Supported LS-DYNA contact types

In the LS-DYNA environment, you can use the Contact command to define a number of different types of contact in a Simulation file. In Pre/Post, LS-DYNA contact types are organized into the following general categories:

• Automatic Contact

• Tied Contact

• Other Contact

Note:

You can also use the 1D Mesh or 1D Connection command and the options in the Element Associated Data and Mesh Associated Data dialog boxes to manually create connections between parts (physical property tables) in a FEM file. For more information, see Manually creating connections in LS-DYNA models.

Automatic contact types

With Automatic Contact:

• The contacts are non-oriented, which means that LS-DYNA can detect penetration coming from either side of a 2D element.

• LS-DYNA determines the contact surfaces by projecting normally from the 2D elements’ mid-plane a distance that is equal to one half of the contact thickness.

• LS-DYNA places a limit on the maximum penetration depth that is allowed before a slave node is released and its contact forces are set to zero. This helps prevent large contact forces from developing should a slave node pass through a 2D element’s mid-plane.

Supported automatic contact types

Contact type	LS-DYNA Keyword
AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE
AUTOMATIC_GENERAL	*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERAL
AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE	*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE
AUTOMATIC_NODES_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_NODES_TO_SURFACE
AUTOMATIC_ONE_WAY_SURFACE _TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_ONE_WAY_SURFACE _TO_SURFACE

Tied contact types

With Tied Contact, you can use the Contact Type option to control the specific tied contact formulation that LS-DYNA uses to evaluate the surfaces. For example:

• Select TIED_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE to use a constraint-type formulation.

• Select TIED_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET to use a penalty-based formulation. With this option, the force and moment resultants are transferred to discrete spring elements between the slave nodes and master segments.

Supported tied contact types

Contact type	LS-DYNA Keyword
TIED_NODES_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_TIED_NODES_TO_SURFACE
TIED_NODES_TO_SURFACE_CONSTRAINED_OFFSET	*CONTACT_TIED_NODES_TO_SURFACE_CONSTRAINED_OFFSET
TIED_NODES_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET	*CONTACT_TIED_NODES_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET
TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE
TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET	*CONTACT_TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET
TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE_BEAM_OFFSET	*CONTACT_TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE_BEAM_OFFSET
TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE_CONSTRAINED_OFFSET	*CONTACT_TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE_CONSTRAINED_OFFSET

Other contact types

The other types of contact in LS-DYNA allow you to model a variety of specific types of contact. For example, you can select:

• The AIRBAG_SINGLE_SURFACE type to model airbag self-contact (fabric-to-fabric contact).

• The ERODING_NODES_TO_SURFACE type when solid elements involved in the contact definition are subject to erosion (element deletion) due to material failure criteria.

• The FORMING_NODES_TO_SURFACE or FORMING_ONE_WAY_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE type to model special one-way forming contacts for metal stamping.

Other supported contact types

Contact type	LS-DYNA Keyword
AIRBAG_SINGLE_SURFACE	*CONTACT_AIRBAG_SINGLE_SURFACE
CONSTRAINED_NODES_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_CONSTRAINED_NODES_TO_SURFACE
CONSTRAINED_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_CONSTRAINED_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE
ERODING_NODES_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_ERODING_NODES_TO_SURFACE
ERODING_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_ERODING_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE
FORMING_NODES_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_FORMING_NODES_TO_SURFACE
FORMING_ONE_WAY_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_FORMING_ONE_WAY_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE
FORMING_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_FORMING_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE
NODES_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_NODES_TO_SURFACE
ONE_WAY_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_ONE_WAY_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE
SINGLE_SURFACE	*CONTACT_SINGLE_SURFACE
SPOTWELD	*CONTACT_SPOTWELD
SPOTWELD_WITH_TORSION	*CONTACT_SPOTWELD_WITH_TORSION
SURFACE_TO_SURFACE	*CONTACT_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE

User-defined contact

You can use the Contact dialog box to directly specify a type of contact that is not yet supported in the user interface in Pre/Post. If you select Other Contact and then select User Defined Keyword from the Contact Type list, you can use the User Defined Keyword box to type in the syntax for the contact keyword that you want to define.

Note:

Some contact data cards that are required by LS-DYNA are currently not supported in Pre/Post, such as Card 4 for the *CONTACT keyword, or cards THRM1, THRM2, THRM2.1, ORFR1, ORFR2, ORFR3, or ORFR4. For example, card THRM1 is required to define the *CONTACT_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_THERMAL keyword. However, Pre/Post does not currently export THRM1.

Where do I find it?

Application	Pre/Post
Prerequisite	A Simulation file as the work part and displayed partLS-DYNA as the specified solverStructural as the analysis type and General Impact as the solution type
Command Finder	Contact

Learn more

Contact (LS-DYNA)

Specifying additional LS-DYNA contact properties

Automatic face pairing

Quick links

Command reference

Pre/Post video examples

Bulk Entry Descriptions

Simcenter 3D tutorials

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Supported LS-DYNA contact types, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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