Contact Rod element with two nodes is used to impose a minimal clearance between the nodes in the direction joining these two nodes.
|
Type |
lineic element |
|
Physical property |
|
|
Mesh connectivity |
BAR |
|
Number of nodes |
2 |
|
Degrees of freedom |
3 (translations) |
|
Type of behavior |
kinematics |
The nodes of this element can support rotation but only the three translations at each node are used.
If during the computation, the minimum clearance is reached, there are two cases:
- The clearance increases.
- The relative displacement is orthogonal to the direction of the contact (given either in input or by the element).
If the length of the bar is null, the direction given by the property is used.
The use of contact rod is recommended when some part of a structure may be brought into contact with some other part of the structure.