With large deformation or deflection analysis, it is quite often possible for a model with surface contact to have individual elements with a defined contact surface moving at distances that would exceed that which is defined with contact search distance parameters. Today, as I understand it, the only way to handle this is to either increase the search distance resulting in unusually large numbers of possible contact elements being generated during the solve, or by estimating the the locations of where contact will exist between solids as the deformation or deflection increases during the analysis.
I suggest that contact surface definitions be updated as the analysis continues so that as areas of one surface approach another surface as a result of large deflections between the solids, the contact element sets are updated using a much smaller search area, yet will still create the appropriate contact elements as a result of this new displaced orientation between surfaces.
GJD
