Boundary element method applied to three dimensional thermoelastic contact

Abstract In this paper we present a boundary element method to analyze and solve three dimensional frictionless thermoelastic contact problems. Although many problems in engineering can be solved with one-dimensional or two-dimensional models, those simplifications there are not possible in many others, such as the design of microelectronics packages. We calculate the stresses, movements, temperatures and thermal gradients on 3D solids. A thermal resistance at the contact zone depends on the local pressure is considered. The problem is solved by a double iterative method, so that in the final solution do not appear tensions in the contact zone or penetrations between the two solids. The solutions are compared with other works, where possible, to validate the method.