The program bonds the Set 1 and Set 2 (source and target) entities defined in the Contact Set PropertyManager. Bonded entities behave as if they were welded. This option is available for static, nonlinear, frequency, buckling, and thermal studies. The mesh does not have to be compatible. If the mesh is compatible, the program merges coincident nodes along the interface, otherwise it applies constraint equations internally to simulate bonding.
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| Initially touching faces (the mesh can be compatible or incompatible)
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| Illustration of bonded contact with compatible mesh
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In cases of bonding contact between sheet metal parts with other surfaces (solids or shells), the bonding algorithm can enforce over-stiffening due to the gap between the mid-surface mesh and the contact surface geometry. The over-stiffening of the bonding contact alters the calculation of the rigid body modes. The program will calculate all rigid modes (with frequency values close to 0), if you eliminate the gap by offsetting the mesh of the sheet metal parts from the mid-surfaces to the contact surface geometry.