Too many attempts made for this increment error message?!

[nathanaracena]

Hi,
Currently working on my dissertation for University and as a fairly inexperienced Abaqus user am having some problems. I am required to run a series of simulations on a jacket foundation structure (the support for an offshore wind turbine). I began by modelling the foundation as a solid model but found this was too complex and would not mesh correctly so have now made a much simpler wireframe model of the structure. A few things I am having problems with though;
1. The members are all hollow cylinders but when I assign section properties I only have the option of shelling which takes the thickness of the member into account but not the diameter which is surely of great importance? I ended up using the truss section and have used the outer diameter to find the cross sectional area so this I know isn't currently right.
2. The load applied is a uniform body force which should produce a uniform load across the entirety of one face but this could be causing me problems when I run the simulation.
3. I am getting the error message "Too many attempts made for this increment". I have looked at multiple forums and the same answer comes up as to change the increment values. This, I have tried many ties and it hasn't worked so I am sure it must be something else causing me problems.
4. Finally my BC's are the four leg ends (where piles would be) so I have put BC's here with only rotation allowed but again this could be wrong?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Have now been mulling over this for a number of weeks and the deadlines approaching! Thanks for any help in advance and the model is attached if anyone wants to look over it. Regards,
Nathan

 

[corus]

It's difficult to know where to start here. Firstly you're a student so aren't allowed to post on this site. Secondly you need to use beam elements that require the Inertia as well as the cross sectional area. Thirdly the area of the cross section isn't defined by the outer diameter for a hollow cylinder. Fourthly your elements don't connect up. Fifthly you need to restrain it in the Z direction or else it just floats away. There's more but there's not enough space to write it all. I'd go back to your tutors and notes to find out about the finite element method in general, and then how to use it in Abaqus.