Analysis of Cantilever Beam in LS-DYNA

COURSE PROJECT REPORT

(of CE-620)
by

(Name)

(Roll No)

(Academic Program)

Under the guidance of

Prof. Yogesh M. Desai

Department of Civil Engineering

Centre for Computational Engineering & Science (CCES)

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Table of Contents
TABLE OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................................... 3

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................................................ 5

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................... 6

PROBLEM FORMULATION IN LS-DYNA ................................................................................................................................. 7

STEP-1 INTERFACE OF LS-DYNA .................................................................................................................................................... 7

STEP-2 CREATING THE FE MODEL (NODES AND ELEMENT MESH) ........................................................................................................... 7
STEP-3 DEFINE THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES ........................................................................................................................................ 9
STEP-4 DEFINE THE SECTION PROPERTIES ........................................................................................................................................ 10
STEP-5 APPLY THE MATERIAL AND SECTION PROPERTIES TO THE MODEL (TO THE 'PART') .......................................................................... 10
STEP-6 APPLY BOUNDARY CONDITIONS (FIX THE END OF THE BEAM) ..................................................................................................... 12
STEP-7 APPLY UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED LOAD TO THE TOP SURFACE OF THE BAR .................................................................................... 13
1. Define a standard ramp curve ...................................................................................................................................... 13
2. Creating node set for nodes on which load is applied .................................................................................................. 14
3. Applying Load to the node set ...................................................................................................................................... 15
STEP-8 SPECIFY THE DURATION OF THE SIMULATION ......................................................................................................................... 16
STEP-9 SPECIFY OUTPUT FREQUENCY ............................................................................................................................................. 16
STEP-10 SAVING THE .K FILE ........................................................................................................................................................ 17
STEP-11 RUN THE LS-DYNA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................... 17
STEP-12 EXAMINE RESULTS OF THE LS-DYNA ANALYSIS..................................................................................................................... 17

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................................ 19

1. Convergence using LS-DYNA ......................................................................................................................................... 19

2. Resize the elements ...................................................................................................................................................... 22
3. Deflection ..................................................................................................................................................................... 22
4. Stresses ......................................................................................................................................................................... 22
5. Comparison of Results .................................................................................................................................................. 23
Table of Figures
FIG 1 PROBLEM STATEMENT ............................................................................................................................................................... 6
FIG 2 INTRODUCTORY WINDOW OF LS-DYNA ....................................................................................................................................... 7
FIG 3 RENDERING OF MESH PROVIDED IN SHAPE MESHER ......................................................................................................................... 8
FIG 4 SHAPE MESHER DIALOGUE BOX .................................................................................................................................................. 8
FIG 5 RENDERING AFTER ACCEPTING IN SHAPE MESHER ............................................................................................................................ 8
FIG 6 KEYWORD MANAGER ................................................................................................................................................................ 9
FIG 7 MATERIAL KEYWORD SELECTION ................................................................................................................................................. 9
FIG 8 MATERIAL KEYWORD INPUT FORM .............................................................................................................................................. 9
FIG 9 SECTION KEYWORD ................................................................................................................................................................. 10
FIG 10 SECTION KEYWORD INPUT FORM ............................................................................................................................................. 10
FIG 11 SELECTING SECTION ID FROM PART KEYWORD INPUT FORM ......................................................................................................... 11
FIG 12 PART KEYWORD ................................................................................................................................................................... 11
FIG 13 SELECTING MATERIAL ID FROM PART KEYWORD INPUT FORM....................................................................................................... 11
FIG 14 ACCEPT PART KEYWORD INPUT FORM ...................................................................................................................................... 11
FIG 15 DISPLAY OF NEW NODE SET ..................................................................................................................................................... 12
FIG 16 AFTER SELECTING NODES IN WINDOW BY AREA SELECTION .......................................................................................................... 12
FIG 17 ENTITY CREATION DIALOGUE BOX ............................................................................................................................................ 12
FIG 18 NODE SELECTION BOX ........................................................................................................................................................... 12
FIG 20 SELECTING DEFINE_CURVE FROM KEYWORD MANAGER................................................................................................................. 13
FIG 21 KEYWORD INPUT FORM OF CURVE FOR LOADING......................................................................................................................... 13
FIG 22 PLOT OF THE LOAD CURVE DEFINED .......................................................................................................................................... 13
FIG 23 ENTITY CREATION BOX ........................................................................................................................................................... 14
FIG 24 NODE SELECTION TYPE BOX.................................................................................................................................................... 14
FIG 25 AFTER NODE SET IS APPLIED .................................................................................................................................................... 14
FIG 26 WINDOW AFTER SELECTING NODES BY AREA SLECTION ................................................................................................................. 14
FIG 27 SELECTING NODE_POINT FROM THE SCROLL MENU ...................................................................................................................... 15
FIG 28 SELECTING LOAD KEYWORD FROM KEYWORD MANAGER TAB ...................................................................................................... 15
FIG 29 KEYWORD INPUT FORM OF NODE_POINT TO APPLY LOAD ON THE NODE ......................................................................................... 15
FIG 30 SELECT CONTROL KEYWORD FROM KEYWORD MANAGER ............................................................................................................. 16
FIG 31 KEYWORD INPUT FORM OF TERMINATION FROM CONTROL KEYWORD ............................................................................................. 16
FIG 32 BINARY_D3PLOT KEYWORD INPUT FORM............................................................................................................................... 16
FIG 33 BINARY_D3PLOT FROM DATABASE KEYWORD ......................................................................................................................... 16
FIG 34 LS-DYNA PROGRAM MANAGER ............................................................................................................................................. 18
FIG 35 BROWSE FOR D3_PLOT FILE .................................................................................................................................................. 18
FIG 36 NORMAL TERMINATION OF ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................................... 18
FIG 37 RENDERED VIEW IN LS-DYNA AFTER ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................... 18
FIG 38 SELECTED NODE ................................................................................................................................................................... 20
FIG 39 SELECTING NODE FOR DEFLECTION HISTORY .............................................................................................................................. 20
FIG 40 DEFLECTION HISTORY PLOT AT THE SELECTED NODE .................................................................................................................... 20
FIG 40 SELECTED ELEMENT TO PLOT THE STRESSES ................................................................................................................................ 21
FIG 41 PLOTTED EFFECTIVE STRESS VS TIME CURVE ............................................................................................................................... 21
FIG 42 DEFLECTION CONTOUR FOR 50 MM MESH SIZE ........................................................................................................................... 22
FIG 43 STRESS CONTOUR FOR 50 MM MESH SIZE .................................................................................................................................. 23
FIG 44 MAXIMUM DISPLACEMENT VS NUMBER OF ELEMENTS ................................................................................................................ 24
FIG 45 MAXIMUM STRESS VS NUMBER OF ELEMENTS ........................................................................................................................... 24
FIG 46 PERCENTAGE ERROR VS NUMBER OF ELEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... 25
Abstract
Structures are made up of infinite number of atoms, which makes structure to handle stress.
Therefore, for actual structural analysis, we need to calculate stress values on each atom, which is
impossible. Hence, we use finite element method, which replaces group of atoms by elements. This
helps us to calculate reasonably good results, which make sense from engineering point of view.

Based on the type of problem and computing power, we can select number of elements to be
considered for finite element analysis. For consistent formulation in finite element methods, smaller
the size of element, more accurate will be the results. In this report, finite element analysis of a
cantilever beam has been done. Deflection and stress for finite element model has been compared
with analytical result. Number of elements in beam increased for convergence study.

Modeling and analysis of cantilever beam has been done in LS-DYNA. LS-DYNA is a general-purpose
finite element program capable of simulating complex real world problems. Problem selected for
the study is chosen to be relatively simpler as there are many complicacies in LS-DYNA which
needed to be studied in order to replicate behavior of actual structure in software to get more
accurate results.
Introduction
A cantilever, also called a fixed end beam, is a beam supported only at one end. Rotation and
movement is restricted in all direction, hence it has solid support. The cantilever is considered the
third of the three great structural methods, the other two being post-and-beam construction and
arch construction. The springboard is a simple cantilever beam, and the cantilever design is often
used for canopies, balconies, sidewalks outside the trusses of bridges, and large cranes such as those
used in shipyards. By the use of cantilever trusses, obstructing columns are eliminated in theatres.

In this report, cantilever beam of steel with yield strength of 300MPa is considered for analysis.
Length of beam is 1m, depth is 150 mm and thickness is 10mm. Shell section is considered for
analysis purpose. Uniformly distributed load varying linearly with time with maximum value of
10KN-m is applied to calculate maximum stress and deflection by finite element method with
different number of element and compare them with analytical results. Note that the load was
applied slowly such that dynamic effects were negligible.

10 kN/m

Fig 1 Problem Statement

Problem Formulation in LS-DYNA
Step-1 Interface of LS-DYNA

The window will be as shown in Fig 2. There are pull down menus at the top of the screen, a variety
of rendering buttons for display options at the bottom, and a set of modeling and editing icons on
the right side.

Menus (all features)

Buttons
for
setting
up the
analysis

Rendering Buttons (Viewing Options)

Fig 2 Introductory Window of LS-DYNA

Step-2 Creating the FE model (nodes and element mesh)

1. Click the element and mesh button n which opens up a new set of icons for meshing.
2. Click the shape mesher button which opens a dialog window to directly create a mesh.
The initial dialog looks like Fig 3.
 Fig 3 Rendering of Mesh provided in shape mesher

Fig 4 Shape Mesher

Dialogue Box

3. In the Entity box at the top (Fig 4Fig 4), select: 4N_Shell and fill in the 4 corner coordinates, the
number of divisions (elements) in x and y, and the Target Name. When you click on Create, a trial
mesh is created as shown in Fig 3
4. You can edit the values, and even reject the trial mesh. If it is ok you click Accept and Done to
finalize the mesh. After accepting the window looks like Fig 5.

Fig 5 Rendering after accepting in shape mesher

Step-3 Define the material properties

1. Click the model and part button which will bring up a new set of icons.
2. Click the keyword manager button which opens a dialog window to directly create
keywords. A window will open that looks like Fig 6Error! Reference source not found.. At
this point the model option is selected which displays the defined keywords for the model
rendered at this stage of modelling. Select the all option to display all the possible keywords.
3. Click on the + to the left of MAT to open the material options (Fig 7).
4. Select 003-Plastic_Kinematic (Fig 7) and then click on edit near the top of the window. A
keyword input form will open to allow input of the properties for this material model as
shown in
5. Click on NewID and fill in the form. Enter values for TITLE, RO, E, PR, SIGY, ETAN. Other
options are left at default values Fig 8. Then press accept to save the material and then press
done. You will see a pop-up on of a window displaying this new material for model.

Fig 7 Material Keyword Selection

Fig 6 Keyword Manager

Fig 8 Material Keyword Input Form

Step-4 Define the section properties

1. In LS-Dyna, the section properties contain information about the element parameters and
the type of physics employed. In the Keyword Manager window, scroll down until you see the
Section Keyword. Click on the + and then select Shell (Fig 9 ).
2. Click on edit near the top of the window. A Keyword Input Form will open to allow input of
the properties for this section model. Click on NewID and fill in the form as shown in Fig 10
.
3. When complete, press accept and then press done. After pressing Accept, you will see the
new section saved in the right hand space of the form.

Fig 9 Section Keyword Fig 10 Section Keyword Input Form

Step-5 Apply the material and section properties to the model (to the 'Part')

1. In the Keyword Manager window, select the Part Keyword, press + and select Part then press
edit. Notice that he part is defined, but the section and material information are not linked
to the part (there are zeros under SECID and MID).
2. Press the black dot to the right of SECID, and you see a window open which displays all the
sections that have been defined in the model up to this point. Select the appropriate section to
 the part and press done (Fig 11). Do the same for material properties by choosing material ID
(Fig 13).
3. After this the window should display the material and section ID as shown in and then accept it
and press done (Fig 14).

Fig 12 Part Keyword Fig 11 Selecting Section ID from Part Keyword Input Form

Fig 13 Selecting Material ID from Part Keyword Input Form

Fig 14 Accept Part Keyword Input Form

Step-6 Apply boundary conditions (fix the end of the beam)

Rather than using the Keyword Manager window, we will use a special tool to create the boundary
conditions.The Model and Part button already selected. Click on the Create Entity button, this will
bring us to an Entity Creation form (Fig 17).

1. Select the + Boundary and then select Spc. Now change to Create mode by selecting create
radio button. Make sure the Set option selected and all 6 degrees of freedom selected.
2. Now you need to select the nodes at the left end of the model. A Set Nodes dialog box should
be open. Make sure that the Area option is selected (Fig 18).
3. Now the cursor should have changed to a selection box. Select all the nodes at the end of the
model and hit apply (Fig 16).
4. A new set of nodes should have been created in entity creation box. Press done to accept this
set of nodes to set to the boundary conditions selected (Fig 15).

Fig 17 Entity Creation Dialogue Box Fig 18 Node Selection Box

Fig 16 After Selecting Nodes in Fig 15 Display of new node set

Window by Area Selection
Step-7 Apply uniformly distributed load to the top surface of the bar

This activity requires a few sub-steps. We need to define a curve to tell LS-Dyna how to apply the
force in time (remember - everything in LS-Dyna happens in real time). Also, we need to create
another node set by entity creation this time for the nodes on which this UDL is to be distributed.

1. Define a standard ramp curve

1. Click the model and part button and click the keyword manager button. Now Scroll to
DEFINE , open it ( hit +) and select curve from the scroll menu and then the edit key at the
top. This will bring up a Keyword Input Form to create the curve.
2. Hit NewID, give it the Title and with A1 and O1 both = 0.0 hit the insert button. Now edit the
A1 and O1 boxes to 1 and 1, and hit insert again. Now edit the A1 and O1 boxes to 1.1 and 1,
and hit insert again. Now the table will look as shown in .
3. Hit accept and you will see the curve being defined in the right hand side of the form. To
check the curve, hit the plot button to see the curve plotted. You should see a plot like in .
Now Close the plot window. Now hit done to close the Keyword Input Form.

Fig 20 Keyword Input Form of curve for loading

Fig 19 Selecting define_curve from

keyword manager

Fig 21 Plot of the load curve defined

Note: If you did not put the small plateau on the curve, it would drop to zero at the end and would
give strange results. We will simulate 1 sec of time, so this curve has an X range of 0 to 1 (plus 10%
we will not use). The vertical range is 1, but we will scale that later to desired value.

2. Creating node set for nodes on which load is applied

1. As done earlier, open the create entity form. Go to set data in entity creation box (Fig 22) and
press + button near the option set data. Select set node and click on radio button nearby the
create radio button.
2. Now, similar to the boundary condition part select the nodes on which load is to be applied
by the area selection tool (Fig 23 and Fig 25 ) and click apply to create a new node set (Fig
24Fig 25) and done to close the create entity box.

Fig 22 Entity creation box Fig 23 Node Selection Type Box

Fig 25 Window after selecting nodes by area slection

Fig 24 After node set is applied

3. Applying Load to the node set

1. Click the model and part button and click the keyword manager button. Now Scroll to LOAD
, open it ( hit +) and select NODE_POINT from the scroll menu and then the edit key at the
top. This will bring up a Keyword Input Form to set the load curve on a node set.
2. Click on the radio button near NSID to set the node set ID on which load curve is to be applied.
Set the DOF in appropriate direction and chose load curve ID by clicking on LCID radio
button.
3. In the SF apply the scale factor with appropriate sign to scale the original curve to desired
load. Click accept and done.

Fig 27 Selecting LOAD keyword Fig 26 Selecting Node_Point from

from Keyword Manager Tab the scroll menu

Fig 28 Keyword Input Form of Node_Point to apply load on the node

Step-8 Specify the duration of the simulation

Return to the Keyword Manager and select Control Keyword (Fig 29). Scroll down to find
Termination and then click edit. Put 1 in ENDTIM box and hit accept and done (Fig 30).

Fig 29 Select Control Keyword Fig 30 Keyword Input Form of termination from control keyword
from Keyword Manager

Step-9 Specify output frequency

1. LS-Dyna will solve the problem with a very short time step. There would likely be far too
much output if you were to look at all the data for every solution time step. Instead, you can
specify the frequency of the output. Return to the Keyword Manager, select the DATABASE and
then BINARY_D3PLOT Keyword, and then click edit (Fig 32).
2. Specify an output time step DT for the d3plot data of 0.005 seconds (5ms) hit accept and
done. In the Keyword Manager window hit done to close it (Fig 31).

Fig 32 Binary_D3plot from Fig 31 BINARY_D3PLOT keyword input form

DATABASE keyword
Step-10 Saving the .k file

Under the File menu, select the Save Keyword As command and save the file as File_Name.k in its own
folder (to keep the output files all in one place).

Note - You will have to type File_Name.k , as LS-PrePost will not automatically add the .k extension.

The .k file is a simple text file with all the problem information listed as either Keywords (lines
starting with *) or associated data (no *). There are also comments (lines beginning with $#).

Step-11 Run the LS-Dyna Analysis

1. Click on the LS-Dyna Manager Program , which opens the window as shown in
2. In the top menu, select Solver and select Start LS-Dyna Analysis. Next, you will see the input
screen (). Use the Browse button to select the saved .k file.
3. When the .k file is selected, press the RUN button. A window will pop up showing the
computation steps. When finished is should say Normal termination.

Step-12 Examine results of the LS-Dyna Analysis

1. Re-Open LS-PrePost.
2. From the File Menu, Select Open and LS-Dyna Binary Plot.
3. In the same folder as the .k file should be a file called d3plot, open it. Now you should see the
screen as shown in . You can hit the Play button to animate the bar over the 1 second of analysis.

4. Hit the Post button , then hit the Fringe Component , select Von Mises Stress and hit
done.
5. There are many more results than can be plotted. For example, click on the History button

, select the Element option, select one element on the model, select one output (say X-
stress) and hit Plot.
Fig 33 LS-DYNA Program Manager
Fig 34 Browse for D3_PLOT file

Fig 35 Normal Termination of Analysis

Fig 36 Rendered View in LS-DYNA after analysis

Results and Discussion
The purpose of this study was to verify the analytical and finite element method results. We are
comparing stress and deflection with analytical results. Analytical results are:

Deflection: The maximum deflection occurs on the free end of the beam which can be calculated as:

𝑤𝐿4
Maximum deflection of beam =
8𝐸𝐼

𝑏𝑑 3 10∗1503
W=10KN/m E=200GPa I= = = 2812500 mm4
12 12

10∗1000∗14
Maximum deflection of beam = =2.22 mm
8∗200∗109 ∗2812500∗10−12

Stress: The maximum stress occurs at the top and bottom point of the fixed end of the beam which
can be calculated as:

𝑤𝐿2 10 ∗ 12
𝑀= = = 5𝐾𝑁𝑚
2 2
𝑀𝑦 5∗75
Maximum stress = = = 133.33MPa
𝐼 2812500∗10−6

1. Convergence using LS-DYNA

At this point we need to find whether or not the final result has converged. We will do this by looking
at the deflection and stress at particular nodes while changing the size of the meshing element.

Since we have an analytical solution for the maximum stress point, we will check the stress at this
point. We will select top element of fixed end support for maximum stress and top node of free end
for maximum deflection.

For checking results, we need to open binary d3plot file in LS-PREPOST.

1. After opening d3plot file we have to select POST in right toolbar

2. Select History option
For checking deflection, follow these steps after this:

1. Select Nodal option (Fig 38).

2. Select the node where deflection is to be calculated that is top node of free end (Fig 37).
3. Select Z displacement and plot the deflection history of the node (Fig 39).
Maximum deflection was found to be 2.72mm

Fig 37 Selected Node

Fig 38 Selecting Node for

Deflection History

Fig 39 Deflection History Plot at the Selected Node

For checking stress, follow these steps after selecting History

1. Select Element option.

2. Select the element where stress is to be calculated that is top node of fixed end ().
3. Select effective stress (/ von Mises Stress) and plot the stress history of the element ().

Maximum equivalent stress was found to be 100.4 MPa

Fig 40 Selected Element to plot the stresses

Fig 41 Plotted Effective Stress vs Time curve

2. Resize the elements

1. To change the element size, we need to starting new modelling as resizing of element is not
allowed in LSDYNA
2. Therefore, follow similar steps of problem formulation and select mesh size as per
requirement.

3. Deflection

For checking deflection, follow these steps

1. Select Fringe component in right toolbar.

2. Go to Ndv tab and select z displacement.

Results obtained here are as expected. Deflection is maximum at the free end and is zero at end.

Fig 42 Deflection Contour for 50 mm mesh size

4. Stresses

For checking stresses, follow these steps

1. Select Fringe component in right toolbar.

2. Go to Stress tab and select Von Mises Stress.

Results obtained are as per our expectation. Stress is maximum at top and bottom support of fixed
end and is minimum at free end.
 Fig 43 Stress Contour for 50 mm mesh size

5. Comparison of Results

No of Elements Displacement(mm) Stress(MPa)

60 2.725 100.43
240 2.417 111.65
1500 2.312 122.59
6000 2.288 130.78
Analytical 2.222 133.33

The maximum displacement was found to be 2.288 mm in case of 6000 elements while the analysis
result is 2.222 mm. The difference between the analytical solution and the solution found using
LSDYNA is about 2.97% (Fig 44).

The Stress at the top point of the fixed end in the beam was found to be 130.78 MPa in case of 6000
elements while the analytical result is 133.33 MPa. The difference between the analytical solution
and the solution found using LSDYNA is about 1.89% (Fig 45).

By comparing the values obtained from LSDYNA, we can say that as number of elements increase,
finite element results get closer to analytical results. Therefore, we can say that results are
converging (Fig 46).
 2.8 LS-DYNA
Analytical
Displacement (in mm) 2.7

2.6

2.5

2.4

2.3

2.2

2.1
-500 500 1500 2500 3500 4500 5500 6500
Number of Elements

Fig 44 Maximum Displacement vs Number of Elements

140

135

130
Maximum Stress (in MPa)

125

120

115 LS-DYNA
110 Analytical

105

100

95

90
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
Number of Elements

Fig 45 Maximum Stress vs Number of Elements

 30 Maximum Displacement
Maximum Stress

25
Percentage Error (%)

20

15

10

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
Number of Elements

Fig 46 Percentage Error vs Number of Elements