45.0 - Contact Coupling

Some computations involving different physical processes are coupled, meaning that the contact model associated with one physical process must be updated by a separate process. This may happen in PFC when both the thermal and mechanical processes are active. For instance, if a bonded linear parallel bond contact model is present at contact, thermal expansion of the bonding material may be modeled, which impacts the force carried by the bond, thus the mechanical response of the system (see the “Mechanical Coupling: Thermal Strains” section for further details).