Contact between 2 objects ignored when deformation scale factor is increased. Why?

[TennisGuy543]

I'm modeling a contact problem by applying force to a reference point on a rigid joint, which is in contact with a deformable leg component. I set up a surface-to-surface interaction and input a load to the reference point on the joint. In general everything works as I would predict; the force that is applied to the rigid joint is transmitted to the leg. Since no forces are directly applied to the leg, I know that this force on the leg is due to the contact.

However, there is a discrepancy in the results. Although force is clearly transmitted between the 2 bodies, when I turn the deformation scale factor to a value larger than 1, the rigid joint moves straight through the leg as if there is no contact. In other words, if I increase the deformation scale factor, it seems as though my surface-to-surface contact is not working. But it must be working since the leg has a stress field and no other loads (not gravity or anything) are applied.I Is there something wrong with my contact, or is this an error in ABAQUS's viewport? Is this just an error with ABAQUS that if you increase the deformation scale factor in viewport, the surface-to-surface contact will be ignored and the objects appear to move through each other?

An insight would be great! Let me know if you guys need more detail. Thanks!