Defining adhesive type of bonding in optistruct

[Abijith Mesia]

Hello everyone,

I’m working on the structural analysis of an EV battery module assembly in OptiStruct. In the real-world scenario, the battery modules are connected using both bolts and adhesive bonding.

For the simulation:
I’ve already defined 3D bolts to represent the mechanical fasteners, which are working as expected. The challenge I’m facing is modeling the adhesive bond between the modules.
Initially, I tried using a TIE contact to simulate the adhesive behavior, but the simulation is not converging. I suspect this may be due to the over-constrained nature or improper representation of the adhesive mechanics.

My questions are:
What is the best practice to simulate adhesive bonding between components in OptiStruct?
Should I use CBUSH, COHESIVE elements, or a specific contact setting instead?
How can I represent both the bond strength and failure behavior of adhesives realistically?
Are there specific material or contact parameters I should be paying attention to for adhesives?

Any insights or example setups would be greatly appreciated. I’d also love to hear how others have approached similar multi-joining scenarios with bolts and adhesives.

Thanks in advance!

 

[SWComposites]

suggest you delete this post and repost in either the Finite Element Analysis forum or the OptiStruct forum (if it exists). This forum is mostly Civil Structures engineers.

 

[GregLocock]

For advanced woowoo I suggest the FEA forum, the altair ones don't get much traffic.