Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
This software and related documentation are proprietary to Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. 2012 Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks belong to their respective holders.
ii
Day 2 Lesson No 6 7 8 9 10 11 Topic Complete Meshing Workshops Boundary Conditions Loads and Constraints The Femap User Interface Part 2 Model Display and Visualization The Meshing Toolbox Analysis Set Manager Workshop(s)
iii
Day 3 Lesson No 12 13 14 15 Postprocessing Midsurfacing Assembly Modeling Finite Element Modeling Debugging Student Topics Topic Workshop(s)
iv
Using Femap
Purpose This lesson provides an overview of general overview of Finite Element Modeling and Analysis and the tools in Femap available to generate FEA models. Topics What is Finite Element Analysis? What comprises a FEA model? Femap Modeling Process Flow Femap Model Objects and Commands Femap UI Overview Units Femap Model File Formats Femap Preferences
1-1
Lesson 1
Femap can be used to model the first four types of FEA models.
1-2
Lesson 1
1-3
Lesson 1
Takeaway
A FEA model is at best, an approximation of a physical structure. The accuracy of the results from a FEA model are only as good as the quality of the mesh and the accurate application of material attributes and boundary conditions to a model.
1-4
Lesson 1
Geometry
Materials
Properties
Mesh
Analyze
Post process
1-5
Lesson 1
Geometry
Import Geometry File, Import Geometry File, References Create Geometry Geometry, commands Modify Geometry Geometry, commands Modify, commands
Points, 2D and 3D curves Surfaces Solid creation and editing operations Midplane surface extraction and editing
Additional geometry cleanup and editing tools are available in the Meshing Toolbox
1-6
Lesson 1
1-7
Lesson 1
Boundary Conditions
Constraints Model, Constraint commands Loads Model, Load commands
Femap models can contain multiple Constraint Sets and Load Sets Constraints and Loads can be assigned to geometry or meshes For loads, the Model Info window allows:
Creation, editing, highlighting, and deletion of Load and Constraint sets. Creation, editing, highlighting, and deletion of individual Loads, Load Definitions, Constraints, and Constraint Definitions. Creation and editing of Body, Nonlinear, Dynamic, and Heat Transfer loads and settings.
1-8
Lesson 1
Single Nodes
Single Elements
Additional mesh creation and editing tools are available through the Meshing Toolbox
1-9
Lesson 1
Analyze
Generate and submit analysis with the Model, Analysis command The PostProcessing Toolbox is the primary interface for generating graphical display of simulation results with:
Deformed plots and/or Contour plots Freebody diagrams
The Post toolbar also has shortcuts to display deformed and contour plots Use the Data Table and the set of List, Output commands to generate a table of results
1 - 10
Lesson 1
Command menus - user customizable Toolbars - user customizable Docked, floating and stackable panes Status and Tray Bar on the bottom of the Femap window
1 - 11
Lesson 1
Units conversion tool lets user convert units of data in model User must be aware of current units system being used You can use the File, Notes command to make a notation for future reference and to add a comment in the analysis file.
The following two pages have charts that show consistent unit values that should be used to obtain accurate results.
1 - 12
Lesson 1
Model Data Length Mass Density Force Stress, Pressure, Modulus of Elasticity and Shear Modulus Moment, Torque Velocity Acceleration Temperature Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
SI mN mm - s mm kg/mm3 mN
SI N mm - s mm Tonnes/mm3 N
SI Nm-s m kg/m3 N
psi
kPa
MPa
Pa
F
in/degF
C
mm/degC
C
mm/degC
C
m/degC
1 - 13
Lesson 1
Model Data Length Mass Density Temperature Coefficient of Thermal Expansion Energy Thermal Conductivity Specific Heat Heat Transfer Coefficient Heat Generation (Flux)
SI N mm s mm kg/mm3
SI mN mm s mm Tonne/mm3
SI Nms m kg/m3
F
in/F
C
mm/C
C
mm/C
C
m/C
lbf-in/sec
mW
1 - 14
Lesson 1
Units Conversion
Use the Tools, Convert Units command to convert units. Convert all quantities using conversion of basic units Convert specific entities with individual conversion factors
E.g. convert N-mm units in model to N-m Length: 0.001 m = 1 mm Mass: 1000 kg = 1 tonne Force: 1 N = 1 N Energy: 0.001 Nm = 1 Nmm
1 - 15
Lesson 1
A Femap Neutral File (.NEU file extension) is a Ascii text file and can be exported from Femap using the command, File, Export, Femap Neutral. This command allows you to write a Neutral file for an earlier version of Femap (v4.1 through the current release of Femap). Entities not supported in the earlier version of Femap will be ignored in writing the Femap Neutral File.
Femap Neutral files are read into Femap files using the command File, Import, Femap Neutral. The Neutral File Read Options dialog box allows the selective import of geometry, mesh, output, groups and/or views into the active Femap model.
CT 1900 Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 Rev 010612 1 - 16
Lesson 1
Femap Preferences
Preferences are used to configure Femap for optimum performance and the way you prefer to work. These are described in detail in the Femap Commands manual and in Femaps online help. Preferences are stored in the femap.ini file under the main Femap installation folder If you specify a different Start In location for your Femap startup shortcut, Femap will first look in that location for a femap.ini file and use the preferences set in that file. In addition, any changes to preferences will automatically be stored in the femap.ini file in that folder. If no femap.ini file exists in your startup folder, changes will be made to the femap.ini file in the main Femap installation folder, provided that you have write permission for that folder.
Set preferences with the File, Preferences command for: Messages Views Render User Interface Database Geometry/Model Interfaces Library/Startup Color Spaceball
The following pages describe four (4) of the most important Preferences settings: Geometry/Model, Render, Database and Library/Startup.
1 - 17
Lesson 1
Femap stores geometry in meters. The Solid Geometry Scale Factor is used to internally store your geometry units as meters in Parasolid. For example, if you select Inches, the Scale Factor is 39.37 (inches/meter). Femap uses the inverse of this number to store the geometry in its model database (1 inch = .0254 meters). This scaling will allow you to import and model parts that are outside of the Parasolid modeling limits ( +/-500 x 500 x 500).
Note: If you import geometry with a different scale other than the files original scale, new or modified geometry will be out of scale with the imported geometry.
1 - 18
Lesson 1
1 - 19
Lesson 1
Drivers from the manufacturers of the graphics card chipset tend to be more stable then the drivers from the maker of the graphics card. (e.g. use an ATI or nVidia driver vs. an ASUS driver)
1 - 20
Lesson 1
Click the Database Options Help button for detailed information on settings in this tab. Note that any changes made in the Database tab requires you to exit and to start a new Femap session.
1 - 21
Lesson 1
Setting the Femap Scratch folder or setting the TEMP variable to a network file location may seriously degrade Femaps performance and dramatically increase file save times. In addition, if your network fails for any reason, any opened files in a Femap session have the potential to be corrupted. Exit and restart Femap after changing the Scratch Directory folder.
1 - 22
Lesson 1
Blocks/Page - sets the "page" size. The optimum setting of this number often depends on the speed of the disk and controller. Generally, this should only be changed with high-speed physical drives and/or disk-caching enabled.
Open/Save Method generally this should be changed only when you experience very slow opening and saving of Femap models. The Read/Write Test may be used to determine which Open/Save Method should work best on the current machine. When finished, results of the test will be written to the Messages window and the "recommended" setting will be displayed in the Open/Save Method drop-down.
1 - 23
Lesson 2
Purpose This lesson provides an overview of the Femap User Interface. Topics Femap Main Window Layout Graphics Windows Femap Main Menus Toolbars and Customizable Menus View Manipulation Part 1 Dockable Panes Model Info Tree Entity Editor Status Bar and Tray Right Mouse Button Entity Selection Setting the Pick or Snap Mode Locate and Vector Dialog Boxes Shortcut Keys Online Help
2-1
Lesson 2
Named Tab for Graphics Windows Tabs for Stacked dockable panes
FEMAP Trays
2-2
Lesson 2
Graphics Windows
Femaps graphics windows have the ability to display: Wireframe, hidden line, or rendered FEA models XY plots of functions and analysis results.
Multiple Models can be opened at the same time each with multiple views. A single model with multiple views has the view name displayed in the view tab When multiple models are open, each view has their view tab displayed as Model Name : View Name
2-3
Lesson 2
True Windows - provide easy transfer from Femap to other Windows programs. Cut and Paste Windows Metafiles JPEG, BITMAP, GIF, TIFF, and PNG picture file formats AVI and Animated GIF animation files
2-4
Lesson 2
2-5
Lesson 2
Keyboard Designate and manage shortcut keys (hotkey) combinations for specific commands.
User Commands
Options Set options on the toolbars such as using large icons, showing tooltips (with or without shortcut keys), and menu animation options (options are selected for ALL toolbars).
2-6
Lesson 2
Toolbars
Dockable Toolbars Toolbars can be docked anywhere around the perimeter of the main Femap window. When docked, toolbars can be placed next to one another or stacked on top of one another.
Floating Toolbars Toolbars can be peeled off the perimeter of the main Femap window and made to float anywhere within the main Femap window. Floating toolbars can be reshaped.
2-7
Lesson 2
Customizing Toolbars
Three (3) methods to customize or create a new toolbar: Select the Tools, Toolbars, Customize command Right-click in a toolbar pane or outside of any Femap pane Click the Customize icon (down-arrow icon) on a docked or floating toolbar and then select Customize from the context-sensitive menu.
Clicking the Down icon in a toolbar allows direct access to that toolbar and has options to disable commands in that toolbar.
2-8
Lesson 2
1. Click the Commands tab and choose a category. 2. Drag the desired command or menu onto the blank toolbar 3. Alter any icons using the individual icon editing tools explained on the previous page 4. Close the Customize dialog box and start using the new user toolbar.
2-9
Lesson 2
2 - 10
Lesson 2
View Manipulation
View Rotation, Zooming and Panning View Orientation Toolbar Entity Display Toolbar View Toolbar
2 - 11
Lesson 2
Action Rotate
Pan
Zoom
The mouses Scroll wheel can be used for dynamic zooming. Femap Preferences can be modified to swap the use of the Ctrl and Shift keys for dynamic viewing. Located under the User Interface tab, Mouse Interface options.
2 - 12
Lesson 2
The Isometric, Dimetric, and Trimetric view orientation(s) can be modified using Femaps Preferences. Select the View tab and set the angles for these views under the View and Dynamic Rotation section.
As an alternative, you can use the View, Rotate, Model command (F8 hotkey) to rotate or orient views. Version 10 added the option to Rotate Around any coordinate system, including those defined by the user.
2 - 13
Lesson 2
Coordinate Systems
Text Surfaces
Constraints Nodes
View Analysis
Regions
Elements
Model Toggle
View Geometry Toggle View Labels Loads Curves Connectors
Toggle
Points
Note:
Display of aeroelasticity components (Panel, Mesh, Spline and Control Surfaces) are toggled using the Aeroelasticity toolbar.
2 - 14
Lesson 2
2 - 15
Lesson 2
View Toolbar
The View toolbar allows control of the active view orientation, magnification, view style, and layers.
2 - 16
Lesson 2
2 - 17
Lesson 2
Dockable Panes
There are eight (8) standard dockable panes Model Info Meshing Toolbox PostProcessing Toolbox Entity Editor Entity Info Data Table Data Surface Editor Messages Window Two other dockable panes are available for customization of Femap: Program File API Programming Can be turned on and off using the Tools menu and the Panes toolbar. Panes can be resized when docked or floating.
2 - 18
Lesson 2
The Push Pin Icon is used to toggle a dockable pane from simply Docked to Docked and Tabbed.
2 - 19
Lesson 2
Docking position indicators only appear when a dockable pane is being dragged from one position to another. An outline of where the pane will be positioned will appear when the cursor is placed over a specific Indicator.
2 - 20
Lesson 2
Messages Pane
Can be turned on and off using the Tools, Other Windows, Messages menu or with the Messages icon on the Panes toolbar. Provides information on commands Femap is performing, and their status.
The Messages pane is also the default location for listing the results of Tools, Check and List commands The command List, Destination is used to toggle on and off results of List commands to the Messages pane. This command can also be used to specify listing out to a file.
Font, font size and text colors for the Messages pane are set using the File, Preferences command under the Messages tab. Undock the Messages pane by double-clicking on its title bar. To return it to its previous docked location and size, double click its title bar again. The Messages pane can be resized when docked or floating.
Copy or Save Information from List Highlight and Cut or Copy Data Table information can be pasted into the Messages pane Note: When typing in the Messages window, anytime you type a shortcut key, the command assigned to the key will be invoked.
2 - 21
Lesson 2
2 - 22
Lesson 2
Aero Model Model Elements Materials Properties Layups Loads and Constraints Functions Data Surfaces
Analyses Analysis Sets Results Output Sets Views Groups Layers Selection List
2 - 23
Lesson 2
2 - 24
Lesson 2
Toggle on/off and settings for highlighting of selected objects. Similar to the Window, Show Entities command.
Note:
Defaults for Show When Selected can be set in the Show Entities Defaults section found on the User Interface tab of the Preferences dialog box.
2 - 25
Lesson 2
2 - 26
Lesson 2
Entity Editor
Turn on and off the Entity Editor pane with the Tools, Entity Editor menu or with the Panes toolbar. Provides information of specific entities in Femap displayed using different types of fields. The types of fields include: Numeric Value - Enables you to enter a numeric value for a specific field Text - Text can be typed directly into these fields. Usually in a Title, Text, or Notes field Drop-down menu button - Button has arrow facing down. Lists options for that can be selected for a particular field. Options button - Button has three dots. Brings up the color palette or a dialog box that is used to change the information in that specific field. Read Only - Cannot be changed. Shown in Blue text.
2 - 27
Lesson 2
Select Toolbar
2 - 28
Lesson 2
Lock/Unlock Toggle - When unlocked, the Entity Editor will always display the entity that was last selected using an entity entry method. When locked, the data in the Entity Editor will remain there until the pane is unlocked. Copy to Clipboard - Copies the current data in the Entity Editor to the clipboard so it can be pasted into the Messages window or an outside program Clear All clears the contents of Entity Editor window. Does not delete the entity. Categorized - Default listing method of the Entity Editor. For each entity, groups similar parameters, options, and settings together for more efficient use. Alphabetic - Displays all the fields without any categories in alphabetical order Collapse/Expand All - Collapses or expands ALL categories in the Entity Editor at once. Can be used to only show what you need to modify specific entities. Reload From Model - Reloads the Entity Editor fields with the values that are currently in the model for the chosen entity. Use this to recover the original values for all the fields, except for modifications made with a prior Update Model action. Update Model - Applies any changes made in the Entity Editor to a chosen entity and saves the changes to the model database
2 - 29
Lesson 2
Entity Editor Help Shows a title and short description of what each field of every entity represents. Also documents the Nastran Bulk Data entry (if applicable) the field will produce when a Nastran Input File (*.DAT, *.BDF, or *.NAS file usually) is exported.
Context Sensitive Menus Different menus appear when the right mouse button is clicked depending on what type of field is currently highlighted. For instance, when a Text or Numerical Value field is highlighted, a menu will pop-up which will allow you to Undo (reverts to last saved value while field is still highlighted), Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, or Select All.
Note:
You can use calculator functions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), as well as exponentials (i.e. 1.234E4 for 12,340 OR 5.67E-3 for 0.00567) in any real number field.
2 - 30
Lesson 2
Displays a short description of commands when in the menu structure of Femap or positioned over icon.
Tray on Right Displays and activates object sets Properties Load Sets Constraint Sets Groups Output Sets
Change Current Object or create a new one by clicking on a set Right-clicking the Status Bar brings up a customization menu which can be used to toggle individual Tray items on and off
2 - 31
Lesson 2
Modify the Workplane. Show Tooltips When activated, shows information for a highlighted entity in a Tooltips window (small yellow window in the main graphics window) Works much like Dynamic Query in previous versions of FEMAP when there is entity active in the Select toolbar
2 - 32
Lesson 2
2 - 33
Lesson 2
Visibility, Post Data, and XY Data Convenient method of changing view parameters Menu commands for these option several layers down, right mouse button provided easy access
2 - 34
Lesson 2
2 - 35
Lesson 2
Select based on Coordinate(s), Around a Point, Around a Vector, or Around a Plane Specify options for selecting Combined Curves and Boundary Surfaces Add additional entities based on entities already selected using Add Connected Fillets and Add Tangent Surfaces Select entities matching the Color selected from a color palette. Select From List button. For objects that have "Titles" the "Select from List" button can be used to choose entities from a list dialog box. Ctrl+L in a dialog box field brings up the list of "Titled" entities. The Preview button graphically highlights the entities selected.
Note: Clicking the icon in a Femap Entity Selection dialog box takes you directly to the Femap User Guide through on-line help and has a table of all the Selection methods for each entity type.
2 - 36
Lesson 2
You can enter additional filter strings or push the Clear All Filters clear your filter and return to the original, unfiltered selection list.
2 - 37
Lesson 2
Using the standard contextsensitive menu activated by clicking the right mouse button in the Graphics pane. Using the Snap Mode pulldown menu on the Select toolbar.
2 - 38
Lesson 2
Note: Setting the Method in the Locate dialog box does NOT change the Snap Mode
2 - 39
Lesson 2
Note: To change the Method of specifying the coordinates of the vector, place the cursor in one of the coordinate boxes, and press the Ctrl+Z hotkey.
2 - 40
Lesson 2
Note: To change the method of specifying the coordinates of the plane, place the cursor in one of the coordinate boxes, and press the Ctrl+Z hotkey.
2 - 41
Lesson 2
Shortcut Keys
Femap contains preprogrammed shortcut keys for commonly used commands. F5 - View Select F6 - View Options F8 - View Rotate Ctrl+D - View Redraw Ctrl+A - View Autoscale Visible Ctrl+G - View Regenerate Ctrl+Z Undo See Appendix A of the Femap User Guide for a complete list of preprogrammed shortcut keys Preprogrammed Keys shown on Menu Structure
Dialogue Box Keys available when in a command. Ctrl+A - Measure an Angle Ctrl+C - Windows Copy Ctrl+D - Measure a Distance Ctrl+Z - Use Standard Coordinate Selection Dialog Box to define location. And Many More (See Appendix A of User Guide)
Customizable Shortcut Keys Use the Tools, Toolbar, Customize command Customized shortcut keys can be saved to a .LAYOUT file and imported into other installations of Femap. In some cases, importing a .LAYOUT file with customized shortcut keys only into a new version of Femap will not recreate some or all of the customized shortcut keys.
2 - 42
Lesson 2
Note: When typing in the Messages window, anytime you type a shortcut key, the command assigned to the key will be invoked.
2 - 43
Lesson 2
On-Line Help
Menu Help - Femap provides description of each command while pointing at it or accessing it on the Status Bar . Help is context sensitive Access a command Click F1 to access HELP Help Window will appear with description of the current command. Shift + F1 to choose a command with the Whats This? cursor. Notes: Femap Help does not work in Googles Chrome browser. With Internet Explorer, enable the option, Allow active content to run in files on My Computer, in order for the Femap Help system to operate properly.
2 - 44
Lesson 2
2 - 45
Lesson 3
Purpose This lesson provides an overview of the Femaps geometry import, creation and editing tools.
Topics
Geometry Overview Parasolid Geometry Kernel Geometry Import Solids Overview Geometry Cleanup Geometry Preparation Command Wireframe Geometry Creation and Modification Surface Geometry Creation and Editing Solid Geometry and Editing General Geometry Modification Tools Additional Geometry Tools for Meshing
3-1
Lesson 3
Geometry Overview
Femap supports the creation and modification of wireframe, surface, and solid geometry using the Parasolid geometry kernel Femap reads multiple CAD formats Femap geometry creation and editing Points, 2D and 3D curves Surfaces Solid creation and editing operations Supports Solid, Sheet and Non-manifold Bodies Midplane surface extraction and editing (to be covered in a separate lesson)
3-2
Lesson 3
3-3
Lesson 3
Note:
If you change the Geometry Scale Factor to a value other than the value of Femaps preference in one of these dialog boxes, Femaps preference will update to the input value.
3-4
Lesson 3
Geometry Importing
Import geometry with the File, Import, Geometry command. Import Geometry icon can be found on the Model toolbar
Direct CAD Interfaces Solid Edge (.par, .psm, .pwd, .asm) NX Unigraphics (.prt) NX I-deas (.idi) Pro/Engineer (.prt, .asm) Catia v4 (.mdl, .exp, .dlv) Catia v5 (.catP*) optional SolidWorks (.sldprt, .sldasm) Standard CAD Interfaces Parasolid ACIS STEP (AP 203 Solids, AP 214 Surfaces) IGES DXF STL reads .stl files as triangular surface mesh
3-5
Lesson 3
3-6
Lesson 3
Solid Bodies
A Solid body is completed enclosed by surfaces and has no gaps or dangling surfaces. Any Solid body is shown in the Model Info panes Geometry tree with this icon:
Note:
Running the Tools, Mass Properties, Solid Properties command will show that a Solid body has Volume.
3-7
Lesson 3
Sheet Bodies
Sheet bodies have one or more contiguous surfaces that do not enclose a volume For multi-surface Sheet bodies, all surfaces must connect on a common edge with one other surface as the Base and Side Walls solid body below. Since the eight Rib bodies do not connect on a common edge with any other surfaces, these are all separate Sheet bodies. A Sheet body is shown in the Model Info panes Geometry tree with the icon below.
3-8
Lesson 3
3-9
Lesson 3
The Meshing Toolbox has the Entity Locator tool to locate curves and surfaces within solids by specifying a search method and size. You will use this tool in Exercise 3b Geometry Modification and Preparation.
3 - 10
Lesson 3
Note:
If you still have problems cleaning geometry for meshing, an alternative technique is to Explode the problem solid, then Stitch it back together.
3 - 11
Lesson 3
3 - 12
Lesson 3
Workplanes
The Workplane is used to define the local X-Y plane for 2D wireframe and some solid geometry creation commands. Access via the Tools, Workplane command or the F2 hotkey. Snap Options control display of the grid spacing, etc. of the workplane
Workplane display can be toggled on and off in the Workplane Management dialog box using the Draw Workplane check box or with the View Style, Workplane icon on the View toolbar Grid display options in the View Options Tools and View Style dialog box controls color and fill settings for the workplane
3 - 13
Lesson 3
3 - 14
Lesson 3
Lines
Creation with the Geometry, Curve Line commands: Locate on the Workplane: Project Points Horizontal Vertical Perpendicular Parallel Midline At Angle Angle to Curve Point and Tangent Tangent Rectangle Locate in 3D space: Continuous Points Coordinates Offset Vectored
3 - 15
Lesson 3
Arcs
Arcs are always placed on the Workplane Arc creation with the Geometry, Curve Arc commands: Center-Start-End Radius-Start-End two points on the arc define the start and end of the arc. A positive radius will create an arc less then 180 degrees while a negative radius will generate an arc greater than 180 degrees. Angle-Start-End two points on the arc define the start and end of the arc; a positive angle will generate the arc from the start to the end in a counterclockwise direction a negative angle will generate the arc clockwise from the start point to the end point.. Chord-Center-Start locate the center, start point for the arc, and a chord length less than twice the radius. Points locate the start point, a point on the arc, and the end. Center and Points use this to create an arc in 3D space. Specify by four points: Center, start, end, and a fourth point that defines the direction of the arc. Start-End-Direction specify the start and end points, and the tangent direction for the start point.
3 - 16
Lesson 3
Circles
Circles are always placed on the Workplane Circle creation with the Geometry, Curve Circle commands: Radius two points define the center and a point on the circle. Diameter two points on the circle define the diameter. Center define the center and the radius of the circle. Two Points locate two points on the circle and enter the radius. Point-Tangent locate the center point and a tangent curve. Concentric create a circle by selecting an existing circle and the new circles radius. Points on Arc create a circle by three points. Center and Points create a circle by defining the center, starting point on the circle, and a point defining the positive direction of the circle.
3 - 17
Lesson 3
Splines
Splines can be generated by Control Points or by Points on the spline (the splines control points are automatically generated by Femap). Four (4) point Bezier splines are created when using the following commands: Ellipse Parabola Hyperbola The Equation spline is created by specifying coefficients of parametric cubic equations. A Tangent spline is created by specifying the start and end points of a spline and the tangents at those points.
The spline created by the Blend command creates a spline blending two curves. A Blend Factor controls the interior shape. The Offset spline uses a point projected onto the Workplane to determine the offset location. Combine a set of contiguous curves into a single curve using the Multiple Curves command. Not to be used with sharp corners.
3 - 18
Lesson 3
3 - 19
Lesson 3
Note:
Except for the Break operation, these commands cannot be applied to solid or surface geometry curves.
3 - 20
Lesson 3
3 - 21
Lesson 3
Surface Curves
The Geometry, Curve - From Surface set of commands are used to create curves on surfaces with the following techniques: Intersect select two intersecting surfaces and/or solids. Project project the selected curve(s) normal to the selected surface(s). Project Along Vector - project the selected curve(s) along the specified vector onto the selected surface(s). Parametric Curve specify a location to generate a curve along a U or V direction on the selected surface. Slice split the selected surface(s) and/or solids by a plane. Split at Locations generate a parametric curve on a surface by specifying the start and end locations of the curve. When the Update Surfaces option is enabled (default for new models), the curves become part of the surface and will split the surface into multiple surfaces (if the curves selected make up a closed loop). Otherwise, the curves generated by this command are simply internal curves of the surface.
3 - 22
Lesson 3
3 - 23
Lesson 3
Pad Width = 2 X Hole Diameter X Pad Size Factor Pad Size Factor = Pad Width / (2 * Hole Diameter) Setup Mapped Meshing sets the mesh sizes around the four surfaces on the pad area for Four sided Mapped Meshing Three (3) options for aligning the orientation of the pad: Auto Align Vector Align Tangent Align
3 - 24
Lesson 3
3 - 25
Lesson 3
3 - 26
Lesson 3
3 - 27
Lesson 3
3 - 28
Lesson 3
3 - 29
Lesson 3
3 - 30
Lesson 3
3 - 31
Lesson 4
Overview of Materials
Purpose This lesson provides an overview of creating and editing materials with Femap. Topics Defining Materials Types of materials supported Other Types of Materials Using Functions for Defining Material Properties Nonlinear Material Models Modifying Materials Material Libraries
4-1
Lesson 4
Defining Materials
Create new materials with the Model, Material command or right-click on the Material object in the Model Info pane Default material type is Isotropic
Type values directly into the fields provided; or Access the material library by selecting the Load button
4-2
Lesson 4
Note: The default material Type changes to the last selected type.
4-3
Lesson 4
Additional Other Types material definitions unique to specific solvers LS-DYNA MARC ABAQUS/Explicit Sinda/G Nastran Fluid material (MAT10) Nastran Equivalent Laminate (Multiple MAT2) MSC.Nastran Hyperelastic NEi Nastran NITINOL User Defined material types for custom program interfaces.
4-4
Lesson 4
Materials that allow the use of Functions are: Isotropic Orthotropic (2D and 3D) Anisotropic (2D and 3D) Fluids
These variances are defined using Functions. Functions can be defined and stored in a library using the command, Model, Function You can also right-click the Function object in the Model Info pane and select New from the menu
The Define Materials dialog box also has a button to define new functions without leaving the create or edit material operation
4-5
Lesson 4
The Define Function dialog box has a pull-down to select the Type of function. For materials, you should select one of the following: Temperature dependent material: 2..vs. Temperature Frequency dependent material: 3..vs. Frequency Strain vs. Stress: 4..vs. Stress Stress vs. Strain: 13..Stress vs. Strain
The Data Entry field of this dialog box has multiple options for defining functions Use the Paste from Clipboard option to take data from a spreadsheet and copy it into your Femap function.
4-6
Lesson 4
Click the Function References tab, click the Function pull-down and select the function to be applied to that field. Just like when using the first option, the value entered in the material field will cause the material attribute to be the scalar value time times the function used for that field.
4-7
Lesson 4
Material Type Isotropic Orthotropic (2D and 3D) Anisotropic (2D and 3D)
Nonlinear Elastic
Elasto-Plastic
Plastic
To assign the type of material nonlinearity and the attribute for the nonlinearity, select the Nonlinear tab in the Define Material dialog box and then select the Nonlinearity Type.
4-8
Lesson 4
Modifying Materials
Use the Modify, Edit Material command: Enter the Material ID you want to edit; or: Select an element with the material you want to edit; or: Alternatively, you can click the Select from List icon ( )or:
In the Model Info pane select the material(s) to be edited, right-click and then, select Edit from the menu. Right-clicking on the Materials heading in the tree will select ALL materials for editing.
Note: The Visibility Toggle icon to the left of the material name indicates whether or not objects using that material are displayed in the Femap model view(s).
4-9
Lesson 4
Material Libraries
Femap has the ability to store an retrieve materials in a materials library. In the Femap main installation folder, there are four material database files that can be used: material.esp: small library of metals in English units mat_eng_in-lbf-psi-degF-BTU.esp: extensive metal alloys library in English units mat_eng_mm-N-tonne-degC-Watts.esp: extensive metal alloys library in metric (mm) units, material density in Tonne/mm3 mat_eng_SI.esp: extensive metal alloys library in SI units
Since these libraries can be deleted during the uninstallation of Femap or replaced when performing a repair of a Femap installation, any customization of these libraries should be accomplished by copying these databases to a location other than the Femap installation folders and regularly backed up. To load a material from a materials library, click the Load button in the Define Material dialog box. To store a new or modified material to a library, click the Save button in the Define Material dialog box. Saving a material does not over-write an existing material, but creates a new material database entry.
4 - 10
Lesson 5
Properties
Purpose This lesson provides an overview of creating and editing properties with Femap. Topics Element Types Defining Properties Editing Properties
5-1
Lesson 5
Properties
Element Types
A Property defines the element shape (type) and associated material. Properties define additional analysis information for each element type, and are controlled by the element type. Femap supports the following element types: Line (1D) Elements: Rod Tube Curved Tube Bar Beam Link Curved Beam Spring Damper DOF Spring Gap Plot Only Plane (2D) Elements: Shear Panel Membrane Bending Only Plate Laminate Plane Strain Axisymmetric Shell Plot Only
Other Elements Mass Mass Matrix Rigid Stiffness Matrix Slide Line Weld/Fastener
5-2
Lesson 5
Properties
Defining Properties
Create new properties with the Model, Property command or in the Model Info pane, right-click on the Property object and select New.
The default property (element type) is Plate Change the type by clicking the Elem/Property Type button Other types are selected with Elem/Property Type dialog box. Selecting a different element/property type makes that type the default type
5-3
Lesson 5
Properties
Property Values these attributes will change based on the property Type.
5-4
Lesson 5
Properties
5-5
Lesson 5
Properties
Choose General Section under Shape to select any planar surface as the cross section of a beam. Beam properties will be automatically calculated by after clicking OK.
5-6
Lesson 5
Properties
Use the Modify, Update Elements, Line Element Orientation command to change orientation of the selected beam elements. The Modify, Update Elements, Line Element Offsets command is used to change the offset of the selected beam elements. Can also change the offset by setting the location of the node to the beam Reference Point.
5-7
Lesson 5
Properties
Y and Z axes are determined by the beams property definition. FEMAP prompts for an alignment vector when creating beam elements. This vector is used to specify the direction of the Y-Axis specified in the Beam Property.
5-8
Lesson 5
Properties
5-9
Lesson 5
Properties
5 - 10
Lesson 5
Properties
Property ID assign a different property ID to element(s) of the same type. Material ID assign a different material to the selected physical property.
5 - 11
Lesson 5
Properties
5 - 12
Lesson 5
Properties
5 - 13
Lesson 5
Properties
Modify the Offset distance of the selected plane elements. By default, nodes are located at the midplane (1/2 the thickness) of shell elements. Use the Mesh, Mesh Control, Attributes on Surface command to preset the offset. Constant element offset can also be set in FEMAP 10 and above when meshing surfaces by pressing More Options button and setting the appropriate options in the Offset section.
5 - 14
Lesson 5
Properties
You must manually delete and/or merge any midside nodes for elements converted from Parabolic to Linear.
Midside Nodes moves the midside nodes on the selected element(s) to the midside of the element. Use after nodes have been moved. Rigid Thermal Expansion assign a Coefficient of Thermal Expansion () to the selected Rigid Element(s).
5 - 15
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Purpose This lesson provides an overview of the tools available in Femap to control and generate meshes. Topics Recommended Meshing Workflows Mesh Control Feature Suppression Geometry Meshing Hex Meshing Mesh Modification Tools
6-1
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Break surface boundary curves where needed Create any needed Curves on Surfaces and Mesh Points on Surfaces Surfaces Suppress any features as needed Set the Mesh Size on Surfaces Assign surface Attributes Set the mesh size on individual curves as needed
Break curves as needed Curves Set the Mesh Size on Curves Assign curve Attributes
6-2
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Mesh Control
The Mesh, Mesh Control menu creates settings for: Default mesh size Set mesh size on curves, surfaces and solids Hard mesh points Mesh Attributes - assignment of element properties to geometry Mesh approaches on surfaces Suppression of geometric features during meshing
Preview mesh sizing on curves with the View, Options (F6), Labels, Entities and Colors, Curve Mesh Size option Toggle Mesh Size symbols with the View Style, Mesh Size icon on the View toolbar.
6-3
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Mesh, Mesh Control, Size commands At Point, used to specify the size along any curve that references that point, and does not already have a size specified. Along Curve, specifies the element size, or number of elements to be placed, and how they will be spaced along the curve. On Surface, used to specify the size on all of the curves referenced by the surface, and gives other options for controlling the mesh on the surface. On Solid, provides the same basic mesh control as the previous, but also has additional options that pertain primarily to multi-solid meshing, and hex meshing.
6-4
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Mesh, Mesh Control, Custom Size Along Curve, can be used to place nodes at specific locations along curves, and match one curve's mesh sizing to another curve or curves. See example on following pages
Mesh, Mesh Control, Mapped Divisions on Surface, allows you to specify divisions for a mesh on 3 and 4 sided surfaces Mesh, Mesh Control, Mesh Points on Surface, defines specific locations on a surface where nodes will be created when the surface is meshed
6-5
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Initial Mesh after setting Mesh Approach on Surface to Mapped Four Corner using the vertices of the three straight edges
6-6
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Resulting mesh after applying the Mesh, Mesh Control, Custom Size along Curve command matching the bottom edge to the top three (3) edges.
6-7
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
On Surface - most commonly used for assigning plate properties to surfaces, and should be used when meshing multiple surfaces with different properties in one meshing operation. Includes ability to pre-assign plate offsets to surface On Volume/Solid assign a solid property to the selected solid(s)
6-8
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Femap will automatically assign the corner points when the Mapped Four Corner option is selected and no points are selected
6-9
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
6 - 10
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
6 - 11
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
6 - 12
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
6 - 13
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
6 - 14
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Vertex Aspect Ratio is used to optimize mesh sizing at locations where both long and short curves are joined at common vertices
6 - 15
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
6 - 16
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
For many cases, there will be no difference between Parameter and Length-based mesh sizing, however, for complex curves and surfaces such as splines, there is a difference:
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
6 - 18
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
6 - 19
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
The Assembly / Multi-Body Sizing options can be used to automatically set mesh approaches on solids with adjacent surfaces when multiple bodies are selected .
Adjacent Surface Matching when surfaces on two adjacent bodies are coincident and have sizes and boundaries, Femap will slave the mesh size and approach of the two surfaces. Use the Remove Previous Slaving option to remove the mesh sizing and slaving on bodies that have had mesh sizes previously applied. Adjust Colors changes the colors of surfaces that have mesh sizes set. The following lists the colors and their meanings: Dark Transparent Blue free surfaces that have mesh sizes successfully applied. Light Solid Blue surfaces that have been matched to an adjacent surface for the purpose of creating a continuous mesh. Red surfaces on solids that cannot be hex meshed.
Skip Sizing on Slaved Surfaces skip mesh sizing on surfaces that are slaved to another surface.
6 - 20
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
6 - 21
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Geometry Meshing
Mesh, Geometry, Point - is the most basic of the automatic meshing commands. Will generate nodes (and elements for 0D element types such as Mass Elements) at the selected points. Allows you to specify the beginning node and element ID.
Mesh, Geometry, Curve Creates a mesh of nodes and 1-D elements along a curve
Mesh, Geometry, Surface - creates nodes and planar elements on a selected set of surfaces. Must first define the mesh sizing using one of the various Mesh Control commands There are also basic Mesh Control options on the Automesh form, as well as Mesh Smoothing, and Element Shape options
Mesh, Geometry, Volume - creates nodes and elements in a selected set of volumes. Since this command uses a mapped meshing technique, the number of nodes/elements along opposite faces of a volume must always be equal
Mesh, Geometry, Solid - Produces a 3-D solid tetrahedral mesh in a solid part Mesh, Geometry, Solids From Elements - meshes a plate element mesh that encloses a volume into a solid element mesh
6 - 22
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
You may specify the following options: Mesher Triangle or Quad Toggle generation of Midside Nodes Toggle Mapped Meshing on or off
To see all of the surface meshing options available, press the More Options button.
6 - 23
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Toggle Mapped Meshing on or off and set various mapped meshing options.
6 - 24
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Select the Smoothing option and settings to reduce mesh distortion. Laplacian moves the node towards the centroid of the surrounding nodes. Centroidal moves a node towards the centroid of the element-weighted centroid of the surrounding elements.
Offset options allow you to offset to the top face, bottom face, or by a specified value as the mesh is created instead of having to do it as a secondary step. If an offset is applied as part of the Mesh, Mesh Control, Attributes on Surface command, that value will be used if no value is set in the Automesh Surfaces dialog box. If a value is entered, it will override the previously set attribute value.
6 - 25
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Post-Meshing Cleanup is on by default and detects certain patterns in the mesher to eliminate them Cut Quads with Angle Deviation Above specified degrees Min Elements Between Boundaries forces the mesher to attempt to put the specified number of elements between adjacent boundaries Max Element Aspect Ratio attempts to create elements which are under the specified aspect ratio Quick-Cut boundaries splits boundaries with more then the specified number of nodes into smaller pieces for meshing.
6 - 26
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
0 Layers
1 Layer
2 Layers
3 Layers
6 - 27
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Tet Growth Ratio specify a factor to increase the size of the interior elements over the size of the initial surface mesh. Initial Size Ratio used to provide additional control for the size of the mesh. Lower values results in denser meshes. Update Mesh Sizing activates the Automatic Mesh Sizing dialog box for solids. Options activates the Solid Automeshing Options dialog box
6 - 28
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
The Prepare Geometry option is used as the basis for the settings in the Geometry Preparation Options dialog box. This is activated by clicking the Prepare Options button.
6 - 29
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Mesh, Between command. Mesh, Region command. Mesh, Revolve, Extrude and Sweep commands. With these commands you can revolve , extrude, or sweep curves or line elements into plane elements, and plane elements into volume elements. You can also select face(s) on volume element(s) to create additional volume elements.
6 - 30
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
6 - 31
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Meshing the Solids Use Mesh Control to set the size and link the adjacent surfaces Then Mesh, Geometry, Hex Mesh Solids
Note: Solids of revolution must be sliced so that the solid comprises is less then a 360-degree revolution. e.g A straight, pipe section must be split in half.
6 - 32
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Meshing Toolbox
In the next section, you will learn about the Meshing Toolbox. This toolbox allows for interactive modification of geometry and meshes to improve the quality of meshes: Geometry Feature Suppression Geometry Feature Removal Feature Editing Geometry Combined/Composite Curves Geometry Combined/Composite Surfaces Geometry Editing Mesh Sizing Toolbox Mesh Surface Toolbox Mesh Locate Toolbox Mesh Quality Toolbox
6 - 33
Lesson 7
Purpose This lesson provides an overview of Femaps capabilities in managing, creating and editing boundary conditions . Topics Constraint Sets and Constraints Load Sets Body Loads Load Categories Structural, Thermal, and Fluid loads Creating and Editing Loads Structural Load Types Thermal Load Types Fluid Load Types Advanced Femap Loads Load Set Options for Advanced Analyses
7-1
Lesson 7
Constraint Sets
The Model, Constraint, Create/Manage Set command creates a new Constraint Set or activates an existing Constraint Set. This command is also available in the Status Bar. You may create as many different Constraint Sets as necessary. Combine multiple Constraint Sets with the Model, Constraint, Combine command.
7-2
Lesson 7
7-3
Lesson 7
Clicking the More button will create the constraint set with the ID and Title and will then resets the options in the New Constraint Set dialog box to enable the creation of a new constraint set. If one or more constraint sets are in a model, you can also create a Nastran SPCADD/MPCADD Combination constraint set. A combined set references one or more Standard constraint sets.
When a Nastran deck is created by Femap, it writes out the Nastran SPCADD and MPCADD cards as needed.
7-4
Lesson 7
The Reference Constraint Set for Nastran SPCADD/MPCADD dialog box will list the Available (standard) Sets and the Referenced Sets. Manage references by selecting one or more Standard reference sets and click the Add Referenced Sets or Remove Referenced Sets.
Note: Nastran combined sets are not displayed in the graphics window unless Show Constrained Entities is selected from the context-sensitive menu in the Model Info pane.
CT 1900 Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 Rev 010612 7-5
Lesson 7
Creating Constraints
Use the Model, Constraint commands, Constraint toolbar, or the Model Info tree.
7-6
Lesson 7
Nodal Constraints
Nodal Constraints - specify six (6) specific degrees of freedom with the Model, Constraint, Nodal command X translation = 1, X rotation = 4 Y translation = 2, Y rotation = 5 Z translation = 3, Z rotation = 6 Specify Coordinate System
Constraint Equations relate the motion or displacement of one node to the motion or displacement of one or more other nodes. To create these, use the command, Model, Constraint, Equation. Often referred to a MPCs
7-7
Lesson 7
Geometry Constraints
Geometric constraints - applied to geometry and expanded to nodes during export to an analysis file. Model, Constraint, On Point Model, Constraint, On Curve Model, Constraint, On Surface Expand Geometric constraints manually by using the Model, Constraint, Expand command.
7-8
Lesson 7
Editing Constraints
Edit Constraints with: Modify, Edit, Constraint Definition Modify, Edit, Constraint Individual Individual constraints in a Constraint Definition may be edited. If the Constraint Definition is subsequently edited, the individual edit is overwritten by the value of the Constraint Definition..
You can convert a Constraint Definition to Individual Constraints by right-clicking a Constraint Definition in the Model Info pane and selecting Remove Definition Model Info tree Includes the option to Edit Where Applied add and/or remove entities where a constraint is applied. (new in v10.1)
Entity Editor
Note:
Constraints created prior to Femap v9.3 are shown in the Model Info tree as Other Constraints. This also applies to all FEMAP models created by importing analysis files.
7-9
Lesson 7
7 - 10
Lesson 7
7 - 11
Lesson 7
Clicking the More button will create the load set with the ID and Title and will then resets the options in the New Load Set dialog box to enable the creation of a new load set. If one or more load sets are in a model, you can also create a Nastran Load Combination load set. A combined set references one or more Standard load sets.
When a Nastran deck is created by Femap, it writes out the Nastran LOAD cards as needed.
7 - 12
Lesson 7
The Reference Load Sets for Nastran Load dialog box will list the Available (standard) Sets and the Referenced Sets.
Manage references by selecting one or more Standard reference sets and click the Add
7 - 13
Lesson 7
7 - 14
Lesson 7
Body Loads
Body or Global Loads applied to the entire model Translational Acceleration (gravity) and Rotational Acceleration Use to apply the weight of the structure as a load Rotational Velocity and Center of Rotations Specify the Coordinate System for translational and rotational accelerations and velocities Thermal Default Temperature Required for all Nastran Heat Transfer analyses
7 - 15
Lesson 7
Note:
Loads created prior to Femap v9.3 are shown in the Model Info tree as Other Loads. This also applies to all FEMAP models created by importing analysis files.
7 - 16
Lesson 7
7 - 17
Lesson 7
Editing Loads
Edit Loads with: Modify, Edit, Load Definition command Modify, Edit, Load Individual command Individual loads in a Load Definition may be edited. If the Load Definition is subsequently edited, the individual edit is overwritten by the value of the Load Definition. You can convert a Load Definition to Other Loads by right-clicking the Load Definition in the Model Info tree and selecting Remove Definition. You can highlight any number of individual Loads of the same type found in the Other Loads section of a Load Set in the Model Info tree and combine them into a Load Definition using Create Definition Model Info pane Includes the option to Edit Where Applied add and/or remove entities where a load is applied. (new in v10.1) Entity Editor
7 - 18
Lesson 7
7 - 19
Lesson 7
7 - 20
Lesson 7
The Load Angle (default = 180 degrees) is the total angle that the bearing load is applied across the selected surface(s). The direction of the bearing force is the bisector of the Load Angle and is specified after approving the inputs of the Create Loads dialog box. Normal To Surface will distribute the load normal to the selected surface(s). Disabling this will distribute the load in direction specified. When multiple surfaces are selected, the Total Load option is automatically enabled spreading the specified Magnitude among all the surfaces selected, otherwise, the magnitude will be applied to each surface When the Traction Load option is selected, the distributed load will pull on the surfaces pointing away from the solid volume instead of pushing on the surfaces pointing towards the solid volume Once the inputs for the Bearing Loads are completed and the OK button is pushed, you will be prompted to specify the direction of the bearing force.
7 - 21
Lesson 7
Once the inputs for the Torque are completed and the OK button is pushed, you will be prompted to the location and orientation of the axis about which the torque is applied.
7 - 22
Lesson 7
7 - 23
Lesson 7
Load Type Static Fluid pressure Total Fluid pressure General Scalar Steam Quality Relative Humidity Fluid Height Condition Unknown Condition Slip Wall Condition Fan Curve Periodic Condition
Points
Curves
Surfaces
Nodes
Elements -
7 - 24
Lesson 7
Method Constant value entered into the Value field Variables distributed or position dependent loads Click the Advanced button to create or edit the Variable Data Surfaces advanced methods for creating variable loading conditions Note: A loads Value is used as a scalar multiplier of the Function, Variable or Data Surface. Check the sum of the applied load using the command Tools, Check, Sum Forces.
7 - 25
Lesson 7
7 - 26
Lesson 7
7 - 27
Lesson 7
Data Surfaces
The Data Surface Editor pane allows more flexible and complex load definitions. After setup, the data surface can be edited directly using the Data Surface Editor.
Access to all Data Surface types (except Tabular) are available through the Create Load dialog box, allowing setup on the fly.
7 - 28
Lesson 7
7 - 29
Lesson 7
7 - 30
Lesson 7
7 - 31
Lesson 7
7 - 32
Lesson 7
Force / Forces Per Length / Force Per Area Force Per Node / Moment Per Node Bearing Force Moment / Moment Per Length / Moment Per Area Torque Displacements / Rotations / Velocities / Accelerations Distributed Loads / pressure Temperatures Heat Flux / Heat Flux Per Area Heat Flux Per Node / Heat Generation / Element Heat Flux Convection / Radiation Fluid Loading
7 - 33
Lesson 7
7 - 34
Lesson 7
Note:
After selecting the type of Nonlinear Analysis, click the Defaults button to automatically enter the NX Nastran Nonlinear defaults and modify as needed.
7 - 35
Lesson 7
7 - 36
Lesson 7
Notes on Loads
NX Nastran Displacement and Enforced Rotation loads require constraining the loaded object in the direction of the applied load e.g. A Displacement Load of x=.10, and y=.10 applied to a point requires that the corner be constrained in X and Y. For NX Nastran Advanced Nonlinear (SOL601), loads should be applied with a timebased function. For solvers other than NX Nastran, refer to the Femap Users Guide for details on the loads supported by Femap for the solver used Also refer to that solvers documentation on how to apply loads.
7 - 37
Lesson 8
Purpose This lesson provides an introduction to selection, viewing, and data collection tools in Femaps user interface. Topics Select Toolbar View Options Data Table Programming Interfaces
8-1
Lesson 8
Select Toolbar
The Select Toolbar allows you to select entities one at a time or create a list of selected entities that will remain active until you toggle off or clear the selection list. This functionality allows you to choose entities of different types first and then perform multiple commands from the menus or the toolbars on the selected entities. The Select toolbar is essential to the use of the dockable panes, especially the Entity Editor and Data Table because the selector is often the best way to place an entity into either of these panes. The Select toolbar consists of 5 items which aid in the selection process: Selector Entity Menu Selector Modes Menu Selector Actions Menu Selector Clear (Clear current selection list) Snap Modes (Snap to Screen, Snap to Grid, Snap to Point, Snap to Node)
8-2
Lesson 8
8-3
Lesson 8
8-4
Lesson 8
8-5
Lesson 8
8-6
Lesson 8
8-7
Lesson 8
While a Tooltip pop-up window is displaying information, if you click the left mouse button, the information will be sent to the Entity Editor and/or the Data Table dockable panes, as long as the panes are visible in the FEMAP interface AND unlocked.
8-8
Lesson 8
8-9
Lesson 8
Around Point Specify a coordinate (In a specified coordinate system) and select by: Farther Than or Closer Than a specified radial distance from the point. Outside or Between minimum and maximum values of the specified radial distance. At Location within a tolerance of the specified radial distance.
8 - 10
Lesson 8
Around Plane Select a plane and the normal distance from the plane. Select objects by: Positive Side or Negative Side distance from the plane. Outside or Between minimum and maximum distance from the plane. At Location within a tolerance of the specified distance.
8 - 11
Lesson 8
Initial Selection
8 - 12
Lesson 8
8 - 13
Lesson 8
Paste - This command allows you to paste a copied Selection List into a another opened Femap model. The Paste command recognizes that a modified FEMAP neutral file is on the clipboard and reads that neutral file into FEMAP. When the Paste command is used it will bring up the Neutral File Read Options dialog box to allow you enter an ID offset and select other options to aid in the prevention of overwriting entities in the current model.
8 - 14
Lesson 8
8 - 15
Lesson 8
Any time there is an active entity in the Select Toolbar, clicking Alt + clicking the right mouse button in the graphics window will bring up the Quick Access Menu instead of the context sensitive menu related to the active entity. This can very helpful for picking mode purposes and to toggle Show Tooltips.
8 - 16
Lesson 8
8 - 17
Lesson 8
View Options
The View, Options (F6 hotkey) command allows you control the way your view is displayed. See the View Options section of the Femap Commands manual for details on the multiple options available in these dialog boxes There are three major categories in the View Options dialog box: Labels, Entities and Color controls the way text, geometry and mesh entities, and the color of entities are displayed in the active view. Tools and View Style controls view entities, style and display of view objects such as Symbols in the active view. PostProcessing controls the options for displaying graphical and XY plots of analysis results. Use the Apply button to update the active view without leaving the View Options command.
8 - 18
Lesson 8
A view with its View Options, Entity Display settings, and Background can be saved to a View Library within the Visibility dialog box (activated with the Ctrl+Q hotkey or from the View toolbar) by clicking the Save View button. A saved view will update the active views settings by clicking Load View. Changes made to the active view can also be removed via the Reset View button in this dialog box.
Saved views can also be set as the Startup View for all new models via the View tab of the FEMAP Preferences.
8 - 19
Lesson 8
Data Table
Use the Tools, Data Table command or the Panes toolbar to turn the Data Table on and off. When the Data Table is first opened, it is locked. The Lock/Unlock icon must be selected to unlock it to enable it to receive or update data.
Data is placed into an interactive, dynamically changing table using various methods to fill the table provided it is unlocked Each item appears as a single row separated into a number of columns when it enters the Data Table. Information of entities of the same type can be sorted, filtered, and evaluated to help you understand what is occurring in your model before and after analysis. In many ways, the Data Table is a complement to the other dockable panes and can also simply be an alternate method to list and view entity data
All FEMAP entities which can be selected using the Select toolbar can be sent to the Data Table. Several commands are available for listing and sorting results when the Data Table is open and analysis results sets are loaded into your FEMAP model: List, Output, Summary to Data Table List, Output, Results to Data Table List, Output, Nodal Changes to Data Table
8 - 20
Lesson 8
Programming Interfaces
Program Files FEMAP has the ability to record and replay command sequences using Program Files. Program Files can be edited to accept user input. Program Files may not be compatible between different versions of FEMAP.
API FEMAP has an Application Programming Interface that can be used to customize FEMAP for applications such as: Automate tasks such as swapping the background colors of views for printing . Calculate the midplane stresses on shell elements. Interface with other programs for the purposes for importing, modifying, or reporting data. FEMAP has a built-in Basic language programming environment through the API Programming pane. Microsoft Visual Basic and Visual C++.NET can also be used to develop custom applications for FEMAP.
The API can be used to embed FEMAP into other applications; open, create, and/or modify FEMAP models; or to develop standalone FEMAP applications without using FEMAPs GUI. Examples of API applications are shipped with FEMAP in FEMAPs API folder. The Custom Tools toolbar is set by default to point to this folder.
8 - 21
Lesson 9
Purpose This lesson provides an introduction to selection, viewing, and data collection tools in Femaps user interface. Topics Geometry, Material, Property and Layer Visibility Toggles View, Advanced Post, Model Contour Data command Visibility Dialog Box Comparing Groups and Layers Layers Groups View Options
9-1
Lesson 9
You can also select one or more of the same object type and then Right-click to bring up the Visibility Toggle menu. Femap will display the combination of selected geometry, element types, materials, properties and groups, eliminating the need to organize the model by layers or by creating additional groups.
9-2
Lesson 9
9-3
Lesson 9
9-4
Lesson 9
Model data that can be graphically plotted is: Element Quality Material Data Property Data
You cannot simultaneously display model data and analysis results. Example Display Plane Element Thickness as a Criteria plot without labels:
9-5
Lesson 9
9-6
Lesson 9
Layers
Groups
Can be assigned to multiple Groups Can be assigned to only one Layer Imported with some CAD geometry formats. Assign by rules, relationships, and/or clipping. Automatic generation tools. Reference Groups for managing groups of Groups (Femap v10.1)
Entities
Display Simultaneously?
Displayed Layers only Graphical Selection Optional No Pick layer prevents graphical selection of entities on that layer (except when Select All is used). Only entities in the displayed groups can be selected except when Select All is used.
9-7
Lesson 9
Layers
Create new layers using the Tools, Layer command. This activates the Layer Manager dialog box.
The Layer Manager dialog box has options to: Create a New Layer Assign ID, Title and Color View Options allows display of colors by layer (by entity type)
Update a layer name Renumber a single layer Delete a layer Delete All layers Note: If you delete layer(s), any entities on the deleted layer still exist in the Femap model, and you will need to reassign them to another layer in order to make them visible and selectable.
9-8
Lesson 9
Select the object(s) in the Selection List, right-click the mouse and select Layer from the menu.
9-9
Lesson 9
Group Rules Various entity selection commands, either by ID or using relationships to other entities, e.g. Group, Element, On Surface Entities can be added to group using any combination of selection methods When selecting entities, use the Exclude option if you want the selected entities removed permanently from the group.
9 - 10
Lesson 9
Group Management
The Group, Create/Manage command opens the Group Manager dialog box. The Layer Manager dialog box has options to: Create a New Group Assign ID and Title
Update Title updates the title of the group Renumber the selected group Delete a selected group Delete All groups Manage Referenced Groups Deactivate the active group with None Active
9 - 11
Lesson 9
9 - 12
Lesson 9
Note:
To see examples of the Group, Operations, Booleans command, go to Section 6.4.3.2 of the Femap Commands Guide.
9 - 13
Lesson 9
9 - 14
Lesson 9
9 - 15
Lesson 9
You can also select one or more of the same object type and then Right-click the Visibility Toggle.
9 - 16
Lesson 9
Options to control display of groups with: Show Full Model Show Active Show Multiple
9 - 17
Lesson 9
View Options
In many cases, you may want to display specific entity indicators such as surface normal, curve direction or element normal's. The View Options dialog box offers options to display these indicators. Example Turn on display of rigid elements degree of freedom indicators and master/slave nodes:
9 - 18
Lesson 9
9 - 19
Lesson 10
Purpose: The Meshing Toolbox is used for accessing FEMAPs interactive geometry cleanup and idealization tools and interactive mesh editing tools. This lesson is an overview of the tools available in the Meshing Toolbox. Topics:
Entity Locator Tools Feature Suppression Tools Feature Removal Tools Feature Editing Tools Geometry Editing Tools Combined / Composite Curves Tools Combined / Boundary Surfaces Tools Mesh Sizing Tools Mesh Surface Tools Mesh Locate Tools Mesh Quality Tools
10 - 1
Lesson 10
10 - 2
Lesson 10
10 - 3
Lesson 10
10 - 4
Lesson 10
10 - 5
Lesson 10
These operations will remove or clear objects found by the Locator: Do Not Locate - deletes the current entity from the list of located entities and keeps the entity from being located again during the current model editing session. Remove - deletes the current entity from the list of located entities Clear Locator clears the list of entities found by the Locator
Entities located can also be used to: Create Group creates a new group of entities found by the locator Add to Data Table if the
10 - 6
Lesson 10
Feature Suppression
Feature Suppression controls allow you to interactively suppress or remove suppression of: Loops select one edge on an feature to automatically suppress the entire set of curves and surfaces comprising the feature Curves select curve(s) to be suppressed. Should not be used on solids. Surfaces select surface(s) to be suppressed. Should not be used on sheet bodies.
The Action menu toggles the action to : Toggle Suppression if a entity is unsuppressed, suppress it. If it is suppressed, restore it. Suppress or Restore
Limit Size prevents selection of entities that have their length less than the specified Smaller Than value. Update Colors - set options to toggle and colors for suppressed entities. Show Suppressed - allows you to highlight suppressed Curves or Surfaces Restore All features in either selected solid(s) (In Solids button) or in the entire Model
CT 1900 Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 Rev 010612 10 - 7
Lesson 10
Feature Removal
Feature Removal differs from Feature Suppression in that the underlying solid or surface geometry is modified.
Loops includes an option to set the Limit Size for selecting loops. Add Surface Mesh Point - adds a Mesh Point on Surface at the center of the loop. Curves includes an option to set the Limit Size for selecting loops. Also includes an option for Aggressive Removal Surfaces - when a single surface on a solid is selected, Femap will attempt to clean up the solid to result in a clean solid. In some cases, no operation will be performed and in others, other adjacent surfaces will be removed. There is also an option for Aggressive Removal
Note:
There is no option to restore removed features beyond what is supported with the Undo command.
10 - 8
Lesson 10
With Feature Edges, you can: Translate Surfaces specify the Vector to Move Along and a translation Distance Rotate Surfaces - specify the Vector to Rotate About and a rotation Angle Resize Hole specify the Hole Diameter For a Surface, you can: Translate Surfaces specify the Vector to Move Along and a translation Distance Rotate Surfaces - specify the Vector to Rotate About and a rotation Angle Note: Feature editing does not allow the modification of topology.
10 - 9
Lesson 10
With this toolset you can: You can split a curve at the Location to Break at with the Curve Break operation Split or imprint a surface with the Point to Point, Point to Edge or Edge to Edge operation Generate Pads or Washers Extend surfaces
10 - 10
Lesson 10
composite curve at the selected position back to its the original curve definition. The remainder of the composite curve is retained.
Delete converts all curves on the composite curve back to their original curve
definitions
10 - 11
Lesson 10
10 - 12
Lesson 10
Enable Length Based Sizing When the Sizing Option is set to Match Curves, the curve(s) selected will match the mesh sizing settings of the Master Curve Enabling the Show Free Edges option highlights the nodes on the meshs free edges
10 - 13
Lesson 10
Advanced Options gives you access to most of the options in the Mesh Surface dialog box
10 - 14
Lesson 10
With the Locate Multiple option you can select multiple nodes and move them simultaneously The Locate Method specifies whether to move the node: Dynamic drag the position of the selected node(s) using the cursor Manual, Vector specify the direction and distance to move the selected node(s) Smooth will move the adjust the other nodes of the attached elements to smooth the mesh quality Enabling the Project option constrains the nodes movement so that it remains attached to its surface Constrain to Curve constrains the nodes movement to remain attached to its curve Once a node or nodes have been moved, you have the option to Save or Discard the edit(s)
10 - 15
Lesson 10
Note:
To display the quality of internal elements, you must use the Meshing Toolboxs Entity Locator Elements Quality tool
10 - 16
Lesson 11
Purpose This lesson provides an introduction to the setup of analyses using Femaps Analysis Set Manager. Topics
The Analysis Set Manager Analysis Set Manager Dialog Box NX Nastran Supported Solution Sequences NX Nastran Input File Setup Preview/Edit Input Bulk Data Entries Analyze Process NX Nastran Analysis Procedure and Files
11 - 1
Analysis Sets are stored along with the Femap model file or can be stored in a Femap library that is available across different model files. To enter the analysis Manager select the Model, Analysis command. Click the New button to create a new Analysis Set. Specify a Title, Analysis Program, and the Analysis Type
11 - 2
Advanced Nonlinear Nonlinear Statics (SOL601,106) Nonlinear Transient (SOL601,129) Nonlinear Explicit (SOL701)
11 - 3
11 - 4
Case Control Master Requests and Conditions Subcases Select Master Requests and Conditions then click the New button
Multi set: Select constraint and loads sets and Femap will create a subcase for each combination of selected constraint and load set(s) Not available for all analysis types
11 - 5
11 - 6
11 - 7
11 - 8
Preview/Edit Input
Preview Generates the input deck Check for errors
Edit Preview edits performed using this option will be a one time only edit and will only be applied when applying the Export or Analyze button Modify, add, remove entries Standard field spacing displayed as header Add comments
Analyze or Export
11 - 9
Analyze Process
Analyze operation Exports input deck and starts in a NX Nastran job as a separate process The Analysis Monitor displays the NX Nastran .log, .f04, or .f06 files Results automatically loaded into Femap (Femap Preferences default).
11 - 10
Note:
Several temporary files are generated during an NX Nastran analysis execution. By default, these files are placed in the scratch file location designated during the installation of NX Nastran. These files are automatically deleted after the successful execution of NX Nastran. Femap allows you to override the default scratch file through a preference setting, or you can specify the file location in an Analysis Set option. The scratch file folder should be checked frequently and files deleted as needed.
11 - 11
Lesson 12
Topics:
Results Display and Reporting The PostProcessing Toolbox Beam Cross Section Results Display View Select Dialog Box Deformed and Contour Data Post Data dialog box Contour Options Animation Commands and Options XY Plots Freebody Display Vector Plots Additional Output Processing Detailed Post Processing Options Post Processing Toolbar
12 - 1
Lesson 12
The default display for any new Femap view is the Model style. Both styles have multiple types of displays that can be selected in the View Select dialog box. Graphical display of deformed and/or contour results can be also be set in the PostProcessing toolbox. Results can also be listed in the Messages pane and/or to a text file and can also be displayed in the Data Table
Note:
For versions of Femap prior to v10.2, selection of results type, output sets, and output vectors is controlled through the View, Select command and the Post toolbar and display settings for results is controlled through the View, Options command.
12 - 2
Lesson 12
12 - 3
Lesson 12
Turn Tools On and Off toggles the Deform and Contour tools on and off.
Reload from Model syncs the options displayed in the PostProcessing Toolboxs tools with the display in the active graphics pane. Generally used if Auto Redraw is disabled and you want to reset the values in the PostProcessing Toolbox to the values displayed in the active Graphics pane.
Set the Deformed Style select one of the deformed styles using the Transformation Output Vector set in the Select PostProcessing Data dialog box or in the Deform tool
12 - 4
Lesson 12
Auto Redraw Automatically refreshes the active graphics pane when any changes are made to the Deform Style or the Contour Style. On by default for any new model, turn this off for large models for better performance when multiple changes are going to be made to the results display.
Manual Redraw Refreshes the active graphics pane when any changes are made to the Deform Style or the Contour Style
12 - 5
Lesson 12
12 - 6
Lesson 12
Scale Select the type of scale for the deformed shape: % of Model or Actual Deformations.
For % of Model, you can set the display scale of the Max % Model equal to the highest value of the deformed vector selected times the value of the largest extent of the undeformed model.
You can also enable the Scale Based on Group where the largest deformation displayed is based on the maximum value of the deformed vector in the displayed groups
For Actual Deformations, you directly set the scale of the deformed values.
12 - 7
Lesson 12
For Deformed, Animate, Animate MultiSet and Trace styles, you have the option to display the Undeformed Model. The undeformed model can be displayed using the views element color display settings or by enabling the Use View Color option.
12 - 8
Lesson 12
Shape select from a Linear or Sine (sinusoidal) distribution of the frames. For both types, you can select between Full, Full-Abs(olute), Half, or Half-Abs(olute).
Full displays the loading and unloading of the model while Half displays only the loading of the model
Frames specify the number of animation frames Delay - specify the time delay between frames in milliseconds
Animation Control opens the Animation Control dialog box where the animation can be paused, stepped from frame to frame, frame delay and full or half shapes can be toggled on and off.
12 - 9
Lesson 12
Final Output Set select the Final Output Set for animation Specify the Increment between the Output Set and the Final Output Set
12 - 10
Lesson 12
12 - 11
Lesson 12
At Locations display on the entire model or only a selected group Length Display the trace of the deformation as the Full Length path or to animate the path with the Animate Growth setting Label display either No Labels, the Output Set ID or the Output Set Value Color set the color of the trace path Show Locations show a symbol at the location along the trace path for each output set selected
12 - 12
Lesson 12
Transform select the transformation coordinate systems component(s) Locations select a Specified Location, At Point for an existing point in the model or a Group of points to define the start point(s) of the streamline(s)
Location - displays the coordinate of the streamline start point. This option also allows you to specify the location by a selected Coordinate System. Dynamic Location when a Specified Location or At Point is selected for the location of the start of the streamline, dynamically transform the location of the streamlines start point. When a Group is used to define the location(s) of the streamline points, you can dynamically define a single streamline using this tool.
12 - 13
Lesson 12
Streamline display the Draw Start or indicators of the start point(s) of the streamline(s) and display the color of the streamline(s) by either a contoured color line or by Use View Color Parameters set the parameters for the streamline.
12 - 14
Lesson 12
12 - 15
Lesson 12
Transform select the transformation coordinate systems component(s) for Nodel Vector Output, Plate Force/Stress/Strain and/or Solid Stress/Strain
Show On display contours on the Full Model, Active Group, or from the list of groups in the model Levels - Specify the Level Mode, Contour Palette and # of Levels. Enable Continuous Colors and Animate the contour colors when the Deform Animate style is enabled.
Clicking the Levels/Palette icon allows the selection of one of several Standard Colors contour color settings in the Contour/Criteria Levels dialog box.
12 - 16
Lesson 12
Legend - Enable display of the legend as well as specify the Position of the legend. Specify the Label Color mode and the View Color. In addition, you can enable both Exponential Labels and Label Erase Background. Set the Label Frequency, Label Digits and label Shrink to %.
12 - 17
Lesson 12
Lesson 12
Limits Mode Select from No Limits, Above Maximum, Below Minimum, Between or Outside Elements that Pass / Elements that Fail Enable none, one, or both of these options and set the Color options for the displayed elements.
12 - 19
Lesson 12
Beam Diagram - select a Labels option, Direction, and enable/disable Show Reversed. Set the Scale of the largest value relative to the model size and the Border Color of the delineator between the ends of adjacent beams. Beam Contour - specify the Direction of the beam results
12 - 20
Lesson 12
IsoSurface, IsoLine or Contour on Deform IsoSurface . Contour on Deform IsoSurface uses the Deformed Output Vector for its values. Number display a Single IsoSurface or IsoLine at the specified At Value or Use Contour Colors IsoSurf/Line Color toggle between contour colors or a single color. Dynamic Control activates the Dynamic IsoSurface Control dialog box
12 - 21
Lesson 12
Show As select the results display as either Filled or Line Cut Options select from either: Cut Model specify a single cutting plane; Parallel Sections specify the number of parallel sections and the distance between sections; or Multiple Sections - specify up to three (3) user-defined section planes
Dynamic Control - activate the Dynamic Section Cut Control dialog box. For Parallel Sections, this will dynamically move all the section cuts. For Multiple Sections, you select which section cut you want to dynamically move.
12 - 22
Lesson 12
Contour Vectors opens the Contour Vector Options dialog box to specify the Vector Type, Elemental Vectors and output data orientation Vector Options specify the Vector Style and set the color of the vectors and Use View Color to those set in the Contour Vector Options dialog box or display by contour color
Length enable Adjust Length to Value to display the vectors relative to the highest value specified by value of the Arrow Length
12 - 23
Lesson 12
Freebody Display
Freebody diagrams are created in Femap with the Freebody tool. To create a new freebody, click the Add Freebody icon under the Freebody Properties tool.
This activates the Freebody Manager dialog box. Click the New Freebody button.
Note:
When freebody displays are needed, you will need to specify the output of Grid Point Forces or equivalent for non-Nastran solvers. This is the Force Balance option in the Analysis Set Manager, Nastran Output Requests dialog box.
12 - 24
Lesson 12
12 - 25
Lesson 12
When the Entity Selection Mode is set to Entity Select, click the Select Freebody Elements icon to active the Select Entity Select Freebody Elements dialog box.
The Show Freebody Elements icon can be used to display the freebody elements selected using the highlighting option set for the model. The Reset Freebody Elements icon can be used to clear the freebody element selection.
12 - 26
Lesson 12
When the Entity Selection Mode is set to Entity Select, the Select freebody elements, Show freebody elements, and Reset freebody elements icons are available. Additionally, when Entity Selection Mode is set to Entity Select, click the Select freebody nodes icon to active the Select Entity Select Freebody Nodes dialog box. When the nodes are selected, you will be prompted in a dialog box to create and automatically locate a total summation vector at the center of the selected nodes. The Show freebody nodes icon is used to display the freebody elements selected using the highlighting option set for the model. The Reset freebody nodes icon is used to clear the freebody node selection.
The Place summation vector at the center of selected nodes icon is used to generate the force and/or moment summation vector at the center of selected nodes.
CT 1900 Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 Rev 010612 12 - 27
Lesson 12
12 - 28
Lesson 12
12 - 29
Lesson 12
Note:
In order for this command to be available, you must first activate a results set that includes beam or bar force and stress output vectors.
12 - 30
Lesson 12
By default, the active Output Set is selected and can be changed when multiple output sets exist in the Femap model. Elements allow you to either select a Single beam or bar element or Multiple elements with the entity selection dialog box. Dynamically change the Location of the cross section based upon the length of the beam. The Multiple option will generate the number of cross sections equally distributed along the length of the element(s) selected. This will disable dynamic location of the cross section Show Stress allows the selection of one of the following: 0..von Mises Stress 1..Maxium Shear Stress 2..Maximum Principal Stress 3..Minimum Principal Stress 4..Axial Stress 5..Y Shear Stress 6..Z Shear Stress 7..Combined Shear Stress - has an option to display a Vector Plot
12 - 31
Lesson 12
Clicking the Advanced button opens the Advanced Options dialog box
Scaled By will scale the size of the cross section by the value entered Quality changes the internal mesh used to calculate the stress value requested. Input a value from 1 to 5, where 5 represents the finest mesh Turn on Element Shrink and/or Section Outlines Override auto max min display of the results by specify the Minimum and Maximum stress values Set the Vector Length, enable Solid Vector and enable More Arrows for display of the Combined Shear Stress Vector Plot
12 - 32
Lesson 12
When the command is activated, the View Select dialog box controls: XY Style for XY plots see page 12-43 for a detailed explanation of options Model Style for model entity display. See Chapter 6.1.5.2 of the Femap Commands manual, Choosing a Model Style for more details. Draw Model Features Quick Hidden Line Full Hidden Line Free Edge limits the display of the model to only free element edges Free Face limits the display of the model to only those elements with free faces Deformed style Contour style
Note:
Using the PostProcessing Toolbox is a more efficient method for displaying deformed plots, contour plots or freebody diagrams.
12 - 33
Lesson 12
12 - 34
Lesson 12
12 - 35
Lesson 12
Contour Options
The contour algorithm in Femap will use either nodal or elemental data to perform the contouring. Depending on the selected options and the available data, Femap will use several different approaches to calculate the contours. Contour Type Using the default option of Match Output will automatically set the contour data to the either Nodal for nodal results such as displacement or Elemental for elemental results such as.
Contour Group allows the display of results of the Active or Selected group without activating the group. Data Conversion options see following 3 pages for a more detailed description
Average, Use Corner Data (default) Average, without Corner Data Maximum Value with or w/o Corner Data Minimum Value with or w/o Corner Data
Element options
Provides the capability to Smart Average results. Thus accounting for discontinuities in material or geometry and providing a more accurate representation of the results. Double-sided Planar Contours will display the reverse side of a selected planar element Contour Vector, e.g. when Plate Top Max Prin Stress is selected as the Contour Vector, the Plate Bot Max Prin Stress is also displayed. When this option is selected, the element thickness should also be enabled.
12 - 36
Lesson 12
12 - 37
Lesson 12
12 - 38
Lesson 12
12 - 39
Lesson 12
Output Transformations
By default, Femap displays NX Nastran results in the global or basic rectangular coordinate system. The Select PostProcessing Data dialog box has options to transform output vectors to user-selected directions. This option also exists in the PostProcessing toolbox.
12 - 40
Lesson 12
12 - 41
Lesson 12
Animation Commands
Create the animation in the View Select dialog box and select Animate as the Deformed Style This will create an animation of the active Deformation Output Vector in the Deformed and Contour Data Dialog Box By selecting the View, Advanced Post, Animation command, you can control the speed of the animation.
Once the plot is Animating it can be saved as an AVI file or Animated Gif file (*.GIF) using the File, Picture, Save command and selecting the Video for Windows (*. AVI)or Animated GIF (*.GIF) format.
12 - 42
Lesson 12
XY Plots
Use View, Select (F5) command to generate XY plots also accessible from the Graphics Windows context-sensitive menu. XY vs ID - plots XY data as a function of the element or node ID XY vs Set - plots XY data versus the Output Set ID for an Output Vector across several Output Sets XY vs Set Value - similar to vs Set, except uses Output Set value for X XY vs Position - plots XY data vs the position of nodes or element in an axis direction for an output Vector in on Output Set XY vs Function - (not a post-processing option) plots XY data for a function
12 - 43
Lesson 12
XY Plots of Functions
Functions can be displayed quickly by selecting the function to be displayed in the Model Info window and selecting Show from the context-sensitive menu. Opens a new graphics view titled XY Show
12 - 44
Lesson 12
12 - 45
Lesson 12
Vector Plots
Multiple types of Vector plots can be generated using results data. Select Vector as the Contour Style in the View Select dialog box, then the Deformed and Contour button.
Once an Output Set is selected, click the Contour Vectors button to specify the options for the plot. This opens the Contour Options dialog box.
12 - 46
Lesson 12
12 - 47
Lesson 12
12 - 48
Lesson 12
CT 1775 1900 Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 Rev 010612
12 - 49
Lesson 12
Lesson 12
Contour/Criteria Style Contour Levels Contour Legend Criteria Plots Criteria Limits Criteria - Elements that Pass Criteria - Elements that Fail XY Plots XY Titles XY Legend XY Axes Styles XY X - and XY - Y Range/Grid Freebody Diagrams Freebody Freebody Node Markers Freebody Node Vectors Freeboy Total Force and Moment Freebody Nodal Force and Moment
12 - 51
Lesson 12
Post Toolbar
Allows quick display of Deformed and Contour plots Detailed Postprocessing settings accessible from the Post Options pull down icon
12 - 52
Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
Purpose: Midsurfacing is a technique that is used to build idealized models of thin bodies. This lesson is an overview of the tools available Femap to create midsurface models. Topics: Midsurfacing The Midsurface Commands
13 - 1
Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
Midsurfacing
Midsurfacing is the process of extracting the midplane between parallel surfaces in order to reduce the complexity and increase the accuracy of the Finite Element Model. For the part shown: Solid: 113,512 nodes and 63,875 elements. ( > 3 minutes solve time). Shell: 1725 nodes and 1576 elements. (< 10 seconds solve time).
13 - 2
Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
Geometry, Midsurface, Single in Solid Creates a single trimmed midsurface between two surfaces of a solid.
Geometry, Midsurface, Single Creates a single sheet surface between two surfaces that extends beyond the extent of both surfaces.
Geometry, Midsurface, Trim to Solid Trims a surface with a solid and deletes any part(s) of the surface which lie outside the volume of the solid.
Geometry, Midsurface, Trim with Curve Trims or breaks a surface with a curve
Geometry, Midsurface, Extend Extends a surface by using one of a surface's edge curves and "extending the surface using a specified "Extend Shape method. This command is also available in the Meshing Toolbox, Geometry Editing, Extend tool.
13 - 3
Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
13 - 4
Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
13 - 5
Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
Geometry, Midsurface, Assign Meshing Attributes Prompts you for the material for the selected surface(s) and then automatically creates the properties with the wall thickness(es)of the original solid.
13 - 6
Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
Midsurfaced Geometry 2 Sheet Solids and 2 curves at Tjunction between Sheet Solids, both of which needs to be sized the same for mesh continuity
After NonManifold Add 1 General Body and 1 shared curve at T-junction allows for easier mesh sizing and assures mesh continuity
13 - 7
Lesson 14
Purpose: In the context of FEA, modeling assemblies may use multiple techniques to connect the components of a FEA assembly. This lesson is an overview of the tools available in Femap to model FEA assemblies. Topics:
Finite Element Model Connection Types Mesh, Connect Menu Connecting FEA Components with Connectors Bolted Connections with Bolt Regions Fluid and Rotor Regions
14 - 1
Lesson 14
14 - 2
Lesson 14
Coincident Nodes
Connecting Similar Element Types can be accomplished with Coincident Nodes. To check and merge coincident nodes, use the Tools, Check, Coincident Nodes command.
Set a Tolerance for merging nodes. Pairs of nodes whose distance is less than or equal to the Tolerance will be used in merging or listing nodes. The Action setting is used to specify the option to merge and/or list the coincident nodes detected among the nodes selected for checking. The Keep ID setting is used to have Femap automatically select the node to keep, or to keep the lowest ID, highest ID or to interactively select the nodes to keep. Move To specifies that the coincident node remains at the current location, at the location of the lower or higher ID, or move the node to midpoint of the location of the pair of coincident nodes. The Preview Coincident option is used to display coincident nodes before merging Enable the option for Safe Merge to prevent distorted elements when nodes are merged Make Groups can be used to create group(s) of nodes merged or detected using this tool. The resulting group(s) are created depending on the Action selected. When Connection Regions are detected among the nodes selected to be checked for coincidence, you have the option to Merge Across Connections.
14 - 3
Lesson 14
Rigid Elements can be used to transmit rotations between Solids and Shells and Solids and Beams by transferring the translation on the nodes on the plate elements to the nodes on the solid elements. Use a minimum of two dependent nodes on the solid for every independent node on the shell or beam.
Note:
14 - 4
Lesson 14
14 - 5
Lesson 14
14 - 6
Lesson 14
When an RBE2 element is converted, you are prompted for Ok to Convert only Translation Degrees of Freedom. As a general practice, you should click OK.
14 - 7
Lesson 14
You can either change the value of the Factor, or you can select the Distance Weighting option that causes Femap to calculate a weighted interpolation factor based on that nodes distance from the Reference Node relative to all the other nodes selected in Step 1.
14 - 8
Lesson 14
14 - 9
Lesson 14
Welded Connections
Femap supports Weld Properties and Elements Creates CWELD elements for NX Nastran and MSC.Nastran only Spot Weld uses an effective length calculation based on the thickness of the two shell elements connected. Fastener allows direct input of stiffness matrix for weld properties Multiple options for generating Weld Elements Orientation of Weld is defined by either Projection method or Axis method and may be limited by the type of Weld selected
Note:
14 - 10
Lesson 14
Also allows unzipping of coincident nodes with option to automatically create connection types: None leave nodes unzipped Rigid Elements DOF Spring Elements Spring Elements (including CBUSH) Gap Elements
14 - 11
Lesson 14
The Connect, Automatic command finds the closest surfaces between solids and automatically generates Connectors (also known as Contact Elements) between adjacent Connection Regions. This command is also found in the Model Info pane by right-clicking on the Connections object and selecting the Automatic menu item.
After the solids are selected, you are presented with the Auto Detection Options for Connections dialog box that is described in detail on the following page.
14 - 12
Lesson 14
You can select between Minimal and Aggressive Detection Strategies Check for Connections in Same Solid generally not used unless you are checking for contact within a single part such as a flexible seal Combine all Connection between Solids - combines all detected connection regions between a pair of solids and combines them into one region for each solid
14 - 13
Lesson 14
Descriptions of the these type of connection properties will be detailed in the next few pages.
14 - 14
Lesson 14
14 - 15
Lesson 14
Glue Type specifies the glue formulation. 1..Spring when this is selected, you can change the Normal Factor and Tangential (Penalty) Factors 2..Weld (default) should be used for most cases as this prevents the introduction of artificial rotational energy into the connection. When selected, you can change the Glue Factor, but this is not recommended.
Eval Order - determines the number of "Linear Contact or Glue Points" for a single element on the source region. Refine Source - determines if the source region is refined for the "Linear" or "Glued" Contact solution. Penalty Factor Units - specifies how contact element stiffness is calculated. Search Distance if the two contact segments lie within this distance, NX Nastran activates glued contact between the pairs. Note: For more details on Glued Contact, see the NX Nastran Users Guide, Section 9.7.
14 - 16
Lesson 14
Friction specifies the static coefficient of friction. Min(imum) and Max(imum) Contact Search Distance if the element faces of the contact segments are within these values, NX Nastran activates the linear contact algorithm for these contact faces.
14 - 17
Lesson 14
0..Calculated (default) - Use the initial position of the nodes in the contact pairs. In the case of penetrations, a model may experience "press fit" behavior when using this option. 2..Calculated/Zero Penetration - Same as 0..Calculated, but if penetration is detected, set the initial contact force to zero (0). 3..Zero Gap/Penetration - Sets the penetration/gap to zero for all contact elements. Very useful when the contact surfaces are physically in contact, but due to mesh irregularities, penetration occurs.
Shell Offset use the default (0..Include shell thickness) unless the contact segments are defined at the top of the shell mesh, not the mid plane of the shells.
Note:
For more details on Linear Contact, see the Femap Commands manual, Section 4.4.3.1. You can also refer to the NX Nastran Users Guide, Chapter 19 for additional details on gluded and linear contact.
14 - 18
Lesson 14
NX Nastran checks for contact between element faces from the Slaves element faces to the Masters element faces and internally builds contact element pairs between the two element faces. Therefore, as a rule, you should model with the following in mind:
14 - 19
Lesson 14
A Connection Region is created by clicking the Define Region button in the Define Contact Connector dialog box, by selecting the Connect, Region command or by rightclicking the Connections Region object in the Model Info pane. NX Nastran surface regions are defined by Elements NX Nastran edge regions are defined by Nodes
14 - 20
Lesson 14
Bolt Preload an axial force load applied to the bar or beam elements or Bolt Region When Elements are selected to define the preload, a Bolt Region is automatically created for the selected elements
Two elements that connect the ends of the bolt to the rest of the mesh usually Rigid elements
API script automates generation of bolt mesh Custom Tools, Meshing, Hole to Hole Fastener Does NOT create the Bolt Region or the Bolt Preload
14 - 21
Lesson 14
14 - 22
Lesson 14
14 - 23
Lesson 14
Valid only for SOL110 Complex Modal Analysis (Normal Modes with Rotor Dynamics option) and SOL111 (Modal Frequency Analysis with Rotordynamics option)
14 - 24
Lesson 15
Purpose: This lesson is an overview of methods to check and debug Finite Element Models. Topics:
Finite Element Modeling Mesh Sizing Results Checking Model Debugging Common Errors Recommended Model Checks
15 - 1
Lesson 15
Pros
Cons
Lower number of Elements Coarse Model Less Degrees of Freedom Reduced Solve Time
Less accuracy for complicated geometry Distorted elements can be too stiff and misrepresent response
Fine Model
Accuracy for complicated geometry is improved Less distorted elements improves results
15 - 2
Lesson 15
Checking Results
It is always a good idea to do a reality check with the results of any Finite Element Analysis. Using engineering knowledge and common sense will allow a user to determine if the results make sense for the applied boundary conditions. For instance, an under-constrained or unconnected (nodes not merged where they should be) model may exhibit much larger displacements than expected a displacement in the opposite direction of the applied load during a linear cantilever beam analysis. Some Good Practices: Always visually plot the models elements if possible for verification Make sure responses correspond with applied boundary conditions Check input loads with reaction forces: F = 0 Hand calculations are always a great idea whenever possible
15 - 3
Lesson 15
Model Debugging
Recommended minimum checks on input Stiffness matrix checks At the G-size After MPC Processing After All Processing
Mass Checks Grid point weight generator output Rigid-body mass checks Assembly mass checks
Loading checks
15 - 4
Lesson 15
15 - 5
Lesson 15
Use of consistent units is of utmost importance!!! Always use unique IDs NX Nastran sometimes allows for duplicate element IDs, but not always. Duplicates can and do lead to problems, especially during data recovery
15 - 6
Lesson 15
15 - 7
Lesson 15
Any connections depending on in-plane rotational stiffness of plates, or any rotational stiffness on solids Instabilities example: releasing both ends of a beam in torsion Offsets of elements in wrong coordinate system (should be in the output coordinate systems of the grid points for Bars and Beams) Member Properties wrong (Beam orientation) or in plates Membrane only (left out bending) Beam end releases local or global (in beam coordinates)? Element force output is normally in element coordinate system
15 - 8
Lesson 15
Model checks before analysis Geometry Undeformed plots Look at connections between different element types Based on knowledge of elements Based on Loads Look at corners (QUAD plates) Shrink plots
15 - 9
Lesson 15
15 - 10
Lesson 15
Loads Verify they are correct (OLOAD RESULTANT) Run the Femap command, Tools, Check, Sum Forces
Constraints Verify that they exist (often forgotten and overlooked) Verify they are correct (location and orientation in output coordinate system of the GRID points) Verify they are applied (SPC CASE CONTROL command)
15 - 11
Lesson 15
Equilibrium check verify model is not over-constrained Run free-free normal modes analysis. Remove known constraints and check for unconstrained motion under applied loads or imposed displacements
Thermal equilibrium check (if Thermal loads are being considered) Check on MATx entries Check for unconstrained set of constraints Apply a determinate set of constraints Use the same for all materials Apply a uniform T to the structure. It should expand freely, meaning that it will create no reactions, element forces, or stresses
Statics Check EPSILON and MAXRATIO EPSILON > 10-9and/or MAXRATIO > 105 may indicate trouble Do they equal the applied loads?
Check reactions Check load paths use grid point force balance to trace loads Check stress contours for consistency Sharp corners indicate bad modeling Use different options (i.e., topological and geometric) and compare results
15 - 12
Lesson 15
15 - 13
A-1
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Femap Preferences
Preferences are used to configure Femap for optimum performance and the way you prefer to work Preferences are stored in the femap.ini file under the main Femap installation folder If you specify a different Start In location for your Femap startup shortcut, Femap will first look in that location for a femap.ini file and use the preferences set in that file. In addition, any changes to preferences will automatically be stored in the femap.ini file in that folder.
Set preferences with the File, Preferences command Messages set font and font sizes Views Render User Interface Database set performance options Geometry/Model Interfaces select default Analysis Interface Library/Startup Color Spaceball
Many Femap preferences will take effect immediately after they have been set, but in some cases you will need to close and re-open Femap for the changes to take effect. Examples are: Advanced/Debug Options for Render graphics Database Fonts changed in the Messages Window, etc.
A-2
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
A-3
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
A-4
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Drivers from the manufacturers of the graphics card chipset tend to be more stable then the drivers from the maker of the graphics card. (e.g. use an ATI or nVidia driver vs. an ASUS driver)
A-5
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
A-6
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Click the Database Options Help button for detailed information on settings in this tab.
A-7
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Setting the Femap Scratch folder or setting the TEMP variable to a network file location may seriously degrade Femaps performance and dramatically increase file save times. In addition, if your network fails for any reason, any opened files in a Femap session have the potential to be corrupted.
A-8
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Select between the Parasolid or Standard geometry engines to start with. The Parasolid engine is recommended. Selecting the Standard engine will only allow the construction and editing of wireframe curves and boundary surfaces.
Femap stores geometry in meters. The Solid Geometry Scale Factor is used to internally store your geometry units as meters in Parasolid. For example, if you select Inches, the Scale Factor is 39.37 (inches/meter). Femap uses the inverse of this number to store the geometry in its model database (1 inch = .0254 meters). This scaling will allow you to import and model parts that are outside of the Parasolid modeling limits ( +/-500 x 500 x 500). Note: If you import geometry with a different scale other than the files original scale, new or modified geometry will be out of scale with the imported geometry. FEMAP can be set to Delete Construction Geometry, Move it to the NoPick Layer, or simply do nothing when used.
A-9
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Load Expansion on Midside Nodes sets the defaults for modification of the distribution of Geometry-based loads (such as Forces on Surfaces and Moments on Curves) when these loads are expanded to the nodes on Parabolic elements at the time of analysis. To obtain an even distribution of force across a parabolic element, most programs require a larger portion of the force be assigned to the midside nodes. You can set the factors Along Edges, On Tri-Face, or On Quad-Face to represent the amount of the total load on the element which will be applied to the midside node. You will typically want to use the default values as shown above, as well as use the Midside Node Adjustment Default. If you have further questions on the distribution required for your solver program, please consult the reference documentation for your analysis program.
Element Quality checks can be turned on or off permanently and default values set for each quality check via the Element Distortion button. Default output orientations for various element shapes can be permanently set for use when transforming results from the Output Orientation button.
A - 10
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
A - 11
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Setting the File Reference Options allows FEMAP to check if imported Geometry, Analysis Input decks, and/or Analysis Results have been modified when a FEMAP model is opened. Use the File, References command to check references during a FEMAP session.
Increase the value of Max Lines to Monitor from the default value of 5000 if you like to view the .f06 file during analysis execution.
A - 12
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Color preferences allow you to select the default colors for entities
A - 13
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
A - 14
Appendix B
Composite Layups
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of creating and editing properties with Femap.
Topics
Defining Properties Editing Properties
B-1
Appendix B
Composite Layups
Composite Layups
Layups are a Femap object that designates multiple composite plies Practical limit of 5000 plies per Layup
A Ply has the following attributes: Ply ID (number) Material Thickness Angle Global Ply ID Used to designate a common ply ID for use in other layups. e.g. The OML or Outer Skin Ply for all layups.
B-2
Appendix B
Composite Layups
B-3
Appendix B
Composite Layups
Symmetric The mirrored plies will be added to the top of the Layup in reverse order of selection.
Reverse Reverse the order of the selected plies based on the original position (i.e., the selected ply which was closest to the Bottom of Layup will now be closest to the Top of Layup in the list).
Move Up and Move Down The selected ply or plies will be moved closer to the Top of Layup (Move Up) or Bottom of Layup (Move Down) in the order selected.
Rotate The selected ply or plies are rotated by the angle input in the Rotate Ply By dialog box. The order of the plies in the Layup is not effected.
Copy and Paste Copy and paste the selected ply or plies to the top of the current or another Layup.
B-4
Appendix B
Composite Layups
B-5
Appendix B
Composite Layups
B-6
Appendix B
Composite Layups
B-7