Open Access

ARTICLE

A New Local Contact Search Method Using a Multi-Layer Neural Network

Atsuya Oishi¹, Shinobu Yoshimura²

1 Univ. Tokushima, Tokushima, JAPAN.
2 Univ. Tokyo, Tokyo, JAPAN.

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2007, 21(2), 93-104. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmes.2007.021.093

Abstract

This paper describes a new local contact search method using a multi-layer neural network and its application to smoothed contact surface consisting of Gregory patches. A contact search process consists of two phases: a global search phase for finding the nearest node-segment pair and a local search phase for finding an exact local coordinate of the contact point within the segment. In the present method, the multi-layer neural network is utilized in the latter phase. The fundamental formulation of the proposed local contact search method is described in detail, and it is applied to smoothed contact surfaces consisting of Gregory patches. Through sample analyses, it is proved that the proposed method is fast and accurate enough for practical applications. Specifically, it is several times faster than the conventional method in the case of smoothed contact surfaces.

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Keywords

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