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Using ridig elements for offseting Wire part

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Tetius

Structural
Jun 16, 2010
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Hi, I'm new to the forum. Hope there is someone out there that can help me.

I'm currently working on a model in ABAQUS of a GRID structure component that is used in aerospace. I'm using a python script that generates the model, so that it can be modified with input.txt files.

The GRID structure is modeled with wires that have cross sections, so in order to maintain a accurate geometry some intersections need to be offset to each other. I tried to model this by inserting rigid RB3D2 elements acting as offsets. The problem is that ABAQUS simply ignores my setElementType command and assigns B32 elements instead.

I can't really define a reference point for the rigid body command since this could over constrain the model, because there are 72 offset points that act individually.

What i need really is a rigid element acting as a connector/offset between a wire and 72 attachment points.

Regards Tetius
 
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