New paper: Eulerian framework for contact between solids represented as phase fields
Our work on a novel framework for mechanical contact exploiting a phase-field approach on an Eulerian mesh was recently published in Computer methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering.
Mechanical contact between solids has almost exclusively been modelled in Lagrangian frameworks. While these frameworks have been developed extensively, they generally require an algorithmic task of contact detection, and a specific contact discretization. In this work, we explore opportunities offered by the fully Eulerian Finite Element approach to tackle contact mechanics problems. We use the phase-field method, involving a diffuse representation of geometries, to track the solid boundaries. We show that this approach greatly simplifies contact detection and resolution, offering a completely local variational formulation for contact. While most physical systems can be modelled well with existing methods, systems including evolving surfaces - such as growing bodies - are difficult. Here, our methodology offers great new opportunities, e.g. for modelling the deterioration of porous materials through pressurization caused by growing encapsulated solid phases.