Contact Parameter

Hi Seng,

 I think as a general rule you want to achieve the following:

 - Find a stiffness and exponent value that results in an acceptable amount of penetration for the typical contact event in your system. The 'acceptable' amount should be determined by considering material properties and likely the expected deflection of the structure around the contact point.

 - Next the value can be set so that it provides some numerical stability. Both too little and too much damping can result in spiky contact forces and slow simulation times. Typically a bit of damping (0.1% perhaps, or 1% of the stiffness as a guess) will help solution speed and produce the least-spiky contact forces.

 - Related to the damping is the maximum penetration depth for maximum damping: if you set this to be small then the damping turns on quickly and your contact event can be dominated by damping forces. You likely just want enough damping to provide stability, again, so don't set the penetration depth to be too shallow.

Regards,

Rishi

Hi Seng,

 I think as a general rule you want to achieve the following:

 - Find a stiffness and exponent value that results in an acceptable amount of penetration for the typical contact event in your system. The 'acceptable' amount should be determined by considering material properties and likely the expected deflection of the structure around the contact point.

 - Next the value can be set so that it provides some numerical stability. Both too little and too much damping can result in spiky contact forces and slow simulation times. Typically a bit of damping (0.1% perhaps, or 1% of the stiffness as a guess) will help solution speed and produce the least-spiky contact forces.

 - Related to the damping is the maximum penetration depth for maximum damping: if you set this to be small then the damping turns on quickly and your contact event can be dominated by damping forces. You likely just want enough damping to provide stability, again, so don't set the penetration depth to be too shallow.

Regards,

Rishi

Thank you so much for the advice and support. I'm going to try it and see how it goes.