Sliding Wedge

Application ID: 364


A contactor wedge is subject to a gravity load and is forced to slide due to a boundary load over a rigid target wedge surface, both infinitely wide. Horizontal linear springs are also connected between the left vertical boundary and the ground.

This is a large sliding problem including contact pressure for a constant contact area and friction force calculations. A penalty/barrier method is used to solve the contact problem and a Coulomb friction model is used to calculate the friction forces. This is a NAFEM benchmark model described in the NAFEM publication NAFEMS Benchmark Tests for Finite Element Modeling of Contact, Gapping and Sliding.

This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products: