Maintaining contact between tool and workpiece for 2-D orthogonal cutting

Hello all,

I am currently trying to model the machining of steel with a 2-D orthogonal cutting model using ABAQUS CAE, but I am having trouble with the contact conditions between the tool and the workpiece, The elements at the surface of the workpiece tend to distort as the simulation moves forward, causing a contact separation between the tool and the workpiece, and thus yielding inaccurate temperature and stress distributions along that region. Does anyone know how to define contact in such a way that it will be maintained throughout the course of this simulation?

Best Regards,

Stephen Mangum

P.S. I am defining my tool as a rigid body and my cutting plane as a deformable node region