Analysis of 3-D frictional contact mechanics problems by a boundary element method

The development of two boundary element algorithms for solving 3-D, frictional, and linear elastostatic contact problems is reported in this paper. The algorithms employ nonconforming discretizations for solving 3-D boundary element models, which provide much needed flexibility in the boundary element modeling for 3-D contact problems. These algorithms are implemented in a new 3-D boundary element code and verified using several examples. For the numerical examples studied, the results using the new boundary element algorithms match very well with the results using a commercial finite element code, and clearly demonstrate the feasibility of the new boundary element approach for 3-D contact analysis.