Manual Contact

Adds manual contact conditions to selected geometry elements.

Access:

Ribbon: Stress Analysis tab Contacts panel Manual Alternatively, right-click the Contacts node in the browser and select Manual Contact.

Contact type		Select the contact type from the choices in the pull down list. Available contact types differ based on the simulation type.
Selections
		Specify the first contact edge or face.
		Specify the second contact edge or face.
		Specifies that you want to pick the part first, before the contact face. This command is useful when one or more parts lie atop one another and graphic selection is tedious.

Available Contact Types

Note: For more information about contact types, review the Stress Analysis Contacts tutorial.

	Contact type	Behavior
	Bonded	Bonds contact faces to each other rigidly.
	Separation	Separates contact faces partially or fully while sliding
	Sliding / No Separation	Bonds contact faces in normal to face direction while sliding under deformation.
	Separation / No Sliding	Separates contact faces partially or fully without their sliding against each other.
	Shrink Fit / Sliding	Provides conditions like 'Separation' with initial parts overlapping. The initial distance between the contact faces is negative
	Shrink Fit / No Sliding	Provides conditions of Separation/no sliding with initial parts overlapping, meaning negative initial distance
	Spring	Creates equivalent springs between the two faces. You define total Normal and/or Tangential stiffness.
	Normal Stiffness	Specifies the equivalent normal stiffness value. Applicable to Spring contact only.
	Tangential Stiffness	Specifies the equivalent tangential stiffness value. Applicable to Spring contact only. Note: Normal and tangential directionality is based on the best approximation between the two faces that follow each other in a parallel way. Examples are parallel planes, concentric cylinders, and so on. Otherwise it can be ambiguous.

Context Menu

The following two options are accessible from the context menu for Contacts:

Edit Contact	Displays the Edit (Type) Contact dialog box so you can edit the contact type.
Suppress	Suppresses the select contact.