A coupled finite element formulation for chemo-mechano-thermodynamical contact and its application to bonding and debonding

2026-06-10

AI Summary

This work addresses the challenges in modeling interfacial adhesion and debonding under large-deformation chemo-mechanical-thermal coupled contact by proposing a unified multiphysics framework. Building upon Sauer’s contact theory, the formulation introduces a six-field finite element model that simultaneously accounts for displacements of two bodies, temperature, an interfacial adhesion field, and interfacial temperature. Adhesion evolution is governed by a quadratic contact potential, and strong coupling among all fields is achieved through a monolithic solution strategy. The model accommodates complex phenomena such as pressure- or gap-dependent adhesion, exothermic reactions, thermal hardening, thermal expansion, and concurrent adhesion–debonding processes. It is implemented with either classical or isogeometric shape functions, implicit time integration, and a fully linearized Newton–Raphson algorithm, allowing optional local condensation of adhesion variables at material points when needed. Numerical examples demonstrate the method’s robustness and accuracy in handling highly nonlinear multiphysics interfacial problems.

Abstract

This work presents a finite element formulation for coupled chemo-mechano-thermodynamical large deformation contact. The formulation is based on the contact theory of Sauer et al. (2022) that contains six coupled (but separate) fields: the deformation and temperature of the two contacting bodies, as well as an interfacial bonding field and interfacial temperature. The latter is governed by the chemical and mechanical energy dissipation at the interface. Here the focus is placed on the evolution of bonding and debonding, and how it is coupled to the mechanical and thermal contact state. Several elementary models are proposed for this based on a quadratic contact potential. The resulting contact formulation becomes very general and versatile, which is illustrated by several challenging examples. They include pressure- and gap- depended bonding, exothermic bonding reactions, thermal hardening and thermal expansion, as well as simultaneous bonding and debonding. They are based on a monolithic finite element implementation using classical and isogeometric shape functions together with implicit time integration. Its full linearization, required for the Newton-Raphson solution method, is also provided. If bonding sites are material points, the bonding variable can be condensed-out locally.

Problem

• chemo-mechano-thermodynamics
• contact
• bonding
• debonding
• interface

Innovation

• chemo-mechano-thermodynamics
• bonding/debonding
• finite element formulation
• contact mechanics
• isogeometric analysis