Contact Force vs Contact Pressure

Hi - I have a basic question on the contact pressure plotsusing COSMOSWorks.

I am performing a seat tightness study in a pressure relief valvethat has internal pressure acting on two components in contact.This pressure is biased against a spring force. My objective is tofind the max internal pressure achievable without leakage. I studythe contact pressure at the seat as the metric that determines seattightness. If contact pressure exceeds internal pressure, the valveseals tight.

After performing a no-penetration contact analysis, when I analyzethe results, I look at the contact pressure in 2 ways

1. I get the contact force value and divide it by the averagecontact area (which is derived from the contact pressure plot). Thecontact force is equal and opposite on the contacting faces.

2. I get the average contact pressure value from the source or thetarget face (whichever is minimum, mostly the target face).

These two methods do not agree with each other, and in some casesvastly different. Which one is the more accurate method? Or isthere a better method to do the analysis. I have had success fromthe first method (proven on the field).

Thank you
Rajesh.SolidworksSimulation