Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to expand the previously published fuzzy logic controller for contact method to normal frictionless contact for solving mechanical frictional contact problems. The secondary aim is to integrate a reduction model for each component in contact to decrease the size of the global finite element contact problem.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed strategy relies on the design of two fuzzy logic controllers currently used in the automation domain. These controllers are considered to link normal and tangential gaps (for sticking conditions) with normal and tangential contact loads. A direct consequence of integrating a control-based approach into the numerical solving approach is the decomposition of the non-linear problem into a set of linear problems.
Findings
With this new strategy, no tangent or coupling matrix is defined for the contact problem that allows to consider a projection matrix to reduce the size of each component in contact and subsequently to decrease the associated computational time. As in condensation techniques, this matrix is composed of both modal bases of each component in contact and static modes that capture behaviors at the contact interface. Moreover, the proposed numerical application highlights the efficiency of the proposal in terms of computation time and precision of contact data.
Research limitations/implications
The developments are currently implemented in Matlab only for 2D static numerical applications. Therefore, as obtained results are very promising in terms of precision and computational time, the objective is to complete the proposed method in future research to manage frictional contact for 3D finite element models in a dynamic context.
Originality/value
In conclusion, this paper highlights the interest of studying mechanical frictional contact problems by considering fuzzy logic control approaches.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The present research was supported by the International Campus on Safety and Intermodality in Transportation of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region, the European Community, the Regional Delegation for Research and Technology, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the National Center for Scientific Research. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of these institutions.
Citation
Do, H., Massa, F. and Tison, T. (2016), "Using fuzzy logic control approach and model reduction for solving frictional contact problems", Engineering Computations, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 1006-1032. https://doi.org/10.1108/EC-11-2014-0226
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited