Purpose-The paper aims to introduce an efficient contact detection algorithm for smooth convex particles. Design/methodology/approach-The contact points of adjacent particles are defined according to the common-normal concept. The problem of contact detection is formulated as 2D unconstrained optimization problem that is solved by a combination of Newton's method and a Levenberg-Marquardt method. Findings-The contact detection algorithm is efficient in terms of the number of iterations required to reach a high accuracy. In the case of non-penetrating particles, a penetration can be ruled out in the course of the iterative solution before convergence is reached. Research limitations/implications-The algorithm is only applicable to smooth convex particles, where a bijective relation between the surface points and the surface normals exists. Originality/value-By a new kind of formulation, the problem of contact detection between 3D particles can be reduced to a 2D unconstrained optimization problem. This formulation enables fast contact exclusions in the case of non-penetrating particles.
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