Mixed E.lement Model: Spring and Shell

[scottpierce]

Hi, I'm a fairly new user and I'm creating my first "mixed element" model. I'm modeling part of a trampoline, namely the piece where the spring connects to a canvas strap, which connects to the trampoline mat. I'm working in the "classic ANSYS" interface (not Workbench).

I'm modeling the mat and strap as shells, and I'd prefer to mesh them automatically using the "free mesh" option with triangular elememnts. I'm modeling the springs using COMBI165 elements.

I need to "attach" a COMBI165 element at each corner of the rectangular strap. This means that all translations between the node of the COMBI165 must match the translations of the corner node of the strap. However, the rotations do not need to match at this point.

What's the best way to achieve this? In other words, how can I make translations only match at this common node?

Thanks for your suggestions!

Scott Pierce
Asst. Prof. of Eng.
Sweet Briar College