Hi,
Although I am not a Chrono developer, I extensively use various contact models in my work, so here is my take on your questions. Ad 1. You are correct. The default contact force models implemented in Chrono are penetration-based. They do not provide the semi-axes of the contact patch or the contact area directly. Nevertheless, you should be able to calculate these quantities from the available contact information, provided that the required geometric parameters are known. Ad 2. To the best of my knowledge, no such extension is currently planned. Computing local curvatures for arbitrary geometry would not be an easy task, and the potential benefits would probably not justify the implementation effort in most use cases. Best regards, Mariusz Warzecha poniedziałek, 1 czerwca 2026 o 19:26:28 UTC+2 [email protected] napisał(a): > Hello Chrono developers, > > I am currently investigating the use of Hertzian contact within Chrono > (SMC). > > I have a few questions regarding the contact information available through > Chrono: > > 1. As far as I understand, the Hertz-based contact models implemented > in ChSystemSMC provide the normal contact force using the penetration > depth and equivalent radius, but they do not provide the actual contact > patch dimensions (e.g., semi-axes (a) and (b) of the Hertz ellipse) or the > contact area directly. Is this correct, or is there already a way to > access > this information? > 2. > > In my tests, the collision systems based on Bullet and Multicore seem > to provide contact points and normals, but not the principal curvatures > (or > curvature radii) of the contacting surfaces for arbitrary geometries. From > the source code, it appears that Multicore computes equivalent radii only > for some primitive shapes (sphere, cylinder, box, etc.), while for general > triangle meshes or custom geometries this information is not available. > > Is there any existing module, utility, or ongoing development effort > within Chrono aimed at computing local surface curvatures (principal > curvature radii) at contact points for arbitrary collision geometries? > > Any guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. > > Thank you. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ProjectChrono" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/projectchrono/2b7ff7df-8768-4e6a-a47f-9727a05770b5n%40googlegroups.com.
