Oden [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright
FIG. 11.28(e). Stress-displacement cycle on contact node 60. Reprinted with permission from
E. B. Pires and J. T. Oden [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright
366 CHAPTER 11
FIG. 11.28(f). Stress-displacement cycle on contact node 65. Reprinted with permission from
E. B. Piresand J. T. Oden[l], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright
displacement cycles for the contact nodes 35, 40, 60 and 65 are depicted,
respectively, in Figs. 11.28(c), (d), (e), (f).
The energy dissipation was computed at those nodes where slip occurred
(the nodes at the periphery of the contact segment) and its value was compared
with Mindlin's expression (11.61). In order to make this comparison possible,
the slope at the origin of Mindlin's tangential force-displacement curve (see
Mindlin et al. [1, eq. (4)]) was evaluated. This slope was used to compute a
measure of the stiffness of the junctions e so that the slopes at the origin of
the tangential stress-displacement curves would have, in average, the same
value. The energy loss computed from Mindlin's expression (11.62) for an
applied normal load of 220 (units of force per unit length) corresponding to
the indentation d = 0.25 was
The energy loss calculated by giving to e the value (0.032) obtained in the
way described above was 0.118 (units of force times units of length per unit
length).
We also considered another history of loading as shown in Fig. 11.28(g).
Our purpose is to emphasize that friction forces are nonconservative forces
FIG. 11.28(g). (a) Stress-displacement cycle on contact node 60. (b) Load history. Reprinted with
permission from E. B. Pires and J. T. Oden [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and
and therefore that the displacement field u is dependent on the history of

loading. Figure 11.28(g) shows the results obtained for node 60. We notice,
comparing with the results shown in Fig. 11.28(e) that different values of the
tangential displacement were obtained for the same level of applied tangential
force (for example, points 9 and 18 for which T = 0). This, of course, could
also have been observed immediately in Figs. 11.28(c), (d), (e), (f) for any
level of the load.
Chapter 12
Contact Problems Involving

Deformations and Nonlinear
Materials
12.1. Introduction. In this chapter, we consider generalizations of the

formulations developed in Chapters 2 and 6 to frictionless contact problems
involving finite deformations of elastic solids. In addition, we consider an
important class of contact problems which involves nonlinear materials and
friction: the extrusion of an elastoplastic material through a rigid die.
Both of these classes of problems are characterized by highly nonlinear
systems of partial differential equations and inequalities for which a complete
mathematical basis (i.e., existence theory, regularity theory, etc.) is not yet
available. In the case of finite elasticity problems, we are able to establish
some existence results within the framework of nonconvex minimization
theory, but much remains to be done before adequate mathematical founda-
tions are established for a meaningful regularity and approximation theory.3
Nevertheless, a reasonable variational framework for these problems can be
developed and finite element methods can be constructed which yield physi-
cally sound simulations of these types of nonlinear mechanical behavior. The
present chapter represents only an introduction to these subjects as a more
detailed investigation would not only take us outside the scope of this work
but would also require a departure from the systematic approach we have
attempted to follow.
Following this introduction, we develop variational principles governing the
finite deformation of elastic bodies. We confine our attention to isotropic
3
Some progress in these areas has been made. We mention the works of Valent [1], Oden and
Nicolau [1], Oden and Reddy [1] and Campos and Oden [1]; but these works do not address
the contact problem.
369
370 CHAPTER 12
hyperelastic solids; i.e., materials for which a strain energy function exists
which can be expressed as a differentiable function of the principal invariants
of the deformation tensors. For definiteness, we give special attention to a
generalized Mooney-Rivlin material which is characterized by a strain energy
which is a linear function of I and II and quadratic in III, where I, II, III are
the principal invariants of the Cauchy-Green deformation tensor. We derive
incremental forms of the variational principles which allow us to apply variants
of the algorithms already developed in preceding chapters to problems of this
type.
The difficult questions of existence theory in finite elasticity is reviewed
briefly in § 12.4, where the necessary generalizations of the results in Chapter
3 are outlined.
Finally, we review the equations governing incremental, rate-independent,
elastoplasticity, and we derive corresponding variational formulations, finite
element approximations, and numerical solution schemes for contact problems
involving such materials. While this class of problems does represent a depar-
ture from our general theme of contact problems in elasticity, the methodologies
required do not represent a significant extension of those developed up to this
point. We conclude this portion of our study with descriptions of several
applications of our theory and methods to metal forming problems. These
represent very difficult types of contact problems in which we must cope with
complications due to friction effects, material nonlinearities, and geometric
nonlinearities.
12.2. A Signorini problem for finite elastic deformation. We now return

to the general kinematics of deformable bodies outlined in Chapter 2. Recall
that the motion of a material body is characterized by equation (2.1) which
gives the Cartesian components yf of the position of particle x with labels
(x,, x2, x3) at each time f 2:0. We restate this equation as
The deformation gradient F for this motion is a second order unsymmetric

tensor with components
at \ = (xl,x2, x3) and time t, where we now choose to use upper case Latin
indices to denote the material coordinates x/ and tensor quantities referred to
a Cartesian basis on the reference configuration. The right Cauchy-Green
deformation tensor is defined by
CONTACT PROBLEMS 371
and its three principal invariants are
where e,JK is the three-dimensional permutation symbol.

The displacement vector u of a particle x at time t is defined by
so that
where, as usual, commas denote differentiations with respect to the x/'s

(ui>I=dui/dx,).
The equations of motion (12.1) must be locally invertible; and, in particular,
we must have
Indeed, let p0 and p denote the mass densities of the material in the reference
and deformed (i.e., the current) configurations respectively. Then the principle
of conservation of mass requires that
Hence, condition (12.7) is a condition of impenetrability of matter and is

tantamount to the requirement that finite volumes of the material cannot be
reduced to zero at points in the continuum.
We shall now consider a class of homogeneous, isotropic, hyperelastic
materials, the mechanical response of which is characterized by a strain energy
function W which is given for each such material as a differentiable function
of the invariants in (12.4). We shall follow a standard abuse of notation and
infrequently distinguish between the function W and its values, writing
The dependence of W on the invariants of (12.4) assures us that W is a form

invariant under all orthogonal changes in the material frame of reference. It
is insensitive, in other words, to choices of direction of the material coordinate
lines Xj and, thus, reflects the assumed isotropy of the material. The absence
of an explicit dependence on x reflects the assumed homogeneity of the
material.
While much of what we do in this section is applicable to very general forms
of the strain energy functional W, it is considerably simpler and convenient
if we focus on a specific form that is consistent with those suggested by both
experiments on rubbery materials and kinetic theory. We shall consider the
372 CHAPTER 12
particular class of materials for which W is given by
where C1} C2, C3, and C4 are material constants, and
In view of (12.7) and (12.8)
As will be shown later, the stress developed in such a material is zero in the
reference configuration whenever we take
The specification of a form of the strain energy function characterizes the

mechanical response of the material to deformations because the derivatives
of W with respect to F determine the constitutive equations for stress. In
particular, the first Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor, T= T/.-i/®!, (ii,i 2 ,i3 being
orthonormal vectors in the directions of the spatial >>,-coordinate lines) satisfies
The traction vector t0 on a material surface in the deformed body (the current
configuration)
where n0 is the unit normal to the surface in the reference configuration.

The first Piola-Kirchhoff stress T is related to the Cauchy stress a by
The Cauchy stress tensor is symmetric, but T may not be as it satisfies the
relation
The second Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor S, defined by
is, however, a symmetric stress tensor.

Stress-deformation relation. Noting that
and, for the particular form (12.10),
we introduce (12.10) into (12.14) to obtain the following stress-deformation

relation:
If Ff/ = 5,/, i.e., if there is no deformation, this reduces to
Thus, if condition (12.13) holds, the reference configuration is stress free.

Variationalprinciples. We shall now consider the equilibrium of a hyperelastic
body subjected to body forces and surface tractions. We shall denote material
volume and surface measures in the reference configuration (the "undeformed"
body) by dO0 and dY°, respectively, and those in the current configuration
by rfd and dr. If the body force f is measured per unit current mass, and if
the traction t is given as a force per unit area in the deformed body, the work
done by an arbitrary virtual displacement v is defined by
Using the transformation (12.8), this can be transferred to a functional defined

on the reference configuration:
where t0 is defined by
To give meaning to the functionals (12.23) or (12.24), it is necessary to

provide a more precise definition of the space V of admissible displacements.
In general, we will be interested in boundary value problems for which
F° = T°D U f°c U f °F, To n f c = 0, and for which
The displacements v must also be such that
which generally restricts v to be in some Sobolev (or Orlicz-Sobolev) space.

374 CHAPTER 12
In the case of the material defined in (12.10), it suffices to take
which is a Banach space when endowed with the norm
Problems in finite elasticity make sense only in the subset
A special case of the traction t of some interest involves instances when a

pressure p is exerted normal to the deformed surface. Then
where n is the unit vector outward and normal to the deformed surface. We
next introduce Nanson's formula,
where F"1 is the inverse of F. In component form, this becomes
Then the relation
yields
Minimum potential energy. Let us temporarily confine our attention to situ-

ations in which the external forces are constant throughout the deformation
(so-called dead loading) so that the potential energy of the external forces is
-P(v), where P(v) is defined in (12.23).
The total strain energy U of the body is defined as the functional
Owing to the singularity at / = 0, it is convenient to define the total potential

energy of the body as an extended real valued functional F: V-»RU{+oo}
givenby
where J(\) = det (du+v^j). Then we need consider only displacements in the
effective domain of F: eff dom F = {ve V| |F(v)| < oo}.
As in Chapters 2-6, the principle of minimum potential energy asserts that
the body is in a state of stable, static equilibrium whenever the total potential
energy is a minimum, i.e., the stable equilibrium configurations are characterized

by the solutions u of the minimization problem.
Let us return, therefore, to the general unilateral contact conditions derived
in Chapter 2 for surfaces defined by smooth functions $ and ^ (recall Fig.
2.1 and inequality (2.5)). For this type of contact constraint, we must seek
minimizers of the energy in a constraint set K of the form,
This set is not, in general, convex. A class of unilateral contact problems in

finite elastostatics is thus, representable as the nonconvex minimization
problem,
To handle the unilateral constraint set, we can once again resort to the
method of Lagrange multipliers and introduce the Lagrangian,
with the understanding that the multiplier r satisfies
Then the admissible set N for Lagrange multipliers becomes a convex set.
Stationary values of L are characterized by the system
where T(u) = T,j(u)ij(x)ij is the stress tensor due to the displacement u and N
is defined by
If we formally integrate by parts in (12.38)i, the solution (u, a) is characterized

by
376 CHAPTER 12
for every ve V. The first two terms obviously lead to the equilibrium equation
and the applied traction condition
Noting that
and
the third term yields
Since
holds at the true contact area,
is obtained on the true contact area. This means that the Lagrange multiplier
a- corresponds to the contact pressure on the material surface Fc in the current
(deformed) configuration.
Remark 12.2.1. We shall refer to (12.38) as the Signorini problem for finite
elastic deformations. Obviously, it is equivalent, under the assumptions intro-
duced, to the variational problem (12.35). Note that if p0e L°°(ft) and (12.10)
holds, then
If the functions <f> and if/ are continuously differentiate in their arguments
on Fc, the contact conditions hold in the space
Then the set N of admissible Lagrange multipliers is defined by

12.3. Linearization by increments. We shall now develop an incremented

formulation of the variational problem (12.38) using the idea of incremental
Newton-Raphson methods. To do this, we increment u and a in (12.38) by
replacing them by u + Au and cr + Acr and we then retain only linear terms in
Au and Acr. Then the first term of (12.38), yields
where
and the second term provides
where
Similarly, the left-hand side of (12.38) is linearized as

378 CHAPTER 12
Therefore the variational problem leads to the linearized incremented system,
where VA and JVA are the admissible sets of the incremental displacement and
contact pressure respectively, and R(u) is the remainder defined by
The admissible set NA is here defined by
so that cr + Acr satisfies the constraint cr + Acr<0 on FC- The admissible set
VA may be defined various ways. For example, if u = g on T°D then Au = 0 on
Tând VA = V.
In the above linearization, we implicitly assume that the traction t0 on TF
can be simply decomposed as t 0 +At. However, if the pressure type traction
which depends upon the solution itself is considered, the incremental form of
this term has to be modified. To this end, let us recall (12.31) and let us take
its increment:
Notingt
we have
(12.55) At = -Ap/noF-1-^noF-1ei:/ke^F1./FÂuk,K+pyn0F-1V(Au)F-1.
Thus, the last two terms form an additional contribution to the left-hand side
of the linearized equation (12.49)i.
If we define
t>N(w) = N(w) - v , g*=*lt(xl + wl,x2+w2)-<l>-w3,

and the duality pairing [ •, • ] on Q' x Q, then the linearized formulation (12.52)
can be represented by
It is clear that the formulation (12.57) has exactly the same form as the problem
for linearly elastic materials. Thus the studies on linear elasticity are applicable
to investigate properties of the incremental solution Au to (12.57).
Furthermore, if the method of perturbed Lagrangians is applied to the
linearized formulation (12.57), a linearized penalty formulation can be
obtained. Indeed, for a small positive constant E > 0 the linearized saddle
point problem (12.57) is approximated by the perturbed one:
where j is the Riesz map from Q into Q'.

Since the second inequality can be solved to yield
where 0 + is the positive part of $ in Q', substitution of (12.59) into (12.58)i

yields
If the constraint AM N ( u ) -g u <0 on Fc is understood in the sense of L 2 (F C ),

we may replace ; by the identity map in (12.59) and (12.60). Corresponding
finite element approximations are obtained in the usual way from either the
variational formulation (12.57) or the penalty formulation (12.60).
380 CHAPTER 12
Example 12.1. We shall briefly outline a solution of a Signorini problem

obtained using finite element approximations based upon the theory described
above. We consider a thick rubber spherical shell subjected to internal pressure,
its motion being constrained by the presence of a rigid flat surface located
above the shell and normal to the axis of revolution.
Suppose that the shell is constructed of an isotropic rubber modeled as a
Mooney-Rivlin material characterized by Ci = 80 and C2 = 20psi and as
incompressible, i.e., / = VTTl = 1. Then the strain energy density W becomes
It is noted that the incompressibility
becomes an additional kinematic constraint. Thus, we must resolve this addi-

tional constraint by either the Lagrange multiplier method or the penalty
method. The incompressibility for small deformation was solved by introducing
the Lagrange multiplier in Chapter 7, and we shall now apply this method for
large deformations. In this case the Lagrangian is defined by
instead of (12.32). Stationary values of L are points (u, p, a-) satisfying the
system,
where Q is the admissible space of Lagrange multipliers (i.e., hydrostatic

pressures) for the incompressibility condition /(u) = 1. Following the lineariza-
tion procedure used for problem (12.49), we obtain incremental forms for
(12.62) in terms of Au, A/>, and ACT.
Using standard finite element techniques, biquadratic quadrilateral elements
are used to approximate the displacement field Au. The hydrostatic pressure
A/> is approximated by linear polynomials within an element, and the contact
pressure Ao- is approximated by piecewise quadratics along Y°c. Eight Q2
elements are used to model the shell.
FIG. 12.1(a). Initial geometry for the contact problem.
It is also noted that the applied force is the pressure to the surface. Thus,
the At in the linearized formulation must be identified with the expression
(12.55).
For the initial geometry shown in Fig. 12.1 (a) the computed deformed shell
is shown in Fig. 12.1(b) for different pressure levels.
12.4. Existence theorems in finite elasticity. In this section, we shall establish
conditions sufficient to guarantee the existence of solutions to nonconvex
FIG. 12.1(b). Computed geometry changes for the contact problem.

382 CHAPTER 12
constrained minimization problems of the type (12.35). We consider classes

of contact problems in which the constraint set is of the form
where </> and if/ are the smooth functions defining the unilateral contact
conditions discussed in the preceding section. Our equilibrium prqblem is then
where
Here W is the strain energy per unit of mass in the reference configuration,
Vv is the displacement gradient ((Vu)^ = dvt/dxj, W(V\) = W(l(v), II(v),
III(v))), and 7(v) = detF = det(l + Vv).
Our approach to the question of existence of solutions to (12.64) is to apply
Theorem 3.1, the generalized Weierstrass theorem, which for our present
purposes can be stated as simply as follows:
IfF:K->R is a proper, coercive, weakly lower semicontinuous functional defined
on a nonempty sequentially weakly closed subset K o f a reflexive Banach space,
then F is bounded below on K and attains its minimum on K.
Consequently, there are two main issues concerning the existence of
minimizers to (12.64), the sequentially weak closedness of the set of
admissible motions K and the lower semicontinuity and coerciveness of the
energy functional F.
The functional F is, in general, nonconvex. Thus, some generalizations of
the methods discussed earlier are needed. We begin with a simple but funda-
mental theorem (cf. Oden [6]).
THEOREM 12.1. Let U and V be normed linear spaces, K be a subset of V,
and let the following hold:
(i) K is weakly sequentially closed.
(ii) There exists an operator B: K -> U which is weakly sequentially continuous
(i.e. if (um}<^ V converges weakly to u, then B(um) converges weakly to B(u)
in U).
(iii) There exists a functional G: M -* R, M being a subset of the range Rg(B)
of B, which is convex and which possesses a Gateaux derivative DyG(v)e U*
at every u e M.
Then the composition
is weakly lower semicontinuous on K.

Proof. Since G is convex and Gateaux differentiable, G(u 1 )-G(u 2 )^

(DuG(v2), vl-v2)u, «i, v2£Rg(B). If unû in V, and since
F(un)-F(u)^G(B(un))-G(B(u))^(DuG(u)tB(un)-B(u)}Ut
we have
i.e., F is weakly sequentially lower semicontinuous

The natural question that arises at this point is whether or not weakly
sequentially continuous maps such as B exist for the set K in (12.63). The
remarkable answer to this question is that the operations encountered in the
definition of invariants of the deformation and used in defining the domain
of the strain energy are these very special weakly sequentially continuous
maps, i.e.
where adj Vv denotes the adjugate (transpose of the matrix of cofactors) of

Vv. Indeed, note that
The proof of this important assertion follows from two important lemmas, the
first result, due to Ball [1, p. 369] and another result of Reshetnyak [1, Thm.
2; 2, Thm. 4] (see also Ball [1, p. 372]):
LEMMA 12.1. (i) Let n = 1. Then if we (W 1>2 (a))", detVweL'Cft) and
detVw = |e,>.fce^Vaw^W(fcy holds in 2)'(fl).
(ii) Let w = 3. Then i/we (W 1>2 (ft))", adj Vwe (L ! (a))" 2 and (adjVw)f =
\eijkea^wj^y = êijkea^wjwky^ holds in ©'(«)•
(iii) Let n = 3. Then if we ( W l ' p ( f l ) ) n and adj Vwe (L P '(O))" 2 , detVwe
L'(ft) and (2.5) holds in 2>'(ft), (l/p + \/p'= 1, p>2).
LEMMA 12.2. (i) Let n = 2. Then i f p > 2 the map w^det Vw: (W 1 > p (ft)) n -»•
(L P/2 (O))" is sequentially weakly continuous.
(ii) Let n = 3. Then i f p > 2 the map w ^ a d j Vw:( W 1/p (O))"(L p/2 (a))" 2 is
sequentially weakly continuous.
(iii) Lef n = 3. 7?je« i / p > 3 the map w^det Vw:( W 1>p (n))"^ L P/3 (H) w
sequentially weakly continuous.
An immediate result of these lemmas is the following:
THEOREM 12.2. Let K fee defined in (12.34) and for n = l,2, or 3, /ef safw/
conditions in Lemmas 12.1 or 12.2. Then K is weakly sequentially closed.
It might at first seem that the restriction on p is too severe to accommodate
certain classes of materials commonly used in nonlinear elastostatics. This is
not the case for we can always redefine K and problem (12.64) accordingly.
384 CHAPTER 12
It is clear from Theorem 12.1 and these results that whenever the conditions
on p and n given in Lemma 12.2 hold, then any convex and differentiable
functional of the three weakly sequentially continuous functions of (12.4) (or
(12.67)) will be weakly sequentially lower semicontinuous. This led Ball [1]
to introduce the idea of poly convexity: A function w:M-»IR (M = IR 3 xR 3 ) is
polyconvex if and only if it is expressible in the form
where W is a convex differentiable'* function of each argument. For n = 2,

W:(R 2 xlR 2 ->[R is polyconvex if w(F) = W(¥, det F), W being convex and
differentiable in each argument. For n = l, the notion of polyconvexity
coincides with convexity.
Summarizing, we have
THEOREM 12.3. Let any of the conditions on p and n listed in Lemma 12.2
hold and let the strain energy function W in (12.65) be given as a polyconvex
function of Vv. Then the potential energy functional F in (12.64) is weakly
sequentially lower semicontinuous on the weakly sequentially closed set K of
(12.63). Thus, if F is also coercive on the space
and if F is proper, then there exists at least one solution to the nonconvex
minimization problem (12.64).
We can now apply these results to the special case considered in § 12.1.
THEOREM 12.4. Let the strain energy function Wbe given by (12.10) with C,,
C2, C3 positive constants. Then there exists at least one solution of the minimi-
zation problem (12.64).
Proof In this case, n = 3, p = 6, so I(v), II(v), /(v) are weakly sequentially
continuous by Lemma 12.2, and K of (12.31) is weakly sequentially closed.
For these choices of signs of the material constants, W is polyconvex. Hence,
F is weakly sequentially lower semicontinuous. Also, |F(0)|«x> establishes
that F is also proper.
The proof of coerciveness of F is less direct. For this purpose, we introduce
a product space and a new functional,
4
The requirement of differentiability can be weakened; in general, only continuity of W in
each argument is needed.
The product space is a Banach space when equipped with the norm (p ^2)
We also introduce the set,
and the related minimization problem
It is not difficult to show that this problem is exactly equivalent to (12.64).

Indeed
so that the existence of a solution (12.74) implies the existence of one to

(12.64). The weak lower semicontinuity of F and the weak sequential closed-
ness of K are established by arguments parallel to those given earlier.
Turning now to the form (12.71), we have
Hence, F is coercive on V x H x D and at least one solution exists to

(12.74)
These results are immediately extendible to the case of incompressible
materials. In such cases,
and W is given as a function of only I, II. We need only add to the definition
(12.63) of the constraint set K the requirement det(l + Vv) = l a.e. in O0.
But K is then still weakly sequentially closed for appropriate n and p by
Lemma 12.1.
12.5. Contact problems for large deformation elastoplasticity. We shall now

give a brief introduction to extensions of our work on contact problems in
elasticity to large-deformation problems in elastoplasticity. We will find that
many of the results and methods developed earlier are directly applicable to
inelastic contact problems with friction, especially when linearized incremental
formulations are used.
386 CHAPTER 12
Many of the derivations and numerical examples discussed here are taken
from Cheng [1] and Cheng and Kikuchi [1]. Similar contact problems related
to metal forming analysis have been solved by e.g. Lee and Kobayashi [1],
Nayak and Zienkiewicz [1], Oh and Kobayashi [1], Hibbitt, Marcal and Rice
[1], Key, Krieg and Bathe [1], Fredriksson [1] and others.
Elastoplasticity for large deformations. We shall first obtain an incremental
elastoplastic formulation for large deformations without considering unilateral
contact conditions. To do this, we shall follow the derivation described in
McMeeking and Rice [1] in which the rate form of the first Piola-Kirchhoff
stress T is used to define rate formulations of the theory of Hill [1]. The
condition for continuing equilibrium in incremental formulations is based
upon a rate form of virtual work equation, e.g.,
for an arbitrary virtual displacement v satisfying homogeneous kinematic

boundary conditions on FD. The superposed dots denote material time deriva-
tives. If terms are related to the contact condition in (12.35), the formulation
(12.77) is the same as the rate form of (12.35). Since the first Piola-Kirchhoff
stress T is related to the Cauchy stress cr by (12.16), we have
Noting that
we have
This yields the identity,
Similarly the right-hand side of (12.77) can be transformed to an expression

defined in the deformed configuration, i.e.,
Thus (12.77) is written
for every admissible virtual displacement v.

The co-rotational (or Zaremba-Jaumann) stress rate cr* is defined by
where (I = î/U; is the spin rate, and in a rectangular Cartesian coordinate

system is defined by
Thus, the rate form of the virtual work principle (12.77) becomes
Here e = e (/ i i i xi,- is the rate of deformation defined by
For a plasticity model we shall assume a generalization of the classical

Prandtl-Reuss equation now involving the co-rotational stress rate and the
Mises yield criterion. Hardening is also considered and is assumed to be
isotropic. Furthermore isotropic elasticity is assumed for elastic deformations
and the following rate form is applied:
Here A and G are the first and second Lame constants and eetj is the rate of
deformation due to elastic deformations. If we define by e^ the rate of
deformation due to plastic deformations, then the relation
holds.
The Mises yield condition is defined by the yield function
where J'2 = 0-^0-^/2, 0-^ = 0-^-8^0-^/3, and k depends on the strain history.
Using the flow rule
388 CHAPTER 12
for a positive scalar function A*, we have
It is noted that the quantity
can be obtained as the slope of the curve of the true stress versus the logarithmic
plastic strain in a simple tension test on a uniform bar. Introducing (12.91)
and (12.92) into (12.90) for the Mises criterion (12.89), we obtain the incre-
mental constitutive equation
where
and a = V37£ is the effective stress. The last term of (12.94) has to be omitted
when
It is noted that k = 0 in the unloading case.

Since the term y^k&jiVij in the virtual work principle (12.85) yields an
unsymmetric stiffness matrix in finite element approximations, we sometimes
replace the rate form of the constitutive equation (12.93) by
where DijM is defined by the same form (12.94) except that H' has to be
replaced by H' defined by
E is Young's modulus and v is Poisson's ratio.

Thus far we have obtained the rate form of the virtual work principle (12.85)
on the current configuration using the constitutive equation (12.96). This can
be the basis for the derivation of an incremental scheme called the updated
Lagrangian formulation as well as a basis for a general mathematical theory
of elastoplasticity for large deformations.
Incremental plasticity. Now we shall consider an incremental formulation of
elastoplasticity. To do this, let us integrate the rate formulation (12.85) from
Mo r + Ar in time, where Af is a small time increment:
for every v such that v = 0 on F D . Here
and the increments Au, Af, and At are defined by Au = )>Af, Af = fAf, and
At = tAf, respectively. It is noted that the constitutive equation (12.95) is applied
here.
We have only considered the problem of large deformation elastoplasticity
without including any of the contact conditions on the boundary. We shall
take up this problem in two steps, first the normal contact model and then a
tangential one.
Contact conditions in the normal direction. Suppose that an elastoplastic body
is located below of a rigid surface represented by a parametric equation
as discussed in § 2.1. If the surface of the body below the rigid surface is given
by
parametrically at the current configuration, the kinematic contact condition

can be represented by
for arbitrary time increment Af on the surface Yc, as shown in (2.5). If Af is

small enough, this can be linearized to
as shown in (2.17) where N is the unit vector inward normal to the rigid surface
and is defined by
390 CHAPTER 12
and
If Au = y Af is defined, the contact condition becomes
where Fc is the possible surface of contact with the rigid surface at the current
configuration.
Contact conditions in the tangential direction. The next consideration is the
development of an incremental form of a friction law which is similar to the
one studied in the previous two chapters. In particular, the incremental friction
law derived here contains (11.55) as a special case. We shall use a generalized
Coulomb sliding criterion characterized by the condition
where the traction vector a is decomposed into tangential and normal com-
ponents according to oi = oir + crjVN, and VF is the friction coefficient. I f / < 0
at a point P on Fc, the material P sticks to the surface Fc. If /= 0 at P, there
are two possibilities: continuing sliding and unloading sticking.
Following the theory of plasticity, let us assume that the sliding rule
holds for a positive function A, where Au£ is the increment of the tangential
displacement Au T due to sliding. Here we have assumed that Au r can be
decomposed into
where Au^ is the increment due to elastic deformations of junctions.

Now taking increment of the Coulomb sliding criterion for/=0, we have
where A*aT and A*crN are co-rotational "increments" of the traction vector
in the tangential and normal direction, respectively. It is noted that the
co-rotational rate of the traction t is defined by
and its increment is given by A*t =

Assuming the elastic relation
for AUT, it follows from (12.108) that
Using the sliding rule (12.106), we have
It then follows from the elastic relation that
Suppose that the effective tangential displacement UT is defined by
If the effective sliding displacement M£ is similarly defined, we have
Noting that df/da-Ti = crTi/a-T where aT is the effective tangential traction

defined by <JT = V<r T - or T , we can conclude the following incremental relation:
where T( is defined by
If VF is assumed to be constant, this has a simple form
In general, the coefficient of friction VF is not constant and may depend

upon the effective sliding displacement. Indeed, the experimental work by
Courtney-Pratt and Eisner [1] clearly confirm such a dependence. The value
dvF/dUr in the incremental friction law (12.114) can be obtained as the slope
of the curve VF - UT by experiments following Courtney-Pratt and Eisner [1].
392 CHAPTER 12
In view of (12.108), continuing sliding and unloading sticking are determined

by the following criteria:
(continuing sliding),
(unloading sticking).
For sticking and unloading sticking, we apply the incremental form
The above formulation of friction laws is based upon the works by Seguchi,
Shindo, Tomita, and Sunohara [1], Fredriksson [1] and Michalowski and
Mroz [1] in which analogous approaches are taken but which employ a
"constant" normal stress crN. In the present formulation, however, we have
taken into account the variation in the contact pressure aN, our results indicate
that this is a very essential factor in the analysis of most metal forming processes.
Signorini' s problem with friction. Let us reformulate Signorini's problem with
friction for large deformation elastoplasticity using the incremental formula-
tions described above. Let K be the set of admissible increments of displace-
ments defined by
where y| is the trace operator from V on to //£o2(2), and
By using the general procedure employed in Chapter 10 we obtain the

variational inequality,
where
and
If we define
and
the variational inequality (12.120) can be written
It is now clear that the large deformation elastoplastic Signorini problem is

reduced to precisely the same form of variational inequality that was derived
earlier in linear elasticity.
Example 12.2 (indentation problem). This example is aimed at testing the
incremental formulation proposed above. The problem chosen is a plane-strain
indentation of a cylindrical rigid punch on a semi-infinite slab. Due to sym-
metry, half of the slab is analyzed as shown in Fig. 12.2(a). It is assumed that
there is no hardening or softening effects for the sliding motion, i.e., dvF/dupT =
0, or VF is constant during the entire process.
394 CHAPTER 12
FIG. 12.2(a). Two initial setups for a plane strain indentation problem for a cylindrical rigid punch.
From J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi [1], Computing Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering.
Copyright 1985 American Society of Applied Engineers.
FIG. 12.2(b). Deformed meshes at 0.4cm plane strain indentation by a rigid punch (R = 0.8 cm)
on an elastoplastic slab with E = 10Gpa, i> = 0.3, 5^ = 0.1 Gpa, and a = 0.1-f 0.05(e-0.01) Gpa.
From J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi [1], Computing Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering.
Allowing plastic deformations, the problem is solved for vp = 0.3 with the
material yield strength Sy -100 Mpa, and the post-yield behavior described
by <r = 100 + 50ep Mpa. Figure 12.2(b) shows the final deformed meshes after
0.4 cm of indentation from the initial configuration. Very different stress distri-
butions from elastic deformation are observed since significant plastic strains
are involved. In all computations, a reference increment is chosen to be
0.005 cm which may be altered by three criteria: the Mises yield condition,
the kinematic contact condition in the normal direction, and the turning point
of the sticking-sliding condition. The resultant contact stresses are exhibited
in Fig. 12.2(c) in which all the stress values are normalized by P0 (=1.7645^),
an analytical value at the threshold of plasticity due to Hertz. With the same
total number of contact points in this instance, the maximum contact pressure
is higher (smaller contact area) when frictional effects are included. It is seen
that the distribution of contact pressure is not as smooth as in the linear
elasticity case (Fig. 12.2(d)). A possible explanation of this oscillatory result
is again attributed to the requirement of vanishing volumetric plastic strain-
increment Aefj in the plasticity theory as has been explained in the last section.
This observation can again be confirmed when we solve the same problem
with a high work-hardening material (ff' = 500Mpa) which allows larger
components of elastic strain increment in the plastic region. The results are
FIG. I2.2(c). Contact stresses (normalized by FIG. 12.2(d). Comparison of contact pressure
P0= 17.64 Mpa) of indentation tests on an elas- for elastic and plastic indentations (i/F = 0).
toplastic slab. From J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi From J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi [1], Comput-
[1], Computing Methods in Applied Mechanics ing Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineer-
and Engineering. Copyright 1985 American ing. Copyright 1985 American Society of
Society of Applied Engineers. Applied Engineers.
396 CHAPTER 12
FIG. 12.2(e). Comparison of contact pressure FIG. 12.2(f). Comparison of maximum contact
for two plastic loading paths (frictionless). From pressure vs. contact area for elastic and plastic
J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi [1], Computing indentations. From J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi
Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. [I], Computing Methods in Applied Mechanics
Copyright 1985 American Society of Applied and Engineering. Copyright 1985 American
Engineers. Society of Applied Engineers.
depicted in Fig. 12.2(e) which shows a less fluctuating distribution of the

contact stresses. A comparison of the maximum contact pressures versus the
contact area for both elastic and plastic loading conditions is given in Fig.
12.2(f).
Example 12.3 (convergent extrusion process). Consider the following problem
depicted in Fig. 12.3(a): A cylindrical straight aluminum rod of initial diameter
d0= 10.16 cm and initial length, /0 = 25.4 cm, is placed into a convergent die
with an inclined angle of 5°. The billet is forced through the die by an adjustable
punch. Material properties of the billet are characterized by E = 68.95 Gpa,
*/ = 0.32, S> = 31Mpa, and <r= 151.7e25 Mpa. With the finite element dis-
cretization given in Fig. 12.3(a), the process is performed with a reference
displacement increment Auf of 0.127 cm (0.05 in.) prescribed on the punch.
The deformed configurations at several punch strokes are exhibited in the
same figure for two different contact conditions. The upper half is shown for
the case of frictionless interfaces, and the other is for the case when the
coefficients of friction are assumed to be 0.1 along the die wall and 0.02 between
the punch and the billet.
In reality, the development of the contact region is continuous. Thus, a
certain discrepancy should be expected from this simulation due to the discrete
nature of the finite element model. It is found that occasionally when a
boundary point is brought to touch the die, the elements around it unload
temporarily. This disturbance is indicated in Fig. 12.3(b) by a slight oscillation
FIG. 12.3(a). An axisymmetric extrusion process through a convergent die, upper half for a frictionless
case, lower half for VF = 0.1 on the die wall and VF = 0.02 on the punch.
of the contact pressure distributions along the wall at 15.24 cm (6 in) of punch
stroke. For the frictional case, since all the points are sliding, the magnitudes
of the tangential force are simply one-tenth of the values obtained from this
figure.
398 CHAPTER 12
FIG. 12.3(b). Contact pressures (normalized bySy = 3l Mpa) along the die wall of a convergent-die
extrusion process at 15.24cm (6 in) of punch stroke.
Example 12.4 (direction extrusion process). For a practical application, we

present a simulation of a direct extrusion process, which is of considerable
significance in industrial practice. The information obtained from the finite
element solutions is not only essential in providing insight into the mechanics
of the forming process, but is also useful in improving the existing processes.
The problem to be analyzed is depicted in Fig. 12.4(a). A reference displace-
ment increment of 0.0635 cm (0.025 in) is given to describe the travel of the
ram. The cross section of the billet is reduced by 36 percent when the extrudate
is forced through the die. The material is aluminum alloy 1100-0 with Young's
modulus E = 68.95 Gpa, Poisson's ratio *> = 0.32, yield strength S^ = 31 Mpa,
and strain hardening a = 151.68e 25 Mpa.
To investigate the effect of friction, the process is first carried out assuming
frictionless contact conditions, and then repeated with a constant coefficient
of friction, VF = 0.1, assumed on all contact interfaces. For purposes of com-
parison, the deformed configurations are shown together in Fig. 12.4(a) at
increasing ram displacements. Very distinct differences in responses are
observed. For the frictional case, due to the severe distortion of finite elements
FIG. 12.4(a). An axisymmetric direct extrusion process, upper half for the frictionless case, lower
half with a constant coefficient of friction, VF = 0.1 on all the contact surfaces.
at the later stage of the process, very stiff shear stiffness of finite elements can
be expected. This also results in a very steep slope of a curve depicting the
relationship between the total ram force and the die displacement as compared
with the frictionless case.
The computed contact pressures for both cases at two ram displacements
are given in Fig. 12.4(b). They show similar shapes and essentially the same
400 CHAPTER 12
FIG. 12.4(b). Contact pressure (normalized by Sy - 31 Mpa) distributions along the die wall in a
direct extrusion process.
end pressures but very different peak values, which occur in the midst of the
throat.
Example 12.5 (head forming process). In this example, let us consider a head
forming problem with an initial configuration and material properties shown
in Fig. 12.5(a). The same problem has been solved by Argyris et al. [1] using
both a viscoplastic flow model and an updated Lagrangian model with Newton-
Raphson corrections, and by Kobayashi [1] using a rigid-plastic approach.
The analysis is carried out under a reference displacement increment of 0.25
percent of the initial height. Deformed configurations at various stages are
displayed in Fig. 12.5(b) together with the contour lines of the effective stress
<j. Localized plastic deformations in the core of the head grow into two shearing
bands in the upper and lower parts of the head. Figure 12.5(c) shows the
variation of the applied load evaluated from element stresses under the punch.
The slight disturbance at 36 percent reduction is caused by the response of
the material when some portions of the initially vertical lateral surface of the
billet come into contact with the die and the punch (see the deformed mesh
at 40 percent reduction in Fig. 12.5(b)).
Example 12.6 (sheet metal forming). We consider a thin sheet metal forming
problem. This type of problem is often analyzed using a nonlinear theory of
FIG. 12.5(a). Initial configuration for a head forming problem. From J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi
[1], Computing Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1985 American Society
of Applied Engineers.
membrane shells (e.g., Kobayashi and Kim [1], and Wang and Wenner [1]).
The configuration and dimensions of the problem are shown in Fig. 12.6(a).
The thickness of the sheet metal is 1 mm, which is modeled by 132 4CST
elements in equal spacing. The material is aluminum 1100-0 whose properties
are given as E - 68.95 Gpa, v = 0.32, yield strength Sy = 31 Mpa, and post-yield
relation v= 151.68e 25 Mpa.
Both stretch forming and deep drawing are considered. The process is first
carried out by assuming a fixed flange and a constant coefficient of friction,
VF = 0.4, between the punch and the sheet metal. Deformed configurations at
each 10 mm of the punch depth up to 40 mm are illustrated on the right-hand
side of Fig. 12.6(b). The other side of the figure shows another case with a
402 CHAPTER 12
FIG. 12.5(b). Deformed meshes of a head forming problem (coefficient of friction 0.3). From
J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi [1], Computing Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering.
FIG. 12.5(c). Applied load evaluated from element stresses under the rigid punch during a head
forming process, original area A0 = 12.57 cm2. From J. H. Cheng and N. KJkuchi [1], Computing
Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1985 American Society of Applied
Engineers.
constant coefficient of friction, VF = 0.04, imposed on all the contact interfaces.

For demonstration purposes, we enlarge the portion around the center
(enclosed by the dotted line). The effect of stretching can be seen by a thinner
thickness some distance away from the symmetric line. Figure 12.6(c) depicts
the variation of punch load with increasing depths of the cup. It is clear that
the presence of draw-in requires much lower punch loads. The zig-zag climbing
of the applied load is due to discontinuous contact. For such a large radius
FIG. 12.6(a). Configuration and dimensions for a thin sheet metal (1 mm of thickness) forming
process.
404 CHAPTER 12
FIG. 12.6(b). Deformed configurations at every 10 mm of punch depth in a thin sheet metal forming
process with two different contact conditions, VF = 0.4 on the right-hand side, and VF = 0.04 on the
left-hand side.
FIG. 12.6(c). Applied loads (normalized by 20 kN) vs. punch depth of a thin sheet metal forming
process with two different contact conditions.
FIG. 12.7(a). An axisymmelric backward extrusion process with remeshing at every 5 percent
reduction of the initial height. From J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi [2], International Journal for
Numerical Methods in Engineering. Copyright 1986 Pergamon Press.
with the finite element model used, the "time" lapse for the next point to reach
the punch is rather long, also the sudden increase of contact area is large so
that the load jumps at the moment of contact.
Example 12.7 (backward extrusion process). We next solve a backward
extrusion process shown schematically in Fig. 12.7(a). The billet is assumed
to be lead with material properties £ = 36.54Gpa, ^ = 0.245, yield strength
Sy = 23.44 Mpa, and a very low strain hardening H' - 0.007 Mpa. A constant
coefficient of friction, vF = Q.l is imposed on all the contact surfaces.
The billet of initial diameter 50.8cm (20 in) and height 38.1 cm (15 in) is
modeled by 150 4CST finite elements. The entire forming process up to 30
percent reduction of the initial height is interrupted at every 5 percent reduction
for remeshing. Several deformed configurations are shown in Fig. 12.7(a), in
which the diagonals of 4CST elements are omitted. The computed applied
loads are given in Fig. 12.7(b).
Example 12.8 (plane-strain extrusion process}. The last example problem is
a plane strain extrusion process through a square die shown in Fig. 12.8(a).
The material used is aluminum 1100-0 with the properties £ = 68.95 Gpa,
i^ = 0.32, yield strength Sy = 31 Mpa and strain hardening <T = 151.7e'25 Mpa.
The process is carried out by assuming either frictionless contact conditions
406 CHAPTER 12
FIG. 12.7(b). Applied load (normalized by TrR^Sy) of a backward extrusion process by a rezoning
technique. From J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi [2], International Journal for Numerical Methods in
Engineering. Copyright 1986 Pergamon Press.
FIG. 12.8(a). A schematic setup for a plane strain extrusion process through a square die. From
J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi [2], International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering.
Copyright 1986 Pergamon Press.
FIG. 12.8(b). Deformed configurations of a plane strain extrusion process through a square die,
upper half for the frictionless case, lower half for a constant VF - 0.2 assumed on all contact surfaces.
From J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi [2], International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering.
Copyright 1986 Pergamon Press.
or a frictional case with a constant coefficient of friction, VF - 0.2, on all the

contact interfaces. Deformed configurations for both cases are included
together in Fig. 12.8(b). Remeshing is performed at every 1.27 cm (0.5 in) of
ram displacement. In Fig. 12.8(c), the applied loads at increasing ram displace-
ments are given to show the effect of "smoothing" in evaluating the stresses.
In general, when the process is resumed right after the deformed configuration
408 CHAPTER 12
FIG. 12.8(c) Applied loads (normalized by TrRgSy) vs. punch travel of a plane strain extrusion
process through a square die for two contact conditions. From J. H. Cheng and N. Kikuchi [2],
International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering. Copyright 1986 Pergamon Press.
is remeshed, the response of finite elements is very soft as can be observed

from the flat portions in the curves. However, the applied load starts to ascend
rapidly at about 0.635 cm (0.25 in) of ram displacement from the last intermit-
tent step.
Chapter 13
Dynamic Friction Problems
13.1. Introduction. Significant complications arise when dynamic effects

are added to our models of contact with friction. First of all, the physical
mechanisms in force on the contact interfaces during dynamic phenomena
which are responsible for "dynamic friction effects" are extremely complex;
they have been the focus of considerable experimental research for several
decades and are still the subject of much study. The fact that, in general, an
apparent decrease in frictional resistance to sliding of one body on another
sometimes occurs in dynamic situations has been known for centuries, and
primitive notions of static versus dynamic coefficients of friction have been
used in rigid-body dynamics for many years. But these classical dynamic
friction models are generally not applicable to pointwise descriptions of friction
in continuum mechanics: they neither reflect the true physics of dynamic
contact on metallic surfaces nor do they lead to tractable mathematical models.
The frictional contact problem in elastodynamics also leads to mathemati-
cally complex models, the properties of which remain to be fully understood.
In general, dynamic contact problems are characterized by nonlinear hyper-
bolic variational inequalities. With some exceptions, existence theories for
such problems are not yet available and the numerical analysis of these
problems is in an early stage of development.
Nevertheless, there are important classes of dynamic contact problems with
friction that can be treated effectively by modern numerical methods and that
admit to some theoretical analysis. The volume of literature on mechanical
theories of dynamic contact with friction, and particularly on the analytical
or numerical solution of problems of this type, is quite small. Several authors
have attempted the numerical solution of dynamic contact problems using
finite element methods. Among them, we mention the work of Hughes, Taylor,
Sackman, and Kanoknukulchi [1] who presented a finite element formulation
for linearly elastic contact-impact problems valid for perfect frictionless or
perfect adhesion conditions on the contact surface. Applications of the finite
element method to solve a formally derived variational inequality which
governs the dynamic behavior of linearly elastic bodies in unilateral contact
409
410 CHAPTER 13
with frictionless supports were presented by Lee and Kamemura [1].

Panagiotopoulos [1] and Talaslidis and Panagiotopoulos [1] also derived,
formally, variational inequalities for the dynamic analysis of solids in unilateral
contact with foundations. These foundations are assumed to satisfy a general
holonomic monotone constitutive law which is designed to model rigid, elastic
or plastic situations and also friction conditions. In the applications, the
problems solved involve linearly elastic bodies in unilateral contact with elastic
foundations without friction or with prescribed friction stresses: A similar class
of problems was treated by Martins and Oden [1], who also obtained error
estimates for finite element approximations for certain cases.
Mathematical treatments of a restricted class of dynamic contact problems
have been explored by several authors. We mention, in particular, the work
of Cabannes [1], [2] on vibrating string problems with friction, the works of
Lotstedt [1], [2], [3] on dynamics of systems of rigid bodies with unilateral
constraints and friction, and the papers on the existence and uniqueness of
solutions to vibrating string problems with obstacles by Schatzman [1], [2],
Amerio [1], [2], Amerio and Prouse [1], and Citrini [1], [2]. More recently,
a rather general theory of dynamic friction was advanced by Martins and
Oden [2], who obtained the first existence results for dynamic problems in
viscoelasticity with a friction law that will be discussed at some length in this
chapter.
A key step in the study of dynamic friction phenomena is the recognition
that no single friction model can adequately cover the wide range of physical
events that take place when one body is brought in contact with another. Oden
and Martins [1] have suggested three broad categories of frictional effects:
Type I—quasi-static dry friction
Type II—dynamic sliding friction
Type III—wear and plowing
Quasi-static dry friction (Type I friction), refers to frictional mechanisms
present when two possibly polished, metallic surfaces are pressed slowly
together and are in static equilibrium or are slowly displaced relative to one
another, and for which normal loads are large enough to produce significant
plastic deformation but not produce severe penetration and gouging of the
contact interface. Here the most conspicuous mechanisms contributing to
friction are the plastic deformations of asperities, the formation of elastoplastic
junctions on the contact surface, the strong coupling between normal and
tangential plastic deformations, and the dissipative mechanisms afforded by
the history-dependence of junction deformation and possible fracture of these
junctions. The frictional forces may depend upon histories of micro-tangential
displacements of particles on the contact surface. Theories describing such
frictional effects are basically static in nature; inertia effects are generally not
important and the modeling should capture the elastoplastic deformation of the
interface in some way. The models and methods discussed in Chapters 12 and
13 are applicable to Type I frictional problems.
DYNAMIC FRICTION PROBLEMS 411
By dynamic sliding (Type II friction), we refer to that large and important

class of truly dynamic problems which include such effects as frictional
damping, dynamic sliding, stick-slip motion, chattering, etc. The constitution
of the material interface is essentially stable; there is no marked penetration
or normal plastic deformation of the interface and, at least from a global point
of view, the frictional forces developed on the contact surface appear to depend
on the sliding velocity of one surface relative to another. To obtain reproducible
experimental data on these types of frictional effects, it is generally necessary
to rub the contacting surfaces together for a period of time until a steady-state
condition of the interface is reached. Such pre-conditioning may fracture and
work-harden the surface asperities and result in a smoother contact surface
for which, unlike category I, plastic deformations normal to the interface are
not significant or do not occur at all.
The wear and plowing phenomena (Type III) encompasses cases in which
substantial damage and penetration of the metallic interfaces occurs; there
may be phase changes in the interface materials, and portions of the material
may be removed or relocated during contact. These types of contact situations
may involve the transfer of large normal forces across a small contact area.
Wear may be experienced in all three of the categories mentioned, but in
categories I and II it is either ignored or assumed to be negligible.
In the present chapter, we shall focus on Type II friction phenomena and
draw heavily from the work of Oden and Martins [1] on this subject. We begin
with a review of elementary ideas on stick-slip motion and sliding, and review
some experimental literature on these subjects strongly suggests that a proper
model of normal compliance of interfaces is essential in good Type II friction
models. Recall that one such normal contact model was introduced in Chapter
12. We apply that model in § 13.3, augmented slightly by the addition of terms
designed to reflect observed normal dissipation mechanisms in metallic inter-
faces. Variational formulations of dynamic friction problems and correspond-
ing finite element approximations and computational procedures are taken up
in §§ 13.4-13.6. Section 13.7 contains results and discussions of numerical
experiments on dynamic friction, particularly on friction damping, sliding,
and stick-slip motion. These models and results provide explanations of many
observed dynamic friction phenomena and represent significant departures
from the classical thinking on these subjects.
13.2. Stick-slip motion vs. steady sliding. Let us consider a body (slider) in
frictional contact with a fixed surface, as depicted in Fig. 13.1 (a). The slider
is intended to move along the surface with some (small) tangential velocity
UT, this velocity being impressed upon the slider by some driving mechanism
which itself possesses specific elastic and damping properties. As many
examples in our daily life teach us, what frequently happens is that the desired
steady sliding at the prescribed velocity UT is not achieved. Instead, the body
advances in an intermittent fashion with successive alternate periods of rest
412 CHAPTER 13
FIG. 13.1. (a), (b) Models of two (equivalent) sliding systems which may have stick-slip oscillations.
K = linear stiffness; C = linear damping; M = mass of the slider; N = normal load; LJT = driving
velocity; v= friction coefficient. Reprinted with permission from J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins
[1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1985 Elsevier Science
Publishers.
FIG. 13.1. (c), (d) Typical traces of stick-slip motion for systems (a) and (b) in Fig. 13.1.
ur = displacement of the slider; t - time; LJT = driving velocity. Reprinted with permission from
J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering.
and sudden sliding (see Fig. 13.1(c)). These relaxation type oscillations are
usually known as stick-slip motion (after Bowden and Leben [1]).
Since the work of Blok [1] in 1940, it is known that the essential condition
for the occurrence of stick-slip oscillations in sliding motion is a decrease of
the friction force with the increase, from zero, of the sliding velocity.
Such results bring to mind the classical textbook examples of friction wherein
experiments with rigid blocks sliding down inclined planes led to the age-old
concept of the existence of static and kinetic coefficients of friction. Motion
begins when the friction force F reaches a critical value proportional to the net
normal force N, the constant of proportionality vs being the static coefficient of
friction. Once sliding of the body begins, the friction resisting force F attains a
value F = vkN, where vk is the kinetic coefficient of friction, and vk<vs.
This simple model of dynamic friction has had a profound impact on
experimental studies of friction throughout over two centuries that have elapsed
since Coulomb's writings.
Blok's work and the longstanding acceptance of Coulomb's law encouraged
numerous investigators to devise experimental programs for monitoring the
variation in the coefficient of friction with sliding velocity in studies of stick-slip
oscillations. For nearly half a century the overwhelming majority of such
experimental studies has involved experimental methods in which the tangen-
tial motion and the tangential forces on a slider, such as that in Fig. 13.1, are
carefully monitored while the net normal force is assumed to be constant.
Then all the variations in the observed friction force are assumed to be a
consequence of the variation of the coefficient of friction with sliding velocity,
and much work has concentrated on the determination of a "characteristic"
v=v(UT).
Unfortunately, the results of literally hundreds of experimental tests have
little, if any, agreement. While it may be accepted that different pairs of metals
in contact and different lubrication conditions produce characteristics
(coefficient of friction vs. sliding velocity plots) with clearly distinct shapes,
it is known that even for the same combination of metals and lubrication
conditions, changes in only the dynamic properties of the experimental setup
(e.g., stiffness) or on the driving velocity, produce dramatic changes in the
observed characteristics.
It thus appears that these experimental characteristics are not at all an
intrinsic property of the pairs of surfaces in contact. Such a point of view has
been expressed by several authors who attribute apparent decreases of the
coefficient of friction with the increase in sliding velocity to the occurrence of
micro-vibrations of the slider in the direction normal to the contact surface.
In fact, Tolstoi [1] observed that the forward movements of a slider during
stick-slip motion invariably occur in strict synchronism with upward jumps.
Oscillograms of the normal contact oscillations which occur during the sliding
portions of the stick-slip cycles were obtained by Tolstoi, Borisova and
Grigorova [1]. An examination of these oscillations revealed a fundamental
414 CHAPTER 13
frequency consistent with the normal interface stiffness properties (see

Budanov, Kudinov and Tolstoi [1]). Especially interesting is the experimental
observation of Tolstoi [1]. These observations, and several others described
by Oden and Martins [1], lead to the conclusion that an appropriate model for
sliding friction must incorporate physically reasonable normal contact conditions.
Recall that in Chapter 11 we introduced such a normal compliance model
for deformable interfaces in which the normal stress arn on the contact surface
was related to the approach a = (un -g) through a power law for a significant
range of normal loads (recall (11.4)). This type of interface constitutive model
is suggested by a large volume of experimental and theoretical investigations.
For dynamic cases, it is often desirable to expand this law still further to
include a dependence on the time rates of normal displacement un = dun/dt
so as to endow the model with an ability to simulate hysteresis effects observed
in experiments.
With these types of interface constitutive models in mind, we proceed to
the construction of a dynamic contact friction law by considering a material
body in contact along a material surface Fc with a rough moving (sliding)
foundation which moves at a prescribed tangential velocity u£ in the spirit
of Fig. 13.1(b). If iir = li - unn denotes the tangential velocity of points on Fc,
the relative sliding velocity between the body and the moving foundation is
U T - U T - The constitutive properties of the interface adopted here are then
characterized by the following system of equations and inequalities:
Normal interface response.
Friction conditions.
Here cn,mn,bn,ln, CT, mT are material parameters characterizing the interface

and are to be determined experimentally.
The nonlinear dissipative term ardn is designed to model, only in an approxi-
mate manner, the hysteresis loops which are known, to result from the actual
elastoplastic and viscoelastic behavior of the interface asperities. Indeed, the
constitutive equation (13.1) allows for the approximation of the loading paths
of the form presented in Fig. 13.2 which are known to occur if the surface
are allowed to unload completely (Thornley et al. [1]) by loops of the form
presented in Fig. 13.2. The idea of a similar approximation was proposed by
Hunt and Crossley [1] for vibroimpact phenomena involving macroscopic
Hertzian contacts, the elastic behavior of which is also governed by a power
law relationship (normal load oc(compliance)m" with mn = i). For small energy
FIG. 13.2. Hysteresis loops for the normal deformation of the interface (schematic), (a) Experi-
mentally observed loop, under quasi-static loading conditions, if total separation of the surfaces is
allowed during unloadings, (b) Hysteresis loop modeled by the constitutive equation (13.1) under
dynamic loading conditions. Reprinted with permission from J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins [1],
Publishers.
FIG. 13.3. Geometry and notation used in elastodynamics problem with sliding friction. Reprinted
with permission from J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics
and Engineering. Copyright 1985 Elsevier Science Publishers.
416 CHAPTER 13
losses, the correlation between the damping coefficient bn and the energy loss
per cycle of contact is readily obtainable.
The friction law (13.2) is a generalization of Coulomb's friction law, which
is recovered if mn = mr and normal dissipative effects are negligible (a-dn = 0).
In that case, the maximum value of the modulus of the friction stress is equal
to the product of v( = cT/cn) and the normal pressure (|o-™ax |= v\crn\) where
v is the usual coefficient of friction. The law (13.2) allows for a dependence
of the coefficient of friction on the normal contact pressure. The general form
for this dependence, consistent with (1.2) (again for negligible a-*), is
with a = mT/mn-l and C = c T /(c^ /m «).

In using the friction law (13.2), we assume that no distinction between
coefficients of static and kinetic friction exists. Here we follow, with a very simple
model, the essential ideas of Tolstoi and co-workers [1], [2], [3]. In the next
sections, we show that apparent decreases of measurable coefficients of friction
can be the result of dynamic instabilities which are a consequence of the
inherent nonsymmetry of operators governing problems with friction.
13.3. Some frictional contact problems in elasticity theory. In this section,

we formulate some elastodynamics problems involving the frictional contact
of metallic bodies. We begin by considering a deformable body (Fig. 13.3) the
interior of which is an open bounded domain in RN (JV = 2 or 3). Points
(particles) in O, with Cartesian coordinates x f , l < i ' < N , relative to a fixed
coordinate frame are denoted by x ( = (x1x2, • • •, XN)) and the volume measure
by dx. The smooth boundary F of 11 contains four mutually disjoint open
subsets TO, FF, F£, Fc.
We shall denote by 1 the open subset of F
Points on F are denoted by s and the surface measure is denoted by ds. We

shall assume that the body has a linearly elastic behavior characterized by
the generalized Hooke's law, cr,j(u) = EijklukJ, lî,j, k, /<N, where Eijk,=
Eijk,(\) are elasticities with the usual symmetry, ellipticity, and regularity
properties. We denote by p = p(\) the mass density of the material of which
the body is composed. We also suppose that the body is fixed on FD and that
tractions tf = tt(s, t), 1 < i< N, are prescribed on FF, and that the body may
be elastically supported on F£ by distributed linear springs of moduli Kfj =
KJJ(S), with Kij = Kji> !</, j^N. The undeformed configuration of these
springs corresponds to the displacements Uf = Uf(s) on FE.
We also suppose that the body may come in contact along a candidate
contact surface Fc with a rough foundation which slides by the material
contact surface with a velocity UT = UT(S) tangent to Fc. We assume that g,

cn, CT, bn are given as sufficiently smooth functions of s, have the physical
meaning mentioned earlier, and that the real numbers mn, mr, /„ are also
specified.
Assuming sufficient smoothness for all the functions involved, the equations
governing this elastodynamics problem, for a time interval [0, T], are grouped
as follows:
Linear momentum equations,
where the a-tj(u) = EijklukJ.

Boundary conditions,
Initial conditions,
It is easy to show that any classical solution of this problem also satisfies
a variational statement in the form of an inequality, which is a version of the
principle of virtual power. A similar variational inequality is the basis for the
weak statement of our problem to be presented below.
First, however, we need to introduce some notation. We define the space
of admissible displacements (velocities) in the usual way:
where y denotes the restriction of the trace to V. This trace operator y maps
V linearly and continuously onto the subspace W of (H 1/2 (r)) N defined by
The dual spaces of V and W are denoted by V and W, respectively. The

duality pairings on V x V and W x W are denoted by {•, •) and [ • , • ] ,
respectively. We denote by H the space (L 2 (O)) N equipped with the usual
inner product (u, v) = Jn u,u, dx, u, v e H.
418 CHAPTER 13
Assuming that the data for our problem satisfy suitable smoothness require-
ments, we introduce the following definitions:
a0(u, \) = virtual work (power) produced by the action of the

stresses oy(ii) on the strains (strain rates) eij = (vitj + vjii)/2t
a
E(£,in) = virtual work (power) produced by the deformation
of the linear springs on F£,
P(u, u, v) = virtual work (power) produced by the normal

contact pressure on the displacement (veloc-
ity) v,
j(u, v) = virtual power produced by the frictional stresses

on the velocity v,
(f(0,v} = virtual work (power) produced by the external

forces (body forces, prescribed tractions and
initial deflection of the linear springs) on
the displacement (velocity)
For simplicity of notation we have used on F, for ve V, u, = (y(v)),, vn = y(v) • n,

v r = y ( v ) - ( y ( v ) -n)n.
With this notation, a weak formulation for the elastodynamics problem is
then:
Find a function u = u(x, t) such that
with the initial conditions
Remarks. In writing the variational statement (13.15) it is implicitly assumed

that the solution u is such that u(r), u(f) e V and u(t) e V for a.e. t e (0, T).
Although some physical and mathematical argument could be advanced in
order to make more precise this required regularity of the solution u with
respect to the time t, we shall not pursue these issues here. The key issues of
existence and uniqueness are discussed in Martins and Oden [2].
The boundary integrals on Fc, (13.12) and (13.13), are well defined (with
cn, c r eL°°(2))for
because, for ve(H 1 (^)) N , y(v)e (L g (O) N with 1 < g < o o for N = 2, and with
l < g < 4 for N = 3, see Kufner et al. [1]. We can thus conclude that for the
case N = 2 all the experimentally expected values of mn (mn e [2, 3.33]) can
be used in a mathematically consistent way in our formulation. For the case
N = 3, the mathematical restriction mn =s 3 will be harmless in most of the
cases: in Blok et al. [1] only one experimental value of mn is shown which
slightly exceeds 3 (3.125), the most common value for mn being 2.
We now turn our attention to the approximation of (13.15) by a family of
regularized problems more suitable for computational purposes. Toward this
end, we approximate the friction functional 7 ' : V x V - * ( R , which is non-
differentiable in the second argument (velocity), by a family of regularized
functionals je which are convex and differentiable in the second argument:
420 CHAPTER 13
Here the function ê:(Lq(Tc}}N -* Lq(Yc) is the approximation of the func-

tion | • |: (L*(r c )) N -» Lq(Yc) introduced in Chapters 10 and 11 and is defined
for e>0, £e(Lq(rc))N and a.e. xeF c by
The partial derivative of7 e with respect to the second argument, at (u, w)
in the direction of v, is then given by:
where, for e>0, £, v\e(Lq(rc))N and a.e. xeT c ,
Clearly, <f>E is the directional derivative of if/e at | in the direction of t|.

We now define the regularized form of (13.15).
Find a function u e such that
with the initial conditions
This problem is formally equivalent to the problem defined by a system of

equations analogous to (13.3)-(13.8) with ue replacing u. However the friction
conditions should now be replaced by
Regularized friction conditions.
13.4. The steady frictional sliding of a metallic body. We consider here a

metallic body of the same constitution and submitted to the same type of
forces and boundary conditions as in the previous section. The essential
difference is that now we seek an equilibrium position of the body in unilateral
contact with the rough moving foundation. For simplicity and clarity, we
hereafter confine our attention to the special case of a two-dimensional (N = 2)
domain ft with a boundary Fc sufficiently smooth that we can unambiguously
define a unit vector i r tangent to F c - In this case each vector £ tangent to Fc
is determined by the real number £ such that £ = £ir. The functions i/>E and
<f>F = (K are then, essentially, real valued functions of the real variable £ Also
we shall ignore normal damping of the interface and take bn = 0 in (13.1), in
which case P(u, li, v) reduces (with P: V-» V) to
Denoting by T = T(S) the unit tangent vector at each point of Fc parallel to

the prescribed (nonzero) velocity UT of the rough foundation, the friction
conditions (13.2) simplify to the
Steady sliding friction equation.
This is the essential modification to be introduced in the governing equations

(13.3)-(13.7). Obviously we have u = ii = 0 and all the functions in (13.14) are
assumed independent of time. Also, the domains ft x(0, T), F D x(0, T), etc.
should be replaced by ft, F D , etc.
Let us now assume that the domain ft is sufficiently smooth, e.g., that ft e C 0>1
and that the data satisfy the following conditions (with 1 < i, j, k, / < N).
Symmetry properties (2.33) hold at a.e. xeft,

422 CHAPTER 13
Symmetry properties Ktj = Kjt hold a.e. s s 2,
Let us also define the operator

/: VH> V:
{J(u), v) = virtual work produced by the
friction stresses on the displacement v
With all the definitions and notation introduced earlier, the variational
formulation for the steady sliding problem is then:
Find the function u0 e V such that
Using a generalized Green's formula, the fact that f is given in H and the
density of the embedding Wc+(Lq(I,))N, it is possible to prove that classical
and variational formulations for this problem are equivalent in usual sense
discussed many times in this volume.
If the coefficient of friction or the applied forces and initial gap are
"sufficiently small" it is also possible to prove existence and uniqueness for
the steady sliding problem. In order to prove this, we need to first study the
following auxiliary problem:
Find u e V such that
with cr* given in (Lq (Z))N and cr* • n = 0 a.e. seS.

It is not difficult to show that the solution of this auxiliary problem is
equivalent to the determination of the static equilibrium of the body in
unilateral contact with a foundation along Fc but with prescribed frictional
stresses <r* on Fc. In particular, if <r* = 0, a frictionless unilateral contact
problem is obtained.
The existence and uniqueness of solutions for this problem can be proved
using the theory in Chapters 3 and 11.
THEOREM 13.1. Let He C0>1 and F, 2 be smooth and connected as described
earlier. Let the assumptions (13.17) and (13.26)-(13.35) also hold. Finally let
mes FD > 0 or mes F E > 0.
Then, there exists a unique solution to (13.38). In addition the map, B:{i|ie
(Lq (2))N |ij; • n = 0 a.e. £}-* V, which associates with each or* the solution
u = fl(cr*) of (13.38) is continuous.
THEOREM 13.2. Let the assumptions of Theorem 13.1 hold. In addition, let
the following also hold:
(1) There exists w* e V such that y(w*) • n = g a.e. S0
(2) mn, m r < 3 ifN = 3.
Then there exists a constant C - C(mT, q, n, H, I) > 0, such that if, in addition,
I* 1
then there exists R>Q such that (13.37) has a unique solution in the closed ball
Outline of the proof. The technique of the proof of existence used here is
similar to that of Theorem 11.3 used to prove the existence of a solution for
a Signorini problem with nonlocal friction in Chapter 11 based on the
Schauder-Tykhonov's fixed point theorem. The essential difference between
the present result and that in Chapter 11 is that earlier the compactness of the
mapping T resulted from the compactness of a smoothing operator used in
the nonlocal friction law while here the compactness of T results from the
compactness of the trace operator. In fact, here we denote by T the mapping
424 CHAPTER 13
where y = y\K :K-*(Lq(I,))N is the restriction to K of the trace operator

defined earlier; ^ = ^| Rg(f) :Rg(-y)^{i|ie(L <} '(2)) N |4i • n = 0 a.e. 2} is the
restriction to Rg (y) of the map defined by <f>(£) = CT(£, -g)+"T, £e (L«(S)) N
i.e., </> associates with each displacement £ on the boundary the corresponding
frictional stress according to (13.24) and B = fi|Rg ^): Rg (<£) -» V is the restric-
tion to Rg (0) of the map B which associates with each distribution of friction
stresses on Yc the unique solution of the auxiliary problem (13.38).
The proof of existence then reduces showing that the conditions (1), (2
and (3) are sufficient for the operator T and the set K to meet the requirements
of the fixed point theorem. In particular, condition (1) is used because it is
technically convenient to use w* such that y(w*) • n = g as the center of the
ball K; condition (2) is needed in order to guarantee the compactness of the
trace map in the case N = 3 ( y : ( H l ( S l is compact for N = 2
if Kq«x> and for N = 3 if Kg<4); the compactness of y together with
the continuity of </> and B imply then the compactness of the map T; finally,
(3) is sufficient to show that, for some /?>0, T(K)<=• K with K, defined by
(13.39) obviously nonempty, bounded, and convex. It follows then that there
exists a u0 e K such that
i.e., there exists a u 0 e K such that
That is, (13.37) holds.

The uniqueness of solutions for Problem 2 is shown in a standard manner:
estimating the norm in V of the difference between two possible solutions u0
and u and proving that it is necessarily null.
13.5. Dynamic stability of the steady frictional sliding. We are interested

here in the analysis of the dynamic stability of the steady sliding equilibrium
position u 0 . A natural idea is to study the behavior of a linearized version of
(13.15) or (13.21) in a neighborhood of u0.
Such linearization is possible because the nonlinear operator
emerging from (13.37) and in (13.15), (13.21) for the case bn = 0, ur(s) = 0,
UT(S) 5* 0 a.e. s e Fc, is continuously differentiate in V (see Martins [1]), i.e.,
AeCl(V). The derivative map
is given by
A first step toward the stability analysis of the equilibrium position u0 is

then the formulation of the eigenvalue problem associated with the bilinear
form defined by (13.40) at u = u0 (fixed). Since the problem at hand is nonsym-
metric, we have to work with the field C of complex numbers and define,
instead, the sesquilinear form:
where superimposed bars denote complex conjugation, vr = \T' T, Kn denotes

the linearized normal stiffness of the foundation at the equilibrium position
u0 and KTn denotes the coupling stiffness coefficient between normal displace-
ments and tangential stresses, also at the equilibrium position u 0 , i.e.,
The linear eigenvalue problem associated with the nonsymmetric form

a ( - , •) is then:
Find the values a e C for which there exists we V, w ^ 0, such that
Here, the H-inner product is (u, v) = Jn M,{5, dx, u, v e H.

If the eigenvalues are real, the system is dynamically unstable at the equili-
brium point u 0 .
13.6. Finite element approximations and algorithms. Using standard finite

element procedures, approximations of (13.21), (13.38), and (13.41) can be
constructed in finite dimensional subspaces Vh(<=- Vc= V). The approximate
displacements, velocities and accelerations at each time / are elements of V h ,
i.e., v*(f), v*(0, VÔe Vh. Within each element O* (e = l,2, • • • , Eh) the
respective components are expressed in the usual form, e.g., uj*(x, f) =
Z/î %(ON/(x), where 7' = 1,2, • • • , N; Ne is the number of nodes of element
426 CHAPTER 13
e, vu(t) are the nodal values of the displacement, etc., at time t and N, is
the element shape function associated with the node /. For the cases in which
the time dependence does not exist, appropriate reduced forms of the above
representations are obvious.
The discrete problems. The finite dimensional versions of the variational
statements (13.21), (13.37), and (13.41) are easily obtained by standard pro-
cedures, and we need only present the form of the resulting systems of equations
for the discrete problem.
Let Nh denote the number of nodes in the finite element mesh. The finite
element approximation of (13.21) leads to the following problem, involving a
system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations:
Find a function t + r(t) of [0, r]-»R NxN * such that
and which satisfies the initial conditions
Here we have introduced the following matrix notation:

r(0.f(0»r(0 = column vectors of nodal displacements, velocities and
accelerations respectively,
M = standard mass matrix,
K = standard stiffness matrix,
F(/) — consistent nodal force vector,
P(r(f)) = vector of consistent nodal normal forces on Fc,
J(r(f), r(0) = vector of consistent nodal friction forces on Fc,
ro(<j) = initial nodal displacement (velocity).
Clearly r(0 depends upon the parameters e and h, M depends upon h, etc.
Using the same notation as above, the steady sliding problem (13.37) leads
to the following discrete equilibrium problem which is characterized by a
system of nonlinear algebraic equations (set r = f = 0 in (13.42)).
Find r 0 €(R N x J V " such that
Following standard procedures used in the study of the stability of dynamical

systems, we obtain, for a small perturbation of the equilibrium solution r0,
vr(t) = r(t) — T0, the following system of linearized equations for small oscilla-
tions about an equilibrium configuration:
where
Since, in the equilibrium configuration, the velocity of the body is zero

(r = 0) but the prescribed velocity of the moving foundation is everywhere
different from zero on Yc (|u£|> e > 0), the equilibrium position corresponds
to points on the horizontal branches of the friction law (recall Fig. 10.3).
Consequently, the derivative of the friction stresses with respect to the sliding
velocity is zero and the matrix C r (r 0 ,0) is null. In the absence of any other
damping effects, the behavior of the linear system (13.46) is determined by
the solutions of the following quadratic eigenvalue problem:
Find A eC for which there exists weC N h X N \ w ^ O , such that
where
This problem is the discrete version of (13.41) with -A 2 in (13.46) playing
the same role of a in (13.41).
Physically, the matrix K" characterizes the variation of the normal nodal
forces due to a variation of the normal nodal displacements; the matrix Kr"
produces a variation of the nodal friction forces due to a variation of the nodal
normal displacement; finally, the matrix C r characterizes a variation of the
nodal friction forces due to a variation of the nodal sliding velocities.
Both K" and C T are symmetric matrices because both are associated with
terms which can be considered as second derivatives of functionals. In fact,
if u, v, we Vh are displacement functions and U, V, W denote the corresponding
vectors of nodal values, we have
where p: Vh -> (R is the deformation energy associated with the nonlinear springs
on Tc
and ( • ) ' denotes matrix transposition. We also

428 CHAPTER 13
where B\ denotes second derivative with respect to the second argument

(velocity).
However, the matrix KT" is not symmetric. This results from the inherent
nonsymmetry of the coupling between normal and tangential variables on the
interface: normal stresses depend only upon the magnitude of the normal
penetration, but the friction stresses depend not only upon the tangential
velocities but also upon the normal penetration.
It is precisely the nonsymmetry that makes the eigenvalue problem (13.47)
different from standard structural dynamics eigenvalue problems. Effects of
this lack of symmetry on the dynamic response of the elastic body are discussed
in § 13.6.
Algorithms. The algorithms that we shall use for solving the discrete dynamic
system (13.42) involve variants of standard schemes in use in nonlinear struc-
tural mechanics calculations: Newmark's method and explicit central
difference techniques.
Let us consider a partition of the time domain [0, T] into M intervals of
length A* = tk+l - tk with 0 = f0 < *i < • • • < tK < • • • < tM = T.
For Newmark's method, we choose the displacement vector rK =T(IK) as
the unknown at time tK. Velocities and accelerations at time tK are then
expressed as functions of rK and of the (known) variables at JK-I, according
to
where y and ft are the so-called Newmark parameters.

Substituting the above relations into (13.42), we obtain the following
equation at time tK:
(13.49)
where
with TK given by (13.48).

The nonlinear equations (13.49) are solved using standard Newton-Raphson
techniques: given a starting value r^, successive approximations of the solution
r K are computed using the recurrence formula
where i = 0,1,2, • • • denotes the iteration counter,
and the matrices KK (I) , K'K (I) and C£ (l) are precisely the matrices defined by
(13.46) at r = r ^ , r = r^.
In our implementation of the central-difference technique we use as the
fundamental unknown at time tK the velocity f K =r(r x ). Introducing
into equation (13.42), we obtain, at time tK;
where, now
and TK in (13.53)2 and (13.53)3 is given by (13.51)2.

Using the Newton-Raphson method to solve (13.52) we are led to the
solution, at each iteration (i), of
wherein
We observe that, since M and C r(l) are both symmetric, the matrix K^ is
also symmetric. The matrix K^ will become diagonal if a diagonalized mass
430 CHAPTER 13
matrix M is used and in addition: (a) a rotation of the degrees of freedom on

Fc (i.e., a transformation of the generalized coordinates corresponding to
nodal degrees of freedom on the contact surface) is performed in such a way
that the final degrees of freedom are nodal displacements in directions normal
and tangent to Fc; (b) the element contributions to CT are computed with a
quadrature rule which uses the nodes as integration points (e.g., trapezoidal
rule for linear elements and Simpson's rule for quadratic elements).
In the development in §§13.3-13.5, we have omitted, for-simplicity, all
dissipative effects except friction. The addition of linear viscous effects would
obviously lead to the introduction of an additional bilinear form c(ue(t),v)
to the left-hand side of (13.21) and this term would give rise to a viscous
damping term of the form Cr(f) in the discrete case. The damping matrix C
is constant and symmetric. Diagonalized forms of C are convenient for main-
taining the efficiency of the central difference method. The nonlinear contact
damping term in (13.1) leads to an additional term on the left-hand side of
(13.21) of the form ( Q ( u e ( t ) , u e ( t ) ) , v) to which there would correspond a
vector Q(r(f), r(0) in (13.1). Computationally, all of these contributions are
handled in the same manner as those presented earlier.
Since contact and friction enter the formulation through appropriate inter-
face constitutive equations, the handling of the contact-release and stick-slip
situations does not require any devices different from those available in most
nonlinear finite elements codes. On the other hand, in the numerical applica-
tions, discussed subsequently, no numerical difficulties associated with the
normal contact are experienced. However, the regularization of the friction
law may make it necessary to reduce the time steps used for convergence of
the iterative process, particularly in unloading situations—transitions from
"slip" to "stick." This reduction may be substantial if very accurate "stick"
states are desired and very small values of the regularization parameter e are
imposed.
13.7. Numerical experiments. We now consider several numerical experi-

ments which are designed to assess the influence of the magnitude of the
coefficient of friction (equivalently, of the interface parameter cr) on the
dynamical stability of the steady sliding equilibrium position, as well as to
simulate friction damping and stick-slip motion.
In order to compute the solutions of (13.44) for a certain range of values
of CT, we subdivide the interval [0, CT] into a prescribed number NINCT of
increments Ac r = CT/ NINCT and, for the Kth increment, K = 1, • • • , NINCT,
we again use the Newton-Raphson method to solve the nonlinear system at
each value of CT. For the Newton processes, starting values for the equilibrium
solution at the end of the Kth increment are taken to be the (converged)
solution for the (K-l)th increment. The solution at cT = 0 is obtained by
prescribing a simple initial value and iterating until convergence is obtained.
For the computed equilibrium position at each increment X, the nonsym-

metric eigenvalue problem (13.47) is solved using standard eigenvalue routines.
The numerical examples and results given below are adapted from Oden
and Martins [1] and Martins [1].
Example 13.1 (an elastic slab subjected to periodic loading). We begin by
analyzing the motion of the homogeneous, isotropic elastic slab shown in Fig.
13.4. The dimensions of the slab are 16 cm x 2 cm, as indicated, and it is
assumed to be in a state of plane strain. Young's modulus is taken to be
E = 1.4xl0 6 (lO'kgcnT 1 s~ 2 ), Poisson's ratio £ = 0.25 and the mass density
p = 7 x 10~6(103 kg cm~ 3 ). The slab is simply supported on the portion YD of
its boundary and is compressed along a frictional interface Fc by a flat "rigid"
surface, the vertical downward displacement of which is prescribed. This
corresponds to prescribing an initial uniformly distributed gap g =
-5 x 10~4 cm. The prescribed tangential velocity of the "rigid" surface is zero
(U r = 0). The normal contact properties of the interface were taken from Table
1 of Back, Burdekin and Cowley [1], assuming that both surfaces in contact
are of cast iron, hand scraped with a surface finish (peak to valley distance)
in the range 6-8 (jtm. The coefficient mn is then equal to 2 and, after a change
of units, cn = 10 8 (10 3 kgcm~ 3 s~ 2 ). The friction coefficient along Fc was
arbitrarily assumed to be v- 0.3 and independent of the normal load. Con-
sequently, mT = 2 and CT = 0.3 x 108(103 kg cnT3 s"2).
On one of its ends (F F ), the slab is subjected to a time-dependent uniformly
distributed force
where t = 30(103 kg cm"1 s"2) and v = 3 x 104 rad s'1.

The prescribed initial conditions are as follows: the initial velocities
throughout the slab are zero (r(0) = 0) and the initial displacements are the
static equilibrium displacements of the slab due to the normal compression
exerted by the flat surface on Fc alone (no friction on Fc and no applied
tractions on FF).
The finite element mesh used in this analysis consists of 16 9-node
isoparametric quadratic elements, as illustrated in Fig. 13.4. The regularization
parameter e for the Coulomb friction law was taken, successively, to be equal
to 1, 0.1 and 0.002 cms"1. The dynamical equations of this discrete model
were integrated using Newmark's method, as discussed earlier, with parameters
ft = 0.25, y = 0.5 and a maximum time step of Af m a x = 10~6 s.
The distribution of normal stresses at several time instants obtained with
e = 0.1 cm s"1, are shown in Fig. 13.5, and the distributions of friction stresses
on Fc at several time instants are shown in Fig. 13.6. Material particles on Fc
near the loaded surface FF begin moving in the direction of increasing x and
then reverse when the applied traction reverses its direction. The frictional
stresses on Fc reach their limiting value and then reverse directions as the
FIG. 13.4 Dimensions and finite element discretization of an elastic slab. Reprinted with permission from J. T.
Oden and J. A. C. Martins [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1985 Elsevier
Science Publishers.
Fig k dfk distrubitio streaa tc at sevear time insta due to per
with permissio ot nj.t odesm and jaa l;co,e[tmethosd
copyritht 1985 elser sveience publslihse
434 CHAPTER 13
FIG. 13.6. Distribution of tangential stresses on Fc at several time instants due to periodic
loading T F . Reprinted with permission from J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins [1], Computer Methods
local velocity directions change, as required. This results in a travelling wave

type evolution of these frictional stresses as can be clearly observed in Fig.
13.6 indicating a sharp transition between the sliding and adhesion regions
on Tc.
The effect of the regularization parameter e on the evolution of the displace-
ments, velocities and friction stresses at the contact node 55 is shown in Figs.
13.7-13.9. Smaller values of e lead to more accurate adhesion states. From a
practical point of view, it appears reasonable to choose values of e that are
sufficiently small relative to the order of magnitude of the tangential velocities
that occur during the sliding states. In the present application for tangential
velocities of the order of Icms" 1 , the value of e = lcms~ 1 is obviously
inadequate while results obtained with e = 0.1,0.02 cm s"1 seem to be physically
reasonable.
FIG. 13.7. Tangential displacements at node 55 using different values of e. Reprinted with
permission from J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics
Example 13.2 (steady sliding and dynamic stability: an elastic slab with no
rigid body freedoms). We next consider a slab similar to that in Fig. 13.4 with
the same material and normal contact properties and boundary conditions on
r D as those in the preceding example. The dimensions are now 16 cm x 1 cm
and the finite element mesh consists of 9 x 2 9-node isoparametric elements.
The initial negative normal gap on Fc was taken successively to be 5 x 1(T4 cm
and 1 x 10~3 cm. The "rigid" flat surface that compresses the body along Fc
is assumed now to have a velocity towards the right. No forces now act either
in (1 or on FF. The deformed mesh configurations and the distributions of
normal stresses on Fr for the steady sliding equilibrium positions at several
values of v are shown in Figs. 13.10 and 13.11 for g = -1 x 10~3 cm. We call
upon (13.47) and compute the eigenvalues of K at the equilibrium positions
of the slab. Computed results show that the lack of symmetry of KT" leads to
eigenvalues with positive real parts whenever v > 1.6 if g = -5 x 1CT4 cm, and
when i > > 1 . 6 i f g = -lx 10~3 cm. This implies that for these values of v steady
sliding is dynamically unstable. In Fig. 13.12 a plot of the evolution of
the eigenvalues in the first quadrant of the complex plane, for ê[0,1], is
presented.
436 CHAPTER 13
FIG. 13.8. Tangential velocities at node 55, using different values ofe. Reprinted with permission
from J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins [ 1 ], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering.
FIG. 13.9. Friction stress at node 55 using different values ofe. Reprinted with permission from
FIG. 13.10. Undeformed (X), and deformed mesh configurations of a compressed slab in steady sliding
equilibrium for v = 0(*), i' = 0.5(D), and v= 1.0(0) (not to scale). Reprinted with permission from J. T. Oden
and J. A. C. Martins [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1985 Elsevier
Science Publishers.
FIG. 13.11. Distribution of normal stresses on Tcfor the steady sliding equilibrium at various
values ofv. Reprinted with permission from J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins [1], Computer Methods
FIG. 13.12. Effect of increasing the compression on the eigenvalues with positive real part. Reprinted
FIG. 13.13. A block sliding with friction on a moving belt. Reprinted with permission from J. T.
Oden and J. A. C. Martins [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright
Example 13.3 (a metallic block with rigid body freedoms). Continuing to

increase the complexity of the problem, we next consider a block sliding, with
friction, on a moving foundation (see Fig. 13.13). We assume that the block
has linearly elastic behavior with a Young's modulus E = 1.4xl06
(K^kgcnT 1 s~2) and Poisson's ratio £ = 0.25. For simplicity we continue to
assume that the body is in a state of plane strain. The geometry, total mass
(M), total weight (W), total tangential stiffness (Kx) and contact properties
are given as follows:
A simple calculation reveals that for the given geometry a necessary condition
for equilibrium is that v < L/H = 1.6; for v = 1.6 the body will begin to tumble
(with unbounded rotations).
The finite element model consists of a 4 x 3 mesh of 9-node isoparametric
elements. In Fig. 13.14, we show the deformed mesh configurations at several
FIG. 13.14. Deformed configurations of a linearly elastic block for the steady sliding equilibrium configurations at several
values of v. (Note. Nodal coordinates and nodal displacements are not to scale—the apparent distortion of the body results
from an amplification of the vertical displacements by 103 larger than that of the horizontal displacement so as to make visible
the rotation of the body). Reprinted with permission from J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins [1], Computer Methods in
Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1985 Elsevier Science Publishers.
FlG. 13.15. Eigenvalues with positive real parts for a finite elements discretization of a block in
steady sliding on a moving belt. (The ranges of v for which those eigenvalues were obtained are
indicated on the figure between brackets.) NINCT = 20 ê[0, 1.6). Maximum value of v for which
the equilibrium solution was successfully computed: i> = 1.52. + = Eigenvalues corresponding to the
"rigid body" normal and rotational modes. Reprinted with permission from J. T. Oden and
J. A. C. Martins [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1985
values of v. As in the previous example, for steady sliding configurations the

occurrence of eigenvalues of (13.47) with positive real parts is again observed
(Fig. 13.15) at sufficiently large values of v. As might be expected, for the level
of forces present in this example, the block behaves much like a rigid body,
as is clear from the equilibrium configurations shown in Fig. 13.14. For this
reason, we have also performed the same computations, for the same block
as in Fig. 13.13 and with the same data (13.54), (13.55), assuming that the
block is a rigid body in plane motion. The corresponding three degrees of
freedom are indicated in Fig. 13.13: the sliding and penetrating (normal)
displacements of the center of mass, uxG and uyG, and the rotation, u0.
In Fig. 13.16 we show the evolution of the four eigenvalues of (13.47)
associated with the normal and rotational freedoms. The eigenvalues associated
with the tangential displacement are a conjugate imaginary pair (±i\/K x /M)
which does not vary with v. As expected, all of these eigenvalues compare
442 CHAPTER 13
FIG. 13.16. Evolution of the eigenvalues on the complex plane for the successive equilibrium positions
obtained with increasing coefficient of friction (no damping). Reprinted with permission from J. T.
Oden and J. A. C. Martins [ 1 ], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright
favorably with the eigenvalues associated with similar modes obtained with
the finite elements model.
Example 13.4 (perturbation of the steady sliding of a block on a moving
foundation). In this example, we show the effects of the eigenvalue structure
of (13.47) on the motion of the block of Fig. 13.13. For each set of data (in
particular some value of v) we solve numerically the nonlinear equations of
motion (13.42) with the following initial conditions: the initial displacements
are prescribed as those corresponding to the steady sliding equilibrium
configuration appropriate for the value of v considered; initial velocities
represent a small perturbation (upwards) of the translation velocity (uxG = 0.0,
FIG. 13.17. Phase plane plot for the normal motion of the center of mass. Rigid body model with
the data (13.54) and B0 = 30.5 cm, moment of inertia about the center of mass, I = 124.2 (103 kg cm 2 )
Kx = 11100 (103 Kgs~ 2 ), v = 0.15, (7^ = 0.08 cm s"1 (no damping). Reprinted with permission from
MVG = -0.01 cm s \ ue = 0.0). Various cases were run assuming either a linearly
elastic block (the finite element model of Fig. 13.14) or a rigid block (the three
degrees of freedom model of Fig. (13.15). Other than friction, the only dissipa-
tive effect considered with the first model was a normal contact dissipation of
the form in (13.1) with bn = 0.381 x 1010 (103 kgcnT 4 s'1) and ln=2.5; with
the second model the results shown here were obtained with linear viscous
damping characterized by diagonal coefficients Cx, Cy, C. Other data are given
in the figures. The finite element results were obtained using the central-
difference algorithm with Af m a x = 3x 10~ 6 s and a diagonalized mass matrix.
The rigid body motions were calculated using Newmark's method with Af m a x =
10~ 5 s.
Representative numerical results are given in Figs. 13.17-13.25. The follow-
ing list of remarks provides an interpretation of these results.
The small friction case. Referring to Fig. 13.17, we see that, in the absence
of damping ifv is sufficiently small the eigenvalues A of (13.47) are all imaginary
and an apparently stable small-amplitude oscillation is obtained.
FIG. 13.18. Phase plane plot of the initial part of the normal oscillation of the center of mass. Rigid body
model with the data (13.54) and B = 14cm, 7 = 70 (10 3 kgcm 2 ), KX = 238S (lO^gs'2) cx/2Mw = 0.005,
cy/2MWyo = 0.04, ce/2Iweo = 0.04; v = \; f/J = 0.127 cms"1. Reprinted with permission from J. T. Oden
and J. A. C. Martins [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. Copyright 1985 Elsevier
Science Publishers.
FIG. 13.19. Phase plane plot of the tangential motion of the points of the block on the contact
surface: Rigid body model with the data of Fig. 13.18 except for Kx = 4441(103 kgs"2). Reprinted
FIG. 13.20. Influence of the velocity of the support on the tangential motion of the center of mass.
Rigid body model with the data of Fig. 13.18. Reprinted with permission from J. T. Oden and
446 CHAPTER 13
FIG. 13.21. Phase plane plot of the steady normal oscillation obtained during apparently smooth
sliding with an apparent coefficient of kinetic friction lower than the coefficient of static friction. Rigid
body model with the data of Fig. (13.18) except for !/£ = 0.287 cms"1. Reprinted with permission
from J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins [1], Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering.
FIG. 13.22. Evolution of the spring elongation for two velocities U^. Finite element model with
the data (13.54) and Kx = 11100 Kg s~2, B0 = 30.5cm, /u = 0.6. Reprinted with permission from
FIG. 13.23. Evolution of the normal stresses on the contact node 29. Finite element model with
the data of Fig. 13.22 and Ucx = 0.01 cms"1. Reprinted with permission from J. T. Oden and
FIG. 13.24. Evolution of the friction stresses on the contact node 29. Finite element model with
the data of Fig. 13.22 and Ucx = 0.01 cms'1. Reprinted with permission from J. T. Oden and
448 CHAPTER 13
The large friction case, (i) If v is sufficiently large that some eigenvalues of
(13.47) have (even in the presence of some damping) positive real parts, then
a dynamically unstable motion results which is characterized by growing
normal and rotational oscillations (Figs. 13.18, 13.23).
(ii) The variation of the normal force on the contact produces changes in
the sliding friction force which in turn produces a tangential oscillation.
(iii) The tangential oscillation may then become sufficiently large that, for
small values of the belt velocity Ux the points of the body on the contact
surface attain the velocity f/f and the body sticks for short intervals of time
(see Figs. 13.19, 13.25).
(iv) With the increase in magnitude of the normal oscillations, actual normal
jumps of the body may occur (see Figs. 13.18, 13.21, 13.23).
(v) The repeated periods of adhesion have the result of decreasing the
average value of the friction force on the contact and, due to the absence of
equilibrium with the restoring force on the tangential spring, the tangential
displacement of the center of mass decreases (see Figs. 13.20, 13.22).
FIG. 13.25. Evolution of the friction stress at node 29 during the contact portion of one cycle of
normal oscillation. Finite element model with the data of Fig. 13.22 and Ucx = 0.08 cm s"1. Reprinted
(vi) It follows that for given geometry and material data, one of the two
following situations may occur:
(a) for values of t/f larger than some critical value, the normal,
rotational and tangential oscillations evolve to what appears to be a steady
oscillation (see Fig. 13.22) with successive periods of adhesion and sliding,
the average values of the friction force and of the spring elongation being
smaller than those corresponding to the steady sliding equilibrium position
(see Fig. 13.20, 1/^ = 0.287 cms""1).
(b) for values of U* lower than the critical value, and at a sufficiently
small value of the spring elongation, the normal (and rotational) damping is
able to dampen out the normal (and rotational) oscillation and the body sticks
(see Figs. 13.21, 13.23) since the restoring force of the spring is then smaller
than the maximum available friction force.
Thus, in monitoring the spring elongations, as is often done in friction experi-
ments, case (a) would be perceived as an apparently smooth sliding with a
coefficient of kinetic friction smaller than the coefficient of static friction and case
(b) would be perceived as stick-slip motion.
Chapter 14
Rolling Contact Problems
14.1. Introduction. Perhaps no other class of contact problems has occupied

a position of more importance in the engineering literature than the rolling
contact problem, since it is fundamental to the design of rotating machine
parts, gears, rollers, and tires. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of
papers on the problem deal only with very special situations: experimental
programs, empirical data, approximations of rolling contact using
modifications of static Hertz contact problems, etc. with the result that few
accounts of a mathematically or mechanically correct formulation of the steady
state rolling contact problem are available. It is not a simple problem:
it involves the modeling of a cylindrical body rolling on a rough surface at a
constant angular velocity, with unilateral contact constraints, friction, and
importantly, inertia forces. Thus, it is natural that the mechanics literature has
dealt primarily with only various simplified approximations of the general
problem.
Finite element methods for treating certain classes of steady state rolling
contact, particularly for cases of infinitesimal deformations of linearly elastic
bodies, have been proposed in the important work of Kalker [1], [2], and a
detailed survey of the relevant literature on this class of problems was also
given in Kalker [1]. Numerical schemes for such problems were also proposed
by Singh and Paul [1] and classes of rolling contact problems with large
deformations were analyzed using finite element methods by Batra [1], [2]
and Padovan and Zeid [1]. A formulation and numerical analysis of a general
class of rolling contact problems with finite deformations was developed by
Oden, Becker et al. [1], [2], and Oden and Lin [1], and their work forms the
basis for the account of the subject given in this chapter. See, in particular,
Oden and Lin [1] for a more detailed account.
In this chapter, we review the mechanics of a general class of rolling contact
problems, particularly the principal kinematical concepts, and derive a vari-
ational inequality for the problem of finite plane strain in the steady state
451
452 CHAPTER 14
rolling contact of a hyperelastic cylinder on a rough (frictional) roadway or

belt. We then outline finite element approximations and algorithms for treating
this highly nonlinear class of problems. These types of problems can exhibit
nonstandard bifurcations, these being manifested in the emergence of standing
waves in rolling cylinders. To treat these classes of problems numerically, we
employ continuation methods of arc-length type, such as those proposed by
Riks [1], Wempner [1], and studied by Keller [1] and others. Finally, we
record the results of several numerical experiments.
14.2. Kinematics of rolling contact. The first, and one of the most important,
consideration, in formulating the rolling contact problem is a proper descrip-
tion of the kinematics. We shall now describe one approach to the kinematical
analysis. We confine our attention to the finite rolling contact problem for a
thick highly deformable cylinder. For simplicity, we shall ultimately assume
that the cylinder is in a state of finite plane strain, but all of the kinematical
relations developed in this section are applicable to three-dimensional prob-
lems of cylinder deformations symmetric about a plane normal to the founda-
tion and tangent to the direction of motion.
A fundamental aspect of the description of motion and deformation of a
continuous body is that it involves the comparison of the geometry of a body
in two or more of its configurations. In the steady rolling contact problem,
however, we encounter the rolling body after it has fully deformed in a
configuration Cc(R 3 . Hence, it is not always meaningful to compare this
observed geometry with that in some irrelevant configuration assumed by the
body at a time in the distant past. Instead, it seems natural to first imagine
that the spinning cylinder is perfectly rigid, that it is spinning about its axis
at a constant angular velocity w, without contact with a belt or roadway, and
to then compare the observed deformed geometry of the steady state contact
problem with this unstrained rigid motion. The configuration of the spinning
rigid cylinder at time t is denoted C,. Of course, the configuration assumed
by the rigid spinning cylinder need never be actually attained by the deformable
cylinder at any time.
With this convention in mind, we view the deformed cylinder at a fixed time
t, as indicated in Fig. 14.1. The actual value of t is irrelevant, since this
deformed shape is the same for all times. Thus, the deformation of the rolling
cylinder at time t can be completely characterized by comparing the position
of material particles X in the body at time t with positions in the rigid cylinder
at the same time t. Therefore, let \(t) denote a vector emanating from the
origin 0 to a material particle X in the deformed cylinder at time t and let
R(0 denote a vector from 0 to the place that would have been assumed by
this same particle at time t had the cylinder been rigid. A relation of the form
ROLLING CONTACT PROBLEMS 453
where \: Ct-*C is a continuous invertible map of Ct onto C, defines the

geometry of the deformed cylinder at any fixed time t.
To describe the deformation characterized by (14.1) in more detail, we
introduce the following coordinate frames:
(14.2)
R, ©, Z = material coordinates of a particle X in the rigid spinning cylin-
der; these are particle labels which coincide with the cylindrical-
polar coordinates of X at a time T = 0.
r, 6, z = reference coordinates; these are the coordinates of particles in the
rigid spinning cylinder at an arbitrary time t >0, and are related
to the material coordinates as follows:
r=R, 6 = ® +tot, z = Z.
X X
x\, 2, 3 - spatial coordinates; these are the Cartesian coordinates of
points in space relative to a moving coordinate frame with
origin fixed on the axes of the moving cylinder, x, parallel to
the foundation, x3 directed along the axis of the cylinder, and
x2 normal to the foundation.
FIG. 14.1. Geometry of (a) rigid and (b) deformed cylinder.

454 CHAPTER 14
Alternatively, we can employ the Cartesian reference coordinates,
These coordinates and the geometry of the rigid cylinder are shown in Fig.
14.1 (a). The reference coordinates are thus dependent on time t, but this
dependence is only formal since the shape of the deformed cylinder is the
same at all times.
The motion of the cylinder is defined by a twice differentiable and invertible
map x that takes the reference configuration Ct of the cylinder at time t (the
places occupied by particles of the rigid cylinder at time t) onto the current
(deformed) configuration at the same time t. In particular the motion carries
points (r, 0, z) in the reference configuration to positions *,, i = 1,2,3, relative
to the spatial frame of reference, given by
Thus, time enters the description of motion only implicitly as 6 = & + cot.
Various kinematical quantities can be computed in terms of the motion x-
The deformation gradient tensor F is given by
or
and the right and left Cauchy-Green deformation tensors C and B are given,
respectively, by
If x denotes the position vector of the particle with reference coordinates

(r, 0, z) at time t, the vector
is the displacement vector of this particle. The reference velocity vector is

given by
and the acceleration vector is given by

Note that since the reference coordinates are time-dependent,
where x, are the Cartesian components of x.

Thus, our description of the motion is such that time derivatives are converted
into the product of spatial angular derivatives and the angular velocity
o)\ d/dt = a)d/dO.
14.3. A boundary value problem for rolling contact of a rubber cylinder. We

shall now establish equations and inequalities governing a class of rolling
contact problems for highly deformable materials. We shall adopt a referential
("material") description of the problem in the sense that quantities (vectors,
tensors, densities, etc.) are referred to the reference configuration and are
functions of the referential coordinates (r, 6, z). The behavior of the general
body in rolling contact is governed by the following conditions:
1) Linear momentum. Linear momentum is balanced at each particle if and
only if,
where Div denotes the divergence operator referred to the reference configur-
ation, superimposed dots indicate time rates, and
T = the first Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor,
Po = the mass density in the reference configuration,
b = the body force per unit mass in the reference configuration,
x = the acceleration vector x,,= (o2(B2Xi/d02).
The balance of angular momentum requires that TFT = FTT, so that T is, in
general, not symmetric.
2) Constitutive equations. In most of the applications, we assume that the
material is an isotropic hyperelastic material characterized by a stored energy
function W, representing the strain energy per unit volume in the reference
configuration, which is given as a differential function of the principal
invariants of the deformation tensor C:
In this case,
456 CHAPTER 14
or
If the material is incompressible (which is often assumed to be the case

when analyzing many rubberlike materials), all motions are subject to the
incompressibility constraint,
The possibility of nonhomogeneous materials presents no special difficulties:

We can assume that W is also an explicit function of (r, 6, z) and that its
"form" (functional dependence on the invariants) can change from point to
point.
3) Unilateral contact condition. The unilateral constraint or contact condi-
tion, expressing the fact that the motion of the cylinder in the x2 direction is
constrained by the presence of the rigid roadway, is simply
where H is the distance from the axis of the deformed cylinder to the foundation
(Fig. 14.1) and F is the exterior surface of the cylinder. If t denotes the stress
vector,
where n is a unit exterior normal to the surface of the rigid spinning reference
cylinder, then we also must have on F,
where i, is a set of orthonormal basis vectors tangent to *,-.

4) Friction /slip conditions. If the cylinder rolls relative to the foundation,
friction is developed on the contact surface. We shall first describe effects with
a classical model, although more general friction laws studied in Chapters 11,
12, and 13 can be easily accommodated (see Oden and Lin [1]). Let
VQ = the magnitude of the velocity of foundation (roadway or belt) relative
to the axis of the cylinder (with no slipping, v0= R0a) for rigid bodies).
crn = t • \2 = contact pressure = the normal component of the stress vector or
on the contact surface.
<JT = the tangential component of t on F.
Y/T = the slip velocity, defined by
The slip-stick conditions on the contact surface are then, everywhere on F,
Here v is the coefficient of friction. It can be demonstrated that the above

conditions are equivalent to
5) Other boundary conditions. If the cylinder is fixed to the rigid spinning

axle of radius R, then
where
Alternately, the cylinder could be hollow with the interior surface F subjected
to a prescribed ("inflation") pressure pQ. Then, if n denotes a unit normal to
the material surface F0 in the current (deformed) configuration, we must have
the traction condition
where n0 is a unit vector normal to F0 in the reference configuration.

The five sets of conditions above characterize the general rolling contact
problem: If T is given as a function of V\, we seek a motion \ that simul-
taneously satisfies all of these conditions for given p 0 , f, o>, u 0 , and H.
14.4. A variational principle for rolling contact. We shall now outline briefly
the development of a variational principle governing the problem discussed
in the preceding section due to Oden, Becker et al. [1], [2]. We confine our
attention to the case of plane strain, in which case \(xi, Xi)(X3 - 0)- We begin
by observing that different sets of trial and test functions are called for: the
set V of admissible motions,
i ..
the set K of admissible motions with constraints and the set K of mixed
velocity motions,
458 CHAPTER 14
_ In the case of incompressible materials, we add to the definition of K and

K the incompressibility constraint
In general, V and K will be subsets of an appropriate space of functions,

the character of which will depend upon the form of the constitutive equations.
For example, the condition
where ft is the interior of the rigid reference cylinder and dx is an element of

volume in ft, will, in many important cases, imply that
where W 1>p (ft) is the Sobolev space of order (1, />), i.e., the space of integrable
functions defined on ft with distributional derivatives of first order in L p (ft).
However, we will then have
since additional Lp-differentiability in the *i and x3 directions may be required

of functions in K.
We next introduce a collection of nonlinear forms on V x K:
a: K x K -» R; the virtual power,
j: K x K -»R; the virtual power of the frictional forces (with V=VF\
B: K x K -»R; the virtual power developed by inertia forces,
We also introduce the functional,
representing the virtual power of the external forces. The form a ( - , •) rep-
resents the virtual power developed by Piola-Kirchhoff stresses on the deforma-
tion gradients, j ( - , - ) is a virtual work (power) contribution from frictional
forces on the contact surfaces, B( - , •) is the virtual work due to inertial forces.
Note that the strain energy
is not generally a convex functional of \ and that j( •, • ) is not differentiable

(in the Gateaux sense).
The variational problem is now put forth as follows: Find \£ K with
(Xi = wdeXi,X2 = X2, \ e £ ) such that
where
It remains only to show that this variational inequality is equivalent in some
sense to the boundary value problem of rolling contact described earlier. This
is accomplished by standard arguments that will not be reproduced here.
THEOREM 14.1 (equivalence). Let motion \bea solution to the general rolling
contact problem; i.e. \ satisfies (14.11) with T given as a function of V\ by
(14.14) and satisfies (14.17), (14.20), (14.22), and (14.24). Then \ is a solutio
of the variational inequality (14.35). Conversely, let \ be any sufficiently smooth
solution of (14.35). Then \ is also a solution of the general rolling contact proble
We now consider several devices for the regularization of the variational
problem which consists of three components.
1) Regularization of the friction functional The friction functional ; ( • > ' ) is
replaced by a differentiate regularization je( •, •), depending on a real param-
eter e < 0, in precisely the same manner as was done repeatedly in Chapters
10, 11 and 13.
Let w = x\ - v0 be the slip velocity and o-T the frictional stress on the contact
surface. Applying (11.14),7'(x> v ) is replaced by
2) The unilateral constraint. The unilateral constraint \2 ~ H — 0 is represen-

ted by the equality
and this constraint is relaxed by the introduction to the energy of the exterior
penalty functional,
where 5 is an arbitrary positive number. The corresponding work term is

460 CHAPTER 14
Physically, the quantity —S~l(x2 ~ H)+ represents a normal contact force acting
on F. This can, in fact, be used in computation as an approximation of the
normal stress component an on the contact surface.
3) Incompressibility. The incompressibility constraint, det V\ = 1, is relaxed
by introducing a penalty functional,
for arbitrary e 0 >0. The corresponding virtual work is
where adj V\ (the adjucate of V\) is the transpose of cofactors of V\.

The regularized form of the variational problem is as follows:
Find \£ e V, \E = \E(E, 8, e0) such that
14.5. Finite element approximation and algorithms.

The discrete problem. The finite element approximation of the relaxed vari-
ational boundary value problem (14.41) is constructed in the usual way: we
partition H into a mesh of E finite elements and represent the admissible
motions over each element by various shape functions iftN(r, 6, z). In this way,
we construct a family of finite dimensional subspaces { Vh} of V, h being the
mesh parameter, with
Here Cle is a typical element, x" is the value of \h at node N of element £le,
and Ne is the number of nodes in element £le.
Finally, the discrete problem can be stated as follows: Find \E e Vh such that
Elements and stiffnesses. In the results to be described below, we employ

9-node biquadratic (Q2) elements. All integrals here are evaluated using
Gaussian quadrature; e.g., for a mesh of E elements, we use
etc. Here W* and QJ are the quadrature weights, £J are the quadrature points
(with Wj Gaussian quadrature weights and QJ corresponding to Simpson's
rule on the boundary). For Q2-elements, we typically take G = 9 = 3x3. In
the expression for j^he normal stress crn is approximated by -8~ l (#e 2 ~
H}+(£j) at the quadrature points.
In the calculation of (/^(XE), v*), we typically use either "underintegration,"
by which we mean that a quadrature rule of order G = 2 x 2 is used, or a
perturbed Lagrangian element. The former corresponds to a local hydrostatic
pressure approximation by discontinuous bilinear elements; the latter is the
Qi/ PI element in which a Q2-approximation of the motion \E is used with a
P! (piecewise linear) approximation of the hydrostatic pressure.
Algorithms. The finite element approximation of the regularized form (14.43)
of the governing variational equality leads to a highly nonlinear system of
algebraic equations of the form
where
F = 3N-vector of nonlinear equilibrium (momentum) equations govern-
ing the discrete model.
x = ( x i , x 2 , ' • • ,x 3 N ) T = a vector of 3 N degrees of freedom representing
nodal values of the motion \.
p = a collection of critical parameters such as:
H—the distance of the axis of the cylinder to the foundation,
a)2—the squared angular velocity,
P0—an internal (inflation) pressure.
In addition, the system will also depend upon the regularization and penalty
parameters e, 5, e0. In general, the system may have multiple solutions for
sufficiently small H and it may also exhibit resonance-type behavior for the
certain critical frequencies w 2 . We shall describe computational procedures
for solving (14.45) for fixed w 2 and P0 whch are built around a so-called
continuation methodology in which p = H is treated as unknown and in which
we attempt to trace families of solutions (x, p) of (14.45) along paths in
(3JV+l)-dimensional \-> P space. Such paths are described by parametric
462 CHAPTER 14
equations to the type
where s is a real parameter, often regarded as an arc-length of solution paths

of (14.46).
The general class of continuation methods to which our method belongs is
known as a Riks or Riks-Wempner type method, in reference to early versions
of these schemes proposed by Riks [1] (and Wempner [1]). Among the
important features of these methods are 1) they can accommodate decreases
in load parameters, such as p, at points on solution paths (a feature which
allows one to determine limit points and which is not generally present in
traditional incremental loading schemes in which p is regarded as a parameter),
and 2) they provide a convenient framework for the calculation of bifurcation
points and multiple branches of solution paths. Several variants of these types
of continuation schemes have been developed, and we mention in this regard
the works of Keller [1], Rheinboldt [1], [2], Crisfield [1], Ramm [1], Padovan
[1], [2], and Endo et al. [1].
The methods employed here involve the solution of a nonlinear system of
ordinary differential equations by corrector-predictor methods in which the
predictor establishes the tangent hyperplane to the solution path and computes
an approximate solution in it; the corrector modifies the solution by constrained
Newton-Raphson or quasi-Newton schemes.
We begin by deriving from (14.45) the system of differential equations
where
Equations in (14.47) hold on the path F = {(x, p) \\ = \(s), p = p ( s ) , 0^ s ^ 1}

in (3N+l)-dimensional space. Repeated indices are summed from 1 to 3N.
The third member of (14.47) is, of course, the definition of arc length of F.
The system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (14.47) is equivalent
to the system,
Equations (14.49) are sufficient to determine directions (x,, p) which define a

hyperplane tangent to F. These can be used to define a linear extrapolation

of the solution into this plane. It then makes sense to correct this approximate
solution so that a point on the solution path F is obtained. One algorithm for
such a procedure is given as follows:
Step 1 (tangent hyperplane). With initial data x0, p0, (Ap) 0 , compute
Step 2 (extrapolation). Compute
Step 3 (correction).
with
Set
Step 4. Return to Step 1 and continue to process with (x0, p0) replaced by
(x'i,Pi)-
464 CHAPTER 14
In Step 1, it is, in general, inappropriate to set (x0, p0) = (0,0) since this is
not a point on the solution path. The starting point (x0, p0) is computed by
specifying a small initial value of p0 and computing x0 by Newton's method.
The procedure in Step 2 was advocated by Keller [1] and has the attractive
feature of preserving the symmetry and bandwidth of Jtj (when symmetry
exists) as opposed to treating the full system at once.
The algorithm given in Step 3 is also a Keller-type scheme, similar in structure
to that of Step 2, and is equivalent to the constrained Newton-Raphson scheme,
The second equation is a constraint on the Newton-Raphson process which

forces the scheme to progress toward the solution path F in a direction normal
to the tangent plane. Some acceleration of this iterative process can be realized
by using alternative constraints which make the iterative scheme follow a
spherical path (Crisfield [1]), or an elliptical path (Padovan [2]), and such
variants are easily implemented.
Algorithms such as that above can be used to determine limit points and
bifurcations in solution paths. Also, multiple branches can also be determined
and followed.
14.6. Some numerical results. In this final section, we collect examples of

numerical results obtained using the formulations and algorithms discussed
in §§ 14.4-14.5.
Example 14.1 (rolling contact of a Mooney-Rivlin cylinder). As a first example
we consider rolling contact of a Mooney-Rivlin material for which the strain
energy function is of the form
with material constants Cj = 80 psi, C2 = 20 psi. Dimensions of the undeformed

cylinder are shown in Fig. 14.2, the interior hub of unit radius being rigid and
perfectly bounded to the outside material. The ground velocity v0 = 0, the
coefficient of friction is taken to be v = 0.3, the referential mass density pQ = 1,
and the initial outside radius is R0 = 2.Q'm. The cylinder is spinning at an
angular velocity a) = 5 rps.
As a loading parameter, we take the distance H from the axis of the cylinder
to the roadway, and consider increments such that H = 1.9, 1.82, 1.73, 1.71,
1.65, 1.61, 1.58, 1.55, 1.54, and 1.53.
Computed results are given in Figs. 14.3 and 14.4. In Fig. 14.3 the progressive
contact force for various values of H is shown. The deformed cylinder
geometries for various values of H are indicated in Figs. 14.4(a)-(c). Note
that very large strains are realized in this example.
FIG. 14.3. Axle load F versus displacement d = 2.0- H.

466 CHAPTER 14
FIG. 14.4. Stress contour for rolling cylinder (a) Step 2; (b) Step 3; (c) Step 4.
Example 14.2. We continue to study the cylinder of Mooney material shown

in Fig. 14.2. In the calculations described here, we take again Ci = 80psi,
C2 = 20 psi, but use p0 = 0.036 Ib-s2/in4 (a realistic value for rubbers), v - 0.3,
and, instead of the penalty functional (14.37), we use the special interface law
(11.4) with cn = 105, mn = 1, and bn = 0. These particular choices of parameters
define a class of problems discussed in Oden and Lin [1].
Computed deformed shapes for prescribed vertical displacements d = R0 — H
of d = 0.3, 0.418, and 0.464 in are shown in Figs. 14.5(a), (b), and (c). In these
calculations, the regularized friction functional je of (14.36) is used with
e = 0.25 in/sec.
FIG. 14.5. Calculated deformed rolling cylinder configuration for d = R0-H of (a) 0.3 in., (b)
0.418 in., and (c) 0.464 in.
Example 14.3 (bifurcation and standing waves). We cite a final example taken
from Oden and Lin [1]. This example involves the remarkable property of
bifurcation and standing waves in spinning cylinders.
We begin with the case of a free-spinning cylinder, the dimensions and
properties of which are the same as those in Example 14.2. The cylinder is
spun without contact at an angular velocity o>, and for sufficiently small values
of ft>2 only a radially symmetric deformation is possible (indeed, for an
incompressible material, no deformation is observed). We steadily increase
the parameter w 2 obtaining a one-parameter family of solutions. Then, for a
468 CHAPTER 14
certain critical value eucr, a branching of solutions is encountered which

corresponds to an accumulation point on the 6>2-axis: an infinite number of
branch points pass through an arbitrary neighborhood of to2. At (olr, an infinite
number of peaks (wavelets) occurs on the periphery of the cylinder, and as
a)2 is further increased, these wavelets collapse into a smaller number of waves
with larger amplitudes. If frictionless contact is made, these peaks are flattened
out on the contact surface and a pattern of wavelets symmetric with respect
to the xraxis is observed.
Figures 14.6(a), (b), (c) and (d) show computed deformed shapes and
principal stress contours of the spinning cylinder with d = R0- H = 0.1 in. and
v = 0.0, for various values of a). Notice that near w cr , the discrete finite element
FIG. 14.6. Computed wave patterns and stress contours in a spinning cylinder in frictionless contact
for various values of <a: (a) o> = 41.91 rad/s., (b) w = 43.38 rad/s., (c) o> = 44.01 rad/s., (d) o> =
46.83 rad/s. (after Oden and Lin [1]).
FIG. 14.7. Computed wave patterns and stress contours in a spinning cylinder withfrictional contact
with d = 0.1, u = 0.1, and 10 = 41.31 rad/s. (after Oden and Lin [1]).
model is capable of delivering a pattern of only eleven peaks due to the small
number of degrees-of-freedom available in this rather coarse mesh. For higher
values of w 2 , fewer peaks are computed, as indicated. The addition of frictiort,
of course, destroys the symmetry of the pattern, as indicated in the computed
wave pattern shown in Fig. 14.7.
These types of bifurcation phenomena for free-spinning hyperelastic cylin*
ders are studied in some detail in the memoir of Rabier and Oden [1].
Concluding Comments
As is the case with all of theoretical mechanics, the province of the theory
of contact of deformable bodies is to deliver mathematical models of a specific
and well defined class of physical phenomena—in this case, the fundamental
and basic phenomena we necessarily experience each instant of our existence:
the contact of one body with another. Since our aim is to develop mathematical
models, we cannot escape the necessity of dealing with mathematics; it is the
language of mechanics and physics and in order to use it to extract the most
information our model can provide, we must work within the rigid rules for
which these models make sense.
Since the phenomena themselves are very complex, the mathematical models
are necessarily also complex and it is a generally accepted fact that all but
the simplest and most trivial cases must be dealt with by computational
methods. The advent of extremely large and high speed computational devices
is both an asset and a liability: an asset, since we can now consider more
sophisticated and realistic models of the phenomena we wish to study, but
also a liability since we are simultaneously faced with the responsibility of
determining how well the computed solutions depict the behavior our model
was designed to simulate. Too frequently this very real responsibility is swept
aside and one mistakingly interprets the computed results as a simulation of
the physical event, and not as what they are: only arrays of integers which
may or may not approximate the behavior simulated by our model.
Models, on the other hand, are after all only schemes for simulating physics
so when we are confident that the simulations are mathematically sound, we
must ultimately compare them with actual physical observations. If they prove
to be inadequate to depict the observed phenomena, they must be abandoned,
or expanded, improved, and modified. Thus to evaluate the model, we must
have confidence in its numerical approximations; we must have some guarantee
of the reliability of the computed approximations of the model before we can
adequately assess its adequacy as a simulation of actual events. This means
that the successful fulfillment of the province of mechanics requires a deliberate
471
472 CONCLUDING COMMENTS
interaction of mechanics and mathematics. And for the classes of problems

we wish to consider, this also necessitates the development of a parallel theory
of numerical analysis and approximation.
It has been our hope in this volume to make a small step toward the
realization of these goals for one class of problems. We have begun with the
simplest class of contact problems, and for this class developed a reasonably
complete mathematical model; we have furnished a study of the qualitative
features of the model from a mathematical point of view and a detailed study
of various approximation methods with definite concern on their reliability,
i.e., the accuracy, numerical stability, convergence, and rate of convergence
of these methods. Finally, we have translated these approximations into the
language of the computer: numerical algorithms—and we have used these to
solve a number of classes of problems which do indeed simulate many
phenomena of practical interest.
Beyond this, we have also examined larger classes of problems where much
remains to be done before a completely satisfactory mathematical model
can be developed and fully analyzed. This is particularly true of the area of
friction contact, where some fairly sophisticated models have been proposed,
but the quality and the properties of these models are yet to be fully
analyzed. Nevertheless, we strongly feel that the general approach taken
in this work will prove to be a successful one for treating these difficult
problems.
There are many other problems in the general area of contact that we have
not dealt with here; they should represent topics for fruitful research for many
years to come. Some of these are listed as follows:
Interface models. Here we refer again to the problem of adequately represent-
ing frictional effects between two bodies in contact. As indicated in Chapter
12, it is possible to construct fairly sophisticated elastoplastic and visco-
elastoplastic models of metallic interfaces. However, what is needed here is a
one- or two-dimensional interface model which reflects phenomenologically
the significant microstructural mechanisms responsible for friction but does
not represent in its own right a separate large scale problem for the analyst.
The simple model introduced and studied in Chapter 13 is believed to represent
a significant step in this direction; it is consistent with a large volume of
experimental results, it provides a basis for the simulation of numerous fric-
tional effects that cannot be captured by classical models, and it leads to a
tractable mathematical theory. Nevertheless, it is applicable to only a limited
class of frictional phenomena. Exactly how far one should go in complexity
to produce an adequate contact friction model is a subject requiring much
additional study.
Lubrication. The subject of lubricated contact is, of course, one that has
undergone considerable study during this past century. A variety of sophisti-
cated models of viscous lubricants are available, and these are already used
CONCLUDING COMMENTS 473
in some very general lubrication studies. Nevertheless, a multitude of issues

remain to be investigated including the qualitative analysis of various viscoelaS*
tic lubricant models, models of boundary layer effects, temperature effects,
etc. A prerequisite to many of these issues is the development of good models
of solid contact, and much of the work recorded here could provide a basis
for initiating studies in this area.
Damage and wear. An integal part of contact with friction, of course, is thd
ultimate damage of the contact interface and wear of the bodies in contact.
Significant advances in damage theory and in models for wear have been made
in recent years, and some of these give hope that the subject will progress
beyond the empirical character of this subject which was prevalent for many
decades.
Other topics. A variety of other topics related to contact and friction also
represent areas in which further work on the development of models, approxi-
mate methods, approximation theories, and computational algorithms is
needed. These areas include problems of dynamic friction, impact and collision
of bodies in motion, problems of fracture, spalling, and penetration due to
high velocity impact, material characterization under impact and high velocity
loading, including phase changes in the materials, and the parallel development
of adequate computational algorithms to solve models of these phenomena
efficiently and reliably.
It is our sincere hope that the methods and results we have developed in
this volume will be helpful in research in all the areas listed above.
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Index
Adhesion-sliding conditions, 333 Compatibility condition, 229

Alternate variationat principles for Signorini's Compliance matrix, 222
problem, 201-239 Cone, 39
Amonton-Coulomb law, 307, 308 positive, 40, 78
Amonton's friction law, 318 Conforming elements, 187, 188
Asperities, 312, 318, 323, 331, 332 Constrained minimization problem, 40,41,154,
Asymptotic estimates, 185 203
Autocorrelation function, 322 Contact conditions:
incremental and linearized, 23-25
kinematic, 31
BabuSka-Brezzi condition, 173, 177, 180-183, primal structure of, 218
185-187, 192, 193, 195, 197 reciprocal structure of, 218
Backward extrusion process, 405 Contact problems:
Banach spaces, 3, 7, 14-16, 31, 33, 34, 43, 61, with Coulomb friction, 284-306
83, 246, 374, 382, 385 with deformations and nonlinear materials,
Basis functions, 57 369-408
Beam theory, Kirchhoff hypothesis of, 289 frictional, 267-306, 416-420
Bifurcations, 3,13,241,261-265,452,462,467,
for large deflections of elastic plates, 241-265
469 for large deformation elastoplasticity, 385-
Boundary conditions, 93-103, 417 408
of third type, 98-99
with nonclassical friction laws, 307-367
and trace theorems, 83-89 rolling, 2, 451-469
Boussinesq's solution, 6, 235, 236 two-body, 8, 9, 111, 157-172, 296, 299, 300
Buckling of elastic plates, 2, 9, 241, 264, 265 reciprocal methods for, 237-239
Contraction mapping, 342
Calderon-Zygmund inequalities, 104 Convergent extrusion process, 396
Cauchy elastic material, 27 Convex analysis, 2, 3, 30, 31-54
Cauchy-Green deformation tensor, 370, 454 Convexity, 32, 205
Cauchy stress tensor, 22, 25, 372, 386, 476 Corrector-predictor methods, 462
Central difference techniques, 428, 429 Cosets modulo R 2 , 204
Cerruti solution, 236 Coulomb friction, 4, 8, 10, 102, 308, 310
Coefficient of friction, 268, 430, 457 general contact problems with, 284-306
dynamic, 409 Signorini problem with, 267-272, 284
kinetic, 413, 416, 448 Coulomb law of friction, 268, 271, 288, 309,
static, 409,413, 416, 448 310,330,333,341,345,348,350,355,416
Coercivity, 33 Coulomb sliding criterion, 390
491
492 INDEX
Damage and wear, 473 nonlocal and nonlinear friction problem,

Deflections, large transverse, 9, 241-265 342-345
Deformation gradient F, 370 of penalty formulation, 55, 67-73
Deformations: reduced integration, 132
contact problems with, 369-408 of saddle point problems, 55, 64-67
elastoplasticity for, 386-388 of Signorini problem, 111, 121-130
Degrees-of-freedom, 57 Formal operator, 220
Direct extrusion process, 398-400 Foundation, frictionless, 19,22,25,26,253,264
Dirichlet boundary conditions, 95, 98 Frechet differentiable, 52, 249, 250, 336
Discrete minimization problem, 122 Friction, 1,3,5, 11-13
Dissipative effects, 430, 442 contact problems with, 267-306, 416-420
Duality pairing, 119, 131 Coulomb, 4, 102
Dual problem, finite element approximation of, dry, 2
211-215 between metallic bodies, 311-317
Dual variational formulation for the Signorini dynamic, 2, 4, 12, 409-449
problem, 201-205 nonlocal and nonlinear
resolution of, 205-207 finite element approximations of, 342-345
Dynamic sliding, 411 Signorini problem with, 335-342, 345-356
Dynamic stability, 430, 435 numerical solutions to, 282-284
quasi-static, 357-367
rolling, 12
Elasticity: Signorini problem with, 335-342, 345-356,
finite, existence theorems in, 381-385 392-393
incompressible, 174-181 static, 409, 410
trace results for, 85-89 Friction-contact condition, 271, 414, 420, 456
variational problems in, 75 Friction laws, 4, 309
Elasticity matrix, 260 neoclassical, contact problems with, 307-367
Elasticity operator, 216 nonlinear, 279
Elasticity theory, 416-420 nonlocal, 329
Elastic plates: Frictional sliding, steady dynamic stability of,
buckling of, 2, 9, 241, 264, 265 424, 425
contact problems for large deflections of, Frictional stresses, 418, 422
241-265 Frictionless contact, 347
post-buckling of, 241 Frictionless foundation, 19,22,25,26,253,266
Elastoplasticity:
large deformation, 385-408
rate-independent, 370 Gateaux differentiable, see G-differentiable
Energy dissipation, 367 Gaussian distribution of peak heights, 319
Epigraph, 35 Gaussian distribution of surface heights, 321
Euclidean norm, 128, 274 Gaussian isotropic surfaces, 322
Euclidean space, 128 Gaussian quadrature, 157, 224, 225
Existence theorems in finite elasticity, 381-385 G-differentiable, 33-37, 52, 101, 103, 113, 115,
203, 205, 228, 273, 277, 337, 382, 383
Green's formula, 29, 75, 89-93, 103, 124, 213,
Falk's theorem, 137, 185, 343 269, 281, 340, 422
Finite elastic deformation, 370-376 Green's operator G, 221, 225, 227
Finite element approximations, 2-4,55-73,173,
243, 254, 307, 409, 425-430, 460-464
of dual problem, 211-215 Hahn-Banach theorem, 36
mixed, 181-188 Head forming process, 400
solution methods for, 197-199 Heaviside Step function, 261
specific, 188-197 Hermite elements, 58
INDEX 493
Hertz contact problems, 6, 141, 142, 290, 310, Microdisplacements, 311, 316
332, 451 Minimization of functionals, 7, 31-40, 41-54,
Hertz problem by reciprocal formulation, 233 228
Hilbert spaces, 8,14, 16, 31, 38-43, 46, 55, 56, Minimization theorem, generalized Weier-
60, 65, 83, 84, 90, 94, 244 strass, 33, 382
Holder's inequality, 281, 337 Minimum potential energy, 216, 245, 374-376
Hookean materials, 27, 76, 416 Mises yield criterion, 387, 388
Hooke's tensor, 7, 27, 76, 475 Molliner, 338
Hydrostatic pressure, 176 Monotone operator, 34
Hyperelastic material, 370, 371 Mooney-Rivlin cylinder, rolling contact of, 464
Hysteresis loops, 414, 415 Mooney-Rivlin material, 370, 380, 466
Impenetrability of matter, 371 Nanson's formula, 374

Incompressibility, 224, 380 Neumann boundary conditions, 98
Incompressible materials, Signorint's problem Neumann problem, 178
for, 173-199 Newmark's method, 428, 431
Incremental loading and unloading, 361 Newton-Raphson methods, 261,282-284, 377,
Incremental plasticity, 388, 389 428-430, 462, 464
Indentation hardness, 312, 321 Nonconforming elements, 187,188, 193
Indentation problem, 290, 393-395 Nonconvex minimization, 375
Inequality constraint, 242 Nonlinear materials, contact problems with,
Interface law, 328 369-408
Interface models, 472 Normal contact laws, neoclassical, 317-335
Interpolation properties, 56, 255, 259 Normal interface response, 414
Inverse assumption, 59 Numerical quadrature formula, 132
Inverse operator G, 217-220
Optimization, 2, 30, 31-54
Orlicz-Sobolev space, 373
Junctions, 313, 315-317
Penalized functional, 50, 68

Keller-type scheme, 464
Penalty formulation, 179-181, 248-253, 307,
KJnematical contact conditions, 20-24
379
Kirchhoff hypothesis of beam theory, 289
finite element approximations of, 55, 67-73,
Korn's inequalities, 75,103-110,113,115,116,
137, 138, 259, 357
154, 204, 211, 216
of Signorini's problem, 111
Penalty methods, 3,31,49-54,179,205,222,286
Lagrange elements, 58 post-discretization, 163, 164
Lagrange multiplier formulation, 175-179 pre-discretization, 162-164
perturbed, 180, 187, 188 for resolving contact conditions, 130-140
Lagrange multipliers, 3,11,43-49,69,154,155, Penalty parameter, 140, 144
375, 376, 380 Penalty problem, dual solution to, 206
Lagrangian, 45, 239, 388 Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor, 372,386,455,458
perturbed, 46, 47, 53, 379 Pivot space, 65
Lame constant, 156 Plane-strain extrusion process, 405-408
Lax-Milgram theorem, 247 Plastic flow, 318
Lebesgue theorem, 80 Plasticity, incremental, 388-389
Linearization by increments, 377-381 Poincare's inequality, 340
Lipschitzian, 56, 106 Poisson's ratio, 6, 236, 242, 289, 297, 388, 398,
Lipschitzian domain, 14, 56, 92, 106, 154, 244 431, 439
Locking phenomenon, 165 Polyconvexity, 384
Lubrication, 472 Post-buckling of elastic plates, 241
494 INDEX
Potential energy functional, 7, 31, 77, 94, 117, for incompressible materials, 173-199
122, 279 with nonlocal and nonlinear friction, 335-
Power spectral density, 322 342, 345-356
Prandtl-Reuss equation, 3, 387 numerical solutions of, 140-147
Projectional SOR method, 221-223 with prescribed tangential stress, 267
Pseudomonotone operators, 3 variational principles for, 29, 201-239, 269,
Pseudomonotone variational inequalities, 310 336
weak solution of, 111, 119-121, 211
Quadrature operator, 68, 69, 346 Simpson's rule, 133, 135, 141, 143, 195, 287,
Quadratic functional on Hilbert spaces, 38-43 346, 461
Q2-(9-node; biquadratic) elements, 133, 141, Slack variable, 199
143, 145 Slave boundary, 166
Sliding conditions, 287, 355
Reciprocal formulation: Sliding friction, 427
numerical method for, 221-225 Slip condition, 274, 282, 284, 287
of rigid punch problem, 225-236 Slip-stick conditions, 457
Reciprocal variational formulation, 215-220 Small deflection theory, 262, 263
Reciprocal variational inequality, 219,221,227, Sobolev norm, 17
228, 230, 231 Sobolev's imbedding theorem, 16,137,217,247
Regularized friction conditions, 419, 420, 430, Sobolev spaces, 3,9,28, 55,75, 77,83,85,373,
431, 459, 461 458, 476
Regularization parameter, 288, 290 definition and properties of, 15
Riesz map, 46, 48, 56, 131 order properties of, 78-82
Riesz projection, 128 Space of rigid motions, 204
Riesz transform, 104 Standing waves, 467
Rigid punch problems, 6, 9, 10, 112, 147-157, Steady sliding, 411-416,421-424,430,435,437-
225-236, 394 440
Riks-Wempner method, 462 Stick condition, 274, 282-284, 287, 355
Rolling contact problems, 451-469 Sticking zone, 302
Stick-slip motion, 430, 448
versus steady sliding, 411-416
Saddle point problems, 3, 31, 43-49, 55, 111, Stored energy function, see strain energy
155, 173, 176, 179, 180, 209-211, 239 Strain density, 7
finite element approximations of, 55, 64-67 Strain energy, 76, 244, 245, 371, 384
Schauder-Tykhonov Sxed point theorem, 339, Stress
341, 423 prescribed normal, 285
Segment property, 103 prescribed tangential, 267, 285
Selective reduced integration, 157,188, 224 trace theorem for, 92, 93
Semicontinuity, weak lower, 32, 35, 273, 382- Stress tensors, 89
384
Cauchy, 22, 25, 372, 476
Semi-infinite domains, 221 Piola-Kirchhoff, 372, 386, 455, 458
Semi-infinite formulation, 234 Strict convexity, 205
Sheet metal forming, 400-405 Subdifferential, 35
Signorini's boundary condition, 100 Successive over-relation method, 111, 130, 287
Signorini's problem, 2, 3, 7, 11, 12, 25, 30, 89,
103, 111-172, 308, 310, 380, 423
with Coulomb friction, 267-272, 284 Tangential stress, Signorini problems with, 267,
existence theorem for, 112-118 285
for finite elastic deformation, 370-376 3-point numerical integration rule, 215
finite element approximations of, 111, 121- Total potential energy, see Potential energy func-
130 tional
with friction, 335-342, 345-356, 392-393 Trace operator, 59, 85,94, 477
INDEX 495
Trace results for elasticity problems, 85-89 Weakly lower semicontinuity, 32, 35,273,382-
Trace theorems, 75, 83-89, 92, 93, 217 384
Tresca stress measure, 299 Wear, 411
Weierstrass theorem, 33, 382
Unilateral contact conditions, 19-25,147-151, Winkler foundation, 99, 288, 289
160, 161, 165,335,375
Unisolvent, 57
Uzawa's method, 111, 155, 198, 199, 232, 23
Young's inequality, 13,62,66,73,125,258,259,
282
V-elliptic, 216
V'-eliiptic, 217
Volterra equations, 310
von Karman plate theory, 3, 241, 243, 262 Zaremva-Jaumann stress rate cr, 387

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Contact Problems in Elasticity

SIAM Studies in Applied and Numerical Mathematics

Contact Problems in Elasticity

J. T. Oden and J. A. C. Martins, "Models and Computational Methods for

B. Pires and J. T. Oden, "Analysis of Contact Problems with Friction,"

SLAM gratefully acknowledges Elsevier Science Publishers for their permission

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 86-61596

Nomenclature and Symbols xi

Chapter 2. Signorini's Problem 19

Chapter 3. Minimization Methods and Their Variants 31

Chapter 4. Finite Element Approximations 55

4.4. Finite element approximations of saddle point problems . . . 64

Chapter 5. Orderings, Trace Theorems, Green's Formulas,

Chapter 6. Signorini's Problem Revisited Ill

Chapter 7. Signorini's Problem for Incompressible Materials . . . . 173

7.2. Incompressible elasticity 174

Chapter 8. Alternate Variational Principles for Signorini's

8.9. Numerical method for rigid punch problems by reciprocal

Chapter 9. Contact Problems for Large Deflections of

Chapter 10. Some Special Contact Problems with Friction 267

Chapter 11. Contact Problems with Nonclassical Friction Laws . . . 307

Chapter 12. Contact Problems Involving Deformations and Nonlinear

Chapter 13. Dynamic Friction Problems 409

Chapter 14. Rolling Contact Problems 451

Concluding Comments 471

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines "contact" as "a touching

We collect here definitions of some of the more frequently used symbols;

where { • , • ) denotes duality pairing on V x V.

for a(u, v) = a(v, u).

such that, for virtual displacement v,

G, g: gap functions between a deformable body ft and a foundation &.

Here m>0, !</?<oo.

F: the boundary surface of a body ft, consisting of three mutually

1.1. Introductory remarks. In virtually every structural and mechanical

remaining chapters (there are fourteen in all), we consider problems of large

Chapter 3 is devoted to a review of minimization theory and convex analysis,

neither case is of great importance for physically reasonable contact problems,

1.3. Historical remarks. While it may be surprising at first thought, friction

which includes experimental verification of Hertz's theory, the development

where v is Poisson's ratio, E is Young's modulus for the half-space, and

on the convex set Ke C'(n) = (Cl(Cl))3 of admissible displacements v defined

In (1.8), EijM are the components of Hooke's tensor of elasticities, which

for every rigid body motion r e K.

elastic materials. In 1970 Fremond [1] solved a class of two-body contact

can be approached as problems of finding minima of the functional

in the convex set

on an appropriate linear space of admissible displacements v. Here VF is the

conditions are intrinsic to penetration problems, and we refer to the collection

In all of the developments to follow, ft will be a connected domain with

(ii) For each Ur, we introduce an orthogonal transformation Ar of the

defined by functions fr on sets Sr, where

We will frequently encounter functions belonging to Sobolev spaces. Let m

and are reflexive if 1< p < oo.

where s = s 0 +cr, s0 is the integer part of 5. Other definitions of "fractional"

and note that

In many instances we will find it necessary to deal with Sobolev spaces of

In most of the developments in subsequent chapters, we will need to use

Proof. See Necas [1, Chap. 2]. D

Finally, in the case of vector-valued functions v with components vt in

etc., and for tensor-valued functions r with components TO in //"'(ft) we write

2.1. Introduction. A classical example of the role of variational inequalities

2.2. Contact conditions. We consider a material body to be the closure of

The Cartesian components of displacement of a particle x = (xl, x2, x3) relative

Now we will be concerned with a special geometrical situation such as that