Implementation of the eXtended Finite Element Method (X-FEM) in frictional contact problems

Numerical modeling of engineering contact problems is one of the most difficult and demanding tasks in computational mechanics. In this paper, the extended finite element method is employed to simulate the presence of discontinuities caused by frictional contact based on the penalty approach. The FEM approximation is enriched by applying additional terms to simulate the frictional behavior of contact between two bodies. The penalty method, which is one of the most commonly used techniques for contact problems, is used to model the penetration between two contacting boundaries and the normal contact force is related to the penetration by a penalty parameter. Finally, numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the XFEM in modeling of frictional contact behavior.