Contact Join

Join element allows connecting a node and a face of an element.

Type

join element

Physical property

contact

Mesh connectivity

SPIDER

Number of nodes

1 slave, n-1 masters

Degrees of freedom
(per node)

depend of the dimension

Type of behavior

kinematics

Mesh visualization:

The relations are obtains in the following way:

  1. Compute the projection of the slave node (N1) on the surface defined by n-1 master nodes.
  2. Interpolate the displacement of the projected point (P) using the shape function of the face defined by the master nodes.
  3. Impose a minimal clearance between the slave node (N1) and the projected node (P) in the direction given by the property.

The projected point (P) is a conceptual point, that means it is never created. The displacement of this point is always expressed in terms of displacement of the master nodes through interpolation.