Creating contact stabilization definitions

Contact stabilization introduces viscous damping to oppose incremental relative motion between two surfaces. This damping can be used to stabilize unconstrained rigid body motion prior to contact closure without degrading the accuracy of results. Contact stabilization is based on a set of factors described in Stabilization for general contact in Abaqus/Standard.

Related Topics
Defining general contact
Specifying and modifying contact stabilization assignments for general contact
In Other Guides
Stabilization for general contact in Abaqus/Standard

Context:

Each contact stabilization definition contains a set of stabilization factors; the general contact definition specifies the surfaces to which each stabilization definition is applied (see Specifying and modifying contact stabilization assignments for general contact).

  1. From the main menu bar, select InteractionContact StabilizationCreate.

    The Edit Contact Stabilization dialog box appears.

  2. Enter a Name for the contact stabilization definition.

  3. Specify the stabilization type:

    • Select Define new stabilization behavior to define a standard stabilization.

    • Select Reset values from previous steps to define a special type of stabilization that cancels the effects of stabilization that was applied in previous analysis steps; the canceling stabilization must still be assigned to surfaces in the general contact definition. This type of stabilization does not require any additional data.

  4. Specify a Zero stabilization distance; no stabilization is applied to surfaces separated by a distance greater than this value. A gap-dependent scale factor varies during the analysis between one (when the surfaces are touching) and zero (when the gap between surfaces exceeds the specified zero stabilization distance).

    • Select Analysis default to set the gap distance equal to a characteristic surface dimension.

    • Select Specify to enter the gap distance directly.

  5. Specify a Reduction factor to determine how the damping value changes in successive increments. A value less than one causes the damping to decrease with each increment; a value greater than one (not recommended) causes the damping to increase with each increment.

  6. Specify a Scale factor that is applied to stabilization damping effects in the normal direction.

  7. Specify a Tangential factor that is applied to stabilization damping effects in the tangential direction.

  8. If desired, select an Amplitude envelope to vary the stabilization over the course of the step.

    Alternatively, you can click to create a new amplitude. (See The Amplitude toolset for more information.)

    Selecting an amplitude other than the default ramp amplitude may cause the stabilization effects to span multiple analysis steps; see Stabilization for general contact in Abaqus/Standard for details.

  9. If you want to reset the values in the dialog box to the default values, click Defaults at the bottom of the dialog box.

  10. Click OK to save your contact stabilization definition and to close the Edit Contact Stabilization dialog box.