Cant define a concentrated force on a node?

[DrBwts]

Well this seems to be one of Abaqus's more bizarre quirks. I cant select a node & apply a force to it!

First, why cant this be done, am I wrong in thinking that this is really the essence of FEA?

Secondly, is there a work around for this basic operation?

 

[testing]

You most certainly can apply a force to a node using the CLOAD keyword.

 

[DrBwts]

Yes but it cant be done in CAE. It appears you first have to put the node in its own set then select the set.

The mind boggles why they decided that was a more efficient way but if anyone knows I'm all ears.

 

[Dave442]

In the load module select Mechanical -> Concentrated Force. If CAE asks you for a node set you can choose "Select in Viewport" in the lower right region of the viewport. It then asks you whether you want to select a geometrical or mesh entity so select mesh and you can pick a node. I presume that loads/constraints are applied using sets so you can easily apply the same BC to multiple locations in one go and dont have to redefine a BC at multiple locations one after another...

 

[DrBwts]

Hi Dave, yes that was what I was expecting to happen but CAE (6.14) doesn't give you the option of 'select a geometrical or mesh', the only options are select a set or geometrical point (eg a reference node) but there is no way of selecting a particular node in the viewport.

 

[Dave442]

When defining your load choose "Select in Viewport" in the bottom right of the viewport. Then, in the bottom left of the viewport you are asked whether you want to use "geometry" or "mesh". If you pick "mesh" you can select individual nodes.

 

[DrBwts]

Yes I hear you but I dont get those options.

 

[Dave442]

That's strange, I've checked in v6.14-2 and this works as I described. Maybe if you upload your model we can figure out the issue?

 

[Dave442]

Did you use independent instances? I think that might be the problem

 

[VN1981]

Dave442,
Are you able to apply Cforce loads on native mesh nodes (without having to create a node set)? Can you please post a screen grab of the above? It seems like I am having the same issue as DrBwts i.e. can't get option to select nodes directly.

 

[Dave442]

OK, I think I figured it out. I was wrong about the dependent/independent instances.

If you want to apply a force directly to a node by selecting it in CAE you have to create a mesh part. After creating/meshing your part select Mesh -> Create Mesh Part in the mesh module. If you use the mesh part in your assembly you can then apply loads directly to individual nodes. The model I happened to open to test this problem already had a mesh part in the assembly which is why I was being given the option to select nodes. Sorry for the confusion, hopefully this works for you!