Discontinuous Galerkin method for frictional interface dynamics

A stabilized discontinuous Galerkin (DG) formulation is presented for transient small deformation contact problems involving friction with application to the modeling of bolted lap joints. The method is an extension of derivations from the quasi-static context, whereby the numerical flux terms acting at the contact interface are consistently derived using variational multiscale concepts. This transient primal formulation naturally accommodates nonconforming meshes and stratified materials such as geological faults. Also, the numerical flux terms involving the stress field at the contacting interface provide a natural mechanism for embedding friction models. Numerical results for nonsmooth transient problems confirm that the DG interface approach does not introduce artificial features into the physical response.