A proposal to deal with contact and friction by blending meshfree and finite element methods in forming processes

In this work a computational model based on a meshless method, the Element Free Galerkin Method (EFG), is applied in the simulation of forging processes. Contact and friction are handled by blending finite elements with the EFG in order to overcome the difficulty of meshless methods in dealing with essential boundary conditions. Special interface finite elements are established between the tools and the workpiece, allowing to impose directly those conditions. An application example in forging is analyzed and the numerical solution of the proposed model is compared with experimental results as well as with a traditional finite element solution.