Contact and Interface Mechanics for Engineering Structures

In this course, the students will learn the history of contact mechanics, and its relevance for different fields of modern structural engineering, followed by a basic discussion of fundamental aspects of contact mechanics.

Then numerical modeling of contact mechanics will be discussed, taking material properties into account, via the Finite Element Method (FEM) and the Boundary Element Method (BEM).

Next, the focus will shift to contact applications in structural engineering. For transport infrastructures, tire-pavement and wheel-rail interaction will be covered in depth. Aspects like surface conditions, degradation, noise will come into the picture and an experimental study with lab test-rig and deformable tire contact footprint will be presented.

Applications in the fields of civil engineering structures such as concrete, steel and composite structures are presented.

Finally, the remaining time in this course is used to work on a group assignment. This group assignment includes giving a presentation about the work done.