The contact detection tool in Abaqus/CAE provides a fast and easy way to define contact interactions and tie constraints in a three-dimensional model. Instead of individually selecting surfaces and defining the interactions between them, you can instruct Abaqus/CAE to automatically locate all surfaces in a model that are likely to interact based on initial proximity. You can tune the proximity settings and specify a variety of options that control the active search domain, the definitions of surfaces, and the default interaction or constraint settings. The search works for both geometry and meshed models.
Each detected interaction or constraint involves two identified surfaces, also known as a contact pair candidate. The contact detection dialog box lists each contact pair candidate and its default parameters in a tabular format. The default contact pair candidate parameters are slightly different than the default parameters used in the traditional Abaqus/CAE interaction editors; in particular, the contact detection tool initially assigns surface-to-surface discretization to each contact pair candidate instead of node-to-surface discretization.
Using the tabular interface, you can review the contact pair candidates to ensure that the surface definitions are comprehensive, the master and slave assignments are appropriate, and the parameters are correct. If necessary, you can modify parameters or surface assignments in the table, and you can create new contact pairs where appropriate. Once the contact pair candidates are configured to your specifications, Abaqus/CAE defines all of the contact interactions and tie constraints simultaneously.
For step-by-step instructions on using the contact detection dialog box, see “Using contact and constraint detection,” Section 15.16. The following topics describe the general functionality of contact detection in Abaqus/CAE: