Curved Isoparametric Interface Surface Element

In civil engineering practices, there are many structures where surfaces, either curved or plane, remain in contact with one another. In such cases the contact stresses depend on interfacial slip which can significantly affect the overall behavior of the structure. In some prevalent systems such as composite steel-concrete beams, layered wood construction connected with nails, rock joints, and rafted and shell foundations, the assumption of rigid interconnection between the contact surface is questionable. In numerical analysis of such jointed and layered systems using finite elements, the introduction of interface elements has proved to be the most useful.