ContactModelinginLS-DYNA

CopyrightLSTCSuriBala,2001

Part4
AirbagContact,Edge-to-EdgeContact,andRigidBodyContact
Figuresarelocatedonthelastpageofthisarticle

8.0 AirbagContact

Simulationofairbagdeploymentandinteractionofanairbagwithothercomponentsmayrequirespecial
contacttreatment.Someofthechallengesassociatedwithairbagcontactareasfollows:

HighAirbagNodalVelocity(>100m/s)
SoftTissueProperties(E<50Mpa)
SmallTissueThickness(<0.5mm)
FrequentInitialPenetrationsinFoldedBag
TreatmentofAirbagFabricLayers

Topromotestabilityandaccuracyinsimulatingairbagcontact,thefollowingcontacttypesandcontact
parametersarerecommended.

8.1 AirbagSelf-Contact

Whentreatingairbagself-contact(fabric-to-fabriccontact),theuseof
*CONTACT_AIRBAG_SINGLE_SURFACEishighlyrecommended.Thiscontacttypeisbasedon
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACEbuthassignificantmodificationstoaccountforthe
difficultiesassociatedwithdeploymentofafoldedairbag.

SOFT=2isgenerallyrecommended(SMPonly)tobetterdealwiththemanyinitialpenetrationspresent
inafoldedairbagandtoinvokeasegment-to-segmentcontactsearchwhichisoftenadvantageousindealing
withthecomplexgeometryofafoldedorpartiallyunfoldedairbag.AirbagcontactwithSOFT=2isexpensive
relativetoothercontactoptionssotoimprovecpuperformancewhenusingSOFT=2,anadditionalcontactwith
SOFT=0or1canbeimplementedasshowninFigure8.1.Bydefiningtwoseparatecontactsandemploying
contactbirthtimeanddeathtimetoswitchfromtheSOFT=2contacttotheSOFT=1contactwhenthebaghas
unfolded,agoodcombinationofcontactreliabilityandefficiencycanbeacheived.

IftheairbagsimulationisrunusinganMPPexecutable,notethatSOFT=2isnotyetavailableandso
SOFT=0or1mustbeused.Forafoldedairbag,thiswilllikelymeanthataloadcurvedefiningthefabric
contactthicknessversustimewillbenecessarytotransitionfromaverysmallthicknessinthefoldedstatetoa
largerthicknessasthebagunfolds.Thisisdonetopreventinitialpenetrationsinthefoldedstateandstillhave
goodcontactbehaviorduringtheunfoldingprocess.Thecontactthicknessvs.timecurveisidentifiedby
LCIDABonOptionalCardAof*CONTACT.Asapossiblealternativetoatime-dependentcontactthickness,
theusermaytryinvokingtheoptionfortrackingofinitialpenetrationsbysettingIGNORE=1onOptionalCard
C.Thislatteroptionisnewinversion960andhasnotbeenthoroughlycheckedoutforairbagapplications.

8.2 Airbag-to-StructureContact

Duringandafterairbagdeployment,theairbagfabriccomesintocontactwithotherpartsofthemodel
suchasthesteeringwheel,occupant,instrumentpanel,doortrimcomponentsand,inthecaseofsidecurtain
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deployment,theseat.Forthesecontactconditions,atwo-waycontactsuchas
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACEisgenerallyrecommended.Ininstanceswhenthe
airbagnodescomprisetheslavesideinaone-waytypecontactsuchas
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_NODES_TO_SURFACE,thestructuralnodesarenotcheckedforpenetration
throughtheairbagsegments.Thismayresultinnoticeablepenetrationoffinely-meshedstructuralcomponents
intoairbagsegments.Singlesurfacecontactssuchas*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACEfor
airbag-to-structureinteractionmaybeill-advisedasthiswouldresultinduplicationofself-contacttreatmentfor
thefabric.

Difficultiesinairbag-to-structurecontactarelargelyassociatedwithsignificantdifferencesinmaterial
bulkmoduli(upto1000x)andverylowthicknessofthefabric.Toavoidprematurenodalreleasetriggeredby
asmallfabricthickness,itisrecommendedthatthecontactthicknessofthefabricbesettoaminimumvalueof
1.0mm.Sinceawiderangeofmaterialsareinvolved,theuseofSOFT=1ishighlyrecommendedasit
eliminatestheneedtofine-tunepenaltyscalefactors.Anexampleoftheoverallsetupforairbag-related
contactisshowninFigure8.2.

9.0 Edge-to-EdgeContact

Mostcontacttypesdonotcheckforedge-to-edgepenetrationsasthesearchentailsonlynodal
penetrationthroughasegment.Thismaybeadequateinmanycases;however,insomeuniqueshellcontact
conditions,thetreatmentofedge-to-edgecontactbecomesveryimportant.Thereareseveralwaystohandle
edge-to-edgecontact;themerits/demeritsofeachoneofthesemethodsarediscussedbelow.

9.1 *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERALexcludingInteriorEdges

Bydefault,*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERALconsidersonlyexterioredgesinitsedge-to-edge
treatmentasindicatedbyFigure9.1.Anexterioredgeisdefinedasbelongingtoonlyasingleelementor
segmentwhereasinterioredgesaresharedbytwoormoreelementsorsegments.Theentirelengthofeach
exterioredge,asopposedtoonlythenodesalongtheedge,ischeckedforcontact.Aswithotherpenalty-based
contacttypes,SOFT=1canbeactivatedtoeffectivelytreatcontactofdissimilarmaterials.

9.2 *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERALincludingInteriorEdges

Edge-to-edgecontactwhichincludesconsiderationofinterioredgesmaybeinvokedinoneoftwoways.One
methodtakesadvantageofthebeam-to-beamcontactcapabilityof*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERAL.
Thislabor-intensiveapproachinvolvescreatingnullbeamelements(*ELEMENT_BEAM,*MAT_NULL)
approximately1mmindiameter(elform=1,ts1=ts2=1,2mm,tt1=tt2=0in*SECTION_BEAM)alongevery
interioredgewishedtobeconsideredforedge-to-edgecontactandincludingthesenullbeamsinaseparate
AUTOMATIC_GENERALcontact.ThisisillustratedinFigure9.2.Theelasticconstantsin*MAT_NULLare
usedindeterminingthecontactstiffnesssoreasonablevaluesshouldbegiven.Nullbeamsdonotprovideany
structuralstiffness.

Apreferredalternativetothenullbeamapproach,availableinversion960,istoinvoketheinterioredgeoption
byusing*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERAL_INTERIOR.Acertaincostpenaltyisassociatedwiththis
option.

9.3*CONTACT_SINGLE_EDGE

Thiscontacttypetreatsedge-to-edgecontactbut,unliketheotheroptionsabove,ittreatsonlyedge-to-
edgecontact.ThiscontacttypeisdefinedviaapartID,partsetID,oranodesetontheslaveside.Themaster
sideisomitted.
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10 RigidBodyContact

Componentsforwhichdeformationisnegligibleandstressisunimportantmaybemodeledasrigid
bodiesusing*MAT_RIGIDor*CONSTRAINED_NODAL_RIGID_BODY.Theelasticconstantsdefinedin
*MAT_RIGIDareusedforcontactstiffnesscalculations.Thustheconstantsshouldbereasonable(propertiesof
steelareoftenused).

ThoughthereareseveralcontacttypesinLS-DYNAwhichareapplicablespecificallytorigidbodies
(RIGIDappearsinthecontactname),thesetypesareseldomused.Anyofthepenalty-basedcontacts
applicabletodeformablebodiesmayalsobeusedwithrigidbodies,andinfact,aregenerallypreferredoverthe
RIGIDcontacttypes.Rigidbodiesanddeformablematerialsmaybeincludedinthesamepenalty-based
contactdefinition.Constraintsandconstraint-basedcontactsmaynotbeusedforrigidbodies.

Rigidbodiesshouldhaveareasonablyfinemeshsoastocapturethetruegeometryoftherigidpart.An
overlycoarsemeshmayresultincontactinstability.Anothermeshingguidelineisthatthenodespacingonthe
contactsurfaceofarigidbodyshouldbenocoarserthanthemeshofanydeformablepartwhichcomesinto
contactwiththerigidbody.Thispromotesproperdistributionofcontactforces.Astherearenostressorstrain
calculationsforarigidbody,meshrefinementofarigidbodyhaslittleeffectoncpurequirements.Inshort,the
usershouldnottrytoeconomizeinthemeshingofrigidbodies.

*CONTACT_ENTITYisanaltogetherdifferentwayofdefiningananalytic,rigidcontactsurfacewhich
interactswithnodesofdeformablebodies.Formoreinformation

Red, SOFT=2

On Blue, SOFT=0,1

Off

20-30msintodeployment,
SimulationTime,

Figure8.1 AirbagSelfContactAlgorithmSwitch

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 StructuralContact,
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE,
SOFT=1,SST=1.0,fabric(slave-material)

SelfContact,
*CONTACT_AIRBAG_SINGLE_SURFACE
SOFT=2

Figure8.2 AirbagContactDefinition

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 InteriorEdge

Exterior Edge

Figure9.1 InteriorandExteriorShellEdges

Beam
Elements
PartA

PartB

Figure9.2 NullBeamstotreatedge-to-edgetreatment