Which coupling to use - ABAQUS

[Niisheer]

Hi everyone, I've been trying to solve a problem with my model in ABAQUS. A have a "piece" of a ship (few sections around the midship) and I have to simulate the behavior of the ship when a concentrated force is applied. I applied the load on a Reference Point (RF1( situated in the midhsip and with a coupling (Continuum distributing, with UR1, UR2 and UR3 constrained) which connects RF1 to the entire midsection. Now because of I have only a "piece" of the ship, in order to simulate the presence of the entire ship, I've been told to use 2 couplings (one at bow and one at stern) and connect them with coupling to the external edges of the "piece" that I have in the model. Which coupling should I use? Kinematic, continuum or structural? I've tried all of them and I got difference results and I really don't know which to use. I've tried to read the manual but I honestly don'ut understand the difference between them. Could you help me please?

 

[FEA way]

I assume that you modeled that section of the ship using shell elements. Distributing coupling can be more accurate but it's important that you understand the differences between each type. In addition to documentation, check Simuleon's blog article "Kinematic vs Distributed coupling constraints in Abaqus".