Abstract: The contact problems in structural engineering are very important and complicated, for they are reffered to the stress concentration, boundary nonlinear, and even material or geometric nonlinear problems. With the development of electronic computers, great progress has been made in the finite element and boundary element theory and the numerical calculation approaches. This article summarized the numerical calculation methods of contact problems, then discussed their advantages, disadvantages and application scope, finally provided suggestions on future investigations of contace problems in structural engineering.