The post provides a detailed walkthrough of modeling a wood pallet using SolidWorks Simulation, including material properties, coordinate systems, contact areas, and result interpretation.
Structural Engineering
Material nonlinearity: elasto-plastic analysis of a statically indeterminate truss
This is another simple problem of a statically indeterminate truss. Bilinear kinetic hardening material model is used. The beauty of this problem is that as the force increases, it can be expected that the vertical member and slant members will develop into the plastic stage consecutively. That will be seen later from the equilibrium path. … Continue reading Material nonlinearity: elasto-plastic analysis of a statically indeterminate truss
Nonlinear buckling analysis: considering both large deformation and material nonlinearity
In this post, we are going to do a nonlinear buckling analysis for a thin arch shell under uniformly distributed pressure. The configuration of the arch shell is as follows During the analysis, a linear buckling analysis will be conducted first to obtain the 1st-order eigenvalue (i.e. the linear buckling load) and eigenmode (i.e. buckling … Continue reading Nonlinear buckling analysis: considering both large deformation and material nonlinearity
Geometric nonlinearity: a simple two-member truss problem
In geometric linearity, the equilibrium equation is established in the undeformed state and will not be updated with deformation. In other words, we ignore the small deformation of the geometry to simplify the calculation. This does not seem to be in line with the core idea of structural mechanics, because the calculation of deformation is … Continue reading Geometric nonlinearity: a simple two-member truss problem
Plastic limit analysis of a statically indeterminate beam
A structure can become unstable when a load reaches its buckling value or when nonlinear material becomes unstable. It is possible to observe the full response of a structure under proportional (ramped) loads using elastic-plastic analysis in ANSYS, so the plastic limit load and the location of plastic hinges can be determined. In this post, … Continue reading Plastic limit analysis of a statically indeterminate beam
Contact Analysis of a Pipe-clamp Assembly
We have discussed multiple examples of contact analysis so far. In this post, we are going to investigate a pipe-clamp assembly. By using a pretensioned bolt, the clamp holds the pipe firmly (see the following figure). If the pretension is insufficient, slipping would happen between the pipe and clamp. If the pretension is too large, … Continue reading Contact Analysis of a Pipe-clamp Assembly
Harmonic analysis: A steel disk example
Harmonic analysis is used to determine the steady-state response of a linear structure to loads that vary sinusoidally (harmonically) with time, thus enabling you to verify whether or not your designs will successfully overcome resonance, fatigue, and other harmful effects of forced vibrations. This analysis technique calculates only the steady-state, forced vibrations of a structure. … Continue reading Harmonic analysis: A steel disk example
Examples of 3D Mapped Meshing
In the last post, some examples of 2D mapped meshing are given. Here we are going to look at some examples of 3D mapped meshing. Similar to 2D mapped meshing, the strategy is straightforward: divide the domain in such a way that all the subdomains meet certain requirements, specify the element size or the number … Continue reading Examples of 3D Mapped Meshing
The application of contact elements: A bolted beam-column connection
In this post, we are going to explore the application of CONTA174 (i.e. 3D 8-node face-face contact element). CONTA174 is used to represent contact and sliding between 3D target surfaces and a deformable surface defined by this element. It can be used for both pair-based contact and general contact. In the case of pair-based contact, … Continue reading The application of contact elements: A bolted beam-column connection
The application of MACRO and *DOWHILE
In this post, I will show an example of using MACRO and *DOWHILE. The APDL is developed to model an experiment as shown below. Essentially it is a clamped-clamped cracked beam carrying a body. An important feature of the body is that its mass distributes far away from its centroid, hence the rotary inertia would … Continue reading The application of MACRO and *DOWHILE
Xutao Sun 