Reduced order modeling for forced response prediction of structures with large contact interfaces

Real structures consist of components assembled together by means of joints whose behavior may result nonlinear. Modeling the contact interactions at the interface between neighboring components is thus essential for a precise prediction of the structure’s response. One of the categories of joints that are widely used in mechanical applications are the lap joints and flanged joints. The two types of joints usually share two features: the contact regions are generally large and can not be considered localized with respect to the volume of the assembled bodies and bolted joints are used as a removable joint and distributed over the contact equally spaced. In this paper an efficient method to deal with large contact interface is presented in order to run fast nonlinear simulations taking into account the friction forces occurring at the contact.