You can use the 3D line-to-surface contact element, CONTA177, to model flexible-flexible or rigid-flexible contact between a 3D beam and a surface or between a shell edge (or feature edge of a solid body) and a surface. CONTA177 can also model a combination of 3D beam-to-surface contact and 3D beam-to-beam contact when the target surface consists of both surface and line segments.

This chapter focusses on the line-to-surface capabilities of CONTA177. For information on modeling beam-to-beam contact, see 3D Beam-to-Beam Contact (Pair-Based).