A virtual element method for contact

The problem of contact between two elastic bodies is addressed computationally using the virtual element method (VEM). The use of the VEM allows the use of non-matching meshes for the two bodies, and hence obviates the need for node-to-node contact on the candidate contact interfaces. The contact constraint is imposed using either a Lagrange multiplier or penalty formulation. A number of numerical examples illustrate the robustness and accuracy of the algorithm.