Open Access

ARTICLE

LiToTac: An Interactive-Interface Software for Finite Element Analysis of Multiple Contact Dynamics

Lei Peng^1,2, Zhiqiang Feng^1,2,*, Pierre Joli², Christine Renaud²

1 School of Mechanics and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, China.
2 Laboratory of Mechanics and Energetics, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, 91020, France.

* Corresponding Author: Zhi-Qiang Feng. Email: .

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2019, 118(1), 111-137. https://doi.org/10.31614/cmes.2018.04556

Abstract

In order to investigate the mechanical behavior of systems with complex architecture and a large number of contacting bodies, a finite element software, named LiToTac, has been developed by using the object-oriented programming technique. This software, with an interactive graphical user interface, is able to handle highly non-linear problems including multiple contacts and large deformation. More importantly, the contact detection based on a hybrid three-stages methodology can be performed automatically, which is more efficient than the common strategies of pre-defining contact zones in commercial FEM software like ANSYS, ABAQUS, etc. In addition, the contact solver in LiToTac is portable between dynamic and quasi-static codes and can accurately solve contact coupled with friction in a reduced system. Several numerical examples are carried out to illustrate the functionality and capacity of the software package.

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Keywords

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