The Contact page in the Job Diagnostics dialog box displays information about regions of the model where changes in the contact status prevent Abaqus from accepting the solution for an Abaqus/Standard step. The Contact page can also indicate diagnostics such as initial contact overclosures and adjustments for an Abaqus/Explicit step.
Abaqus/Standard contact information is available for any iterations that are followed by (SDI) (Severe Discontinuity Iteration) in the Job History tree. Contact information may also be available for other iterations where contact impacts the analysis, such as when stick-slip friction behavior is present. Use the contact information to locate regions in your model where Abaqus could not establish the correct conditions. You may need to edit the contact controls to resolve a contact problem. For more information, see “Customizing contact controls,” Section 15.12.3.
Contact information, including the total number of problems in each iteration, is summarized in tabular form for each attempt that contains contact diagnostics. Your selection in the Description field controls the data in the table, and you can plot columns from the table by selecting Plot selected column. When you have located a problematic iteration, select it in the Job History tree. Then you can select items from the Contact page for the iteration and click Highlight selections in viewport to view the regions in the current viewport. Click the column headings to sort the information in the Details field for an iteration.
For an Abaqus/Explicit step the contact summary may include diagnostics such as the number of initial overclosures, unresolved initial overclosures, and initial contact adjustments. Your selection in the Description field controls the data in the table. For example, if you select initial overclosures or unresolved initial overclosures, the table lists the overclosed nodes and elements, the element face that the nodes penetrated, and the overclosure amount. You can select items from the Details field and click Highlight selections in viewport to view the contact nodes and elements in the current viewport.
