// Analyze multi-body contact. Use when user mentions parts touching, friction between surfaces, bolt-plate contact, press fit, or assembly with contact.
| name | abaqus-contact-analysis |
| description | Analyze multi-body contact. Use when user mentions parts touching, friction between surfaces, bolt-plate contact, press fit, or assembly with contact. |
| allowed-tools | ["Read","Write","Edit","Glob","Grep","Bash(abaqus:*)","Skill"] |
This skill guides multi-body contact analysis setup. It's a workflow skill - use it when analyzing assemblies where surfaces touch, slide, or separate.
Route here when user mentions:
Route elsewhere:
/abaqus-static-analysis/abaqus-interaction/abaqus-bcBefore contact analysis setup:
Ask the user:
| Role | Should Be |
|---|---|
| Master | Stiffer material, coarser mesh |
| Slave | Softer material, finer mesh |
Rule: Slave surface nodes cannot penetrate master surface.
| Scenario | Approach |
|---|---|
| Permanently bonded surfaces | Tie constraint (no slip/separation) |
| Sliding with friction | Surface-to-surface contact |
| Frictionless contact | Surface-to-surface, no tangential |
| Many bodies touching | General contact (auto detection) |
| Surface folding on itself | Self-contact |
Configure normal behavior:
Configure tangential behavior (if not tied):
| Interface | Typical Value |
|---|---|
| Frictionless | 0.0 |
| Lubricated steel | 0.1-0.2 |
| Dry steel-on-steel | 0.3-0.5 |
| Rubber on metal | 0.5-0.8 |
Ask user if unsure about their specific interface.
Contact analysis typically requires:
Essential output variables:
| User Need | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Bonded joint (welded, glued) | Tie constraint |
| Bolted connection | Friction contact + preload |
| Press fit | Interference + friction |
| Bearing load | Frictionless or low friction |
| Impact/crash | Explicit dynamics + general contact |
After setup, verify:
| Problem | Likely Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| "Severe discontinuity" | Contact chattering | Add stabilization, smaller increments |
| "Too much penetration" | Wrong master/slave | Swap roles, refine slave mesh |
| "Contact not detected" | Surfaces too far apart | Use adjust=ON or reduce gap |
| "Convergence failure" | Difficult nonlinearity | Smaller increments, check friction |
For API syntax and code examples, see:
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