Agreed. My question relates to the element formulation -- can traditional shell elements correctly capture the tensile and compressive stresses that develop on either side of the neutral axis? Am I even correct that such a geometry would actually develop such stresses, in the way an "ordinary"...
I'm not getting any help in the Solidworks Simulation forums, and someone suggested I ask my question here: I need to assess the stresses in a piece of spring steel that has been plastically deformed and then cycled about that nominal deformed shape. Are shell elements capable of handling this...
I can dig into one of Dad's texts and probably learn that method, so I can appreciate the suggestion. I'll try that this weekend. I still see this coming up more than once in the future, so any software recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
jim
Thanks, hokie66. As I alluded to, the actual problem is larger -- it's a 3D framed "box" with an internal load. Can you recommend a good code to handle such 3D weldments?
desertfox, thank you for that link. Lots of stuff there. At a quick glance, it appears the assembly is treated as an equivalent beam, since the shear & bending moment diagrams look much like they would for a simple beam. (Actually, that's probably true for any beam analysis, right? The...
dhengr, I think I'm a pretty savvy engineer. I described the problem in as simple a manner as I thought would be needed to get it across. I apologize that I did not meet your strict criteria for presenting a question. I also think you're rude, but you know, I've been a "regular" in enough...
Let's try that again (I must be doing something wrong):
http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=9b727673-e976-4547-88db-8582b0f486dc&file=LadderBeam2.jpg
Wow . . . went out of town for a few hours, and I see my thread has spurred a lot of discussion! Thank you so much for all the great input.
Someone asked for a picture. Here's my best "ClipArt + MS Paint" rendition of what I'm describing...
Yes, that's a good description -- it looks like a ladder. It's a planar problem, so assume the load is parallel to the ladder "bars", and one "siderail" is constrained to ground at each end. I'm trying to assess the manner in which the two "sidebars" combine so I can figure out how much each...
I have what is surely a simple question for you structural guys, but I am but a mechanical engineer! If I have 2 equal beams in parallel that are interconnected by "rigid" struts periodically spaced down the length of each beam, and I apply a distributed load to one of the beams, how do I...
Thanks for your reply. Let me clarify:
1. I don't see any way to set up stress plots for beams. If you select "ELE" in the plot menus, it lets you select from the standard stress variables (von Mises, P1, Sx, etc.), but those really aren't all that helpful. I have figured out how to...
I've used COSMOS/M for ages, and am currently trying to develop a 3D model which consists of perfectly bonded BEAMD3D and SHELL4 elements. I would like to plot maximum fiber stress in the beams, etc. but I can't figure out how to do so. Any tips? The manual has been useless, which probably...
