Meshing difficulty in viscoelastic constrained layer damping

Hi,

I am simulating constrained layer damping with viscoelastic layer in Abaqus.

Used 3D continuum element - C3D20R for base an face sheet and and same with hybrid 

formulation C3D20RH for visco tape.

In FE mesh, I tied the nodes (through tie constraint) of base with that of visco tape and 

also the visco tape with that of face sheet. But in the deformed mode shape, I am finding 

the visco tape fully penetrated inside the casing (I guess as there is no contact, only tie 

constraint).

But if visco tape is penetrating instead of getting squeezed between base and face sheets, 

strain energy will not be developed in visco layer. I can see this contour plot of elastic 

strain energy (ELSE). Strain energy in base sheet is more than visco tape.

Can someone suggest any other alternative method to evaluate strain energy in the visco tape 

or corrections in meshing strategy? 

Thank you for your time and support.

Regards

Kolluru