Contact between adjacent structuresContact between adjacent structures Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2015-10-111991enIn this paper, the static contact forces developed between adjacent structures are studied. Activation of a unilateral contact situation between adjacent buildings can be caused by external horizontal loading, e.g., the case of a design static loading representing an earthquake motion as in the pseudostatic method of analysis for earthquake‐resistant structures. By an appropriate finite element model and making use of the simplifying assumption of linear elastic behavior for the buildings, we are led to the formulation of a quadratic programming problem that can be tackled by any Q.P. code available. Some numerical experimentation performed for the horizontal static design loads reveals certain aspects of the interaction problem. In particular, the role of the aseismic gap between the structures is parametrically investigated. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Journal of Structural Engineering101172838–2850 Stavroulakis Georgios Σταυρουλακης Γεωργιος K. Abdalla ASCE Applied mechanics Engineering, Mechanical mechanics applied applied mechanics engineering mechanical