Energy-momentum schemes for large deformation contact problems

Dynamic contact problems in elasticity are dealt with in the framework of nonlinear finite element methods. A new energymomentum conserving time-stepping scheme for the mortar contact formulation is presented. The proposed method relies on a reparametrization of the contact constraints in terms of specific invariants. For the time discretisation of the contact forces emanating from the mortar formulation the notion of a discrete gradient is applied. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)