Simulation Instability: Kinetic Energy Spikes in Plastic Boat with Pneumatic Actuators

[Asraf]

Hi all,


I'm working on simulating a plastic boat moving in water, but I'm encountering some unrealistic spikes in the kinetic energy during the simulation. The boat is equipped with four pneumatic actuators attached via a tie joint.

For the contact settings, I’ve configured:

• Frictionless tangential behavior
• Normal behavior with "Hard" and "Default" settings
• I've also enabled the "Allow separation after contact" option.

Despite these settings, the kinetic energy spikes are still occurring, and I'm unsure why.
Has anyone encountered similar issues or have suggestions on how to improve the stability of the simulation? Any advice on adjusting contact settings, actuator dynamics, or other simulation parameters would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks in advance!

 

[FEA way]

How is the water (and boat’s interaction with it) modeled ? Are you using CEL for this ?

 

[Asraf]

How is the water (and boat’s interaction with it) modeled ? Are you using CEL for this ?

Yes. I used CEL to model these.
I used:
Interaction:General contact (explicit), All with self.
Interaction Properties: Tangential Behavior (frictionless), Normal Behavior (Hard, default) with -Allow separation after contact.