Iterative methods for contact problems

In contact mechanics, a problem might arise when at least one of the contacting bodies is not fully fixed, i.e. the corresponding functional is semicoercive. The paper will deal with numerical methods for these cases. The fundamental Uzawa method for a class of problems does not converge sufficiently fast, therefore there is an attempt to apply some other approaches. The physical nature of the problem suggests transforming it into a sequence of regular (fixed) problems. The form of regular problems allows one to use almost standard solution algorithms. However some modifications, concerning such aspects as the transition between the regular problems and the rotations of contact degrees of freedom, have to be made. (C) 1999 IMACS/Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.