apply load till fail

[mambo5]

Hi all forum,
I am doing a modeling of a steel I-Beam, I would like to apply load on the beam ( say 5kN increment, each time) till it fail in vertical shear. How to tell Abaqus to do this? should i use the 'step module'? please advice.

 

[xerf]

The simplest method is to create a "Step" for each loading increment and edit the load during each step.
You should define something like this:
Step1-Load0-5
Step2-Load5-10
Step3-Load10-15

etc.

Further, you must edit the load magnitude for each step.

If you are not familiar with ABAQUS/CAE, I recommend you start with this tutorial:

"Getting Started with ABAQUS" Manual (v.6.6)->
2.3 Example: creating a model of an overhead hoist with ABAQUS/CAE

 

[automechanicar]

What about the material model? Before failure a certain amount of damage is accumulated. I would say it's necessary to supplement the material model you use with any of the damage laws available. After a certain level of damage has been reached, the material fails. This is how failure is modeled, if I'm right.