Discussion Forum

Is it possible to impose a displacement discontinuity boundary condition on an 'assembly' boundary between two domains? For example, I have two elastic regions in contact with each other. I want to prescribe a known discontinuity in the displacement field across this boundary. This is a common problem in solid mechanics (dislocations). I see that I can impose a 'Prescribed Displacement' on each side of an assembly boundary and this would allow me to introduce fixed displacements on each side of the boundary, producing a discontinuity in the displacement field. However, this prescribed displacement on each side is in a global coordinate system. What I really need to prescribe is not the absolute, global displacement vector on each side of the boundary, but the difference in displacement vectors across a boundary (or rather, the displacement of one side relative to the other). The absolute, global displacement of each side of the boundary is then part of the solution -- not prescribed.