Comparative Assessment of Contact Analysis using Penalty Method and Lagrange Multiplier Method

Abstract

Contact analysis is the finite element analysis (FEA) for contact problems.Contact problems are highly nonlinear and require significant computer resources to solve.Different approaches used in the contact analysis by Finite Element Method (FEM) arethe Lagrange multiplier approach, penalty method and augmented Lagrangian method. Utilizing simulation, the contact parameters can be obtained such as the contact stress, contact strain, penetration and sliding distance, contact pressure among the two surfaces when a certain displacement is provided to one surface keeping the other fixed. In this paper, both the penalty method and the Lagrange multiplier method have been utilized to examine their efficacy in terms of the contact analysis.