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Femap 101
Student Guide
Version 10.3
Day 1
4 Overview of Materials
5 Overview of Properties
6 Meshing Overview
Day 2
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 iii
Day 3
12 Postprocessing
13 Midsurfacing
14 Assembly Modeling
Student Topics
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
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 1-1
Lesson 1 The FEA Modeling Process Using Femap
Femap can be used to model the first four types of FEA models.
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 1-2
Lesson 1 The FEA Modeling Process Using Femap
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 1-3
Lesson 1 The FEA Modeling Process Using Femap
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.
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 1-4
Lesson 1 The FEA Modeling Process Using Femap
Geometry
Materials
Boundary Conditions
• Constraints
• Loads
Properties
Mesh
Analyze
Post process
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 1-5
Lesson 1 The FEA Modeling Process Using Femap
Geometry
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 1-6
Lesson 1 The FEA Modeling Process Using Femap
Materials Properties
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Lesson 1 The FEA Modeling Process Using Femap
Boundary Conditions
Constraints Loads
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.
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Lesson 1 The FEA Modeling Process Using Femap
Additional mesh creation and editing tools are available through the Meshing
Toolbox
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Lesson 1 The FEA Modeling Process Using Femap
View Results
Analyze Report
(Postprocess)
List, Output,
View, Select… (F5)
commands
Model, Analysis View, Options… (F6)
command View, Advanced Post…
Data Table
commands
operations
But…
• Femap standard material and beam section property libraries use in-lbs units
• Solid geometry defaults to inches on desktop and to meters in Femap model
databases (.modfem and .NEU files). Conversion of geometry units from meters
use the Geometry Scale Factor.
• Parasolid (regardless of product) always stores data in meters
The following two pages have charts that show consistent unit values that should be
used to obtain accurate results.
English SI SI SI
Model Data
lbf – in- s mN – mm - s N – mm - s N–m-s
Length inches mm mm m
Force lbf mN N N
Stress,
Pressure,
Modulus of
psi kPa MPa Pa
Elasticity and
Shear
Modulus
Moment,
lbf/in N/mm N/mm N/m
Torque
Temperature F C C C
Coefficient of
Thermal in/degF mm/degC mm/degC m/degC
Expansion
English SI SI SI
Model Data
lbf – in- s N – mm – s mN – mm – s N–m–s
Length inches mm mm m
Temperature F C C C
Coefficient of
Thermal in/F mm/C mm/C m/C
Expansion
Energy lbf-in µJ mJ J
Thermal
Conductivity lbf/sec-F µW/mm-C mW/mm-C W/m-C
Heat Transfer
Coefficient lbf/in-sec-F µW/mm2 mW/mm2 W/mm2
Heat
Generation lbf-in/sec µW mW W
(Flux)
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
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 The FEA Modeling Process Using Femap
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
Femap’s 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
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 file’s original scale,
new or modified geometry will be out of scale with the imported geometry.
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.
Purpose
Topics
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 2-1
Lesson 2 The Femap User Interface – Part 1
Floating dockable
pane
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Lesson 2 The Femap User Interface – Part 1
Graphics Windows
Femap’s 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
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Lesson 2 The Femap User Interface – Part 1
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
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 2-4
Lesson 2 The Femap User Interface – Part 1
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Lesson 2 The Femap User Interface – Part 1
Commands
• Add regular and user-
defined commands to an
existing menu or toolbar.
Keyboard
• Designate and manage
shortcut keys (hotkey)
combinations for specific
commands.
User Commands
• Create and manage user-defined 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).
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Lesson 2 The Femap User Interface – Part 1
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.
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 2-7
Lesson 2 The Femap User Interface – Part 1
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.
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Lesson 2 The Femap User Interface – Part 1
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Lesson 2 The Femap User Interface – Part 1
View Manipulation
View Rotation, Zooming and Panning
View Toolbar
Ctrl+Left or Ctrl+Middle
Pan Ctrl+Middle mouse button
mouse button
Shift+Left or Shift+Middle
Zoom Shift+Middle mouse button
mouse button
The Isometric, Dimetric, and Trimetric view orientation(s) can be modified using
Femap’s 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.
Coordinate
Systems Constraints
Text
Nodes
Surfaces
Regions Elements
View Analysis
Model Toggle
Loads
View Geometry
Toggle Curves
Connectors
View Labels
Toggle
Points
View Toolbar
The View toolbar allows control of the active view orientation, magnification, view style,
and layers.
Dockable Panes
There are eight (8) standard dockable Two other dockable panes are available
panes for customization of Femap:
• Model Info • Program File
• Meshing Toolbox • API Programming
• PostProcessing Toolbox
Can be turned on and off using the Tools
• Entity Editor menu and the Panes toolbar.
• Entity Info Panes can be resized when docked or
• Data Table floating.
• Data Surface Editor
• Messages Window
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.
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.
Note: When typing in the Messages window, anytime you type a shortcut key, the
command assigned to the key will be invoked.
Provides quick access to “top-level” entities in Femap through an easy to navigate tree
structure.
Multiple entities can be highlighted at the same time in order to perform operations on all
of the entities at once.
Active Entity of each entity type is displayed with Blue text in the tree.
Selection List – used when Select Multiple is active in the Select Toolbar.
• Lists each entity type currently in the selection set
• Displays the number of entities of each entity type in parentheses
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.
Some context sensitive menu commands require that multiple entities be chosen to
activate a command. (e.g., MultiSet Animate)
• Select individual entities while holding down the CTRL key.
• Hold down the SHIFT key and select a first
entity and a last entity to select a continuous list of entities.
Entity Editor
Turn on and off the Entity Editor pane with the Tools, Entity Editor menu or with the
Panes toolbar.
• 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
• 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
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
Previous Command
• Recalls the last command executed
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
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.
• Enter the filter string and push the Filter icon to reduce the search list to the
those entries that contain the filter string
• You can enter additional filter strings or push the Clear All Filters icon to
clear your filter and return to the original, unfiltered selection list.
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.
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.
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
Choose a Category from the drop down list, then highlight the command from the
Commands list.
Once the command is highlighted, place the cursor in the Press new shortcut key field
and key in a new character or keyboard combination.
If the key or keyboard combination has already been defined, FEMAP will bring up a
dialog box stating “This shortcut is currently assigned. Do you want to re-assign this
shortcut?”
By clicking the Yes
button, the key or
keyboard combination
will be added to the
“Key assignments:”
list and replace the
previous command
assigned to that key.
After you have
chosen the correct
key or keyboard
combination, click the
Assign button.
Note: When typing in the Messages window, anytime you type a shortcut key, the
command assigned to the key will be invoked.
On-Line Help
Menu Help - Femap provides description of each command while pointing at it or
accessing it on the Status Bar .
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of the Femap’s 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
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 3-1
Lesson 3 Geometry Creation and Editing
Geometry Overview
Femap supports the creation and modification of wireframe, surface, and solid geometry
using the Parasolid geometry kernel
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Lesson 3 Geometry Creation and Editing
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Lesson 3 Geometry Creation and Editing
Can also be set in the Solid Model Read Options dialog box for Parasolid and ACIS files
and the STEP Read Options dialog box for STEP.
• When the dialog boxes are opened, the Geometry Scale Factor reflects Femap’s
preference.
• Geometry Scale Factor for Meters = 1
• Geometry Scale Factor for Inches = 39.37
• Geometry Scale Factor for Millimeters = 1000
Note: If you change the Geometry Scale Factor to a value other than the value of
Femap’s preference in one of these dialog boxes, Femap’s preference will
update to the input value.
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 3-4
Lesson 3 Geometry Creation and Editing
Geometry Importing
Import geometry with the File, Import, Geometry command.
• Import Geometry icon can be found on the Model toolbar
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 3-5
Lesson 3 Geometry Creation and Editing
The File, References command is used to view the status of a reference in Femap.
• If the time/date stamp is modified due to changes in the CAD model, this will be
shown in the Reference Manager dialog box.
• Femap’s default preferences are set to generate references upon import and to
automatically check for reference updates when opening a model.
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 3-6
Lesson 3 Geometry Creation and Editing
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 pane’s Geometry tree with this icon:
Note: Running the Tools, Mass Properties, Solid Properties command will show
that a Solid body has Volume.
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Lesson 3 Geometry Creation and Editing
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 pane’s Geometry tree with the icon below.
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 3-8
Lesson 3 Geometry Creation and Editing
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 3-9
Lesson 3 Geometry Creation and Editing
• 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.
Check Geometry
• Checks the validity of the solid. Will show that
an imported solid body is in reality a sheet
solid if imperfections are detected.
Advanced cleanup options - See section 3.4.2.22 of the Femap Commands manual.
• Has options to repair and remove small features.
• Surface Heal and Stitch option is similar to Explode and Stitch commands. Can
only be used on one solid at a time.
Note: If you still have problems cleaning geometry for meshing, an alternative
technique is to Explode the problem solid, then Stitch it back together.
Lines
Arcs
Circles
Splines
Boundary Surfaces
Workplanes
The Workplane is used to define the local “X-Y” plane for 2D wireframe and some solid
geometry creation commands.
• 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
Color, ID, Default Length, Spline Order, etc. are set in the Geometry Parameters dialog
box.
• Press the Parameters button in the Locate - … dialog box to manage these settings.
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
Arcs
Arcs are always placed on the Workplane
Circles
Circles are always placed on the
Workplane
Splines
Splines can be generated by Control Points
or by Points on the spline (the spline’s control
points are automatically generated by Femap).
• 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.
The Geometry, Sketch command creates a Boundary Surface from curves created
during the Sketch command sequence.
• Also accessible from the Solid toolbar – once the sketch is completed, you have the
option to extrude or revolve the “sketched” boundary surface.
The Modify, Edit, Boundary command allows you to add or remove curves from an
existing Boundary Surface.
Note: Except for the Break operation, these commands cannot be applied to solid
or surface geometry curves.
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.
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
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 4-1
Lesson 4 Materials and Properties
Defining Materials
Create new materials with the Model, Material
command or right-click on the Material object in
the Model Info pane
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 4-2
Lesson 4 Materials and Properties
Orthotropic – 2D and 3D
• Direction dependent.
• Define in two planer or three principle directions.
Anisotropic– 2D and 3D
• Properties specified as a general 3x3 (2-D) or 6x6 (3-D) elasticity matrix.
Hyperelastic
• Materials subject to large deformations
• Input distortional and volumetric deformations or stress/strain data
Fluid
• Defines materials such as liquids and gases used in fluid flow and/or heat transfer
analysis.
Other Types
• Materials with attributes unique to specific solvers. Descriptions follow on the next
page.
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Lesson 4 Materials and Properties
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 4-4
Lesson 4 Materials and Properties
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 4-5
Lesson 4 Materials and Properties
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.
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Lesson 4 Materials and Properties
• 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.
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 4-7
Lesson 4 Materials and Properties
Isotropic
Orthotropic (2D
and 3D)
Anisotropic (2D
and 3D)
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.
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 4-8
Lesson 4 Materials and Properties
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.
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 4-9
Lesson 4 Materials and Properties
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.
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of creating and editing properties with Femap.
Topics
• Element Types
• Defining Properties
• Editing Properties
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 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.
Other Elements
• Mass
• Mass Matrix
• Rigid
• Stiffness Matrix
• Slide Line
• Weld/Fastener
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 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
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 5-3
Lesson 5 Properties
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 5-4
Lesson 5 Properties
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 5-5
Lesson 5 Properties
Choose a standard shape from the Shape drop down list in the Cross Section Definition
dialog box.
• Enter appropriate values for a shape and specify the Stress Recovery locations.
Use the arrow buttons to locate these points.
• The Reference Point can be used to set the mesh location and when used, Femap
will automatically calculate offsets from the beams shear center.
Choose General Section under Shape to select any planar surface as the cross
section of a beam.
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Lesson 5 Properties
The Mesh, Mesh Control, Attributes on Curve command has options to preset beam
Offset and Orientation.
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.
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Lesson 5 Properties
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Lesson 5 Properties
In addition, the View Style pulldown menu on the View toolbar has shortcuts to toggle
line element display settings on and off.
• Offsets – toggle display of line (and planar) elements offsets.
• Orientation – toggle display of line (and planar) element orientations.
• Thickness/Cross Section – toggle display of line (and planar) element cross
sections.
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Lesson 5 Properties
Element Order
Line Element Reverse Direction– reverse element connectivity. i.e.; Swap A and B
nodes.
Remove Cross Section – removes beam/bar element section shape while retaining
properties
Material Angle – set or modify the material angle of selected element(s). Used for
direction-dependent materials and laminates.
Modify the Thickness of the selected elements, including creating and/or modifying
variable thickness shells
• Automatically creates new properties for the variable thickness planar elements.
• You must manually delete and/or merge any midside nodes for elements converted
from Parabolic to Linear.
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of the tools available in Femap to control and
generate meshes.
Topics
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 6-1
Lesson 6 Meshing Overview
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 6-2
Lesson 6 Meshing Overview
Mesh Control
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Lesson 6 Meshing Overview
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Lesson 6 Meshing Overview
Mesh, Mesh Control, Interactive, allows you to interactively modify existing mesh
sizes along one or more curves.
• Add: The current curve mesh size is increased by the number of elements
specified
• Subtract: The current curve mesh size is decreased by the number of elements
specified. It is not reduced below 1
• Set To: The curve mesh size is set to the number of elements specified
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
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Lesson 6 Meshing Overview
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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.
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Lesson 6 Meshing Overview
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Lesson 6 Meshing Overview
• Femap will automatically assign the corner points when the Mapped – Four Corner
option is selected and no points are selected
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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
Suppress Short Edges suppresses any edge on the selected solid(s) or surface(s) that
has a length less than or equal to the specified percentage of the Element Size.
• Suppressing short edges on certain solids or surfaces may cause the mesher to fail.
While not common, an error stating you have a "hole" in the mesh will inform you of
this situation.
Parameter-based
Mesh Sizing
Length-based
Mesh Sizing
The Assembly / Multi-Body Sizing options can be used to automatically set mesh
approaches on solids with adjacent surfaces when multiple bodies are selected .
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, 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
To see all of the surface meshing options available, press the More Options button.
0 1 2 3
Layers Layer Layers Layers
• 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.
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
Purpose
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
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Lesson 7 Loads and Constraints
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.
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Lesson 7 Loads and Constraints
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Lesson 7 Loads and Constraints
• 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.
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Lesson 7 Loads and Constraints
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.
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Lesson 7 Loads and Constraints
Creating Constraints
Use the Model, Constraint commands, Constraint toolbar, or the Model Info tree.
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Lesson 7 Loads and Constraints
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
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Lesson 7 Loads and Constraints
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.
Available when
constraining a
surface.
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Lesson 7 Loads and Constraints
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..
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.
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Lesson 7 Loads and Constraints
• 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.
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
Referenced Sets or Remove Referenced Sets.
• Set the Overall scale of the combined load set.
• Set the scale of the For Referenced Set.
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
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
Force
Bearing Force - - - -
Moment
Torque - - -
Displacement -
Enforced Rotation -
Velocity -
Rotational Velocity -
Acceleration -
Rotational Acceleration -
Distributed Load - - - -
Pressure - -
• 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.
• 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.
Temperature
Element Temperature - - -
Convection - -
Radiation - -
Element Heat
- - -
Generation
General Scalar -
Steam Quality -
Relative Humidity -
Unknown Condition -
Fan Curve -
Periodic Condition -
• 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 load’s 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.
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.
Enter or select the 3-D point locations and data values, and FEMAP does the rest
Simply enter the 3-D point locations and data values, and Femap does the rest.
Data
Load Type Functions Variables
Surfaces
Bearing Force - - -
Torque - - -
Temperatures
Convection / Radiation
Fluid Loading
Many of these options can be set and modified using the Entity Editor after a Load Set
has been selected using the Model Info tree.
As an alternative to using load set options to set dynamics options for a Nastran
dynamics analysis, you can also define these same options with the Dynamics option
setting in a Analysis Set.
Note: After selecting the type of Nonlinear Analysis, click the Defaults button to
automatically enter the NX Nastran Nonlinear defaults and modify as
needed.
Many of these options can be set and modified using the Entity Editor after a Load Set
has been selected using the Model Info tree.
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 time-
based 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 solver’s documentation
on how to apply loads.
Purpose
This lesson provides an introduction to selection, viewing, and data collection tools in
Femap’s user interface.
Topics
• Select Toolbar
• View Options
• Data Table
• Programming Interfaces
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 8-1
Lesson 8 The Femap User Interface – Part 2
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)
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Lesson 8 The Femap User Interface – Part 2
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Lesson 8 The Femap User Interface – Part 2
• Add To Selection - Adds entities to the current selection list when Select Multiple
is active or simply chooses entities when Select Single Item is active. This is the
default
• Remove From Selection - Removes entities from the current Selection List when
Select Multiple is active. Only allows selection of entities currently in the Selection
List. Does not highlight anything when Select Single Item is active
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Lesson 8 The Femap User Interface – Part 2
Query - This mode allows you to choose a position on the screen near the entity you
wish to select, then “drills down” into the graphics window and selects all the entities that
would be touched by an imaginary line perpendicular to the screen. After the entities
have been identified, it opens a dialog box and places them in a list for you to choose
the correct entity. As you highlight entities in the list, they will be highlighted in the
graphics window as well. Once you have found the correct entity, click the OK button.
Front - This mode always selects the entity “closest to the front of the screen”. It uses
the same premise as Query to “drill down” into the screen with the imaginary line and
then simply selects the top-most entity in the current view. If the “top-most” entity is
already chosen, it selects the next one along the line, moving into the screen.
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Lesson 8 The Femap User Interface – Part 2
Select All Inside - This is the other “box” pick mode which signifies that only entities
completely inside the “box” will be included in the selection.
Select Related - When this mode is toggled on, it selects ALL other entities that are
related to the selected entities and places them in the selection list. To toggle it off,
simply select it again. By default this mode is OFF.
When Select Related is turned on, Select Multiple is also automatically toggled on.
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Lesson 8 The Femap User Interface – Part 2
Select Multiple Items - Allows you to create a Selection List. A Selection List can
contain multiple entities of one type or multiple entity types. As each entity is selected it
will update the Entity Editor dockable pane, as well as add the entity to the running
totals of the Selection List in the Model Info tree.
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Lesson 8 The Femap User Interface – Part 2
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Lesson 8 The Femap User Interface – Part 2
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Lesson 8 The Femap User Interface – Part 2
Select Toolbar –
Context Sensitive Menus
While a certain entity type is active in the selector, only that entity type will be available
for picking in the graphics window. Since FEMAP is only highlighting one specific entity
type at a time, there are context sensitive menus for each entity type (except Text).
These menus can be accessed by highlighting an entity in the graphics window and then
clicking the right mouse button. These Context Sensitive menus contain frequently used
commands for each entity type.
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.
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.
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
view’s settings by
clicking Load View.
• Changes made to
the active view can
also be removed
via the Reset View
button in this dialog
box.
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
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
FEMAP’s GUI.
• Examples of API applications are shipped with FEMAP in FEMAP’s API folder. The
Custom Tools toolbar is set by default to point to this folder.
Purpose
This lesson provides an introduction to selection, viewing, and data collection tools in
Femap’s user interface.
Topics
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 9-1
Lesson 9 Model Display and Visualization
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.
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Lesson 9 Model Display and Visualization
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Lesson 9 Model Display and Visualization
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Lesson 9 Model Display and Visualization
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Lesson 9 Model Display and Visualization
With this dialog box, you can toggle the display of:
• Entity / Label - allows you to toggle the display of individual load and constraint
types
• Group
• Layer –allows you to create new groups as well as toggling the display of layers
• Loads / Constraints – also allows you to set and control the display of single or
multiple Load and/or Constraint Sets
• Geometry
• Connection
• Coordinate
System
• Element
• Material
• Property
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Lesson 9 Model Display and Visualization
Layers Groups
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Lesson 9 Model Display and Visualization
Layers
Create new layers using the Tools, Layer command. This activates the Layer Manager
dialog box.
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Lesson 9 Model Display and Visualization
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Lesson 9 Model Display and Visualization
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.
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
Add to Selection – adds the contents of the selected group(s) to the Selection List
Export Neutral exports the contents of the selected group(s) to a Femap Neutral file
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.
An unfilled box
indicates the Slave
Node on the rigid
element
A filled box
indicates the
Master Node on the
rigid element
Purpose:
The Meshing Toolbox is used for accessing FEMAP’s 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
The Locator makes it possible to quickly search for features in a model that could
result in poor mesh quality.
Locator controls are activated by toggling the Toggle Entity Locator icon.
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.
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
• Advanced Options
gives you access to
most of the options in
the Mesh Surface dialog box
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 node’s movement so that it remains attached
to its surface
Constrain to Curve constrains the node’s 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)
Note: To display the quality of internal elements, you must use the Meshing
Toolbox’s Entity Locator – Elements – Quality tool
Purpose
This lesson provides an introduction to the setup of analyses using Femap’s Analysis
Set Manager.
Topics
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.
Normal modes
Buckling
Dynamics
• Modal or direct transient
• Modal or direct frequency
• Response Spectrum
• Random Response
Design optimization
Nonlinear
• Nonlinear statics
• Nonlinear transient response
Heat Transfer
• Steady-state heat transfer
• Transient heat transfer
Advanced Nonlinear
• Nonlinear Statics (SOL601,106)
• Nonlinear Transient (SOL601,129)
• Nonlinear Explicit (SOL701)
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
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
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).
Results data:
• Components of displacements at grid points
• Element Recovery data (stresses, strains, strain energy, and internal forces and
moments
• Grid point data recovery (applied loads, constraint forces, and element forces)
Purpose:
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
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.
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
• 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.
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
view’s element color display settings or by enabling the Use View Color option.
• 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.
When the Trace style is selected, the options available are the same as for the Animate
– MultiSet style with the addition of the following:
• 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
• 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.
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.
To select elements, you first specify whether to select the elements by the elements in a
selected Group or by Entity Select.
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.
Just like for a Freebody display, you can specify either selection by Group or by Entity
Selection.
• 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.
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Lesson 12 Post Processing - Visualizing and Documenting Results
• In most cases, you should turn off display of cross sections or change your view
rendering type to wireframe before selecting the View, Advanced Post, Beam Cross
Section command
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.
• 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
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.
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.
Output data from analysis programs varies in the position that it is calculated
• Nodes or the centroid of the element
For results with element centroid data, but no corner data, you can either:
• Average the centroidal values for the all the elements connected to each node
(default); or
• Use the maximum of the centroidal values of the connected elements.
For results with element centroid data and element corner data you can either:
• Average the values at each node (element corner data) to determine the data
(default),
• Use the maximum of the values at each node (element corner data)
• Average the centroidal values for the all the elements connected to each node
(ignores the corner data you have); or
• Use the maximum of the centroidal values of the connected elements.
Example:
• Four elements sharing node “N”, with corner data
• Stress at node N can be calculated
Average with and without Corner Data
• with: σN = (σW+ σX+ σY+ σZ)/4
• without: σN = (σA+ σB+ σC+ σD)/4
Maximum Value with and without Corner Data
• with: max (σW, σX, σY, σZ)
• without: max (σA, σB, σC, σD)
Minimum Value with and without Corner Data
• with: min (σW, σX, σY, σZ)
• without: min (σA, σB, σC, σD) Node “N”
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.
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.
XY Plots
Use View, Select (F5) command to generate XY plots – also accessible from the
Graphics Window’s context-sensitive menu.
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 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”
Creates nodal loads from the free body diagram as displayed on the screen in the Active
Load Set.
Vector Plots
• 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.
CT 1775
1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 12 - 49
Lesson 12 Post Processing - Visualizing and Documenting Results
Post Toolbar
Allows quick display of Deformed and Contour plots
Detailed Postprocessing settings accessible from the Post Options pull down icon
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
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).
Midsurfaced Geometry
2 Sheet Solids and 2 curves at T-
junction between Sheet Solids, both of
which needs to be sized the same for
mesh continuity
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:
Welded Connections
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.
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.
For RBE2 elements, there is one Independent node and one or more Dependent nodes.
RBE3 elements have on Dependent node and one or more Independent nodes.
You can automatically generate the Independent node for a RBE2 elements or the
Dependent node for a RBE3 element by selecting the option for New Node at Center.
This option generates a new node by placing the node at the centroid of the Dependent
nodes for RBE2 and RBE3 rigid elements.
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.
1) In the Define RIGID Element dialog box, select the Independent node(s) for which
you are modifying the interpolation factor
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
In many cases, you can use define assembly connections with a “connection” that
defines surface to surface or edge to surface contact. These connections are defined
differently from traditional connection elements like rigid, gap or springs.
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.
Descriptions of the these type of connection properties will be detailed in the next few
pages.
For NX (Nastran) Linear Contact, the Contact Type pull down selects Linear or Glued
contact.
• Glued contact can be used in ALL NX Nastran solutions.
• Linear contact can be used only in NX Nastran Linear Statics and Basic Nonlinear
solutions.
• Always click the Defaults button when switching Contact Type or manually
creating a new Connection Property.
NX Linear
Glued Contact Property Options
Glued Contact has the following property options. In most cases, selecting the
Defaults button will result in the proper settings.
Note: For more details on Glued Contact, see the NX Nastran User’s Guide,
Section 9.7.
• 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.
NX Nastran checks for contact between element faces from the Slave’s element faces
to the Master’s 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:
Slave Mesh Density ≥ Master Mesh Density
This activates the Define Contact Connector - Select Connection Regions dialog box.
You can select or define the Master and Slave regions as well as select or define the
Connection Property for the connector.
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 right-
clicking 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
• 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
Valid only for SOL110 – Complex Modal Analysis (Normal Modes with Rotor Dynamics
option) and SOL111 (Modal Frequency Analysis with Rotordynamics option)
Purpose:
This lesson is an overview of methods to check and debug Finite Element Models.
Topics:
Pros Cons
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.
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
NX Nastran performs many error checks during an analysis to ensure that all input data
is in the proper format and usable. If an error is detected during data processing, an
error message is generated. If the error is fatal, the analysis terminates.
Many times NX Nastran errors have a number and a short description of the error which
shows up in the .f06 file. Many times the same error number can represent a variety of
different issues. In cases where the error is not obvious, consult the Help->Analysis
menu and choose the error message segment where the Error Message number
appears. Go to the error number for a broader description.
Engineering Theory
Modeling
• Bolted connection
• Welded connection
• Corners
• Transitions
Connections
• Beam to Plate
• Beam to solid
• Plate to solid
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)
Statics
• Check EPSILON and MAXRATIO
• EPSILON > 10-9and/or MAXRATIO > 105 may indicate trouble
• Check reactions
• Do they equal the applied loads?
• 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
• Compare values to “hand calc” or small model results
Femap Preferences
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 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.
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Appendix A Femap Preferences
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Appendix A Femap Preferences
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 A-4
Appendix A Femap Preferences
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Appendix A Femap Preferences
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 A-6
Appendix A Femap Preferences
Click the Database Options Help button for detailed information on settings in this tab.
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Appendix A Femap Preferences
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 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 file’s 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.
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 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.
Pre-V10 Tet Meshing and Surface Meshing can be set as the defaults. This will allow
FEMAP 10 to use the “older” meshers instead of the “new” meshers, should any issues
arise.
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.
Color preferences allow you to select the default colors for entities
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of creating and editing properties with Femap.
Topics
• Defining Properties
• Editing Properties
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 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
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Appendix B Composite Layups
Update buttons - Once a ply has been added to the list, the definition of that ply can be
updated using:
• Update Global Ply
• Update Material
• Update Thickness
• Update Angle
CT 1900 – Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 – Rev 010612 B-3
Appendix B Composite Layups
Delete
• Delete the selected ply or plies from the Layup.
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).
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.
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Appendix B Composite Layups
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Appendix B Composite Layups
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Appendix B Composite Layups
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