The contact modeling capabilities available in ABAQUS/Standard and ABAQUS/Explicit differ significantly; therefore, they are discussed separately. A comparison of the capabilities is provided at the end of this chapter.

Contact simulations in ABAQUS/Standard are either surface based or contact element based. Surfaces that will be involved in contact must be created on the various components in the model. Then, the pairs of surfaces that may contact each other, known as contact pairs, must be identified. Finally, the constitutive models governing the interactions between the various surfaces must be defined. These surface interaction definitions include behavior such as friction.

Contact simulations in ABAQUS/Explicit can utilize either the general (“automatic”) contact algorithm or the contact pair algorithm. A contact simulation is usually defined simply by specifying the contact algorithm to use and the surfaces that will interact with one another. In some cases where the default contact settings are not appropriate, other aspects of the contact simulation can be specified; for example, a mechanical interaction model that considers friction.