Influence of the main contact parameters in finite element analysis of elastic bodies in contact

One of the key issues in solving contact problems is the correct choice of the contact parameters. The contact stiffness, the penetration limit and the contact algorithm are some of the parameters that have to be adjusted. There are no methodologies available in the literature for choosing the contact parameters, relying only on the user experience for this important task. In this work we investigate how the contact parameters behave in a commercial finite element analysis software. We will show that while the contact stiffness has great influence on the finite element analysis, other parameters will not affect it significantly. Some contact examples are shown to illustrate the performance of the contact parameters during the solution of a contact problem