An Adaptive Contact Formulation For Isogeometric Finite Element Analysis

An adaptive contact formulation for
Isogeometric Finite Element

Analysis
DISSERTATION
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines
Doktor-Ingenieur
an der Fakultät Bauingenieurwesen

der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
von
Irfan Malik
Hauptberichter: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Timon Rabczuk

Mitberichter: Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Kai Willner, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kai-Uwe Bletzinger, TU München
Stuttgart im Dezember 2020

2
i
Kurzfassung
Die numerischen Simulationen von physikalischen Eigenschaften, beispielswei-
se elektromagnetische, struktur- und strömungsmechanische Eigenschaften, sind
in der modernen Produktentwicklung ein wesentlicher Bestandteil. Diese Arbeit
handelt von der numerischen Berechnung innerhalb der Kontaktmechanik. Me-
chanische Kontakte kommen in fast allen Produkten des Maschinenbaus vor. Zahn-
radgetriebe, Rollenlager, Ventile und Pumpen sind nur wenige Beispiele unter ei-
ner Vielzahl von Produkten, in denen die Auslegung mechanischer Kontakte die
Lebensdauer und damit die Qualität wesentlich beeinflussen.
Die Simulation dieser Systeme in Hinblick auf maximale bzw. minimale Kon-
taktspannungen und -dehnungen, insbesondere auch aus tribologischer Perspekti-
ve, stellt jedoch besondere Herausforderungen an die dafür nötige Numerik. Her-
kömliche Verfahren, wie z.B. die Finite Elemente Methode, beschreiben die Kon-
taktflc̈hen nur näherungsweise mit Hilfe von linearen Lagrange Elementen. Da-
mit ist die Lösung des Kontaktproblems, je nach Güte des Netzes, nur unzurei-
chend genau. Darüber hinaus ist die Beschreibung der Oberflächennormalen an
Elementgrenzen wegen der fehlenden stetigen Differenzierbarkeit dort nicht ein-
deutig. Dieser Umstand erschwert die robuste Kontaktsuche, die ein wesentlicher
Bestandteil eines jeden Kontakt-Lösungsalgorithmus ist.
Diese Arbeit stellt eine neuartige Methode für die näherunghsweise Berech-
nung von nichtlinearen mechanischen Kontaktproblemen, die adaptive isogeome-
trische Kontaktformulierung basierend auf Polynomial Splines over hierarchical
T-meshes (PHT-Splines), vor. Sie ist im Vergleich zu herkömlichen Methoden ge-
nauer, robuster und effizienter. Bei ihrer Entwicklung liegt der Fokus auf dem
Lösen des statischen Kontaktproblems ohne Reibung für kleine Verformungen im
zwei- und dreidimensionalen Raum.
Die mathematische Beschreibung des Problems umfasst ein System von parti-
ellen Differentialgleichungen mit Randbedingungen und Nebenbedingungen, die
sogenannten Karush-Kuhn-Tucker Bedingungen. Letzere verhindern das nicht-
physikalische Durchdringen mechanischer Strukturen im Kontakt. Für die nähe-
rungsweise Lösung des Problems ist es nötig, das mathematische Modell in seine
integrale Form zu überführen. Dabei werden die Kontaktbedingungen mittels ei-
nes "Strafterms" (Penalty Verfahren) in den Gleichungssatz aufgenommen.
Die numerische Auswertung des Kontaktintegrals ist, wegen den in der Regel
nicht-konformen Oberflächennetze, eine besondere Herausforderung. Dazu wird
in dieser Arbeit die hoch genaue Mortar Methode verwendet. Die entstandene
ii
diskrete Form des nichtlinearen Kontaktproblems, das algebraische Gleichungs-

system, wird dann in sequentiellen Schritten mit Hilfe des Newton Raphson Ver-
fahren linearisiert gelöst.
Ein Nachteil der Approximation von Kontaktdrucklösungen mittels Spline-

Funktionen ist die unzureichende Genauigkeit der Lösung am Kontaktrand. Hier
ist die analytische Lösung nicht stetig differenzierbar, d.h. sie hat einen Knick. Die
Approximation dieses Lösungsmerkmals mit glatten Spline-Funktionen führt zu
einem numerischen Artefakt in Form von nicht-physikalische Oszillationen. Die-
se Eigenschaft der numerischen Lösung ist nicht nur nachteilig für die Simulation
von z.B. tribologischen Kontakteigenschaften, sie beeinflusst auch die Konver-
genz von iterativen Lösungsverfahren negativ.
Daher werden die spline-diskretisierten Geometrien, die mit Ihrer Tensorpro-

dukt Beschreibung nicht für lokale Verfeinerungen geeignet sind, in PHT-Spline
überführt. Aufgrund von Bézier Extraktion, die ein wesentlicher Teil dieser Trans-
formation ist, wird das zusammenhängende Tensorprodukt Netz in einzelne Ele-
mente aufgespalten. Damit ist eine effiziente höhere räumliche Auflösung entlang
des Kontaktrandes, zur Reduktion des numerischen Artefakts, möglich.
Bevor jedoch einzelne Elemente hierarchisch mittels cross-insertion verfeinert

werden können, müssen bestehende Basis Funktionen im Rahmen des truncation
Prozesses modifiziert oder eliminiert werden. Hierdurch wird die lineare Unab-
hängigkeit der neuen Basis lokal und global sichergestellt. Dies ist nötig, um eine
eindeutige Lösung des Optimierungsproblems zu erhalten.
Der Kontaktrand ist a priori nicht bekannt. Die lokale Verfeinerung entlang
der Kontaktkante, v.a. bei 3D Problemen, ist daher keineswegs ein trivialer Schritt.
Diese Arbeit zeigt, dass die Verwendung eines bestehenden a posteriori Fehlerschätz-
Verfahrens, der Super Convergent Recovery Solution based Fehlerschätzer, zu-
sammen mit der Dörfler Markierungsmethode für diese Aufgabe gut geeignet ist.
Numerische Beispiele demonstrieren, dass das entwickelte Verfahren die Qua-

lität der Lösung entlang des Kontaktrandes im Vergleich zur herkömlichen Spline
approximierten Lösung deutlich verbessert. Auch der Fehler in den maximalen
Kontaktdrücken, der mit den Artefakten korreliert, wird mit der adaptiven Verfei-
nerung entlang des Kontaktrandes minimiert.
Zuletzt wird die Praxistauglichkeit des entwickelten Verfahren an einer indu-

striellen Anwendung (hoch-belasteter Kontakt zwischen den Bauteilen Rolle und
Nocken aus Antriebsstrang einer Hochdruckkraftstoffpumpe) verifiziert .
iii
Abstract
Numerical simulation of physical phenomena, like electro-magnetics, structural
and fluid mechanics is essential for the cost- and time-efficient development of
mechanical products at high quality. It allows to investigate the behavior of a
product or a system far before the first prototype of a product is manufactured.
This thesis addresses the simulation of contact mechanics. Mechanical con-

tacts appear in nearly every product of mechanical engineering. Gearboxes, roller
bearings, valves and pumps are only some examples. Simulating these systems not
only for the maximal/minimal stresses and strains but for the stress-distribution in
case of tribo-contacts is a challenging task from a numerical point of view.
Classical procedures like the Finite Element Method suffer from the non-
smooth representation of contact surfaces with discrete Lagrange elements. On
the one hand, an error due to the approximate description of the surface is intro-
duced. On the other hand it is difficult to attain a robust contact search because
surface normals can not be described in a unique form at element edges.
This thesis introduces therefore a novel approach, the adaptive isogeomet-

ric contact formulation based on polynomial Splines over hierarchical T-meshes
(PHT-Splines), for the approximate solution of the non-linear contact problem.
It provides a more accurate, robust and efficient solution compared to conven-
tional methods. During the development of this method the focus was laid on the
solution of static contact problems without friction in 2D and 3D in which the
structures undergo small deformations.
The mathematical description of the problem entails a system of partial differ-

ential equations and boundary conditions which model the linear elastic behaviour
of continua. Additionally, it comprises side conditions, the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker-
conditions, to prevent the contacting structures from non-physical penetration.
The mathematical model must be transformed into its integral form for ap-
proximation of the solution. Employing a penalty method, contact constraints are
incorporated by adding the resulting equations in weak form to the overall set of
equations.
For an efficient space discretization of the bulk and especially the contact
iv
boundary of the structures, the principle of Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) is ap-

plied. Isogeometric Finite Element Methods provide several advantages over con-
ventional Finite Element discretization. Surface approximation with Non-Uniform
Rational B-Splines (NURBS) allow a robust numerical solution of the contact
problem with high accuracy in terms of an exact geometry description includ-
ing the surface smoothness.
The numerical evaluation of the contact integral is challenging due to gener-

ally non-conforming meshes of the contacting structures. In this work the highly
accurate Mortar Method is applied in the isogeometric setting for the evaluation
of contact contributions.
This leads to an algebraic system of equations that is linearized and solved in

sequential steps. This procedure is known as the Newton Raphson Method.
Based on numerical examples, the advantages of the isogeometric approach

with classical refinement strategies, like the p- and h-refinement, are shown and
the influence of relevant algorithmic parameters on the approximate solution of
the contact problem is verified.
One drawback of the Spline approximations of stresses though is that they lack
accuracy at the contact edge where the structures change their boundary from con-
tact to no contact and where the solution features a kink. The approximation with
smooth Spline functions yields numerical artefacts in the form of non-physical os-
cillations. This property of the numerical solution is not only a drawback for the
simulation of e.g. tribological contacts, it also influences the convergence proper-
ties of iterative solution procedures negatively.
Hence, the NURBS discretized geometries are transformed to Polynomial Splines

over Hierarchical T-meshes (PHT-Splines), for the local refinement along contact
edges to reduce the artefact of pressure oscillations. NURBS have a tensor prod-
uct structure which does not allow to refine only certain parts of the geometrical
domain while leaving other parts unchanged. Due to the Bézier Extraction, ly-
ing behind the transformation from NURBS to PHT-Splines, the connected mesh
structure is broken up into separate elements. This allows an efficient local refine-
ment along the contact edge.
Before single elements are refined in a hierarchical form with cross-insertion,

existing basis functions must be modified or eliminated. This process of trun-
cation assures local and global linear independence of the refined basis which is
needed for a unique approximate solution.
v
The contact boundary is a priori unknown. Local refinement along the con-
tact edge, especially for 3D problems, is for this reason not straight forward. In
this work the use of an a posteriori error estimation procedure, the Super Conver-
gent Recovery Solution Based Error Estimation Scheme, together with the Dörfler
Marking Method is suggested for the spatial search of the contact edge.
Numerical examples show that the developed method improves the quality of
solutions along the contact edge significantly compared to NURBS based approx-
imate solutions. Also, the error in maximum contact pressures, which correlates
with the pressure artefacts, is minimized by the adaptive local refinement.
In a final step the practicability of the developed solution algorithm is verified

by an industrial application: The highly loaded mechanical contact between roller
and cam in the drive train of a high-pressure fuel pump is considered.
vi
Acknowledgments
Over the last years many people have been supporting me during the preparation
of this thesis and I would like to acknowledge their efforts and assistance.
First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude towards my supervisor Prof.

Dr.-Ing Timon Rabczuk for giving me the opportunity to do research in the field
of computational contact mechanics as a PhD candidate at Bauhaus University
Weimar in corporation with the Robert Bosch GmbH in Stuttgart. I am especially
thankful for the trust he put in my work and for the freedom he gave to develop
my own ideas.
Secondly, my thanks go to Dr. Cosmin Anitescu, my advisor at the Bauhaus
University Weimar. I enjoyed discussing with him not only on research related
topics but also on political and philosophical themes. His experience in error
estimation techniques and adaptive refinement procedures helped me in adding
significant value to this thesis.
I feel very grateful to my reviewers Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Kai Willner and Prof.
Dr.-Ing. Kai-Uwe Bletzinger for their efforts and detailed discussions of my work.
I also want to thank my advisors at Bosch Dr. Corinna Hager and Dr. Alexan-
der Menk. Alex initiated my research project and gave me great support during
the first year. Both, Corinna and Alex, guided my work in the right direction and
helped me in improving my skills in various ways. I am extremely thankful for
that.
I want to thank the former head of the department ARF at the Central Research
(CR) division of Bosch Dr. Christian Heinen who put trust in my work and gave
me the chance to pursue my PhD project in an industrial environment.
For the pleasant and inspiring working environment I would like to thank all
my colleagues at Bosch CR/ARF1, especially Dr. Karl Bendel, Helga Merz, Dr.
Heiner Storck, Dr. Sietze Van Buuren, Dr. Bernd Scheufele, Dr. Volker Gross and
Jan Schotte. With all of them I enjoyed discussing a wide variety of topics.
I deeply want to express gratitude towards my fellow PhD candidates at Bosch
Anne Schwenkenberg, Daniel Hipp, Joachim Klima and Fabian Hempert for the
fruitful discussions and their support.
Finally, I want to thank my wife Caroline who continuously believed in me,

who encouraged me, and who gave me outstanding support in all respects during
the last years. Elisa and Iljas, our two kids, did a perfect job in cheering me up on
evenings when I arrived at home exhausted from a long working day. I am also
very grateful to my family and friends for all their support.
Contents
Contents vii
List of figures ix
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 State of the art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Addressed Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2 Continuum and Contact Mechanics 7

2.1 Linear structural mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.1 Kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.2 Kinetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.3 Constitutive law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1.4 Boundary values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2 Contact mechanics of small deformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2.1 Normal contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2.2 Contact constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.3 Weak form of contact problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3.1 Solid structural part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3.2 Contact part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3.3 Overall weak form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3 Isogeometric contact analysis with NURBS 17

3.1 Geometric modeling with NURBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.1.1 Basis functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.1.2 Geometries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.2 Isogeometric discretization concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.2.1 Galerkin Projection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.2.2 Application to linear elasticity problem . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.2.3 Refinement strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
vii
viii CONTENTS
3.3 NURBS discretization of contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.3.1 Discrete representation of surface and variables . . . . . . 29
3.3.2 Contact detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.3.3 Isogeometric Mortar Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.3.4 Solution method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.4 Numerical results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.4.1 Hertz 2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.4.2 Hertz 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4 Adaptive isogeometric contact 55

4.1 PHT-Spline representation of NURBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.1.1 Hierarchical T-meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.1.2 Bezier representation of NURBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.1.3 Local refinement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.2 Contact computation with PHT-Splines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
4.2.1 Discretization of surface and variables . . . . . . . . . . . 62
4.2.2 Contact search with PHT-Splines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4.2.3 Mortar integration of PHT-Splines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4.3 Adaptive contact formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.3.1 Recovery-based error estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
4.3.2 Marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.3.3 Overall solution strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4.4 Numerical results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.4.1 Hertz 2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.4.2 Hertz 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
5 Industrial application 87
5.1 Roller Cam Contact Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
5.2 NURBS based solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5.3 Adaptive PHT-Spline based solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6 Conclusions 97
6.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
6.2 Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
List of Figures
2.1 Contact problem description in generic form . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.1 Mechanical parts roller and cam from driving train of a high pres-
sure fuel pump modelled with Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines
(NURBS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2 NURBS parameterization of one quarter of an annulus in (a) initial
coarse description and (b) after h-refinement . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.3 Spline parameterization of 2D contact, basic principle . . . . . . . 30
3.4 Principle of isogeometric mortar integration method in contact
computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.5 Assembly of global system of equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.6 Contact problem description, Hertz 2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.7 Coarse NURBS discretization of Hertz 2D problem geometry . . . 42
3.8 Approximation results, Hertz 2D contact pressures with different
penalty parameter values εN and NURBS mesh from figure 3.7
with analytical solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.9 Hertz 2D geometries NURBS discretization, fine mesh . . . . . . 44
3.10 Approximation results, Hertz 2D contact pressures with different
penalty parameter values εN and NURBS mesh from figure 3.9
with analytical solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.11 Effect of knot relocation in the vicinity of contact edge on pressure
oscillations, Hertz 2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.12 Hertz 2D results from uniform h-refinement of contact zone . . . . 46
3.13 Hertz 2D contact pressures from successive refinement by degree
elevation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.14 Error in Hertz 2D contact pressures from numerical integration,
different number of quadrature points, quadratic splines . . . . . . 48
3.15 Hertz 3D problem description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.16 NURBS parameterization of Hertz 3D contacting geometries . . . 50
ix
x LIST OF FIGURES
3.17 Hertz 3D pressure contour plots of slave structure with zoom on

contact zone (bottom view) for meshes with (a) 16848, (b) 44616,
(c) 137592 and (d) 473304 DOF. (e) contact pressure curves for
the different meshes from cut in radial direction of rotation sym-
metric pressure distribution with analytical solution. (f) oscillation
error convergence w.r.t. number of DOF (see also 3.12) . . . . . . 52
3.18 Conformity check of 3D Hertz contact pressure patches . . . . . . 53
4.1 Hierarchical tree structure of T-meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

4.2 Discrete representation of isogeometric contact with PHT-Splines
in 2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.3 Principle of mortar integration for PHT-Spline contact boundaries 66
4.4 Overall solution procedure with adaptive local refinement for the
contact problem (2D and 3D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4.5 Initial meshes T0s and T0m of slave and master, Hertz 2D . . . . . . 72
4.6 Convergence of relative errors in maximum pressures (blue curve)
and from pressure oscillations (brown curve) w.r.t. the number of
DOF for (a) slave and (b) master side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.7 Approximated contact pressures from different refinement steps
(named with the corresponding number of DOFs) and the analyt-
ical solution normalized with maximum pressure p0 and contact
radius a for (a) slave and (b) master side, Hertz 2D . . . . . . . . 74
4.8 Hierarchical T-meshes from adaptive refinement process of Hertz
2D problem with (a) #DOF = 2176, (b) #DOF = 2368, (c) #DOF =
2848 and (d) #DOF = 3680. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
4.9 Approximated stresses σyy (x, y)/p0 and hierarchical T-meshes from
adaptive refinement process of Hertz 2D problem with (a) #DOF =
2176, (b) #DOF = 2368, (c) #DOF = 2848 and (d) #DOF = 3680. 76
4.10 Comparison of oscillation error convergence from adaptive local
refinement (blue) and uniform h-refinement (brown) . . . . . . . . 77
4.11 Initial meshes T0l with l ∈ {s, m} of slave and master for the adap-
tive solution of Hertz 3D problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.12 Convergence of relative errors in maximum pressures (blue curve)
and from pressure oscillations (brown curve) w.r.t. the number of
DOF evaluated on slave side from adaptive refinement solution of
Hertz 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.13 Contact pressure distribution functions pN (x, y) normalized with
p0 and contact radius a from refinement steps of the adaptive so-
lution process of Hertz 3D problem with (a) #DOF = 25272, (b)
#DOF = 36360, (c) #DOF = 82296 and (d) #DOF = 123240. . . 80
LIST OF FIGURES xi
4.14 Pressure curves pN (r) from refinement steps of the adaptive solu-
tion process of Hertz 3D problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4.15 Pressure contour plots with corresponding T-meshes of slave struc-
ture with zoom on contact zone (bottom view) from refinement
steps of the adaptive solution process of Hertz 3D with (a) #DOF =
25272, (b) #DOF = 36360, (c) #DOF = 82296 and (d) #DOF =
123240. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.16 Overall T-meshes of slave and master from refinement steps of the
adaptive solution process of Hertz 3D problem with (a) #DOF =
123240 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.17 Comparison of oscillation error convergence from uniform (brown)
and adaptive local refinement (blue) of Hertz 3D approximations . 84
5.1 CAD geometry cross section of high pressure fuel pump CP4 from
Bosch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.2 Simplified description of 3D roller cam contact problem . . . . . . 89
5.3 Reduced description of simplified 3D roller cam contact problem
based on rotation and plane symmetry assumptions . . . . . . . . 89
5.4 NURBS TP-meshes of roller and cam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5.5 Contact pressure contour plots with corresponding NURBS TP-
meshes of roller cam contact 3D problem from (a) mesh 1, (b)
mesh 2, (c) mesh 3 and (d) mesh 4 (#DOF = 515160) . . . . . . . 91
5.6 3D contact pressure plots from NURBS based computation of
roller cam contact problem with (a) mesh 1, (b) mesh 2, (c) mesh
3 and (d) mesh 4 (#DOF = 515160) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
5.7 Comparison of 2D contact pressure curves from NURBS based
computation of roller cam contact problem: (a) pN (x, y = 0), (b)
pN (x = 0, y) , (c) enlarged view of pN (y) at contact edge and (d)
enlarged view of maximum pressures max(pN (y)) . . . . . . . . . 93
5.8 Contact pressure contour plots with corresponding T-meshes (slave
side) of the 3D roller cam contact problem from adaptive refine-
ment process steps: (a) #DOF = 60840, (b) #DOF = 75960, (c)
#DOF = 95400 and (d) #DOF = 314040 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5.9 3D contact pressure plots (slave side) of the 3D roller cam con-
tact problem from adaptive refinement process steps: (a) #DOF =
314040 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
xii LIST OF FIGURES
5.10 Comparison of contact pressure curves (slave side) derived from

the 3D pressures in figure reffig: Roller Cam, PHT, 3D Pressure
distributions: (a) pN (x, y = 0)/p0 , (b) pN (x = 0, y)/p0 , (c) en-
larged view of pN (x, y = 0)/p0 close to contact edge and (d) en-
larged view of pN (x = 0, y)/p0 close to contact edge . . . . . . . . 96
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Motivation
Mechanical contacts appear in nearly every product of mechanical engineering.
Gearboxes, roller bearings, valves and pumps are only some examples. They play
an important role for the robust mechanical design of products with respect to
lifetime requirements.
In modern product development, the simulation of contact mechanics is there-

fore mandatory within the Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) process. Based
on analysis results, it is possible to design, redesign and optimize the mechanical
contact between two structures or parts by keeping the number of prototypes and
tests at a minimum. This ensures a time- and cost-efficient product development.
For the simulation of real-life contact problems, mathematical equations from

solid and contact mechanics must be solved numerically for arbitrary contact ge-
ometries. This is classically done with Finite Element procedures. Both contact-
bodies are designed for this purpose in Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems,
where they are described with surface-based models from Spline functions. In a
second step, the geometry is approximated with a finite set of sub-domains, the
so-called Lagrange finite elements. In a third step, local solutions for the physical
equations are obtained for each sub-domain and assembled to the overall solution
of the field problem.
This simple approach provides for most linear problems, like the linear elas-
ticity problem, good results. For the non-linear contact problem though, classical
finite element procedures based on the isoparametric approach suffer from the ap-
proximate and non-smooth description of contact surfaces. In addition, the quality
1
2 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
of the numerical solution strongly depends from the chosen mesh. Since systems
for geometry design and physical analysis were developed independent from each
other, the time-consuming step meshing, for the connection of those, makes clas-
sical finite element procedures in practice also inefficient.
The concept of Isogeometric Analysis (IGA), introduced first in [42] by Hughes

and colleagues, promises to close the gap between design and analysis. Here
the same mathematical basis from Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) de-
scribes geometry design in a smooth and exact way and builds the approximation
spaces for solutions of physical problems. This thesis investigates the beneficial
properties of IGA for the numerical solution of contact problems with the focus
on industrial application, such as:
• the exact geometry description throughout the analysis steps and the
• smooth basis for surface description with tailorable continuity.
1.2 State of the art

Since Hughes suggested the smooth NURBS basis for the approximate solution of
contact problems (particularly with friction and sliding) among many other phys-
ical problems, different studies on IGA contact analysis have been presented. The
publications address different aspects of the isogeometric contact solution proce-
dures, dependent from the respective contact problem (small or large deforma-
tions, frictional or frictionless, static or dynamic, pure mechanical or thermome-
chanical, etc.). In this section, these aspects are discussed based on the following
questions:
• How are contact conditions, which prevent structures from non-physical

penetration, incorporated into the variational form of the overall problem?
• How are contact surfaces and variables described in a discrete setting and
what are the possible approaches for the numerical evaluation of contact
contributions?
• What are possible refinement strategies to improve the accuracy of the ap-
proximate solution?
• How can isogeometric contact solution procedures be made adaptive for the
automatic and efficient improvement of the solution?
1.2. STATE OF THE ART 3
Standard monographs on the topics contact mechanics, linear and non-linear Fi-
nite Element Analysis (FEA), Computational Contact Mechanics, NURBS and
IGA are [46], [77], [79], [8], [82], [51], [60] and [16]. An overview of isogeomet-
ric contact implementations and classical contact solution procedures is given in
[19].
Like classical procedures, isogeoemtric implementations incorporate contact

conditions also with variants of Lagrange Multiplier or Penalty approaches, well-
known from the optimization theory (see e.g. [59], [82] and [51]).
Penalty approaches are on the one hand easy to implement and they do not
require additional numerical degrees of freedom (less computational cost). On
the other hand, they fulfil contact conditions only in an approximate sense with
the "right" choice of a numerical parameter. This so-called penalty stiffness value
depends from the spatial discretization of contact domains and it leads to an ill-
conditioned global system when it is too large. Penalty methods are employed in
the isoogeometric setting for example in [41], [17] and [54].
Lagrange Multiplier methods fulfill contact conditions exactly which is differ-
ent from the penalty approaches. But additional unknowns, the so-called Lagrange
multiplier, are needed. Isogeometric contact implementations with these methods
can be found in [49], [68] and [18].
Coming to the second question, presented contact publications apply the basic
idea of IGA by describing boundaries in contact with finite elements exactly (no
matter how coarse the mesh) from the Spline structure of geometries [41]. Con-
tact variables are approximated with e.g. NURBS basis functions based on the
isoparametric concept and Galerkins approach (see [17] and [16]). For local con-
tact search, the gap between contacting structures must be determined based on
the evaluation of closest point projections (CPP). Numerical procedures presented
therefor for example in [54] and [55] employ the smooth and continuous NURBS
parameter form of the contact boundaries.
It is important to note that, in general, analysis suitable NURBS construction
of the geometries must be watertight, i.e. no gaps or overlaps are allowed. This
is not a trivial task, especially for complex geometry design. Different techniques
and studies on the construction of Spline geometries suitable for analysis are given
in [63], [53], [75], [83] and [76].
One challenging task, also in isogeometric implementations, is the numerical
evaluation of contact contributions in variational form based on generally non-
conforming meshes of the structures. This task is solved by adopting conven-
tional methods from classical finite element analysis (see [30],[31], [9], [78]) to
the isogeometric setting (see [56], [41], [54], [18]). A detailed discussion of the
available approaches is given in the introduction of section 3.3.
Studies, which are not directly related to contact but which are relevant for
modelling interfaces with non-matching discretization in the context of IGA are
given in [61], [39] and [4].
If approximate contact solutions do not meet accuracy requirements, mesh re-

finement strategies are needed to improve the approximation quality. In classical
Finite Element Analysis (FEA), as it is explained in [42], mesh refinement re-
quires communication with CAD systems. This is time-consuming and adaptive
procedures suffer from this fact and are rarely used in industrial environments.
Refinement strategies in IGA presented in [42] do not have this problem. They
allow to improve the approximation space and isogeometric mesh resolution by
preserving the exact geometry description. These beneficial properties are studied
for the example of structural mechanics in [15] and investigated for isogeometric
contact approximations for example in [41] and [18].
One drawback though of mesh refinement with NURBS is that due to the
tensor product structure, local refinement is not possible in an efficient way. Es-
pecially contact problem solutions, which improve with the refinement of very
small parts of the overall structures domains, are gained from NURBS approxi-
mations inefficiently. Local refinement procedures in the general context of IGA
are presented in [6], [64], [71], [21], [10] and [29]. Isogeometric contact proce-
dures capable for local refinement are presented and studied in [22] and [67].
To improve further the efficiency of refinement, especially for the industrial

application, the decision in which parts the contact solution is still to rough with
respect to a given error tolerance must be taken automatically. The adaptivity of
isogeometric solution procedures is addressed in general for example in [25], [3]
and [58]. A useful comparison of different adaptive strategies in IGA is presented
in [37].
To the best of my knowledge, for isogeometric contact solution, there is only
the work of [88] which presents a possibility of adaptive local refinement for the
solution of two- and three-dimensional contact problems including frictional slid-
ing. Traditional adaptive procedures in contact analysis are based on error es-
timation techniques (see e.g. [13] or [36]). Zimmermann suggests in [88] the
penetration status of contact elements as a criterion for automatic refinement or
coarsening.
1.3 Addressed Questions

Based on the literature review presented in the previous section, the suggestions
made in [19] for research needs and the focus on industrial application (see chapter
1.4. OUTLINE 5
5), the following three open questions are put, to guide through the thesis:
1. How effective are local refinement methods in the framework of isogeomet-

ric contact formulations?
2. Spline approximations of stresses lack accuracy at the contact edge where

the structures change boundaries from contact to no-contact and where the
exact solution features a kink. This property of the numerical solution is
not only a drawback for the simulation of e.g. tribological contacts, it also
influences the convergence properties of iterative solution procedures neg-
atively. Is it possible to improve automatically the accuracy at the end of
contact zones (point in 2D, edge in 3D) in an efficient way and improve the
robustness of the solution procedure by error-controlled local refinement?
3. What are the possibilities and drawbacks of such adaptive procedures when
applied not only to academic examples, but rather used for industrial appli-
cation?
1.4 Outline
This thesis is structured in 6 chapters. After this introductory chapter, the friction-
less contact problem in which bodies undergo small deformations is stated in its
weak form. Relevant parts from continuum and contact mechanics together with
contact conditions are presented for this purpose.
Chapter 3 is dedicated to the isogeometric contact analysis based on NURBS.

It starts with a brief overview of geometry modelling with NURBS before it
presents the key idea of IGA in more details. Then the isogeometric concept
is applied to the linear elasticity part of the contact problem and an overview of
refinement strategies for NURBS parametrized models is given. The third part of
this chapter introduces the discretization process of the contact part in the isoge-
ometric setting and provides the basic steps of the iterative solution procedure for
the overall contact problem. Before the chapter closes with a summary, it shows
numerical investigations based on the examples of Hertz contact problems. These
examples are also for the verification of the 2D and 3D Matlab implementations
of the procedures developed during this thesis.
In Chapter 4, the NURBS parameterized contacting structures are transformed

to PHT-Splines capable of local refinement. The resulting contact procedure from
this transformation is designed in addition with an error-estimation technique for
an automatic and efficient local refinement. Numerical results from this procedure
are then compared to results from chapter 3. This chapter also closes with a short
summary.
Chapter 5 addresses the practicability of the procedures introduced in chapter

3 and 4 for industrial applications. Here, the example of the roller cam contact
problem from a high-pressure fuel pump is laid down and computed with both
procedures. The numerical results from both methods are compared with each
other and observations are summed up.
Finally, Chapter 6 concludes the presented thesis with a summary and an out-
look on future research directions.
Chapter 2
Continuum and Contact Mechanics
Continuum mechanics is the basis of numerical simulation of static structural

problems. It describes the deformation of structures and the resulting strains.
Constitutive laws relate strains and stresses and balance equations of acting forces
are given together with boundary conditions. Section 2.1 of this chapter gives
a summary of continuum mechanics equations relevant for this work. They are
based on [2], [47] and [35].
In section 2.2, contact conditions are introduced in addition to the continuum
mechanics equations. These constraints avoid non-physical penetration of struc-
tures on which the contact forces act. The necessary mechanics for the definition
of these constraints is presented in a short form from [82].
Analytical solutions for the mechanical contact problem, as described by the
partial differential equations, boundary conditions and constraints, are in general
not possible to obtain. To compute an approximate solution, the problem is trans-
formed into the weak form, as described in section 2.3. This integral transforma-
tion is the starting point for the finite element discretization procedure.
2.1 Linear structural mechanics

Linear structural mechanics is a sub-domain of continuum mechanics and it has
the scope of describing motion and internal states of structures in a defined way.
Other branches like fluid mechanics and gas theory are not considered here. Non-
linearities, e.g. from material or geometry (large deformations), are also not con-
sidered. Contact is possible between at least two different structures. The equa-
tions presented in this section are applied to the involved structures in the same
way. Bodies in contact are subjected to pure mechanical loads only, i.e. thermo-
or electromechanical influences are not considered.
7
8 CHAPTER 2. CONTINUUM AND CONTACT MECHANICS
2.1.1 Kinematics
A single Point P of a body B in its initial configuration Ω0 ⊂ Rd of spatial dimen-
sion d is described with the position vector X. Another point Q of this structure
has the position X + dX, described with the relative distance dX to P. When the
structure is deformed from external load, both points are displaced to x and x + dx
in the current configuration Ω ⊂ Rd . The displacements u of both positions are
given with the vector operations:
u(X) = X − x
(2.1)
u(X + dX) = (X + dX) − (x + dx).
The amount that both positions are displaced relatively to each other after defor-
mation is given with the vector du and it is computed from the total differential of
u with
∂u
du = dX =: H dX. (2.2)
∂X
In (2.2) the quantity H is called the displacement gradient tensor and when it is
written out, it consists of a symmetric part ε and an anti-symmetric part ω :
1 1
H = [(∇u)T + (∇u)] + [(∇u)T − (∇u)] (2.3)
|2 {z } |2 {z }
ε ω
The components of tensor ω describe the infinitesimal rigid body rotations.

On the other hand, the symmetric infinitesimal strain tensor
1
ε = [(∇u)T + (∇u)] (2.4)
2
is a measure of small deformation, i.e. kuk 1 and k∇uk 1, of linear elastic
structures.
2.1.2 Kinetics
A structure is in static balance while it is subjected to surface tractions t dΓ and
body forces ρb dΩ only, when
Z Z
ρb dΩ + t dΓ = 0 (2.5)
Ω Γ
and Z Z
(x × ρb) dΩ + (x × t) dΓ = 0. (2.6)
Ω Γ
2.1. LINEAR STRUCTURAL MECHANICS 9
Equation (2.5) gives in spatial coordinates the balance of linear momentum in the
global form and (2.6) is the balance of angular momentum. Both equations are
for the static case. Applying now the relation
t(x, n) = n · σ (x), (2.7)
between stress tensor σ , which describes with its components σi j with i, j =
1, · · · , d the state of stress at any given point P ∈ Ω, and the traction vector t
together with the Gauss divergence theorem to equation (2.5) yields
Z
(∇ · σ + b) dΩ = 0. (2.8)
Ω
In (2.7), the outer unit normal vector at an arbitrary boundary point x is denoted
by n. This linear mapping is known as the Cauchy formula. Equation (2.8) are the
balance equations of a general continuum and their local form is given by
∇ · σ + b = 0. (2.9)
The set of partial differential equations in (2.1) - (2.9) is the first part for the for-
mulation of boundary value problem of linear elasticity.
The local from of (2.6), derived in a similar way as it was done for (2.5), is
equivalent to the relation
σ = σT. (2.10)
The interested reader is referred to section 4.1 in [2] for details. The symmetry
of σ is a result which is known as Cauchys second equations of motion. It is not
explicitly part of the boundary value problem of linear elasticity, (2.10) is rather
implicitly required.
2.1.3 Constitutive law

Measures for strains and stresses in the context of small deformations have been
presented. Now kinematics and material response are linked by the constitutive
relation
σ = E : ε, (2.11)
known as the generalized Hooks law for anisotropic, linear elastic material prop-
erties. The fourth-order elasticity tensor E in (2.11) has for general materials 81
components. They are reduced to 36 linear independent coordinates when the
symmetry of ε and σ is taken into account. This case is called Cauchy elasticity.
An elastic deformed structure stores the specific strain energy φ , defined as
1
φ = σ : ε. (2.12)
2
Representing the stress tensor on the one hand as the fist derivative of φ with
respect to ε and on the other hand with (2.11) gives the relation
∂φ
E:ε = ,
∂ε
which leads after differentiating both sides to the expression
∂ 2φ
E= (2.13)
∂ε∂ε
for the elasticity tensor. Due to the interchangeable sequence of differentiation in
(2.13) the elasticity tensor is symmetric. This reduces its independent coordinates
to 21 in three dimensions (d = 3).
For the contact problem model only isotropic materials are assumed, i.e. their
response is indifferent from the directions. This allows to represent the remaining
components of E with
Ei jkl = λ δi j δkl + µ(δik δ jl + δil δ jk ) with i, j, k, l = 1, 2, 3. (2.14)
The two material parameters λ and µ in (2.14), the so-called Lamé constants, are
used for the mathematical description of the model. Their expression with the
elasticity modulus E and poisson ratio ν, well-known in engineering, is given by
νE E
λ= , µ= . (2.15)
(1 + ν)(1 − 2ν) 2(1 + ν)
The index-notation Ei jkl is done with the Kronecker-delta symbol δi j defined by:
(
1 for i = j,
δi j =
0 for i 6= j.
The general Hooke’s law (2.11) is now reduced to the equations
σi j = λ εkk δi j + 2µεi j (2.16)
for a linear elastic isotropic material.
2.1.4 Boundary values

The description of linear structural mechanics must be completed by the definition
of boundary conditions. For this purpose, ∂ Ω is decomposed into complementary
parts Γu and Γσ , i.e.
Γu ∪ Γσ = ∂ Ω and Γu ∩ Γσ = 0.
/ (2.17)
2.2. CONTACT MECHANICS OF SMALL DEFORMATIONS 11
The Dirichlet-boundary is denoted by Γu , it is where displacements h are pre-

scribed. The Neumann-boundary is Γσ and here surface tractions t̂ are given.
This boundary values description is summarized in the form:
u(x) = h, with x ∈ Γu (2.18a)

σ (x) · n = t̂, with x ∈ Γσ (2.18b)
The introduced equations of the overall section 2.1 build the setting of bound-
ary value problem (bvp) of linear elasticity.
2.2 Contact mechanics of small deformations

Until now, only single structures are described and no information about neighbor-
ing structures is considered. Thus, non-physical penetration of bodies is possible.
To prevent this situation, constraints are defined for the contact boundary Γc . For
the general case this has to be done in normal and tangential directions. We do not
model abrasion and adhesion in this work and focus therefore on the description
of normal contact only.
2.2.1 Normal contact

The contact status of two structures Ωl with l ∈ {s, m} is determined with the
normal distance gN (see figure2.1). For definition of the distance, one has to
decide which surface normal n is considered. Body Ωm is denoted with master
body and Ωs is the slave structure. For every xs ∈ Γs a closest point projection
(CPP) x̄ ∈ Γm can be found in an iterative process with the optimization task
x̄ = arg minm kxs − x(ζζ )k , (2.19)

x⊆Γ
in case Γl are locally convex. The convective coordinates ζ ∈ [0, 1]d−1 in (2.19)
indicate the parameter form of the master surface description. The coordinates ζ¯
corresponding to the CPP are found, when surface normal and tangential vectors
are perpendicular, i.e. n̄ · x(ζ¯ ),ζ (1) = 0 and n̄ · x(ζ¯ ),ζ (2) = 0 for a three-dimensional
contact.
With x(ζ¯ ) the normal gap function gN is defined as the scalar product of
the difference between position vectors and the normalized surface normal of the
CPP:
gN = (xs − x(ζ¯ )) · n̄. (2.20)
For geometrically linear kinematics (2.20) is transformed with (2.1) to

uN = (us − u(ζ¯ )) · n̄ + (Xs − X(ζ¯ )) · n̄ . (2.21)
| {z }
gN,0
In (2.21) the initial gap for configuration Ω0 is denoted with gN,0 .
Figure 2.1: Contact problem description in generic form
In case two structure penetrate and the distance is negative, the linear elas-
tic structural problems of both structure need to be modified with contact terms.
Additional stresses tN normal to the surface are build. For positive distances the
structural equations remain unchanged.
2.2.2 Contact constraints

With constraints in the contact region, structures are prevented from penetration.
Different from constraints in the tangential direction, where constitutive equations
from micro-mechanics are used, constraints in normal direction are developed on
a pure geometric approach. The stresses tc (x) with x ∈ Γlc are a contact response
and due to the principle of Action and Reaction, it is defined on the slave and
master sides with the same vector but with opposite sign:
tc = tm = −ts = tN + tT . (2.22)
2.3. WEAK FORM OF CONTACT PROBLEM 13
The partition of contact stresses into normal and tangential components tN , tT is

necessary to distinguish between the effects coming from these directions. Focus-
ing on the normal direction, constraints are derived from two cases:
• contact: there is no gap and the pressures are negative,
• no contact: structures are separate, i.e. gap is considered positive and no

contact pressures (tN = tN · n = 0) occur.
Both cases are fulfilled in the form of Kuhn-Tucker-Karush-conditions
uN (x) ≥ 0, tN (x) ≤ 0, uN (x)tN (x) = 0 with x ∈ Γc , (2.23)
also known as the Hertz-Signorini-Moreu-conditions.
2.3 Weak form of contact problem

The contact problem has been described so far with partial differential equations
(2.9), boundary conditions (2.18a) and constraints (2.23). For this so-called strong
form of the problem, resulting from synthetical mechanics, the derivation of an
analytical solution is not possible. Instead a weak or integral form of the prob-
lem is derived in this section from the very general weighted residual method
for the linear elasticity part. For the contact part an energy term is introduced
based on the so-called penalty method and its first variation with respect to con-
tact displacements is added to the overall weak form. The described approach, for
incorporating contact constraints in a weak sense, is from analytical mechanics
and it is known as the principle of the minimum of total potential energy.
2.3.1 Solid structural part

Following the weighted residual method for the derivation of the weak form, the
balance equations (2.9) and the traction boundary conditions 2.18a are written in
a first step in their residual forms:
R(u) = ∇σ
σ (u) + b = 0 in Ω (2.24)
Rσ (u) = t̂ − n · σ (u) = 0 on Γσ (2.25)

Multiplying now (2.24) and (2.25) with test-functions δ u, integrating over respec-
tive domains and adding both integrals, yields
Z Z
δ uT R(u)dΩ + δ uT Rσ (u)dΓ = 0. (2.26)
Ω Γσ
These integral equations are completely equivalent to the residuals. The solution
of (2.26) though has to fulfill the field equations only in average over the spatial
domain, while the solution of (2.24) and (2.25) has to be fulfilled point-wise. The
test functions δ u are introduced for gaining more flexibility in finding the average
solution. It is important for the test-functions to fulfill
δu = 0 on Γu , (2.27)
since the solution is prescribed there in the form of the Dirichlet boundary condi-
tion (2.18a). For weaker differentiability requirements to the solution, the weighted
residual is further transformed to
Z Z Z
T T
(∇δ u) E ∇u dΩ − δ u b dΩ − δ uT t̂ dΩ = 0, (2.28)
| Ω {z } |Ω Γσ
{z }
δ Πi δ Πe
by applying integration by parts and the divergence theorem. An additional change

has been made in (2.28) by inserting the material law (2.11). The first summand
can be interpreted as the first variation of strain energy (internal potential) with
respect to the displacement field denoted with δ Πi . The other two summands rep-
resent the first variation of the external energy δ Πe consisting of potentials from
body and traction force. The requirements for the trial and test functions u and δ u
are summed up in the following form:
n d o
S = u : u ∈ H 1 (Ω) , u|Γu = h

(2.29)
n d o
V = δ u : δ u ∈ H 1 (Ω) , u|Γu = 0

(2.30)
With (2.29) and (2.30) vector valued functions of dimension d are defined in so-
d
called Sobolev spaces denoted with H 1 (Ω) . Characteristic for those functions

is that they are square integrable, i.e. Ω u2 dΩ < +∞, and their first derivatives
R
are square integrable as well. Based on (2.28), (2.29) and (2.30) the weak form
of the linear elasticity problem can be now noted in the following compact form:
Find u ∈ S such that
δ Πi − δ Πe = 0, ∀ δu ∈ V . (2.31)
Here balance equations and the Neumann boundary conditions will be fulfilled
in weak sense. Material law, kinematics and Dirichlet boundary conditions are
fulfilled point-wise.
2.3. WEAK FORM OF CONTACT PROBLEM 15
2.3.2 Contact part

In the next step constraints (2.23) are added to the weak form (2.31). Methods for
incorporating side conditions in general are the Lagrange Multiplier Method, Aug-
mented Lagrange Method, Perturbed Lagrange Method and the Penalty-Method,
well known from the optimization theory. A detailed description and discussion
of these methods in the context of computational contact mechanics, is given for
example in [82].
The developed contact algorithm in this work is based on the Penalty Method.
It requires lower computational costs and it is simple to implement. The basic
idea behind this method is to incorporate constraints from the system by penal-
izing their violation implicitly. This is typically done with an additional penalty
potential term Z
εN
Πc (u) = ū2 dΓ, (2.32)
2 Γ̃c N
using the penetration function ūN defined with
(
uN if uN < 0
ūN = (2.33)
0, else
to treat only the active contact zone Γ̃c . The parameter εN in (2.32) can be in-
terpreted in context of the contact problem as the mechanical stiffness of springs
which act with the pressure
pN = −tN = −εN uN (2.34)
in the contact, when structures penetrate.

Theoretically, the constraints are fulfilled exactly for the limit case εN → ∞.
This will lead to an ill-conditioning of the problem in its discrete form. Different
from the Lagrange Multiplier Methods, the Penalty Method allows only an ap-
proximate fulfillment of (2.23). But no additional unknowns are introduced. This
reduces computational costs which is an important benefit for industrial applica-
tions.
Total variation of (2.32) leads to
∂ Πc (u)
Z Z
εN
δ Πc (u) = δ uT = εN ūN δ ūN dΓ + ū2N δ dΓ . (2.35)
∂u Γ̃sc 2 Γ̃sc
| {z }
≈0
With neglecting the second summand in (2.35) for small displacements, contact
constrains are incorporated in a weak sense.
2.3.3 Overall weak form

For the overall weak form the displacements and their variation of slave and mas-
ter body are combined in
u = u1 , u2 and δ u = δ u1 , δ u2 .

(2.36)
In the same way, requirements for the trial- and test-functions defined by (2.29)
and (2.30) for each structure separately, are summed up in the function spaces
S := S 1 × S 2 , V := V 1 × V 2 , (2.37)
for Ω = 2l=1 Ωl . Now the weak form of the bilateral contact problem is written
S
in the form: Find u ∈ S such that

2
∑ (δ Πli + δ Πle) + δ Πc(u) = 0, ∀δ u ∈ V . (2.38)
l=1
Chapter 3
Isogeometric contact analysis with

NURBS
The contact problem, presented in the previous chapter in a generic form, is now
applied to actual geometry. Typically, geometries are designed in Computer-
Aided-Design (CAD) systems. The underlying mathematical representation in
such programs is most often in parameter form using Non-Uniform Rational B-
Splines (NURBS). Mechanical and geometry model describe the contact problem
in a unique form.
Closed form solutions for contact problems with arbitrary geometry design
are not possible. Finite Element procedures for example, provide an approximate
solution instead. The problem is transformed here into a discrete form. The geom-
etry is divided into a finite number of sub-domains, the Finite Elements, in which
the governing equations are fulfilled locally or element-wise. The error from ap-
proximation of can be reduced when a large number of finite elements is used.
The transformation to a discrete form of the structural problem comprises not

only the approximation of geometry with finite elements, it also includes the rep-
resentation of unknown field variables in a discretized way. The isoparametric
concept suggests to use for that suitable Shape functions, in most cases linear La-
grange Polynomials, and represent with them also the geometry in an approximate
way. The simple shape functions are on the one hand a clear advantage of this ap-
proach. On the other hand is the geometry represented in an approximate way.
The error from that is dependent on geometry design and the number of finite el-
ements. This is a clear drawback.
The isogeometric concept, suggested by Hughes in [42], allows to circumvent

this issue by using Spline functions from the CAD geometry representation for
17
18 CHAPTER 3. ISOGEOMETRIC CONTACT ANALYSIS WITH NURBS
the approximation of field quantities.
The first Section 3.1 of this chapter gives a brief overview of geometry mod-
elling with NURBS by summarizing relevant definitions and properties.
Using shape function from CAD-based geometry design for approximating the
solution of problems partial differential equations, is the key idea behind isogeo-
metric analysis. In Section 3.2 this idea is described in more detail and relevant
properties are summarized before it is applied to the linear elasticity part of the
contact problem. This section is closed with an overview of refinement strate-
gies for NURBS parametrized models to reduce the approximation error of the
solution.
The isogeometric paradigm is applied to the contact part of the problem in
section 3.3. For this the parameter form of the NURBS geometry description is
inherited for the discrete representation of the contact boundary. Normal gap func-
tion and its variation are transformed to a discrete setting by using smooth shape
functions from the this very same surface representation. For the general case
of non-matching isogeometric finite element meshes of the contacting partners,
the mortar method is employed for the numerical evaluation of the contact inte-
gral. Due to the non-linear character of the problem, stemming from the unknown
contact surface, the discrete form of the overall problem is solved iteratively by
applying the Newton-Raphson method.
In section 3.4, computational examples in from 2- and 3-D are presented to
show the impact of polynomial order, mesh size, penalty parameter and the num-
ber of integration points on the approximated contact pressures. From these results
chapter 4 is motivated.
This chapter closes with a summary.
3.1 Geometric modeling with NURBS
In this section the mathematical description of Spline geometries based on knot-

vectors, basis functions and control points is given. Related definitions and prop-
erties are mainly taken from [60], [42] and [25]. The Spline description of the
geometry is starting point of the approximate solution of the contact problem in
the isogeometric analysis. Figure 3.1 depicts the example of roller and cam ge-
ometry in contact discretized with NURBS. Both parts are from the driving train
of a high pressure fuel pump (see chapter 5).
3.1. GEOMETRIC MODELING WITH NURBS 19
Figure 3.1: Mechanical parts roller and cam from driving train of a high pressure
fuel pump modelled with Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS)
3.1.1 Basis functions

For the one-dimensional case, spline basis functions are defined on a parameter
domain Ω0 = [ξ1 , ξm ] ⊂ R, represented by a knot vector
Ξ := {ξ1 , · · · , ξm }. (3.1)
In (3.1) the knots ξi ∈ R (i = 1, · · · , m) are sorted in a non-decreasing sequence,
i.e. ξi ≤ ξi+1 (i = 1, . . . , m − 1), and they are interpreted as a set of coordinates
which divide Ω0 into knot spans or elements. Thus, an element is defined by the
half open interval [ξi , ξi+1 ) of distinct knots. In the finite element formulation
these spans will be used for local integration. When knots are equally spaced, Ξ
is called uniform and when the first and last knots have the multiplicity p + 1, i.e.
ξ1 = · · · = ξ p+1 and ξm−p = · · · = ξm , Ξ is called open knot vector. An open knot
vector is the standard case for geometry modeling and it allows the basis functions
to be interpolatory at the endpoints of the parameter interval. Basis functions in-
side the parameter interval are not interpolatory to the knots.
Basis functions Nip (ξ ) : Ω0 → [0, 1] of degree p and the order p + 1 of B-

Splines are now defined by the Cox-de Boor recursion, starting with the piece-
wise constant functions
(
1 if ξi ≤ ξ < ξi+1 ,
Ni0 (ξ ) = (3.2)
0 otherwise.
The i-th piece-wise polynomial basis, with i = 1, · · · , n = m − p − 1 is defined by
ξ − ξi ξi+p+1 − ξ
Nip (ξ ) = Ni,p−1 (ξ ) + Ni+1,p−1 (ξ ). (3.3)
ξi+p − ξi ξi+p+1 − ξi+1
For the case 00 , the quotient is defined to be 0.
Rational basis functions Rip (ξ ) : Ω0 → [0, 1] for constructing NURBS geome-

tries are derived from (3.3) in the following way:
Nip (ξ )wi
Rip (ξ ) = n (3.4)
p
∑ N j (ξ )w j
j=1
In (3.4) the factors wi ∈ R+ (i = 1, · · · , n) are weights, which allow, different from

B-splines basis functions, a more flexible modelling of geometries. Especially
conic sections, like circles or ellipses, are only possible with NURBS.
Useful properties of B-spline and NURBS basis functions in the context of a

numerical procedure are:
• Compact support, the sub-domain where each basis function is non-zero
comprises p + 1 knot spans, i.e. supp(Nip ) = [ξi , ξi+p+1 )
• Non-negativity, i.e. Nip (ξ ) ≤ 0 with ξ ∈ [ξ1 , ξm ].
• partition of unity, i.e. ∑ni=1 Nip (ξ ) ≡ 1, ∀ξ ∈ [ξ1 , ξm ]. This property is in

common with basis functions classically used for the FEM.
• linear independence, which ensures that numerical solution is unique.
• controllable smoothness, this is achieved by placing more than one knot at

the same place. Increasing the multiplicity to k reduces the continuity from
C p−1 to C p−k of basis function there.
Bi- and trivariate NURBS basis functions, needed for modelling of surfaces
and solids, are defined by the tensor product of univariate basis functions (3.4).
The parameter domain Ω0 is then represented with the Cartesian product of knot-
vectors
(α) (α)
Ξ(α) := {ξ1 , · · · , ξmα }, α = 1, · · · , d. (3.5)
In (3.5), α indicates the spatial direction. The trivariate basis functions Rpi :
(1) (1) (2) (2) (3) (3)
Ω0 → R defined on the parameter domain Ω0 = [ξ1 , ξm1 ]×[ξ1 , ξm2 ]×[ξ1 , ξm3 ] ⊂
R3 for example, are given by the formula:
wi1 wi2 wi3 Nip11 (ξ (1) )Nip22 (ξ (2) )Nip33 (ξ (3) )

Rpi (ξξ ) = n1 n2 n3 (3.6)
∑ ∑ ∑ w j1 w j2 w j3 N jp11 (ξ (1) )N jp22 (ξ (2) )N jp33 (ξ (3) )
j1 =1 j2 =1 j3 =1
3.1. GEOMETRIC MODELING WITH NURBS 21
for all ξ = (ξ (1) , ξ (2) , ξ (3) ) with the multi-indices n = (n1 , n2 , n3 ), p = (p1 , p2 , p3 )
and i = (i1 , i2 , i3 ) for number, degree and index. The overall set of n1 n2 n3 basis
functions span the space
Sp (Ξ) = span Rpi , i ∈ {1, · · · , n1 } × {1, · · · , n2 } × {1, · · · , n3 } .

(3.7)
The single knot-vectors Ξ(1) , Ξ(2) and Ξ(3) , used for defining (3.6), build the tensor
product mesh
(1) (1) (2) (2) (3) (3)

T := {Ek := [ξk1 , ξk1 +1 ] × [ξk2 , ξk2 +1 ] × [ξk3 , ξk3 +1 ],
k1 = 1, · · · , m1 , k2 = 1, · · · , m2 , k3 = 1, · · · , m3 } (3.8)
in which a single element Ek has the global index k, given by k := (k3 − 1)m1 m2 +
(k2 − 1) · m1 + k1 .
The definition of bivariate basis functions is done in an analog way.
3.1.2 Geometries
Based on section 3.1.1 the rational piecewise parametric representation of NURBS
geometries is given here.
Curves c(ξ ) : [ξ1 , ξm ] → Rd is defined by univariate rational basis functions

Rip (ξ ) and control points {Pi }i=1,··· ,n in the form
n
c(ξ ) = ∑ Rip (ξ ) Pi . (3.9)
i=1
(α) (α)
The components of the control points are Pi /wi , with Pi being the spatial co-
ordinates and wi being the corresponding weights.
(α) (α) d
h i
Surfaces and volumes x(ξξ ) : ξ1 , ξmα → Rd with d = 2 resp. d = 3 are
defined by
n
x(ξξ ) = ∑ Rpi (ξξ )Pi . (3.10)
i=1
Similar to (3.6) the multi-index notations i, n and p are employed in (3.10). The
(α)
control point components are Pi /(∏dα=1 wid ). Connecting control points of
curves, surfaces and volumes with straight lines, control polygons, control nets
resp. control meshes are developed.
Properties and features of NURBS geometries are summarized as follows:

• weights: increasing a weight corresponding to a control point moves the

geometry closer to the point. All weights increased with the same value at
the same time leaves the geometry unchanged.
• local influence: shifting one control-point changes NURBS geometry only
locally
• convex hull: for wi ∈ R+ NURBS curves, surfaces or solids are completely
contained in the corresponding control-polygon, -net or -mesh.
• affine invariance: description of NURBS geometries with control-points is
invariant under affine transformations
• parameter line: The four boundary curves of a NURBS surface are deter-
mined by the boundary control points and weights of the control net, if first
the knot vectors are open. (see section 3.3.1).
• parameter surfaces: If one parameter is kept constant for a NURBS volume
and the knot-vectors are open, the resulting six boundary surfaces are deter-
mined by the boundary control points and weights of the mesh (see section
3.3.1).
• patch: Knot-vectors and the corresponding control-points form a patch.
Simple geometries can be defined with single patches. Geometrically com-
plex structures though require multiple patches for an exact description. The
patch boundaries are C0 -continuous.
3.2 Isogeometric discretization concept

In finite element procedures the numerical solution of the continuous problem is
determined locally and assembled in an appropriate way to the overall approxima-
tion of the solution. For this, problems geometric domain, trial- and test functions
are transformed into a discrete form. From discretization the so-called numerical
model of the problem is derived. In this section the discretization process based
on the isogeometric approach is presented from [16] and [7] in a generic form be-
fore it is applied to the linear elasticity problem. This section closes with a brief
overview of classical refinement strategies in the contact of isogeometric analysis.
3.2.1 Galerkin Projection

In isogeometric finite element analysis, the discrete representation of the geom-
etry Ωh is inherited from the Spline parametrization (see (3.9), (3.10)). The ge-
ometrical degrees of freedom are the control points with their coordinates and
3.2. ISOGEOMETRIC DISCRETIZATION CONCEPT 23
weights. The overall set of m finite elements, describing the geometry exactly,
i.e. Ω = Ωh = m
S
e=1 Ωe , is defined in parameter space Ω0 by the tensor product
mesh T (see (3.8)) and mapped to physical space by a global geometry function
G(ξξ ) : Ωh0 → Ωhe . Conventionally G(ξξ ) is the geometry description with NURBS.
To ensure a bijective or invertible mapping between parameter and physical space,
the NURBS construction of the geometry has to be waterproof, i.e. no gaps or
overlaps are allowed.
Different methods can be applied for a discrete representation of trial and

test functions in the problems integral equations. In this work, the well-known
Galerkin approach is applied and the first step herein consists of replacing the
infinite-dimensional spaces S and V (see (2.29) and (2.30)) by finite dimensional
subspaces S h ⊂ S and V h ⊂ V . Applying the isoparametric approach in isogeo-
metric setting, the discrete spaces S h , V h are spanned by the same NURBS basis
functions used for geometry description and pushed forward to physical space by
the geometry function G:
d d
S h ⊂ span Rpi ◦ G−1 V h ⊂ span Rpi ◦ G−1 .

(3.11)
In the definition of discrete function spaces (3.11), the spatial dimension of the
problem is considered with {· · · }d . Using the same basis for representing trial
and test functions in a discrete form, is special to the so-called Bobnov − Galerkin
method.
Based on (3.11), trial- and test functions u(x), δ u(x) with x ∈ Ω of the un-
known displacement field are approximated by
n n
uh (x) = ∑ Rpi ◦ G−1 (x) qi , δ uh (x) = ∑ Rpi ◦ G−1 (x) δ qi . (3.12)
i=1 i=1
The coefficients qi , δ qi ∈ Rd in (3.12) are the control point displacements and

they represent the numerical degrees of freedom. They do not have an immediate
physical interpretation, as it is the case for nodes of a classical finite element.
The discrete representations of uh , δ uh given in (3.12) are now inserted into

the integral form of the problem. Numerical integration inside isogeometric finite
elements is performed based on quadrature rules and partial derivatives in physi-
cal domain are transformed to derivatives with respect to parametric coordinates
applying the chain rule. From these steps a discrete set of algebraic equations is
generated for each element and assembled with an appropriate procedure to the
global system
δ qT K q = δ qT f. (3.13)
In (3.13) coefficients of the algebraic equations stemming from the bilinear form
of the problem, build the global stiffness matrix K ∈ RN×N with N = d · n be-
ing the product of spatial dimension d and the overall number of basis function
n = ∏dα=1 nα . The load vector entries in f ∈ RN result from discretization of the
problems linear form. The unknown control point displacements and their varia-
tions form the vectors q and δ q. Homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions are
considered by zeroing out rows and columns corresponding to the non-zeros basis
functions.
Allowing now arbitrary δ q ∈ RN , the system (3.13) is written in the form
Kq = f. (3.14)
Solving (3.14) and displacing the control points of the spline geometry from initial
configuration with the corresponding values from q, yields the deformed spline
geometry for the given structural problem.
3.2.2 Application to linear elasticity problem

The isogeometric discretization process based on Galerkin method, presented in
the previous section, is now applied to the problem of linear elasticity in 2D. The
discretization in 3D is done in analog way.
Starting from a NURBS parameterized model of the problems geometric do-
main, the continuous equations are(2.31) transformed to a discrete set by substitut-
ing displacements and their variations with uh and δ uh defined in (3.12). For the
bilinear part of the problem and for one element Ωe ⊂ Ωh , this leads to expression
δ qTe Ke qe , with the element stiffness matrix
Z
Kiej = BTi C Bj dΩ, i, j = 1, · · · , n. (3.15)
Ωe
In (3.15) the matrices Bi are defined by partial derivatives of rational basis func-
tions in the form  
Ri,x(1) 0
Bi =  0 Ri,x(2)  . (3.16)
Ri,x(2) Ri,x(1)
The derivatives with respect to parameter coordinates are transformed to deriva-
tives with respect to corresponding physical coordinates by the rule ∇x Ri (x) =
∇ξ Ri (ξξ ) · DG(ξξ )−1 . In this rule DG is the Jacobian of the geometry function
G(ξξ ).
More details are given in [7].
3.2. ISOGEOMETRIC DISCRETIZATION CONCEPT 25
3.2.3 Refinement strategies

NURBS geometries are generally described with a minimum set of control-points.
For the numerical solution of e.g. structural problems with an acceptable approx-
imation quality though, this number of degrees of freedom is in general too small.
In figure 3.2 (a) the initial NURBS parameterization of one quarter of an annulus
is depicted.
(a) (b)
Figure 3.2: NURBS parameterization of one quarter of an annulus in (a) initial

coarse description and (b) after h-refinement
The possibilities for approximating the deformation field based on this rela-
tively coarse geometry description are limited when the structure is subjected to
external forces and displacements. Thus the initial geometry is refined (see fig-
ure 3.2 (b)). Several approach for refining the geometry respectively for including
additional basis functions to trial and test function spaces are possible. All meth-
ods for refining NURBS geometries have in common, that the geometrical shape
of the problem is not changed. This is explicitly beneficial for the purpose of do-
ing analysis.
Classical refinement methods are the so-called h- and p-refinement proce-

dures. During h-refinement the function space is enriched by adding additional
elements which are created by inserting independent knots (no repeated knots) in
knot vectors. With each new element for the 1 dimensional case, a new control
point is added. The positions of new and the affected old control points {P̄}m
A=1
and {P}nA=1 from knot-insertion are computed with the formula


P1 ,
 A = 1,
PA = αA PA + (1 − αA )PA−1 , 1 < A < m, (3.17)

Pn , A = m,

where 
1,

 1 ≤ A ≤ k− p
¯ A
αA = ξ ξ −ξ−ξ , k − p + 1 ≤ A ≤ k, (3.18)
 A+p A

0, A ≥ k + 1.
The knot insertion in 2D and 3D has a global effect on the mesh of one patch
geometries due to the tensor product structure of NURBS. For this reason, local
refinement is not simply possibly with this procedure.
In the method of p-refinement the enrichment of the function space is obtained

by increasing the polynomial degree. This is practically done by increasing the
multiplicity of all knots. The number of elements remains unchanged. The num-
ber of additional control-points is linked to the overall number of elements and
the increased polynomial degree. The positions of the control points is computed
with a formula given in [42].
The combination of both refinement methods leads to the so-called k-refinement

approach. For obtaining the highest possible continuity of basis functions, the
polynomial degree is increased first, before new elements are added to the origi-
nal mesh. Parts in which this is not wanted, reduced continuity can be gained by
increasing the knot multiplicity accordingly. Computational details for the h-, p-
and k-refinement methods are given in [42].
3.3 NURBS discretization of contact

The isogeometric approach, its application to the linear elasticity part and refine-
ment strategies were presented in the previous sections. Now the focus lies on the
discrete representation of the contact part in the same isogeometric setting.
Classical finite element procedures for the solution of highly non-linear con-
tact problems suffer from the non-smooth representation of surfaces with La-
grange Elements. The robustness of contact search is difficult to attain because
the surface normal representation at the element edges is not unique due to the
3.3. NURBS DISCRETIZATION OF CONTACT 27
C0 continuity there. This issue of the discontinuous surface normal representa-

tion is addressed with expensive surface smoothing techniques. Algorithms for
the solution of large deformation contact and for the solution of contact problems
involving slip and multiple structures, especially needed in industrial application,
become for this reason disproportionately expensive.
The use of spline representation of geometries for isogeometric analysis of

contact problems was proven beneficial in several publications already, see e.g.
[41], [17], [56] and [54]. Due to smooth representation of surface normal, the
solving procedure of the contact problem has become more robust. Moreover,
due to the exact representation of the contact surface, the solution has become
more accurate. The abilities of isogeometric contact algorithms to control surface
smoothness by degree elevation procedure and to refine the approximation space
by leaving the exact geometry unchanged at the same time, make them very inter-
esting for industrial application.
Independent from the numerical approach, contact algorithms encompass
• the parametrization and discretization of contact surface,
• contact detection,
• discretization of contact variables and
• the numerical evaluation of the integral.
In IGA the discretization and parametrization of the contact surface is inherited

from the NURBS description of the geometry and using very same basis func-
tions, which describe the surface geometry exactly and smoothly, the unknown
contact displacements are discretized.
Generally multiple NURBS patches are required for the exact representation
of complex geometries which again requires patch-coupling techniques presented
for example in [27], [83] and [61]. The geometry examples in this work are mod-
elled with single NURBS patches. Details on patch coupling techniques are omit-
ted here for this reason. One benefit of single patch geometry representations is
the robust contact search. For the iterative determination of closest point projec-
tions with Newtons Method continuous second derivatives are required. This can
only be assured with single patches.
Numerical evaluation of the contact part in isogeometric setting has been done
already with
• the Node to Segment (NTS) approach (see [56]),
• the Gauss Point To Segment (GPTS) (see [41], [17]),
• the GPTS two-half pass version (GPTS-2hp) (see [54]) and
• the Mortar Method (see [41],[68] and [18])
following in principle the classical finite element counterparts. A review and dis-
cussion of the listed approaches is given in [19].
In the NTS-approach contact contributions in week form are collocated at cer-

tain physical points, so-called Greville, Demko or Boutella-points. Their num-
ber must correspond to the control points of the contact surfaces to avoid an un-
determined problem. The simplicity of this approach together with the advantages
coming from the smooth surface representation, make this approach interesting
for applications with low accuracy requirements. Failing the contact Patch test
(see e.g. [28]) though and showing a strong dependency of the results from mesh
discretization and the choice of slave and master, makes the approach not practi-
cal for the purpose of this work. Recovering contact pressures from the solution
based on the NTS approach is also not trivial.
The GPTS-approach overcomes disadvantages of the NTS-approach by in-

tegrating the contact contributions in the weak form directly. This is done by
positioning Gauss Legendre points along the contact surface and enforcing the
constraints at all these locations. This approach has a simple implementation and
the results show a relatively good quality despite coarse meshes. Different from
e.g. mortar integration approach, it has also low computational costs.
The error coming from the numerical integration based on this approach is fur-
ther reduced by implementing the two-half-pass version GPTS-2hp, which com-
putes the contact part twice, switching the role of slave and master. Both integra-
tion results are then averaged.
A significant drawback of the GPTS approach is that the number of gauss

points, needed for a sufficiently accurate numerical integration, is in general larger
than the number of control points, shaping the contact surface. This yields an over-
constrained problem and the resulting tractions show an oscillatory behaviour.
For an accurate and robust integration, in this work the isogeometric mortar
method is applied for the numerical evaluation of the contact part. Constrains
are fulfilled here in a weak sense by projecting them to control-points of the slave
surface and numerical integration is performed element-wise. NURBS basis func-

tions do not interpolate between control-points. The control points of the slave
side do not have a physical meaning for this reason.
In the corresponding publications listed above it is shown that the contact

patch test is passed for mortar implementations. The integration error is there-
fore not a problem. In addition oscillating contact tractions vanish for Lagrange
Multiplier implementations due to the determined system. It has been shown also
that numerical results from the mortar approach are insensitive to the chosen poly-
nomial order for surface parametrization. The only drawback of this approach are
the computational costs related to the numerical integration.
Segmentation, classically performed due to the non-conforming meshes of

slave and master for an exact integration of the mortar integral, is omitted in the
implementation of this work. The complexity of a segmentation procedure in
the isogeometric setting is assumed very high. Different from classical finite ele-
ment meshes, NURBS surface parametrization is smoother and integration across
element boundaries contains therefore less error. Quality and robustness of the
solutions are also not significantly influenced.
In the first part of this section 3.3.1 contact surfaces and variables are repre-
sented in a discrete form based on the isogeometric setting for 2- and 3D NURBS
geometries. The second part 3.3.2 contains details on the local contact search. The
isogeometric Mortar Method for the numerical evaluation of the contact integral
resulting in a stiffness matrix and residual force vector is presented in the third
part 3.3.3. The overall system is then solved in section 3.3.4 after assembling the
discrete sets of equations from the linear elasticity parts and the contact part to
a global non-linear system of algebraic equations. The section is closed with the
presentation of numerical examples and a summary.
3.3.1 Discrete representation of surface and variables

The discrete representation of contact surfaces Γch,l , l = {s, m} is inherited from
the NURBS description of the contacting geometries. Figure 3.3 shows 2D struc-
tures coming into contact in physical and parameter space.
Figure 3.3: Spline parameterization of 2D contact, basic principle
Single points xs from one element Γs,h s,h

c,e ⊂ Γc of the slave side (shown in blue)
are given by
p1 +1
s
x (ξ (1)
)= ∑ R−
i (ξ
(1) −
)Pi1 (3.19)
i=1
for the presented example. Their parameter form is derived from the NURBS
(2)
geometry description by keeping the parameter ξ (2) := ξ0 fix. Non-zero basis
functions
(1) (2)
R− −
i (ξ ) := Ri1 ,i2 =1 (ξ , ξ0 )
in (3.19) are the i = 1, · · · , p1 + 1 subset of bivariate basis functions Ri1 ,i2 (ξξ )
which describe the corresponding surface element. Control-points, associated
with the contact curve are denoted by P− i1 ⊂ Pi1 ,i2 .
Parameter description of physical points xm (ζ (2) ) ∈ Γhc,e from contact ele-

ments of master side are given in this example by
p2 +1
xm (ζ (2) ) = ∑ R+j (ζ (2) )P+j2 . (3.20)
j=1
(1)
Here, the parameter ζ (1) := ζm1 is defined fix and the j = 1, · · · , p2 + 1 non-zero
basis functions are
(1)
R+j (ζ ) := R+j1 =m1 +p1 +1, j2 (ζm1 , ζ (2) )
with the corresponding control-points P+j ⊂ P+j1 , j2 .
d−1
In 3D, contact surface elements are described by i = 1, · · · , ∏α=1 (pα + 1)
(1) (1)
control-points and the corresponding basis functions Ri (ξξ ) with e.g. ξ ∈ [ξ1 , ξm1 ]×
(3) (3) (2) (2) (3) (3)
[ξ1 , ξm3 ], respectively R(ζζ ) with e.g. ζ ∈ [ζ1 , ζm2 ] × [ζ1 , ζm3 ].
Discretization of variables
l,h
After the NURBS representation of the boundary elements Γc,e , the contact
integrand is now transformed to its discrete form:
εN δ uN uN → εN δ uhN uhN
Based on the isoparametric approach, contact displacements us,h m,h

e and ue of slave
and master are approximated by
p1 +1 p2 +1
us,h
e (x) = ∑ R− −
i (ξ )qi , um,h
e (x̄) = ∑ R+j (ζ¯ )q+j . (3.21)
i=1 j=1
for x ∈ Γs,h m,h

c,e , respectively x̄ ∈ Γc,e . In (3.21) degrees of freedom of the numerical
solutions, the contact element control-point displacements, are denoted with q− i
and q+j . For the discrete representation of the normal gap uN , contact displace-
ments um on the master side are evaluated at the closest point projection x̄ with
the corresponding parameter ζ¯ of a given slave point xs (ξ ) ∈ Γs,h c . The determi-
¯
nation of ζ is a non-linear problem. Its description and solution are part of the
local contact search and presented in section 3.3.2.
In the same way, variational contact displacements δ us,h m,h

e and δ ue of both
structures are approximated by
p1 +1 p2 +1
δ us,h
e = ∑ R− −
i (ξ )δ qi , δ ūm,h
e = ∑ R j (ζ¯ )δ q+j (3.22)
i=1 j=1
with the numerical degrees of freedom δ q− +

i and δ qi .
The initial gap function ghN,0 of a given point xs is defined by

p1 +1 p2 +1
Xse = ∑ R− −
i (ξ )Pi,0 and X̄m
e = ∑ R j (ζ¯ )P+j,0 . (3.23)
i=1 j=1
Contact element control points from the initial configuration of salve and master
are denoted here with P− +
i,0 and Pi,0 .
The overall discrete form δ Πhc,e of the contact part from one element in pen-
etration is derived by inserting the single contact quantities from (3.21), (3.22)
and (3.23) into (2.35):
!
Z p1 +1 p2 +1
δ Πh =
c,e R− (ξ )δ q− −
∑ i R+ (ζ¯ )δ q+ n̄
i ∑ j j
Γsc,e i=1 j=1
!
p1 +1 p2 +1
∑ R− −
i (ξ )qi − ∑ R+j (ζ¯ )q+j n̄ + · · ·
i=1 j=1
!
p1 +1 p2 +1
···+ ∑ R− −
i (ξ )Pi,0 − ∑ R+j (ζ¯ )P+j,0 n̄ dΓ. (3.24)
i=1 j=1
The surface normal evaluated at the CPP on master side is denoted herein with n̄.
For a more concise notation of (3.24), the single contributions are sorted into
matrices:
 −  −  −  − 
P1,0

R1 (ξ ) 1d q1 δ q1
.
.. .
 .  .
 .   .. 
 .   .   . 
 
 
 −  −   −   − 
 Rnsc,e (ξ ) 1d  qnsc,e  δ qnsc,e  e P sc,e ,0 

Ce =   qc,e =  +  δ qc,e =  +  P =  n+
+ ¯  P  (3.25)

 −R (ζ ) 1d  q   δq  c,0
1  1   1   1,0 
..  ..   .. 
 
   .. 
 .   .   .   . 
+ ¯ + +
−Rnmc,e (ζ ) 1d qnsc,e δ qnsc,e P+
nm ,0 c,e
where 1d is the identity matrix of dimension d and are number of non- nsc,e , nm
c,e
zero basis functions. Now (3.24) can be written in the form
Z
δ Πhc,e = δ qTc,e CTe n̄n̄T Ce qc,e − CTe n̄n̄T Ce Pec,0 dΓ = fc,e
h
(ξ , ζ¯ ). (3.26)
Γsc,e
3.3.2 Contact detection

Contact problems have a highly non-linear character due to the unknown contact
surface Γc . Search algorithms, which generally comprise of a global and local
contact search, are therefore an important part of the overall contact solution pro-
cedure.
Global contact search provides the information on parts of the structures,

which are about to come into contact. Especially problems with multiple bod-
ies need an efficient global search. From algorithmic point of view, this is quite a
challenging task (see e.g. [55], [82] and [51]).
In this work, no special focus on the time-consuming implementation of global
search is put (see numerical examples in sec. 3.4). This section provides therefore
details only on the implementation of local search for the check of contact condi-
tions based on the given description in [54] and [60].
The aim of a local search is to find the parameter ζ¯ corresponding to the CPP
x̄ ∈ Γm,h s h
c on the master side for a given discrete point x ∈ Γc and evaluate the sign
of uN . With the local search and the penetration function (2.33), active parts, i.e.
the parts in penetration, of the contacting boundaries are identified for evaluation
of the contact integral (see section 3.3.3).
Local contact search in 2D
In 2D, the implementation of local search is done with the extremal condition
f (ζ ) = xm m s
,ζ (ζ ) · (x (ζ ) − x ) = 0. (3.27)
When the surface tangent xm ,ζ

(ζ ) on master side is perpendicular to the distance
vector xm (ζ ) − xs , eq. 3.27 is fulfilled with the parameter ζ¯ of CPP. The function
f (ζ ) in (3.27) is non-linear in ζ and it has to be solved therefore iteratively. This
is done by the application of Newton’s method.
The initial guess ζ0 builds the start of Newton’s procedure. Iterating then with
the steps
f (ζi ) xm (ζ ) · (xm (ζi ) − xs )

,ζ i
ζi+1 = ζi − = ζi − m (3.28)
f,ζ (ζi ) x,ζ ζ (ζi ) · (xm (ζi ) − xs ) + |xm (ζ )|2
,ζ ζ i
until the criteria

|xm (ζ ) · (xm (ζi ) − xs )|
,ζ i
m s
|x (ζi ) − x | ≤ ε1 and ≤ ε2 . (3.29)
|xm (ζ )| |xm (ζi ) − xs |
,ζ i
are met, provides the solution ζ¯ to (3.27).

The initial parameter ζ0 plays an important role for the convergence of New-
tons procedure. Dependent from this parameter, solutions from two iteration steps
can start oscillating between each other and no convergence is attained. In the con-
sequence, it influences the overall robustness of a contact algorithm. Following
[60], in this work the initial guess is determined in two steps. First, those master
contact elements are identified from a bucket search ([72]) which are candidates
for containing the initial guess. In a second step, grids of discrete points (guess
points) in the determined master elements are chosen for a finer search for the
shortest distance. This second step can be omitted for a better performance, in
case of contact surfaces with high regularity.
Partial derivatives xm
,ζ
and xm
,ζ
in (3.28) are determined by applying the prod-
uct rule (see e.g. [7]).
The solution ζ¯ to (3.27) is found, when either both points xs and xm (ζi ) co-
incide with a given tolerance ε1 or when the cosine of both vectors xm (ζ ) and
,ζ i
m s
x (ζi ) − x is in a given tolerance ε2 (see (3.29)).
Local contact search in 3D
For the 3-dimensional case, the pair of parameters (ξξ , ζ¯ ) is found, when the
extremal conditions
f (ζζ ) = xm
,ζ (1)
(ζζ ) · (xm (ζζ ) − xs ) = 0 and (3.30a)
g(ζζ ) = xm
,ζ (2)
(ζζ ) · (xm (ζζ ) − xs ) = 0 (3.30b)
are fulfilled. These two coupled algebraic equations with the surface basis vectors
xm
,ζ (1)
and xm
,ζ (2)
and the distance vector d := xm (ζζ ) − xs are again nonlinear.
(1) (1) (2) (2)
Their solution ζ¯ ∈ [ζ1 , ζm1 ] × [ζ1 , ζm2 ] is found iteratively starting with
the initial guess ζ 0 . The iteration steps are defined by

f (ζζ i ) −1
ζ i+1 = ζ i − J (3.31)
g(ζζ i ) i
and the convergence is checked with the criteria
|xm (ζζ i ) − xs | ≤ ε1 and (3.32)
|xm
,ζ (1)
(ζζ i ) · (xm (ζζ i ) − xs )| |xm
,ζ (2)
(ζζ i ) · (xm (ζζ i ) − xs )|
≤ ε2 , ≤ ε2 . (3.33)
|xm
,ζ (1)
(ζζ i )| · |(xm (ζζ i ) − xs )| |xm
,ζ (2)
(ζζ i )| · |(xm (ζζ i ) − xs )|
The initial guess yields from a two-step approach described above for the 2D case.
The Jacobian matrix Ji for the Newton steps (3.31) is defined by

# " m 2
|x,ζ (1) | + d · xm m xm + d · xm
" #
f,ζ (1) f,ζ (2) ζ (1) ,ζ (1)
x ,ζ (1) ,ζ (2) ζ (1) ,ζ (2)
Ji = = m m m |2 + d · xm .
g,ζ (1) g,ζ (2) x,ζ (1) x,ζ (2) + d · xmζ (2) ,ζ (1)
|x ,ζ (2) ζ (2) ,ζ (2)
Herein the first, second order and mixed partial derivatives are denoted with xm ,ζ (i)
,
m m
xζ (i) ,ζ (i) and xζ (i) ,ζ ( j) with i, j ∈ {1, 2}. Their computation formula for NURBS
parameter description of xm (ζζ ) can be found for example in [16]. Note that for
positive definite Jacobian matrices, the iterations will converge to a unique solu-
tion ζ¯ .
Similar to the 2D case, the convergence criterion (3.32) checks if slave and
master points xs and xm (ζζ i ) coincide with a given tolerance ε1 in iteration step
i. The criteria given in (3.33) check on the other hand if basis and distance
vectors xm
,ζ (1)
(ζζ i ), xm
,ζ (2)
(ζζ i ) and (xm (ζζ i ) − xs ) are orthogonal to each with a given
tolerance ε2 .
3.3.3 Isogeometric Mortar Method

After contact surfaces, variables and the determination of Closest Point Projec-
tions are represented in discrete form, the focus in this section lies on the numeri-
cal evaluation of the contact integral.
A special property of contact integrals is that two structures are involved with
their own surface parameterizations. During integration, this must be considered
at the same time. In addition, contact meshes result from independent geometry
parameterizations and therefore they do not match in general. For this reason, a
simple numerical integration of the contact integral is not possible. The evaluation
must be done in a piecewise form.
From different possibilities discussed in the beginning of this section, in this

work the Mortar Method is applied for the numerical integration of contact con-
tributions given in equation (3.26)) following the descriptions in [41]. Contact
constraints will be tested so locally and they will be fulfilled in a weak sense.
Figure 3.4 sketches the basic principle of mortar integration in isogeometric

setting for the 2D case.
Figure 3.4: Principle of isogeometric mortar integration method in contact com-

putation
Based on the NURBS contact surface parameterization, the integration is per-

formed on the slave side, the non-mortar side, by employing the isogeometric
finite element structure. For an accurate evaluation of the integral, surfaces of
the slave side have generally a finer mesh compared to the master contact surface
discretization. Numerical integration in one element Γsc,e is then performed by
the Gauss-Legendre-Quadrature rule (see [43]). The continuous integral is trans-
formed so to a weighted sum:
Z n∗c,GP
h
fc,e (ξ , ζ¯ ) dΓ ≈ fch (ξi , ζ¯ )wi ˆ ˜
det DF(ξi ) · det DF̂(ξi ) . (3.34)

Γc,e
∑
i=1
In (3.34) fch (ξ , ζ¯ ) represents the discrete form of the contact integrand. The num-
ber of quadrature points nc,GP is chosen with regard nc,GP ≥ (p + 1)d , where p
is the polynomial degree of slave basis functions (influence of differently chosen
nc,GP on numerical solutions is addressed section 3.4.1), and d is the number of
physical dimensions.
Elements, which are not in penetration over the whole length, contribute only
with gauss-points i = 1, · · · , n∗c,GP in penetration to the numerical integration (for
more details, see [30]). In figure 3.4 they are represented with red stars. Gauss-
points not in penetration are shown with gray stars.
Positions of the integrations points ξi are defined on the interval [−1, 1] for
each parametric coordinate and are computed together with the corresponding
weights wi from the roots of Legendre polynomials. The quadrature rules are
listed for example in [85] or in [43].
The transformation of integration domains is considered with the absolute val-

ues of the Jacobian DF and DF̂ of the two mapping functions illustrated in figure
3.4.
The discrete representation of the contact integrand (see section 3.3.1) and the
numerical integration presented here, yield the algebraic equations
δ Πhc,e = δ qc,e Kec qc,e + δ qTc,e Kec Pec,0 . (3.35)
These equations represent the linearized contact part of the non-linear problem for
one element Γhc,e .
The set of equations (3.35) from all contact elements e = 1, · · · , n∗c in penetra-
tion are assembled, i.e.
∗
nc
[
δ Πhc = δ Πhc,e ,
e=1
and variational contact displacements in δ qc are set to one, yielding the overall
linear set of equations
δ Πhc = Kc qc + Kc Pc,0 . (3.36)
| {z }
fc
In (3.36) the global contact stiffness matrix is denoted with Kc and the contact
residual force vector is denoted with fc . In a global solution procedure for non-
linear contact problems, Kc and fc must be determined in each iteration step from
scratch and added to the global system which consists of the linear elasticity parts
of slave and master (see next section).
3.3.4 Solution method

Contact problems are non-linear due to the a priori unknown boundary Γ∗c . For
the solution of these problems, it requires therefore an iterative procedure.
In literature, methods like the Fixed-Point Method, the Modified or Quasi New-
ton Raphson Method or the Arc-Length Continuation Method are suggested (see
[79], [8] and [72]). In this work the classical Newton Raphson Method is applied
for the approximate solution of the static structural contact problem.
The starting point of Newton‘s method is the residual form of the problem
given by
r(q) = (Ks + Km + Kc (q)) · q − (fs + fm ) + fc (q) = 0. (3.37)
| {z } | {z }
fint (q) fext (q)
In a second step, r(q) is linearized in terms of q:
∂r
r̃(q) = r(qi ) + ∆q + · · · (3.38)
∂q
|{z}
KT
In 3.38 the derivative of residual r w.r.t. the control-point displacements q is

called the Tangential Stiffness Matrix and denoted by KT . This linearized system
of equations is then solved for
∆qi+1 = −K−1
T r(qi ) (3.39)
and the updates of qi are determined by
qi+1 = qi + ∆qi+1 , (3.40)
of each iteration step i.
For the practical implementation of the iterative procedure, the assembly of
stiffness matrices Ks , Km , Ks and external force vectors fs , fm , fc are shown for
r(qi ) in figure 3.5.
Figure 3.5: Assembly of global system of equations
A possible algorithmic implementation of the described Newton’s procedure

is given here:
Algorithm 1 Newton’s method for static structural contact

1: Initial guess: q0
2: Tolerances: εq , εr > 0
3: Initialization: i ← 0
4: repeat
5: Assembly: fi ← f(qi ), KT,i ← KT (qi )
6: Evaluate residual: ri ← fint (qi ) − fext (qi )
7: Compute update: ∆qi ← Solve KT,i ∆qi = −ri
kfint,i k
8: Evaluate Error: eq ← k∆q ik
kqi k , er ← kfext,i k
9: Update: qi+1 ← qi + ∆qi
10: i ← i+1
11: until eq < εq ∧ er < εr
12: Return value: q ← qi
The initial guess q0 plays, as described already in sec. 3.3.2, an important role
for the convergence behavior of Newton methods. For the computation of numer-
ical examples in the next sections, control-point displacements q0 are derived by
displacing the slave structure from its initial configuration until it penetrates the
master side.
The convergence behavior of Newton’s method is further improved, when the

external load f is applied in successive steps f(λ ) = λ f with increasing load factors
λ = 1, 2, · · · . For each load step, the initial guess qλ0 is derived from the solution
of previous load step λ − 1.
The approximate solutions to the non-linear problem with a given load step
is found, when the solutions qi do not change significantly by ∆qi , i.e. k∆q ik
kqi k is
smaller a given parameter εq , or when the difference between internal and exter-
kf k
nal forces f int,i is smaller than a given parameter εr .
k ext,i k
Based on the found solution q and the initial configurations of the contacting
structures, the displaced NURBS geometries in contact are computed. The com-
putation of strains and stresses is done in an additional post processing step based
on equations from 2.1.
3.4 Numerical results

In this section, the implementations of contact algorithms described in the pre-
vious sections are verified. For this purpose, examples of the frictionless Hertz
contact problems in 2D and 3D are modeled and solved. In addition, relevant
algorithm parameters, like
• contact mesh size,
• penalty stiffness value,
• the spline degree and
• the number of integration points for the numerical evaluation of the mortar
integral
are varied to investigate their effect on the accuracy of approximate results and
robustness of the solution procedure.
3.4.1 Hertz 2D
The 2D Hertz problem is derived from contact situation of an infinitely long cylin-
der resting on a rigid plane and subjected to a line load F by assuming plane strain
in the cross section of the cylinder. Figure 3.6 depicts the simplified problem.
Figure 3.6: Contact problem description, Hertz 2D

3.4. NUMERICAL RESULTS 41
Due to symmetry, geometries of the problem are reduced to one quarter of a

circle and a rectangle. The necessary Dirichlet boundary conditions are summa-
rized by
u(1) = 0 on Γsu,1 , Γm
u,1 ,
u(1) = u(2) = 0 on Γm
u,2 .
The load F is applied with the traction force vector t̂, with
F
Z
= t̂ dΓ,
2 Γsσ
on the horizontal edge Γσ of the slave structure.
Analytic solution
The analytical solution of the contact pressure distribution, taken from [46], is
described with the material constants E and ν, the radius R of the slave structure
and the applied force F (see Figure 3.6). For the contact radius a the formula is
given by r
FR
a = 2· , (3.41)
πE ∗
with E ∗ = E
(1−ν 2 )
. The analytic maximum pressure p0 is defined by
2F
p0 = . (3.42)
πa
Both, (3.41) and (3.42) define then the quadratic pressure distribution
s
(1) 2
(1) x
p(x ) = p0 1 − (3.43)
a
with the spatial coordinate x(1) .
The analytical solution (3.43) was developed originally by Heinrich Hertz

under the following assumptions:
• Both structures represent linear elastic half spaces with homogeneous isotropic
materials.
• Contact interfaces are regarded frictionless and
• the contact area must be small compared to other body dimensions.

• The circular geometry of the contact interface must be described by quadratic

polynomials.
NURBS discretization
The NURBS model of the problem is depicted in figure 3.7 with its tensor
product bi-quadratic mesh. For salve and master, contact parts of the domains are
0.2
0.1
0 0.2 0.4
Figure 3.7: Coarse NURBS discretization of Hertz 2D problem geometry
meshed with a higher elements density. Due to the tensor product structure of
NURBS this refines also parts of which do not necessarily contribute to a more
accurate approximate solution. Due to the fact that numerical evaluation of the
contact integral is performed on the slave side, the mesh of master side is chosen
coarser. This increases efficiency of the contact search.
Effect of penalty parameter and mesh
For contact implementations with penalty methods in classical finite element

analysis, the dependency of chosen mesh and penalty value is well known (see
e.g. [82]). Here, this effect is investigated for the isogeometric Spline discretiza-
tion. Contact pressures are computed for this purpose from the initial mesh given
in figure 3.7 with the three penalty parameter values: εN = [107 1010 1015 ].
The resulting normal contact pressure distributions pN,εN,i (x) with i = 1, 2, 3

and x := x(1) , computed with
σ (x) n) · n
pN (x) = (σ (3.44)
and normalized with p0 and a, are shown in figure 3.8. The analytical solution is
represented with the blue solid curve.
1.2 analytical solution
N
= 10 7
1
N
= 10 10
0.8 = 10 15
N
0.6
pN /p0
0.4
0.2
-0.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
x/a
Figure 3.8: Approximation results, Hertz 2D contact pressures with different

penalty parameter values εN and NURBS mesh from figure 3.7 with analytical
solution
The approximate results improve from parameter εN = 107 to εN = 1010 sig-

nificantly and exhibit only small changes by increasing εN to 1015 .
Computation results though, depicted in figure 3.10 and gained from the same
three penalty parameter values but with a finer mesh for the contact region of
the slave structure (see figure 3.9), show significant differences. Only parameter
εN = 1010 provides for the chosen mesh acceptable results.
0.2
0.1
0 0.2 0.4
Figure 3.9: Hertz 2D geometries NURBS discretization, fine mesh
analytical solution
1
N
= 10 7
N
= 10 10
N
= 10 15
0.5
pN /p0
-0.5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
x/a
Figure 3.10: Approximation results, Hertz 2D contact pressures with different

penalty parameter values εN and NURBS mesh from figure 3.9 with analytical
solution
These results show that also for Spline discretized contact computation, there
is a clear dependency of the chosen mesh and the penalty parameter. It is also no-
ticeable that all approximate solutions shown above feature oscillatory behavior
in vicinity of the contact end, i.e. for x/a > 1. These oscillations differ only in
frequency and amplitude. Following the explanations given in [32], this artificial
behavior is due to the inability of smooth basis functions, like Spline basis func-
tions, to capture the local C0 -continuous feature of the analytical solution.
Knot-relocation and pressure oscillations

One possible numerical strategy to reduce the artificial oscillations of approx-

imated contact pressures observed in figures 3.8 and 3.10 is knot-relocation (see
[19]). Here, corresponding knots in the knot-vector of contact mesh are positioned
in a way that an element edge coincides with boundary of the active region. This
requires an iterative procedure, based for example on the bisection method (see
e.g. [49]).
(2)
In figure 3.11 approximated pressures from relocating the knot ξ2 to the four
positions xsi (ξ (2) ) with i = 1, · · · , 4 are shown. The positions are chosen by hand.
1.2
0.8
0.2
0.6
pN /p0
0.1
0.4 0
0.2 -0.1
1 1.5 2
0
-0.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
x/a
(b) normal contact stresses from different po-

(a) knot relocation in contact zone
sitions of knot ξi
Figure 3.11: Effect of knot relocation in the vicinity of contact edge on pressure
oscillations, Hertz 2D
The approximated pressures show that in principle knot-relocation reduces ar-

(1)
tificial oscillations (see green curve for ξ2 = ξˆ2,3 ). But this strategy requires an
additional search algorithm for the end of the active region. In addition, the conti-
nuity of element edge knot must be decreased, when the spline degree of the slave
contact geometry is > 2.
h-refinement and pressure oscillations
Another very simple strategy to increase the accuracy of approximate results

in vicinity of the contact end is uniform h-refinement. Figure 3.12 (a) shows, how
pressure curves improve accuracy from increasing mesh resolution in the contact
zone of slave side. Each curve, denoted with h0 /2i , i = 0, 1, · · · , 4, results from
the sequential sub-devision of elements in the contact zone starting with the mesh
shown in figure 3.7 and the element size h0 .
10-2
1.2
0.8
0.1 10-3
0.6
0.4 0
0.2
-0.1
1 1.5 2
0 10-4
-0.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
104
(a) contact pressure curves (b) convergence of oscillation error
Figure 3.12: Hertz 2D results from uniform h-refinement of contact zone
It is also interesting to see in figure 3.12 (b) that the relative local error from
oscillations, quantified by
R 2a h
rel |pN | dx
eh = a (3.45)
p0
reduces monotonously with each refinement step.
p-refinement and pressure oscillations
Now, we want to investigate the effect of refinement by degree elevation along

the contact edge. For this purpose, the coarse and fine mesh are employed. In four
refinement steps the degree p1 of the contact parameter curve is increased by one
starting with p1 = 2 for both meshes. The spline degree p2 = 2 is kept constant.
Figure 3.13 depicts the computed pressure results.
1.2 1.2
1 1
0.8 0.8
0.1 0.1
0.6 0.6
0.4 0 0.4 0
0.2 0.2
-0.1 -0.1
1 1.5 2 1 1.5 2
0 0
-0.2 -0.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
(a) degree elevation results mesh 1 (coarse) (b) degree elevation results mesh 2 (fine)
Figure 3.13: Hertz 2D contact pressures from successive refinement by degree

elevation
For both meshes, the approximate pressures improve with each refinement
step. Especially the steep character of the analytic solution is captured more ac-
curately with the enriched approximation space. Different from e.g. h-refinement
result tough, the oscillatory behavior of the solutions does not improve. The fre-
quency and also the amplitudes increase with the order. This observation is also
known as the Gibbs phenomenon (see also [42], sec. 3).
Gauss points for mortar integral
At last, the error from chosen number of gauss points nGPc for numerical inte-
gration of the mortar integral is investigated. Generally, this error is assessed by
the so-called contact patch test with plane interfaces (see [28]). Here, the Hertz
2D problem with its curved interface is chosen for this purpose in the two bi-
quadratic Spline discretizations (coarse and fine mesh). Then, contact pressure
are computed with varying number of Gauss-points, i.e. nGPc = 2, · · · , 6.
In figures 3.14 (a) and (b) the approximated pressure curves are depicted.
1.2 1.2
1 1
0.8 0.8
0.1 0.1
0.6 0.6
0.4 0 0.4 0
0.2 0.2
-0.1 -0.1
1 1.5 2 1 1.5 2
0 0
-0.2 -0.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
(a) contact pressures, mesh 1 (coarse) (b) contact pressures, mesh 2 (fine)
0.12 0.12
0.1 0.1
0.08 0.08
0.06 0.06
0.04 0.04
0.02 0.02
0 0
-0.02 -0.02
-0.04 -0.04
-0.06 -0.06
-0.08 -0.08
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
(c) errors from different number of gauss (d) errors from different number of gauss
points for mesh 1 (coarse) points for mesh 2 (fine)
Figure 3.14: Error in Hertz 2D contact pressures from numerical integration, dif-
ferent number of quadrature points, quadratic splines
While pressure curves computed from the coarse discretization do not differ
significantly from computations with nGPc > 2, results gained from mesh 2 vary
for each nGPc . The figures 3.14 (c) and (d) show the relative error curves
p∗N (x) − pN,nGPc (x)

erel
nGPc (x) = , nGPc = 2, · · · , 5 (3.46)
p∗N (x)
with p∗N = pN,nGPc =6 . From these curves it can be seen that the last significant
improvement of the error is gained from increasing nGPc from 3 to 4. This is the
case for both meshes. The numerical integration of the mortar integral for the
upcoming examples will be performed therefore with nGPc = p + 2 Gauss-points
per contact element, where p is the Spline degree.
3.4.2 Hertz 3D
In this section, the 3D Hertz problem of a sphere in contact with a rigid plate
and subjected to a point load F is considered from [46] for verification of the 3D
Solver implemented in Matlab.
Problem description
Figure 3.15: Hertz 3D problem description
Figure 3.15 depicts the problem in a simplified form. Due to rotational sym-
metry, it is represented with one eights of the sphere with radius R, the Dirichlet
boundary conditions
u(1) = 0 on Γs,m
u,1
u(2) = 0 on Γs,m
u,2
u(3) = 0 on Γm
u,3
and the traction condition

σ · n = t̂ on Γsσ
with
F
Z
= t̂ dΓ.
4 Γsσ
Analytical solution
The analytical solution for the contact radius a is given by

r
3 3FR
a= , (3.47)
4E ∗
with E ∗ = E
(1−ν 2 )
and the maximum pressure p0 is defined by
3P
p0 = . (3.48)
2πa2
Both parameters (3.47) and (3.48) define the quadratic pressure distribution
r
r
p(r) = p0 1 − ( )2 (3.49)
a
p
along the radius r := x2 + y2 , with x = x(1) and y = x(2) .
Assumptions made in sec. 3.4.1 for the analytical solution of the 2D Hertz
problem apply also to the 3D case.
NURBS model
Figure 3.16 shows the NURBS geometries of the 3D Hertz contact problem
with the tensor product (TP)-meshes.
Figure 3.16: NURBS parameterization of Hertz 3D contacting geometries
The slave structure is modeled with cubic splines and the master body is repre-
sented with quadratic splines. The sphere geometry is modeled with a inner radius,
to avoid distorted elements ([52]). Similar to the 2D model, the TP-meshes of both
structures resolve the contact zone with a higher element density compared to rest
of the domains.
Results
The computed contact pressures resulting from the NURBS parameterization

depicted in figure 3.16 are shown in figure 3.17. Here, the scalar field of the nor-
malized contact pressure distribution pN p(x,y)
0
(bottom view) of slave side is shown
as a contour plot with the associate TP-mesh. Both axes coordinates x(1) := x
and x(2) := y are normalized in this representation with the contact radius a given
by (3.47). In addition, the a pressure curve which is a result from the cut of the
rotation symmetric distribution in radial direction is shown with the analytical so-
lution (3.49) in figure 3.17 (d).
As in 2D, the 3-dimensional approximate result captures the analytical solu-

tion well inside the contact area, i.e. 0.1 · a < x(1) , x(2) < a. For x(1) , x(2) >= a
though, the solution deviates significantly from the expected result with artificial
oscillations and the maximum pressure p0 is not captured.
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
(e) (f)
Figure 3.17: Hertz 3D pressure contour plots of slave structure with zoom on
contact zone (bottom view) for meshes with (a) 16848, (b) 44616, (c) 137592
and (d) 473304 DOF. (e) contact pressure curves for the different meshes from
cut in radial direction of rotation symmetric pressure distribution with analytical
solution. (f) oscillation error convergence w.r.t. number of DOF (see also 3.12)
3.5. SUMMARY 53
From successive h-refinement of the contact zone in radial direction, the error
of approximated maximum pressures is reduced to an acceptable limit. The cor-
responding results are depicted in the figures 3.17.
Figure 3.18 shows the 3D pressure distribution function pN (x) normalized

with p0 and merged from the approximate solution of the problem. It shows that
single solutions are conform at their boundaries when they are patched together.
Figure 3.18: Conformity check of 3D Hertz contact pressure patches
3.5 Summary
In this chapter, the isogeometric contact analysis of the frictionless problem in 2-
and 3D was presented based on NURBS.
First, the geometry modelling with NURBS, the basic idea of the isogeomet-
ric concept, its application to the linear elasticity part of the problem and classical
refinement strategies for NURBS based IGA were shown.
In the second part, NURBS-based discretization of contact boundaries, vari-

ables and detection schemes were introduced together with the numerical evalu-
ation of the contact integral based on the mortar approach. This part was closed
with a brief summary of the Newton Raphson Method for solution of the non-
linear system of equations which resulted from discretization of the problem.
In the final part, Hertz contact problems were modelled and computed in 2D
and 3D for verification of the implemented NURBS based contact solution algo-
rithms. The summary from computational results is listed as follows:
• 2D and 3D computational results matched well with the corresponding an-

alytical solutions.
• From both, h-refinement and degree elevation, the approximate solution was
improved.
• The error from numerical integration of the mortar integral did not decrease
significantly, when the number of integrations points was chose in parame-
ter direction grater than the degree of basis function plus one.
• The combination of penalty-parameter and chosen mesh influenced the ap-

proximation quality of the contact stresses.
• Approximated tractions showed locally artificial oscillatory behavior, when

end of contact zone (point in 2D, edge in 3D) laid inside elements of corre-
sponding meshes.
• From artificial oscillations of tractions, the error in maximum pressures and

the convergence of Newton solution scheme were influenced negatively.
• Manual knot-relocation in 2D, uniform h-refinement of contact zone and

degree elevation in contact parameter directions in 2 and 3D reduced the
oscillations. This improved the accuracy of approximated solutions and
decreased the necessary number of iterations for the solution in 2- and 3D.
• However in 3D the oscillatory behaviour of contact tractions is not reduced

by simply relocating knots to the contact edge. It requires an accurate
search algorithm for that. Uniform h-refinement of contact zone and degree-
elevation in 3d cause, due to the tensor product structure of NURBS, signif-
icantly additional computational costs (see 3.17, (f) ).
Chapter 4
Adaptive isogeometric contact
In the previous chapter, contact tractions computed from the NURBS based anal-
ysis showed non-physical oscillations in the vicinity of contact edges, where the
exact solution features a kink. Strategies for the elimination of this artefact, like
knot-relocation or uniform h-refinement, for a higher accuracy and a more robust
solution method, are too expensive and inefficient, especially for contact compu-
tations in 3D.
In this chapter, we suggest therefore an error-controlled adaptive procedure

based on Spline functions capable for local refinement to overcome these draw-
backs. Independent from the addressed problem, adaptive refinement procedures
consist of the four steps solve, estimate, mark and refine. Possibilities with our
choice for the single steps with respect to frictionless contact analysis in linear
elasticity are described briefly in the following.
Solve
One of the first possibilities, investigated for the purpose of local refinement in
isogeometric setting were T-Splines presented in [6], [25] and [65]. Their appli-
cation in the context of contact computation was presented in [22], [23] and [24].
Other possibilities are for example LR splines ([44], [11]) or Hierarchical Splines
([33],[34],[50]) which have been applied to contact in [88] and [38]. In this work,
polynomial splines over hierarchical T-meshes (PHT-Splines) (see [21],[20]) are
applied for local refinement of the contact solution. They have been successfully
used for different applications of IGA in [84], [70], [57], [74] and [14].
Estimation
Based on error estimation, it is possible to mark and refine parts of the do-
55
56 CHAPTER 4. ADAPTIVE ISOGEOMETRIC CONTACT
main in which the approximated solution is to rough from a given mesh. In the
case of NURBS based contact analysis, these parts lie in vicinity of the contact
edge. While [88] employ the penetration status of elements for local refinement
respectively coarsening with LR-Splines, in this work, the classical tool of error
estimation is investigated.
Classically, two basic possibilities of error estimation, the residual based and
projection or defect correction method (rely on super-convergence properties),
are distinguished. The first technique has been used for elastic problems in solid
mechanics for example in [5] or [45] and the later in [86] and [87]. A review of
a posteriori error estimation techniques (also for elasticity problems) is given in
[69] or [1].
For contact problems in linear elasticity, error estimation techniques for clas-
sical FEA are presented e.g. in [48], [40], [81] and [80].
Error estimation techniques in IGA are not as mature as in classical FEM. In
this work, the a posteriori error estimation technique from [3] based on recov-
ery solutions and super-convergence theory for PHT-Splines is employed (Matlab
code from ISM, Bauhaus University Weimar).
Marking
Error estimation techniques are not the only important building blocks in the
construction of adaptive refinement procedures. Also the marking strategy plays
a significant role in finding the optimal mesh (mesh with as few elements as pos-
sible) with respect to a given error tolerance.
Refining for example only few elements in each refinement step yields on the
one hand an optimal mesh, on the other hand computational costs increase from
solving the non-linear contact problem in each iteration. Also, the presence of
singularities in case of coarse meshes results in errors some distance away which
lead to unnecessary refinement. These so-called pollution errors however become
smaller as the area around the singularity is refined.
With these things in mind, one simple marking strategy is to select those el-
ements in which the estimated error exceeds some absolute threshold (see [34]).
This strategy though, does not consider the overall distribution of the error. There-
fore, the Dörfler mariking strategy (see [26]) is preferably used in this work.
Scope
In the first section of this chapter polynomial splines over hierarchical T-

meshes are presented with their capability for local refinement. For this, the struc-
ture of hierarchical T-meshes is discussed before NURBS are transformed to their
Bèzier representation. Then, the actual local refinement step (cross-insertion) is
4.1. PHT-SPLINE REPRESENTATION OF NURBS 57
introduced with the concept of local knot-vectors and the truncation of basis func-
tions.
The second part of this chapter introduces the PHT-splines discretization of

the frictionless contact problem with focusing on the contact part only. This is
transformed to discrete form by applying the isogeometric mortar approach (see
section 3.3.3) to the PHT-Spline description of the contacting geometries.
The third part focuses on the steps error estimation and the marking strategy
of the overall adaptive procedure.
In the final part effectiveness of the developed procedure for the solution of
contact problems in 2D and 3D is shown. For this purpose, the numerical exam-
ples form section 3.4 are computed and the results from PHT-Spline and NURBS
discretization are compared.
4.1 PHT-Spline representation of NURBS

PHT-Splines were first introduced in [21] for the purpose of a more flexible and
accurate design of detailed geometries. Since then, this concept has been applied
not only successfully for geometric design, but also for the approximate solution
of physical problems in the isogeometric setting. Especially problem solutions,
which need local refinement for a certain accuracy of the approximations, are
computed efficiently with PHT-Splines for example in [3], [58] and [84]).
PHT splines result from the Bezier representation of NURBS (see e.g. [10]).
In this transformation process, the underlying tensor product mesh structure of
NURBS is broken up based on Bezier decomposition. The resulting C0 -elements
make PHT-splines capable for local refinement, similar to classical Finite Element
Analysis. One single element from the T-mesh is refined successively on different
hierarchy levels. New basis functions with local support are added to the element
basis by the cross-insertion procedure. However, priorly the existing basis needs
to be truncated for global linear independence of the refined basis and a sparse
system matrix for efficiency.
In the following subsections, PHT-Splines with their capability for local re-
finement are described in more detail mainly from [3].
4.1.1 Hierarchical T-meshes

The underlying meshes of PHT-Splines possess a hierarchy level structure. Fig-
ure 4.1 depicts generic T-meshes Tl in parameter space and the corresponding
element-tree representation of two refinement levels l = 1, 2.
Figure 4.1: Hierarchical tree structure of T-meshes
The initial mesh T0 with the four elements Ek,l=0 , k = 1, · · · , 4 is defined by

the tensor product of the knot vectors Ξ (α) = 0 0 0 .5 1 1 1 , α = 1, 2.

In the refinement step, the bottom right element Ek=4,0 ∈ T0 is then subdi-
vided into four children elements E j1 ,l+1 , E j2 ,l+1 , E j3 ,l+1 and E j4 ,l+1 . This is done
by adding another level l = l + 1 in the hierarchy tree and by connecting the mid-
dle points of the opposite edges of Ek=4,0 by straight lines. Refined elements are
represented in figure 4.1 as filled leaves of the hierarchy tree.
The vertex set of a hierarchical T-mesh includes cross-vertexes, boundary-

vertexes and T-junctions. They are shown with green dots, gray diamond and yel-
low triangles. Basis functions are associated only to cross- and boundary-vertexes.
They are called for this reason basis vertexes.
4.1.2 Bezier representation of NURBS

NURBS geometries are defined by knot vectors
h i
(α) (α) (α) (α)
Ξ = ξ1 ξ2 · · · ξnα +pα +1
with α = 1, · · · , d and control points P = {PA }nA=1 with n = ∏dα=1 nα (see also
sec. 3.1). For the Bèzier representation of NURBS, their tensor product meshes T
are decomposed into Bèzier elements.
During Bezier decomposition, the multiplicity of interior knots is increased in

each parameter direction ξ (α) to pα by knot refinement (see section 3.2.3). For
(α) j
each inserted knot ξ¯ j with j = 1, · · · , mα , the weights αA are computed from
(α)
3.18 and sorted into the matrix C j , the so-called Bezier extraction operator. The
overall number of knots, required for the decomposition of NURBS is given by
m = ∏dα=1 mα .
(α)
By assembling single extraction operators C j to an overall matrix C ∈ Rn×(n+m)
following [10], control-points Pb of the decomposed NURBS geometry are com-
puted by
Pb = CP. (4.1)
With Bernstein functions B = {BA (ξξ )}n+m
A=1 , defined on the final knot-vectors,
and the control-points Pb the Bèzier representation of NURBS geometries (3.10)
is given by
x(ξξ ) = BPb = RP. (4.2)
In (4.2) the set of NURBS basis functions {RA (ξξ )}nA=1 is denoted with R.
Multi-variate Bernstein polynomials BA (ξξ ) are defined by the tensor product

of the 1-d functions

1 pα
BAα (ξ ) = p (1 − ξ ) pα −Aα +1 (1 + ξ )Aα −1 , Aα = 1, 2, · · · , pα + 1
2 α Aα − 1
(4.3)
with ξ ∈ [−1, 1].
By substituting the expression (4.1) for Pb in (4.2), the basis transformation

R = CB (4.4)
is derived. On element-level, equation (4.4) is given by
Re = Ce Be . (4.5)
For the Bèzier representation of NURBS basis functions on children elements,

new Bezier coefficients must be computed from the extraction operator of the
parent element. This is done by De Casteljau’s algorithm (see [3]).
4.1.3 Local refinement

The concept of local refinement for PHT-Splines is connected with the definition
of local knot-vectors and associate basis functions.
Local knot-vectors
A cubic spline of C1 -continuity for example is defined on a knot-vector, in

which interior knots have the multiplicity two. In this knot-vector, always two
basis functions correspond to interior knots ξi and they have the local support
[ξi−1 , ξi+1 ]. Thus, the local knot vectors
[ξi−1 , ξi−1 , ξi , ξi , ξi+1 ] and [ξi−1 , ξi , ξi , ξi+1 , ξi+1 ]
can be defined and associated to these basis functions. It is important that all other
functions and their derivatives vanish at ξi .
When this concept is extended to bi-cubic Splines, four basis functions are as-
(1) (2) (1) (1) (2) (2)
sociated to the knot [ξi1 , ξi2 ]. They have support on [ξi1 −1 , ξi1 +1 ] × [ξi2 , ξi2 ].
Function values, first order and mixed partial derivatives of other basis functions
(1) (2)
vanish at [ξi1 , ξi2 ]. For the general case of Cα,α -continuous bivariate Splines,
the multiplicity must be p − α for interior knots and p + 1 for boundary knots (as
for open knot vectors).
In the same way, the concept of local knot-vectors can be extended to 3D

Spline functions.
Concept of local refinement
With the concept of local knot-vectors, the Bézier representation of NURBS

basis functions (see sec. 4.1.2) and the hierarchical T-mesh structure (see sec.
4.1.1) it is now possible to refine only certain parts of the domain:
Lets assume a set of N bi-variate basis functions
{RkA (ξξ )}N

A=1 (4.6)
k
associated to a certain knot ξ i from a T-mesh of initial hierarchy level k = 0. The
refinement (cross-insertion) of parts in which {RkA (ξξ )}N
A=1 have support, adds not
only an additional level k + 1 to the hierarchical T-mesh, it also changes the basis
k+1
associated to ξ i . The new refined basis consist of two parts. The fist part are
the basis functions from level k = 0 in a modified form and the second part are
basis functions associate to the newly inserted basis vertexes at level k + 1.
It is important to note here that properties, such as non-negativity, partition of

unity, etc. do not change for the inserted new basis functions.
Truncation
Modifications to the existing basis functions {RkA (ξξ )}N

A=1 from the mesh level
k are necessary, to assure local linear independence of the new basis in the re-
fined element and its neighbours at level k + 1. This so-called truncation step, is
done under the assumption that basis functions of polynomial degree p are Cα -
continuous with 2 · α + 1 < p.
Practically, this step is done by zero out certain Bézier ordinates of the chil-
dren elements. Basis functions are modified this way in regions close to the new
vertexes resulting from the subdivision, i.e. the support is reduced in the corners
of children elements. Basis functions, which could be linear dependent from the
new basis functions, are deactivated by zero out their Bézier ordinates completely.
From this step, the original basis {RkA (ξξ )}N
A=1 is transformed to the truncated basis
{R̄Ak+1 (ξξ )}N

A=1
defined on Tk+1 . Implementation details on truncation steps in 2D and 3D are

given for example in [3].
Refined basis with local support
The second part of the refined basis are the (α + 1)d basis functions
N+(α+1)d
{R̃Bk+1 (ξξ )}B=1
k+1
associate to the newly inserted knot ξ˜ i for the case p = 2α + 1. In a first step
these are standard non-truncated B-spline basis functions, computed from local
knot vector information. In a second step, corresponding Bézier ordinates must
be determined and global basis indexes must be assigned. The latter is done by
using the index from basis-functions which were removed during truncation or
incrementally new indexes are assigned.
N+(α+1)d
Both, {R̄Ak+1 (ξξ )}N k+1 ξ
A=1 and {R̃B (ξ )}B=1 form the basis of a refined ele-
ment.
It is important to note here that different from NURBS or B-Splines over uni-
form meshes, PHT-Splines have a variable number of basis functions with support
over given refined elements. Despite of the truncation step, this can lead to the sit-
uation that basis functions are locally linear dependent. Globally though, the basis
remains linear independent (see [3]).
The construction of a refined basis with local support in 3D is done in a similar

way (see [3]) .
4.2 Contact computation with PHT-Splines

The previous sections introduced the concept of PHT-Splines with their capability
of local refinement. This section applies now these Spline functions for the dis-
crete representation of the contact problem in the isogeometric setting. Details on
the PHT-Splines discretization of the linear elasticity part are omitted here for the
reason of brevity. Instead, it is referred to [58] and [10]. The focus here, is put
on the contact part, i.e. on the PHT-Spline discretization of surfaces, variables,
search and the numerical evaluation of the variational form.
4.2.1 Discretization of surface and variables

As for NURBS, the contact boundaries Γh,lc for l ∈ {s, m} are inherited from the
PHT-Spline parameterization of the contacting geometries. Figure 4.2 shows the
known 2D contact situation from sec. 3.3 with PHT-Spline geometries.
4.2. CONTACT COMPUTATION WITH PHT-SPLINES 63
Figure 4.2: Discrete representation of isogeometric contact with PHT-Splines in

2D
l,k=0
Single points xl,k=0 from elements Γc,e of initial hierarchy level k = 0 are
described by
N
s−1 (1) (2)
xs,k=0 (ξ (1) ) = ∑ Bi (ξˆ )C−,0
e ◦ F̂e (ξ , ξ0 ) P−,0 (4.7)
i=1 | {z } i
φi− (ξ (1) )
and
M
−1 (1)
xm,k=0 (ζ (2) ) = ∑ |B j (ζˆ )Ce+,0 ◦ F̂{zme (ζm1 , ζ (2) ) P+,0 (4.8)
j=1 } j
φ+
j (ζ
(2) )
for slave and master side. Herein Bi (ξˆ ) and B j (ζˆ ) are the univariate Bernstein
basis functions with ξˆ , ζˆ ∈ [−1, 1], C−,0
e and Ce+,0 are the reduced element ex-
traction operators and P−,0i and P+,0
j are control-points corresponding to the N
l,0
respectively M non-zero basis functions in Γc,e . The functions F̂l linearly map the
corresponding Bernstein basis from the reference element [−1, 1] to an element
l,0
Γc,e .
l,k+1
Physical points xl,k+1 from a refined contact or a child element Γc,e are
defined by
N N+(α s +1)d −1
xs,k+1
(ξ (1)
) = ∑ Bi (ξ (1)
)C̄e−,k+1 P−
i + ∑ B ∗ (ξ (1) )C̃e−,k+1 P̃−
∗ (4.9)
i=1
| {z } ∗
i =N+1
|i {z } i
φ̄i− (ξ (1) ) φ̃i−
∗ (ξ
(1) )
and
M M+(α m +1)d −1
(2) (2)
x m,k+1
(ζ )= ∑ B| j (ζ )C̄+,k+1
e P+j + ∑ B j∗ (ζ (2) )C̃e+,k+1 P̃+j∗
j=1 {z } ∗
j =M+1 | {z }
φ̄ +
j (ζ
(2) ) φ̃ +
j∗
(ζ (2) )
(4.10)
for slave and master. In (4.9) and (4.10) the truncated contact element Bezier op-
erator are denoted with C̄e−,k+1 and C̄e+,k+1 , the control-points and corresponding
l,k+1 −,k+1
Bezier operator of new non-zero basis functions in Γc,e are P̃− +
i∗ , P̃ j∗ , C̃e and
C̃e+,k+1 for slave and master.
Discretization of contact variables
Using the isoparametric concept, unknown contact element displacements ul,k

e ,
l,k l,k l,k
their variations δ u and initial positions X from Γc,e are interpolated by
N M
us,k
e =∑ φi− (ξ )q−
i and um,k
e = ∑ φ +j (ζ¯ )q+j , (4.11)
i=1 j=1
N M
δ us,k − −
e = ∑ φi (ξ )δ qi and δ um,k
e = ∑ φ +j (ζ¯ )δ q+j (4.12)
i=1 j=1
and
N M
−,k
Xs,k
e =∑ φi− (ξ )Pi,0 and Xem,k = ∑ φ +j (ζ¯ )P0,+,kj . (4.13)
i=1 j=1
In (4.11), (4.12) and (4.13) the definitions ξ (1) := ξ and ζ (2) := ζ are inserted
and evaluation of the quantities at CPP on master side is indicated by ζ¯ .
4.2. CONTACT COMPUTATION WITH PHT-SPLINES 65
l,k+1
In the same way contact quantities are represented in a refined element Γc,e
by
N N+(α s +1)d
us,k+1
e =∑ φ̄i− (ξ )q−
i + ∑ φ̃i−∗ (ξ )q̃−
i , (4.14)
i=1 ∗
i =N+1
M M+(α m +1)d
um,k+1 = φ̄ + ¯ + φ̃ + ¯ +
e ∑ j (ζ )q j + ∑ j∗ (ζ )q̃ j , (4.15)
j=1 ∗
j =M+1
N N+(α s +1)d
δ us,k+1
e =∑ φ̄i− (ξ )δ q−
i + ∑ φ̃i−∗ (ξ )δ q̃−
i∗ , (4.16)
i=1 i∗ =N+1
M M+(α m +1)d
δ um,k+1 = φ̄ + ¯ +
φ̃ + ¯ +
e ∑ j (ζ )δ q j + ∑ j∗ (ζ )δ q̃ j∗ , (4.17)
j=1 ∗
j =M+1
N N+(α s +1)d
Xes,k+1 =∑ φ̄i− (ξ )P−
i,0 + ∑ φ̃i−∗ (ξ )P̃−
i∗ ,0 , (4.18)
i=1 ∗
i =N+1
and
M M+(α m +1)d
Xem,k+1 = φ̄ + ¯ + φ̃ + ¯ +
∑ j (ζ )P j,0 + ∑ j∗ (ζ )P̃ j∗ ,0 . (4.19)
j=1 ∗
j =M+1
The numerical degrees of freedom and control-points in initial configuration which
are added from refinement of contact element Γl,k −
c,e are denoted here with q̃i∗ ,
q̃+j∗ , δ q̃− + − + ∗ s
i∗ , δ q̃ j∗ , P̃i∗ ,0 , and P̃ j∗ ,0 , with i = N + 1, · · · , (α + 1)
d−1 and j ∗ = M +
1, · · · , (α m + 1)d−1 .
The discrete forms given in (4.11), (4.12) and 4.13 defined on Γl,k c,e are now
inserted into the variational contact potential and sorted into matrices, similar to
(3.25). Then, the discrete contact element potential defined on hierarchy level k is
given by
Z
h,k
δ Πc,e = s,k
(δ qkc,e )T (Cke )T n̄n̄T Cke qkc,e − · · ·
Γc,e
· · · − (Cke )T n̄n̄T Cke Pe,k k,h ¯

c,0 dΓ = f c,e (ξ , ζ ). (4.20)
In the same way, the PHT-Spline contact element contribution from hierarchy
level k + 1 is defined by
Z
δ Πh,k+1
c,e = (δ qc,e ) (Cek+1 )T n̄n̄T Cek+1 qc,e
k+1 T k+1
−···
Γs,k+1
c,e
e,k+1
· · · − (Cek+1 )T n̄n̄T Cek+1 Pc,0 k+1,h
dΓ = fc,e (ξ , ζ¯ ). (4.21)
with the quantities given in (4.14), (4.15), (4.16), (4.17), (4.18) and (4.19).
4.2.2 Contact search with PHT-Splines

The local contact search, i.e. the point-wise check of penetration conditions, with
PHT-Spline parameterized contact geometries is performed in principle as it is
described in section 3.3.2. For the necessary computations of first, second order
l,k l,k l,k
and mixed partial derivatives x,ξ (i) , x,ξ (i) ξ (i) and x,ξ (i) ξ ( j) with i, j = 1, 2 for the 3D
case, it is referred to [10].
4.2.3 Mortar integration of PHT-Splines

The numerical contact integration based on PHT-Spline discretization, possibly
in an adaptive refinement procedure, is challenging because changing surface
parametrizations of slave and master must be considered at the same time. In this
work, the mortar method, as for NURBS contact, is applied for integrating basis
functions defined on non-conforming hierarchical T-meshes of slave and master
contact surfaces.
Figure 4.3 shows the mortar integration principle applied to PHT-Spline struc-
tures in 2D.
Figure 4.3: Principle of mortar integration for PHT-Spline contact boundaries
Similar to NURBS mortar Integration, the PHT-Spline based numerical evalu-

ation of contact integral is performed on the slave side with a finer mesh compared
4.3. ADAPTIVE CONTACT FORMULATION 67
to master side. Based on the quadrature rule given in (3.34), the contact element
integrals for different hierarchy levels (see (4.20) and (4.21)) are transformed to
systems of algebraic equations (see (3.35)).
It is noted here that for the transformation of integration domains in (3.34),

there are two possibilities: The mapping F (between parameter and physical
space) can be either fixed (for example with the NURBS parametrization of con-
tact elements). This leads to a geometry independent field approximation (see
[27]) in which the hierarchical T-mesh must be fully contained in elements of the
geometry description. Also the continuity across element lines must be the same
for both geometrical descriptions.
Or, the mapping function F is chosen from field discretization (4.7) or (4.9)).
This option is more appropriate for problems with moving boundaries, as it is the
case for contact problems, especially involving large deformation.
The overall set of equations (see (3.36)), representing the linearized contact
part, are then assembled from elements e = 1, · · · , n∗c in penetration. Note, ele-
ments can be from different hierarchy levels dependent from the refinement status.
For practically implementation, the hierarchical T-mesh structure shown in figure
4.1, is used to organize element data (see also [62]).
Global solution
The global solution of the contact problem, discretized with PHT-Splines in

the isogeometric setting, is obtained basically in the same way, as it is described
in sec. 3.3.4.
4.3 Adaptive contact formulation

In the previous sections, the contact problem was discretized with PHT-splines for
the purpose of efficient local refinement of parts where the exact contact pressures
feature a kink and where NURBS approximated solutions showed artificial oscil-
latory behavior (see sec. 3.4). To fully exploit the advantages of local refinement,
the contact solution algorithm is extended in this section to an adaptive procedure
based on error-estimation, to obtain optimal meshes with minimal computational
cost (number of unknown control-points) with respect to a certain error in contact
pressures. As described in the introduction of this chapter, adaptive refinement
procedures consist of the steps solve, estimate, mark and refine. This section fo-
cuses on the error estimation based on super convergent patch recovery technique,
the marking strategy and the overall solution procedure.
4.3.1 Recovery-based error estimation

The idea lying behind the recovery-solution based error estimation technique is to
find a smoother and more accurate approximation of e.g. stresses σ ∗ and define
the error for example in the complementary energy norm (see [82]) by
Z
E 2 (σ
σ h , Ω) := σ ∗ − σ h ) · C−1
(σ σ ∗ − σ h )dΩ.
0 (σ (4.22)
Ω
The approximated stresses containing errors from a certain mesh T are denoted
herein with σ h and C0 stands for the compliance matrix.
In this work, the super-convergent patch recovery technique described in [3]

for PHT-Splines is employed for estimating the error defined in (4.22) within
isogeometric contact analysis. In the following, basic steps are summarized:
• The domain Ω is considered as a set of non-overlapping patches, i.e.
n
[
Ωk = Ω,
k=1
with Ωk being a set of 2d PHT-Spline elements with a common parent. Prac-

tically, this is achieved by performing cross-insertion to every element of the
initial coarse PHT-Spline mesh T0 and during the adaptive refinement pro-
cess, this is assured by marking all element of an Ωk for local refinement.
This way, the overall number of elements is always a multiple integer value
of 2d .
• In the second step, for each Ωk a set of i = 1, · · · , Nk super-convergent points
x∗i,k is chosen with respect to degrees p, p∗ and continuities α, α ∗ of σ h and
σ ∗ . They have the property that approximated solutions are more accurate
there compared to rest of Ωk . Details on the determination of x∗i,k in the
context of PHT-Spline approximations are given in [3]. A more general
study on super-convergence in Finite Element Methods is given in [73].
• Next, the recovery solution σ ∗ in each sub-domain Ωk is derived from a
higher order polynomial fit
Mk
∑ ϕ ∗j,k (x∗i,k )c∗j,k = σ h(x∗i,k ) (4.23)
j=1
| {z }
σ ∗ (x∗i,k )
defined through x∗i,k . Here, the polynomials ϕ ∗j,k are B-Splines of degree
p∗ ≥ p and continuity α ∗ ≥ α. The corresponding numerical degrees of
freedom are denoted with c∗j,k .
4.3. ADAPTIVE CONTACT FORMULATION 69
• From (4.23), the linear system of equations

A(k) c∗k = bk (4.24)
is derived for each Ωk , with
(k)
Ai j = ϕ ∗j,k (x∗i,k ), i = 1, · · · , Nk , j = 1, · · · , Mk (4.25)
and bk is the Nk × e matrix containing the e = 3 respectively e = 6 stress
components of σ h evaluated at x∗i,k for d = 2 or d = 3. If Nk > Mk , the
linear system given in (4.24) is overdetermined. It has to be solved then
in least square sense. For computational efficiency, polynomial degree and
continuity of ϕ ∗j,k are chosen therefore in way that Mk and the number of
super-convergent points Nk are the same.
It is noted here that the polynomial fit for error estimation is done under certain
assumptions regarding continuity of the exact solution. In practice though, not all
these assumptions can be satisfied (see kink in contact tractions). However, the
results presented in sec. 4.4 show that based on the recovered solution, the relevant
error in elements along the contact edge is correctly indicated.
4.3.2 Marking
Once, the error in stresses E(σ σ h , Ω) is determined based on the steps described
in the previous section, a strategy of marking elements for local refinement is re-
quired in the overall adaptive contact procedure. Here, it is important to find the
optimal trade-off between the number of refinement steps (required to reach cer-
tain estimated accuracy) and the number of elements in the final mesh.
Similar to [3] or [12] the Dörfler marking strategy is employed in this work,
in which elements with the largest contribution to the total error are selected for
refinement.
In other words, for domain Ωh and the approximate solution σ h a subset M ⊂
h
Ω of elements is marked with the condition
σ h , ΩhM ) ≤ θ E(σ
E(σ σ h , Ωh ). (4.26)
In (4.26) parts of the domain marked for refinement are denoted with ΩhM and
the parameter θ ∈ (0, 1] is constant value. When θ = 1 each element from Ωh
is refined, while θ < 1 means less refinement per step. In practice, a reasonable
compromise between the number of refinement steps and the optimality of meshes
is found when
• θ = 0.75 for problems with smooth solutions and
• θ = 0.5 for problems with singularities.
4.3.3 Overall solution strategy

Based on the PHT-Spline contact solution approach presented in sec. 4.2, the error
estimation technique shown in sec. 4.3.1, the marking strategy summarized in sec.
4.3.2 and the local refinement procedure discussed in sec. 4.1.3, the sequence of
steps for the adaptive method developed in this work is shown in figure 4.4.
Figure 4.4: Overall solution procedure with adaptive local refinement for the con-
tact problem (2D and 3D)
In this procedure, coarse T-meshes Tlk=0 are defined for slave and master with
the hierarchy level k = 0. The effect of this initial discretization on the process of
adaptive local refinement is investigated in numerical examples presented in sec.
4.4. The parameter θ is set to 0.5 (see sec. 4.3.2) due to the weak discontinuity
of stress solutions at the end of contact zone and limits εs , εm > 0 are set for the
relative errors defined in (4.27).
In the next step, the contact problem is solved for Tkl based on the procedure
given in Algorithm 1.
σ hl , Ω hl )
Form the resulting approximated stresses σ hl , single error values E(σ
are computed numerically for Ωhl based on (4.22). For the decision of continuing
the process of local refinement, relative errors defined by
σ hl , Ω hl )
E(σ
erel
l = (4.27)
σ ∗l ||
||σ
are determined. Herein ||σl∗ || is the energy norm of the recovered stresses (see
sec. 4.3.1).
In case both errors erel rel

l are below or equal the limits εs , εm , i.e. es ≤ εs ∧
erel
m ≤ εm , the optimal meshes with a minimum number of degrees of freedom are
found for the given error tolerances εs , εm . Else, local refinement is considered in
the next step.
In this next step, those parts of the domains ΩhMl ⊂ Ωhl with the elements
Ml are marked for refinement which fulfil the inequality given in (4.26). These
elements are then refined with cross-insertion which adds an additional hierarchy
level k = k + 1 to the T-meshes, Tkl := Tlk+1 . With the newly refined meshes, the
procedure starts anew from solving the contact problem.
4.4 Numerical results

In the previous sections, the adaptive procedure for the solution of two- and three-
dimensional contact problems was presented in detail. Now, the procedure, imple-
mented in Matlab, is verified and tested for effectiveness based on the same Hertz
contact problems used for verification of the NURBS based solution routines in
the sections 3.4.1 and 3.4.2.
4.4.1 Hertz 2D
Starting with Hertz 2D problem, initial PHT-Spline parametrizations with the T-
meshes Tlk=0 for slave and master are depicted in figure 4.5.
Figure 4.5: Initial meshes T0s and T0m of slave and master, Hertz 2D
These meshes have a uniform elements distribution. i.e. contact zones are not
considered with higher resolution. Both Spline geometries are parametrized with
bi-cubic basis functions and the penalty parameter εN is chosen constant through-
out the refinement process. The condition for optimal meshes in this example is
given by
−3 −2
erel
s ≤ 2 ∗ 10 ∧ erel
m ≤ 5 ∗ 10 .
Results
Figure 4.6 shows the errors in maximum pressures from each refinement step
k computed by
k p0 − max(ph,k
N (x))
e p0 = (4.28)
p0
and the errors from pressure oscillations in the vicinity of contact radius a defined
by (3.45) with respect to the number of degrees of freedom for slave and master
side. In (4.28) the analytical solution for the maximum pressure is denoted with
p0 .
100
10-1
10-2
10-3
10-4
10-5
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
(a)
0
10
-1
10
10-2
10-3
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
(b)
Figure 4.6: Convergence of relative errors in maximum pressures (blue curve) and
from pressure oscillations (brown curve) w.r.t. the number of DOF for (a) slave
and (b) master side
These results show that both errors correlate and they significantly drop al-
ready after the first few refinement steps for slave and maser side. While on the
slave side both errors converge monotonously (except from some oscillation in
the beginning) to a certain value, the error in maximum pressure even increases
on the master side during the adaptive process before it also converges to a fixed
value. Successive refinement steps, in which errors do not decrease (horizontal
line), other parts than the contact zone are refined (see figure 4.8). In this exam-
ple, elements from the curved Neumann boundary Γsσ are also refined.
For plausibility check of the results in figure 4.6, approximated contact pres-
h,l
sures with analytical solution, PHT-meshes and computed stresses σyy /p0 in con-
tour plots from refinement steps in which a significant drop of oscillation error
occurred, are shown in the figures 4.7, 4.8 and 4.9 for slave and master.
1.2
0.8
0.6 0.2
0.1
0.4
0
0.2 -0.1
1 1.5 2
0
-0.2
-0.4
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
(a)
1.2
0.8
0.6 0.2
0.1
0.4
0
0.2 -0.1
1 1.5 2
0
-0.2
-0.4
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
(b)
Figure 4.7: Approximated contact pressures from different refinement steps

(named with the corresponding number of DOFs) and the analytical solution nor-
malized with maximum pressure p0 and contact radius a for (a) slave and (b)
master side, Hertz 2D
0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0 0.2 0.4
(a) (b)
0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0 0.2 0.4
(c) (d)
Figure 4.8: Hierarchical T-meshes from adaptive refinement process of Hertz 2D

problem with (a) #DOF = 2176, (b) #DOF = 2368, (c) #DOF = 2848 and (d)
#DOF = 3680.
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 4.9: Approximated stresses σyy (x, y)/p0 and hierarchical T-meshes from
adaptive refinement process of Hertz 2D problem with (a) #DOF = 2176, (b)
#DOF = 2368, (c) #DOF = 2848 and (d) #DOF = 3680.
Figure 4.6 shows, how the oscillatory behaviour of the computed contact
stresses reduces with each refinement step. Especially the solution with 3680
degrees of freedom (green dashed line) of slave side shows nearly a perfect match
with analytical solution, also around x/a = 1. Despite the coarse meshes of master
side compared to slave side, the approximations show a good quality which also
improves with the ongoing local refinement.
The corresponding T-meshes to the solutions in figure 4.8 show the effective
hierarchical mesh-refinement at the end of contact zone which results the approx-
imation qualities presented before.
From the stress distributions σyy (x, y) normalized with p0 shown together with
the T-meshes in figure 4.9, it is obvious that refinement along the contact edge
alone is not enough, to improve the approximation quality of normal stresses. It
shows, how the gradual change of the stress field resulting from contact must be
captured also with the appropriate element distributions.
At last, the convergence of oscillation errors on slave slide from uniform h-

refinement (see figure 3.12 (b)) of the contact zone and from the adaptive local
refinement (see figure 4.6 (a)) are compared in figure 4.10.
10-2
10-3
-4
10
-5
10
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
4
10
Figure 4.10: Comparison of oscillation error convergence from adaptive local

refinement (blue) and uniform h-refinement (brown)
It is notable that the adaptive procedure provides already with approximately

5 times less degrees of freedom compared to the h-refined solution for the same
relative error of 4 · 10−4 . This observation is a good evidence for the intended
efficiency and effectiveness of the developed adaptive contact procedure in 2D.
Conclusions
Based on the results above, the following conclusions are made:
• Accuracy is improved automatically
• Special care has to be taken, when traction boundary conditions are applied
to avoid unnecessary refinement
• Error from oscillations is reduced in a more efficient way compared to uni-

form h-refinement
4.4.2 Hertz 3D
Now, the adaptive refinement procedure is tested for the 3D case. For this purpose,
initial meshes Tlk=0 , l ∈ {s, m} of slave and master from the 3D Hertz problem
description in sec.3.4.2 are defined (see figure 4.11).
Figure 4.11: Initial meshes T0l with l ∈ {s, m} of slave and master for the adaptive
solution of Hertz 3D problem
The chosen PHT-Splines are cubic in all three parameter directions for sphere
and cube. The meshes here are defined with a finer resolution of the contact zone
compared to rest of the domains.
Results
Figure 4.12 depicts the errors in maximum pressures and from oscillatory be-
havior computed from the successive refinement steps on the slave side with the
corresponding number of degrees of freedom.
10-1
error from oscillations
error in maximum pressure
10-2
10-3
10-4
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
105
Figure 4.12: Convergence of relative errors in maximum pressures (blue curve)

and from pressure oscillations (brown curve) w.r.t. the number of DOF evaluated
on slave side from adaptive refinement solution of Hertz 3D
The errors are computed with (4.28) and (3.45) from 2D curves which yield
from the rotation symmetric solutions of the pressure distributions (see figure 4.14).
While the oscillation error decreases with each refinement step monotonously, the
error in maximum pressures decreases only in the first 4 steps and stagnates in
the subsequent steps. A possible reason for the instable decrease of the maximum
pressure error is the constant penalty parameter throughout the refinement process.
In figure 4.13 3D pressure distribution functions pN (x, y) resulting from dif-

ferent refinement steps are shown. In this depiction, the functions are constructed
from mirroring the original pressure distribution solutions along the x- and y-
axis. The pressures are normalized with the analytical pressure p0 and the x-,
y-coordinates are normalized with the contact radius a.
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 4.13: Contact pressure distribution functions pN (x, y) normalized with p0

and contact radius a from refinement steps of the adaptive solution process of
Hertz 3D problem with (a) #DOF = 25272, (b) #DOF = 36360, (c) #DOF =
82296 and (d) #DOF = 123240.
From the first plot (a) in figure 4.13 it can be seen that also the 3D solution
possesses oscillatory behavior in vicinity of the circular contact edge. This artifi-
cial property if the solution improves with each refinement step together with the
error in maximum pressures.
A better quantitative assessment of the solutions improvements is possible

with the depiction given in figure 4.14. Here the pressure curves pN (r) with r :=
p
x2 + y2 from the corresponding 3D pressure distributions are shown in one plot.
0.8
0.2
0.6 0.1
0
0.4
-0.1
1 1.2 1.4 1.6

0.2
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Figure 4.14: Pressure curves pN (r) from refinement steps of the adaptive solution
process of Hertz 3D problem
The closer look at PHT-meshes presented in figure 4.15 with pressure distribu-
tion contour plots of the contact zone (bottom view of slave side) from the solution
steps discussed above verifies additionally the intended local refinement along the
circular contact edge.
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 4.15: Pressure contour plots with corresponding T-meshes of slave struc-
ture with zoom on contact zone (bottom view) from refinement steps of the adap-
tive solution process of Hertz 3D with (a) #DOF = 25272, (b) #DOF = 36360,
(c) #DOF = 82296 and (d) #DOF = 123240.
The overall T-meshes of slave and master in the chosen refinement steps are
shown in figure 4.16.
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 4.16: Overall T-meshes of slave and master from refinement steps of
the adaptive solution process of Hertz 3D problem with (a) #DOF = 25272, (b)
#DOF = 36360, (c) #DOF = 82296 and (d) #DOF = 123240
Here, like in the 2D Hertz example results, it is can be seen that the refine-
ment gradually increases to the contact zone for slave and master to decrease the
errors there. Due to the applied traction forces to the curved surface with an inner
radius ri of the slave structure, the adaptive process also identifies relevant errors
in stresses there. This yield additional unintentional refinement.
At last, figure 4.17 compares the convergence of oscillation errors on slave

side from uniform h-refinement steps and from adaptive local refinement of the
Hertz 3D problem.
Figure 4.17: Comparison of oscillation error convergence from uniform (brown)

and adaptive local refinement (blue) of Hertz 3D approximations
This comparison shows that adaptive refinement procedure needs approxi-

mately 2.5 times less degrees of freedom to reach the same error of the NURBS
based solution with D0 . However, the decrease of oscillation errors is not monotonous
for the adaptive procedure. After a significant drop of from refinement step 4 to
5, the error stagnates at a constant level.
4.5 Summary
In this chapter, the developed adaptive procedure for contact analysis in the iso-
geometric setting was presented. It is based on the parameter description of the
contacting geometries with PHT-Splines which are capable of an efficient local
refinement. The adaptivity in this approach is achieved by the combination of a
super-convergent recovery-based error estimation procedure and the Dörfler mark-
ing strategy. The theoretical part of this chapter was closed with explanation of
the overall solution strategy. Conclusions from numerical examples of the Hertz
contact are:
• Error estimation technique was successfully used to identify parts of the

contacting geometries, in which oscillations of contact tractions occur. Es-
pecially in 3D, expensive local search of the contact edge could be avoided
in this way.
4.5. SUMMARY 85
• Numerical errors in maximum pressures and from oscillations mainly de-

creased together with each refinement step.
• Parts of the domains, in which traction conditions were applied to a curve

or curved surface, where also refined. When traction boundaries are prop-
erly resolved in the initial mesh, unnecessary refinement steps in adaptive
contact analysis can be avoided.
• Based on the non-decreasing numbers of Newton iterations for solution of

the non-linear contact problem in each refinement step, an improvement of
the overall robustness can not be concluded. This is possible due to the
dependency of mesh and penalty parameter (see sec. 3.4).
Chapter 5
Industrial application
High-pressure fuel pumps are an important component of common rail systems

in modern combustion engines. They provide fuel at high pressures to the system
at different operation stages for an efficient combustion. Figure 5.1 depicts the
cross-section CAD model of the CP4 pump from Bosch.
Figure 5.1: CAD geometry cross section of high pressure fuel pump CP4 from
Bosch
Functional principle
Fuel enters the pump at the inlet valve. The pump-plunger compresses with
vertical movements fuel in the compression chamber until a required pressure is
reached. The compressed fuel leaves then the pump from the outlet valve.
87
88 CHAPTER 5. INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION
The vertical movement of the plunger is realized from a driving train which
consists of the driving shaft with cam, the roller, the roller shoe, the plunger spring
and the pump plunger itself. Rotational movement (external drive) of the shaft is
transformed through cam-geometry into translational movement of the plunger
which is supported by the roller and roller-shoe.
Importance of roller cam contact
The highly loaded mechanical contact between roller and cam plays an impor-
tant role in designing a robust pump of high quality. Among different parameters
which describe the large sliding contact problem, the geometry is an important
degree of freedom for an optimal design of the mechanical contact with respect to
minimal stresses.
Finite Element techniques for the numerical simulation of different contact

designs are key enablers for finding an optimal design. The exact representation
of the geometry is in this example particularly important due to the contact ge-
ometries dimensions (µm).
In this chapter, roller and cam are therefore modelled with Spline functions
and contact stresses are computed with the developed isogeometric procedures
(NURBS based and adaptive PHT-Spline based) to show and test their practica-
bility in industrial environment.
5.1 Roller Cam Contact Problem

The physical model of the actual contact situation between roller and cam, shown
in figure 5.1, is very complex. The development of a model which represents this
real situation of a contact problem, is not scope of this thesis. Instead, a simplified
problem, shown in figure 5.2 and 5.3 is modeled.
The cam geometry is represented locally as a plate, due to its much larger
radius compared to the roller.
5.1. ROLLER CAM CONTACT PROBLEM 89
Figure 5.2: Simplified description of 3D roller cam contact problem
The roller geometry however, which is the degree of freedom for an optimal
contact design, is modeled as a whole, in a first step. In a second step, only one
eight of the roller volume is considered due to rotational and planes (x(1) , x(2) -
plane and x(2) , x(3) -plane) symmetries.
Figure 5.3: Reduced description of simplified 3D roller cam contact problem

based on rotation and plane symmetry assumptions
Necessary Dirichlet boundary conditions to the problem in figure 5.3 are sum-
marized by
u(1) = 0 on Γsu,2 , Γm m
u,2 and Γu,3 (5.1)
u(2) = 0 on Γsu,1 , Γm m
u,1 and Γu,3 (5.2)
(3)
u =0 on Γm
u,3 (5.3)
The mechanical load which is transmitted from plunger to roller is model as
a point load F acting on the top edge of the free roller (see figure 5.2). It is
transformed to a surface traction t̂ on Γsσ with the condition:
F
Z
= t̂ dΓ. (5.4)
4 Γsσ
The roller material is modelled linear elastic, while the cam is considered rigid.
5.2 NURBS based solution

Figure 5.4 shows the NURBS discretized models of roller and plate in the sym-
metry planes x(1) − x(3) and x(2) − x(3) with their TP-meshes.
(a) (b)
Figure 5.4: NURBS TP-meshes of roller and cam
Both bodies are described with cubic Splines. The roller geometry is modeled
with a small inner radius to avoid distorted elements.
Results
Figure 5.5 shows contour plots of resulting contact pressures pN (x, y) with TP-
meshes of the contact zone from the initial mesh (shown in figure 5.4) and from
meshes of three successive h-refinement steps of the slave side (roller).
5.2. NURBS BASED SOLUTION 91
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 5.5: Contact pressure contour plots with corresponding NURBS TP-
meshes of roller cam contact 3D problem from (a) mesh 1, (b) mesh 2, (c) mesh 3
and (d) mesh 4 (#DOF = 515160)
Due to the missing analytical solution to this problem, the solution from mesh
4 is assumed to be the "pseudo analytical solution" of the roller cam contact prob-
lem. From this reference solution, the maximum pressure value p0 := max(pN (x, y))
and the contact zone parameter ax and ay with pN (ax , y = 0) = 0 and pN (x =
0, ay ) = 0 are used for the normalized representation of the results with pN /p0 ,
x/ax and y/ay .
The 3D representation of the solutions above are shown in figure 5.6.

(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 5.6: 3D contact pressure plots from NURBS based computation of roller
cam contact problem with (a) mesh 1, (b) mesh 2, (c) mesh 3 and (d) mesh 4
(#DOF = 515160)
Here, single solutions are assembled to the solution of the original problem
defined in figure 5.2. From these plots, it can be seen already that the solutions
also show the oscillatory behavior at the contact edge.
For a better assessment of this artifact and its correlation with the maximum
pressures, the 2D curves pN (x, y = 0) and pN (x, y = 0) are compared in figure 5.7
for the different meshes.
5.3. ADAPTIVE PHT-SPLINE BASED SOLUTION 93
1
1
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2 0.2
0 0
-0.2 -0.2
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
(a) (b)
0.2
1
0.15
0.95
0.1
0.05
0.9
0
-0.05 0.85
-0.1
0.8
-0.15
-0.2 0.75
0.95 1 1.05 1.1 1.15 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9 0.95 1
(c) (d)
Figure 5.7: Comparison of 2D contact pressure curves from NURBS based com-
putation of roller cam contact problem: (a) pN (x, y = 0), (b) pN (x = 0, y) , (c)
enlarged view of pN (y) at contact edge and (d) enlarged view of maximum pres-
sures max(pN (y))
Oscillations at the contact end, especially in y-direction, decrease from mesh

1 to 4 significantly. The maximum pressures on the other hand change notice-
ably only from the first refinement step. Then the relative difference is below 1
percent.
5.3 Adaptive PHT-Spline based solution

The same roller cam contact problem, computed now based on PHT-Spline param-
eterized geometries (cubic Splines), provides the contact pressure contour plots of
the contact zone with the corresponding T-meshes on the slave side from 4 of 8
refinement steps of the adaptive solution process.
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 5.8: Contact pressure contour plots with corresponding T-meshes (slave
side) of the 3D roller cam contact problem from adaptive refinement process steps:
(a) #DOF = 60840, (b) #DOF = 75960, (c) #DOF = 95400 and (d) #DOF =
314040
These plots show the successful local refinement along the contact edge in the
sequential steps.
Figure 5.9 shows the corresponding 3D pressure plots.

5.3. ADAPTIVE PHT-SPLINE BASED SOLUTION 95
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 5.9: 3D contact pressure plots (slave side) of the 3D roller cam contact
problem from adaptive refinement process steps: (a) #DOF = 60840, (b) #DOF =
75960, (c) #DOF = 95400 and (d) #DOF = 314040
Here, it can be seen that the wavy character of pressures around the contact
edge reduces with each shown refinement step.
This impression becomes solid, when the 2D pressure curves are derived in
analogy to sec. 5.2 and compared for the different refinement steps in figure 5.10.
1
1
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4 # DOF = 60840
# DOF = 60840
# DOF = 75960 # DOF = 75960
0.2 # DOF = 95400 # DOF = 95400
0.2 # DOF = 314040
# DOF = 314040
0 0
-0.2 -0.2
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
(a) (b)
0.4 0.2
0.15 # DOF = 60840

# DOF = 75960
0.3 # DOF = 95400
0.1
# DOF = 314040
# DOF = 60840
# DOF = 75960 0.05
0.2
# DOF = 95400
# DOF = 314040 0
0.1
-0.05
-0.1
0
-0.15
-0.1 -0.2
0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 0.95 1 1.05 1.1 1.15
(c) (d)
Figure 5.10: Comparison of contact pressure curves (slave side) derived from the
3D pressures in figure reffig: Roller Cam, PHT, 3D Pressure distributions: (a)
pN (x, y = 0)/p0 , (b) pN (x = 0, y)/p0 , (c) enlarged view of pN (x, y = 0)/p0 close
to contact edge and (d) enlarged view of pN (x = 0, y)/p0 close to contact edge
It is also noted that the number of numerical DOF remains far below the
needed number for the NUBBS based computation of the reference solution.
Chapter 6
Conclusions
6.1 Summary
Spline based contact formulations have been shown to be advantageous compared
to classical finite element analysis with Lagrange polynomials in recent publica-
tions on computational contact mechanics. Due to higher inter-element continuity
of spline-based discretization, the contact search is more robust and from the ex-
act description of the contact boundary, the accuracy of solutions improves. Also,
mesh-refinement of contact does not require an additional communication with
the geometry models.
This thesis addresses the open question about effective refinement procedures
within the isogeometric setting to improve locally the approximate contact so-
lution in an efficient way. Although, different Spline structures (T-Splines, LR-
Splines, etc.) for local refinement have been applied to contact in the isogeomet-
ric setting, in this work PHT-Splines were employed the first time together with
the penalty based mortar method to improve especially the solution in vicinity
of the contact edge. Here, Spline approximated solutions feature an oscillatory
behaviour due to their inability to capture C0 -continuity of the analytical solu-
tion. PHT-Splines break up the tensor product structure of NURBS with Bèzier
extraction and local refinement is possible on a hierarchical T-mesh structure with
cross-insertions.
For an effective local refinement, the PHT-Spline discretized mortar contact

solution method was embedded in an adaptive procedure consisting of the steps
solve, estimate, mark and refine. For contact analysis in IGA, this concept with
super-convergent recovery-solution based error estimation and Dörfler marking
strategy was new.
97
98 CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS
Numerical results from the examples of Hertz contact problems and the roller
cam contact problem showed that the developed adaptive procedure possesses an
increased efficiency and effectiveness in solving the contact problem in 2D and
3D compared to the NURBS based contact solution approach (also implemented
in this work). The error in maximum pressures and the error from pressure oscilla-
tions improved with significantly less numerical degrees of freedom with adaptive
local refinement when compared to uniform h-refinement of the contact zone in
the NURBS based solution. This result was possible due to the effective identifi-
cation of elements resolving the contact end with the applied error estimator. By
this approach, an expensive local contact search within each refinement step has
been avoided.
The expected robustness improvement of the contact Newton iteration method

within the adaptive procedure though, was not observed. A possible reason, which
was not further investigated during this work, is the penalty parameter which is
chosen constant in each refinement step of differing meshes.
At last, a Matlab tool was developed for the optimization of contacting ge-
ometries of roller and cam from a high-pressure fuel pump with respect to min-
imal stresses. Here, the implemented NURBS based contact solution procedure
and the developed PHT-Spline based adaptive approach were used with a Spline-
geometry modelling tool for roller and cam. The geometry tool (the subject of a
master thesis instructed during this work) generates an analysis suitable geometry
for a given set of geometrical parameters (angles, radii, length, etc.).
6.2 Outlook
The PHT-Spline based adaptive procedure was developed and tested only for the
frictionless contact problem with linear elastic structures. An application of it
to frictional large sliding contact problems will certainly increase its field of ap-
plication. From numerical point of view, it is also interesting to investigate the
procedures performance when additional non-linearities (geometrical, material)
are included to the problems description.
The penalty approach used in this work for the incorporation of contact condi-
tions might not be the best choice, despite the simple implementation and the low
computational costs, within the adaptive procedure. It was shown in this work that
the accuracy of Spline approximated contact solutions and robustness of the New-
ton method depend on the combination of chosen mesh and penalty parameter.
6.2. OUTLOOK 99
Possible remedy to this situation could be a mesh-dependent selection approach

of the penalty parameter or a different method for the incorporation of contact
conditions (e.g. Lagrange Multiplier Method).
Geometries from the numerical examples presented in this work were mod-
elled with single patches only. The application of multi-patch geometry discretiza-
tion, especially for the simulation of large sliding contacts, within the presented
adaptive contact solution approach would be of great practical use.
100 CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS
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An Adaptive Contact Formulation For Isogeometric Finite Element Analysis

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An adaptive contact formulation for

Isogeometric Finite Element

zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines

an der Fakultät Bauingenieurwesen

Hauptberichter: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Timon Rabczuk

Stuttgart im Dezember 2020

diskrete Form des nichtlinearen Kontaktproblems, das algebraische Gleichungs-

Ein Nachteil der Approximation von Kontaktdrucklösungen mittels Spline-

Daher werden die spline-diskretisierten Geometrien, die mit Ihrer Tensorpro-

Bevor jedoch einzelne Elemente hierarchisch mittels cross-insertion verfeinert

Numerische Beispiele demonstrieren, dass das entwickelte Verfahren die Qua-

Zuletzt wird die Praxistauglichkeit des entwickelten Verfahren an einer indu-

This thesis addresses the simulation of contact mechanics. Mechanical con-

This thesis introduces therefore a novel approach, the adaptive isogeomet-

The mathematical description of the problem entails a system of partial differ-

boundary of the structures, the principle of Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) is ap-

The numerical evaluation of the contact integral is challenging due to gener-

This leads to an algebraic system of equations that is linearized and solved in

Based on numerical examples, the advantages of the isogeometric approach

Hence, the NURBS discretized geometries are transformed to Polynomial Splines

Before single elements are refined in a hierarchical form with cross-insertion,

In a final step the practicability of the developed solution algorithm is verified

First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude towards my supervisor Prof.

Finally, I want to thank my wife Caroline who continuously believed in me,

2 Continuum and Contact Mechanics 7

3 Isogeometric contact analysis with NURBS 17

3.3 NURBS discretization of contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4 Adaptive isogeometric contact 55

2.1 Contact problem description in generic form . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3.17 Hertz 3D pressure contour plots of slave structure with zoom on

4.1 Hierarchical tree structure of T-meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

5.10 Comparison of contact pressure curves (slave side) derived from

In modern product development, the simulation of contact mechanics is there-

For the simulation of real-life contact problems, mathematical equations from

The concept of Isogeometric Analysis (IGA), introduced first in [42] by Hughes

• smooth basis for surface description with tailorable continuity.

1.2 State of the art

• How are contact conditions, which prevent structures from non-physical

Like classical procedures, isogeoemtric implementations incorporate contact

If approximate contact solutions do not meet accuracy requirements, mesh re-

To improve further the efficiency of refinement, especially for the industrial

1.3 Addressed Questions

1. How effective are local refinement methods in the framework of isogeomet-

2. Spline approximations of stresses lack accuracy at the contact edge where

Chapter 3 is dedicated to the isogeometric contact analysis based on NURBS.

In Chapter 4, the NURBS parameterized contacting structures are transformed

Chapter 5 addresses the practicability of the procedures introduced in chapter

Continuum and Contact Mechanics

Continuum mechanics is the basis of numerical simulation of static structural

2.1 Linear structural mechanics

The components of tensor ω describe the infinitesimal rigid body rotations.

2.1.3 Constitutive law

Ei jkl = λ δi j δkl + µ(δik δ jl + δil δ jk ) with i, j, k, l = 1, 2, 3. (2.14)

The general Hooke’s law (2.11) is now reduced to the equations

σi j = λ εkk δi j + 2µεi j (2.16)

for a linear elastic isotropic material.

2.1.4 Boundary values

The Dirichlet-boundary is denoted by Γu , it is where displacements h are pre-

u(x) = h, with x ∈ Γu (2.18a)

2.2 Contact mechanics of small deformations

2.2.1 Normal contact

x̄ = arg minm kxs − x(ζζ )k , (2.19)

For geometrically linear kinematics (2.20) is transformed with (2.1) to