FEMAP Symposium Spring

2016

Freebody Tool

&

Custom API’s

Kate Osborne

Andy Dinh

Slide 2

PAGNOTTA ENGINEERING, INC. COMPANY BACKGROUND

• Incorporated in June of 1996

• Headquartered in Exton, PA

• Company founders have extensive experience in:

» Aerospace Industry since 1982

» Vehicle Simulation Structures since 1991

» Architectural/Civil since 1980

• Since incorporation, PEI has completed over 500

projects in Architectural/Civil, Aerospace, Vehicle

Simulation, Medical and Consumer Products,

Power Generation, and other industries

• Please visit www.pageng.com for more

information on our services, experience and

personnel

OUR MISSION:

To provide quality mechanical

design and analytical services

to our customers. We provide

creative solutions to complex

problems utilizing both our

unique experience and cutting

edge computer technology.

We strive to exceed our

customers expectations in

order to maintain our

outstanding reputation.

Slide 3

• Stress Analysis and Optimization

• Dynamic, Fatigue, and Fracture Analysis

• System Conceptual and Detailed Design Engineering

• Thermal and Non-Linear Structural Analysis

• CAD Modeling (3-D Parametric Solid and Surface)

• Manufacturing Detail and Assembly Drawings

• Mechanism Design and Analysis

• Program and Vendor Management

• Material Process and Testing Coordination

• FAA Structures Designated Engineering Representative (DER),

FAR Parts 23, 25, 27, and 29

• Licensed Professional Engineer in PA, NY, FL, NJ, CT, VA, and CO

PAGNOTTA ENGINEERING SERVICES AND CAPABILITIES

PRIMARY ENGINEERING SOFTWARE TOOLS:

Design: Pro/Engineer, SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor

Analysis: NASTRAN, FEMAP, ANSYS, NASGRO

Slide 4

• Short-term overflow support– Allows the customer to avoid severe peaks in manpower needs

– No long-term contract requirements as with job shops

• Long-term, fixed-price support– For well-defined scope

– PEI takes ownership of the engineering, not just a “task doer”

• Turnkey solutions– Design, analysis, and coordination / management of manufacturing vendors

– Complete solution and delivery of hardware

• On-site engineering support– Allows for regular interaction with customer personnel

PAGNOTTA ENGINEERING: FOUR LEVELS OF SUPPORT

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 5

Freebody Tool

• Freebody tool is very helpful in the post-processing stage of an analysis.

• Among other applications, the Freebody tool can aid the analyst in:

‒ Visualizing load and reaction forces

‒ Calculating interface loads

‒ Understanding the load path

‒ Visualizing load distributions

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 6

Using Freebody Tool – Example

Consider this pull-up bar…

Freebody Tool

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 7

Apply 500 lbf…

Pinned base plate…

Freebody Tool

Using Freebody Tool – Example

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 8

Freebody Tool

Freebody Tool - Setup

Primary difference between Freebody

Only and Interface Load is in the Entity

Selection. With Interface Load display,

users can select elements and nodes.

With Freebody Only display, users

select elements only.

All of these options can be edited

after initial creation of the Freebody.

Display options for the Freebody

Data to be used for

Freebody Summation.

Vectors to be used

in the summation.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 9

Freebody Tool

Freebody Tool – Freebody Properties & View Properties

Freebody Nodes are

only available for

Interface Load display

Listing options to list the current

Freebody or Summation to the

message window or Data Table.

Coordinate system to be used

for Freebody. Does not affect the

resultant vector, if it is displayed.

Location about which the

Freebody summation is performed

(Interface Load display only).

Display option for

Freebody. Does not

affect the summation,

simply a toggle of which

vectors to display.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 10

Freebody Tool

Freebody Tool – Visualizing Reactions

Using the Interface Load display to show the

reaction forces at the base of the pull-up bar:

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 11

Freebody Tool

Freebody Tool – Interface Loads

Using the Interface Load display to show the loads

through a section at the base of the vertical post:

Freebody Elements:

Freebody Nodes:

Resultant Forces

and Moments:

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 12

Freebody Tool

Freebody Tool – Interface Loads

Using the Interface Load

display to show the loads

through sections at the

top of the vertical post:

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 13

Freebody Tool

Freebody Tool – Understanding Load Paths

Using the Interface Load display

to show the various sections

along the extension tube.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 14

Lets add a brace…

Using the Freebody Only display, we can

show the loads on the RBE element, with

external equilibrium.

Freebody Tool

Freebody Tool – Displaying Freebody Only

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 15

X

Freebody Tool

Freebody Tool – Helpful Tip

When deleting Output Sets, use the

model tree. This method retains all

of the Freebody’s created. The

GPFB is simply re-calculated when

new output is imported.

Using Delete>Output>All… will also

delete the Freebody’s.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 16

• Auto Rename Output Sets‒ Quickly rename output sets for ease of processing results and to display full output name for reports. API prompts user

to select the output sets to automatically rename based on the analysis set names in the output file.

• Rename Output Sets‒ Manually enter names of output sets easily in one window

• Check Spring Elements‒ Checks that coincident nodes exist at all spring elements (single precision tolerance). API reports how many springs

were searched and how many non-coincident elements were found.

• Disable/Display Threshold‒ Used for processing results, this API allows the user to display stress values above/below a set threshold with

an option for absolute value. The disable threshold option is used to turn off the displayed threshold.

• Generate MIDPID Report‒ Tabulates all materials and their properties by type in one tab of an Excel spreadsheet. Tabulates all properties

by type in another tab of the same spreadsheet.

• Renumber‒ Renumbers all elements/nodes for each property in the FEM. Starting element number and incremental input

available.

• Bulk Edit RBE2s (BETA)‒ API prompts user to select the DOFs to redefine the selected RBEs with an option to add to, remove, or completely

redefine exist DOFs. Option to reverse Independent/Dependent nodes.

• Generate Output Report (BETA)‒ API prompts user to select group(s), output vector(s), and output set(s) to report to Excel file. Presents data in several

table formats for ease of reviewing results.

Pagnotta Engineering Custom FEMAP APIs

= Available for FREE from PEI ! Visit www.pageng.com, fill out a contact form and note which API’s are requested.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 17

• Create Cylinder‒ Used to create cylinder with varying shell thicknesses. API prompts user to input diameter, height, element width and

height, total cylinder angle (or full cylinder) and direction which elements wrap.

• Set Cylinder Thicknesses‒ Sets the cylinder thicknesses for each PID based on thicknesses in corresponding cells in Excel spreadsheet.

• Orient One Axis‒ Viewing feature that aligns the FE model global axis to the closest screen axis

• Orient All Axes‒ Viewing feature that orients FE model to the closest orthogonal view in the Global Coordinate System.

Pagnotta Engineering Custom FEMAP APIs Cont’d

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 18

‒ API prompts user to select the output sets to automatically rename based on the analysis set names in the

output file.

Auto Rename Output Sets

‒ API only works for op2 files, and not for f06 files.

‒ Long analysis set names will be truncated, so keep names short or manually correct truncated titles.

‒ API saves time by not having to manually enter descriptive titles and removes human error by correctly

labeling the output set.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 19

Rename Output Sets

‒ Not as automated as the “Auto Rename Output Sets” API

‒ If working with an f06 file, or multiple enveloped output sets, this API allows the user to quickly redefine the

Output Set names.

‒ Easier than using the Output Set Manager, which requires output set titles to be updated individually.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 20

‒ API ensures coincident nodes exist at all spring elements (both CBUSH and DOF Spring types), single

precision tolerance

‒ API reports how many springs were searched and how many non-coincident elements were found, as shown

in the message reported to the message window below:

‒ If there are non-coincident nodes, the two non-coincident nodes and the element ID number are reported as

shown below:

Check Spring Elements

‒ Use of non-coincident nodes on CBUSH and CELAS2 elements can result in incorrect solutions.

‒ Can result in a “FAIL” at the N-SET level of the GROUNDCHECK routine

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 21

Disable/Display Threshold‒ This API is very helpful when processing results. It allows the user to display stress values above and

below a set threshold value without having to navigate through the ‘View Options’ command.

‒ Within the ‘View Options’ command, the user has to navigate to ‘Contour/Criteria Levels’ within

‘PostProcessing’, then select # of levels, set levels, and select colors.

‒ The display threshold API is simple, enter the threshold value and the colors are selected (default colors

are red for values exceeding the stress limit and blue for values below).

Enter allowable stress value

If only positive stress values exist, uncheck this box

Red elements exceed the threshold stress of 12,000 psi,

blue elements are below the allowable stress.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 22

‒ This API tabulates all of the materials and properties of a FEM by material/property type in separate tabs of

an Excel spreadsheet.

‒ Creating MID/PID tables allows you to quickly check property and material values, check material

assignments by property, and further reduce human error.

‒ Example Material ID list below:

Generate MIDPID Report

Material ID (MID) list for FE model "Example_01.modfem"Filename: "Example_MID_PID_01.xlsx"

3D Orthotropic G11 G22 G33 G44 G55 G66 G12-G16 G23-G26 G34-G36 G45-G46 G56 Alpha11 Alpha22 Alpha33

2D Orthotropic E/E1 E2 G/G12 G1Z G2Z NU12 Tens1 Tens2 Compr1 Compr2 Shear Alpha11 Alpha22 Alpha33

Isotropic E/E1 --- G/G12 --- --- NU Tens --- Comp --- Shear Alpha --- ---

1001 6061-T651 Al Plate .25-2. 0.098100 Isotropic 9900000 --- 0 --- --- 0.33 0 --- 0 --- 0 0.00001265 --- ---

1002 Birch Plywood 0.024567 Isotropic 1000000 --- 0 --- --- 0.29 0 --- 0 --- 0 0 --- ---

1003 60g/m^3 PU Foam (H60) 0.002419 Isotropic 7540 --- 2900 --- --- 0.3 130 --- 130 --- 110 0 --- ---

1004 45kg/m^3 PU Foam (H45) 0.001910 Isotropic 5655 --- 2175 --- --- 0.3 87 --- 87 --- 81 0 --- ---

1005 400 GSM Glass Fibre Matt 0.047222 2D Orthotropic 1000000 1000000 500000 500000 500000 0.3 10000 10000 10000 10000 7500 0 0 0

MID Material Description Density

Filename automatically entered when spreadsheet is saved

Material properties tabulated, allowing values to easily be checked.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 23

‒ Example Property ID list below:

Generate MIDPID Report Cont’d

Property ID (PID) list for FE model "Example_01.modfem"Filename: "Example_MID_PID_01.xlsx"

Structure PID Type Description Ref. MID NSM (#/in) Area (in^2) I1 I2 I12 J --- Element Range Node Range

1023 Beam BEAM 1.57x2.36 1001 0 0.874198 0.343873 0.657927 0 0.704868 --- 1046001,1046050,1 [MULTIPLE]

Structure PID Type Description Ref. MID NSM (#/in^2) Thk. (in) --- --- --- --- --- Element Range Node Range

1013 Plate 9mm Plywood 1002 0 0.35433 --- --- --- --- --- 1035001,1035158,1 [MULTIPLE]

1014 Plate 12mm Plywood 1002 0 0.47244 --- --- --- --- --- 1036001,1036144,1 [MULTIPLE]

1015 Plate 18mm thk Plywood 1002 0 0.70866 --- --- --- --- --- 1037001,1038318,1 [MULTIPLE]

1016 Plate Al Angles (0.118" thk) 1001 0 0.11811 --- --- --- --- --- 1039001,1039144,1 [MULTIPLE]

1017 Plate Al Angles (0.236" thk) 1001 0 0.23622 --- --- --- --- --- 1040001,1040080,1 [MULTIPLE]

1018 Plate Interface Plate (6mm Al) 1001 0 0.23622 --- --- --- --- --- 1041001,1041330,1 [MULTIPLE]

Structure PID Type Description Stack Seq. NSM (#/in^2) Symmetric Total Thk. Bottom Surf. --- --- --- Element Range Node Range

1001 Laminate Side Cladding, Rear (61945332)

1005 (0.032, 0)

1005 (0.032, 0)

1005 (0.032, 0)

1005 (0.032, 0)

1005 (0.032, 0)

1005 (0.032, 0)

1005 (0.04422, 0)

0 [Symmetric] 0.23622 [Bottom Surf.] --- --- --- 1000001,1006238,1 [MULTIPLE]

Structure PID Type Description Ref. Coord. Sys. Mass (X,Y,Z) I11 (Ixx) I21 (Ixy) I22 (Iyy) I31 (Izx) I32 (yz) I33 (Izz) Element Range Node Range

4004 Mass Hatch MASS 0 3.5967 0 0 0 0 0 0 4005001,4005002,1 4023943,4023944,1

4005 Mass Box Tube, Panel, Bracket MASS (70 lbs estimate) 0 70 0 0 0 0 0 0 4005501 4023945

Structure PID Type Description DOF Ties --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Element Range Node Range

- Rigid - 123--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 1050001 [MULTIPLE]

- Rigid - 123--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 1050002 [MULTIPLE]

- Rigid - 123--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 1050003 [MULTIPLE]

‒ Laminate element stacking sequence listed showing material, thickness, and angle for each ply. Total thickness listed in

another column

‒ Rigid body element DOF ties listed, however type not specified (RBE2 vs. RBE3)

‒ Element and Node ranges are specified for each property/rigid body element

‒ Not all element and material types are supported. For example, spring elements (both DOF spring and CBUSH element types)

currently return error. The API will continue to be enhanced in future releases.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 24

Generate MIDPID Report Cont’d

PEI uses the “Generate MIDPID Report“ API for model checking and for model revision history documentation.

To keep track of model revisions, a summary tab is created within the MIDPID report listing the FE model, its origin, and a

description of what was changed. A new PID summary (and MID if materials have changed) is created and added to the

master MIDPID list.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 25

‒ This API renumbers all the elements and nodes for each property in the FE model.

‒ Note: renumbering is only allowed if there are no output sets in the FE model.

Renumber

Easily select a custom start

value and custom

increment for renumbering

or enter manually below.

By selecting “Go”, the user can preview

the assigned element/node numbers

and change the values if desired.

Manually enter starting ID

number. The next starting

ID number must be high

enough so that property

assignments do not overlap.

Example: if PID 1001

elements/nodes start at

1,000,001, then PID 1002

elements/nodes must start at

1,006,855 or greater

(preferable to start at

1,007,001 to leave room for

element modification).

Once all values are entered

for first page, page down and

enter all starting ID numbers,

then press ok. If values are

not entered, or values

overlap for several

properties, an error will be

returned.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 26

‒ This API prompts the user to select the DOFs to redefine the selected RBEs with an option to add to,

remove, or totally redefine exist DOFs.

‒ Option to reverse Independent/Dependent nodes.

Bulk Edit RBE2s

This option allows the user to

reverse the Independent/Dependent

nodes for selected RBE2s with one

dependent node. Spider RBEs will

not be updated.

This option allows the user to

redefine the DOFs assigned to one

or more RBE2s. Select the DOF, then choose the

option to completely redefine, add to

existing, or remove from existing DOF.

Click OK then select the RBE2s to be

updated

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 27

‒ API prompts user to select desired group(s), output vector(s), and output set(s) to tabulate.

Generate Output Report

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 28

‒ Data is presented in several table formats for ease of reviewing results.

Generate Output Report Cont’d

Example Sheet 2 format:

Example Sheet 1 format:

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 29

‒ This API is used for creating pressure vessels with varying shell thicknesses and many data points.

‒ The API prompts the user to input the diameter, height, element width and height, total cylinder angle (or full

cylinder) and direction for elements to wrap.

Create Cylinder

This screen will prompt the user to enter the following parameters:

Select the vessel Outer Diameter

Select the vessel height (or length)

Select the desired element size

for which data input is specified

If the mapped data region wraps around

only part of the vessel, uncheck this box

and specify the angle around the vessel at

which the mapped data region will cover

Determines which way the properties will

wrap around the vessel.

Example:

Number of elements around circumferential direction

This screen will prompt you:

Number of elements in the longitudinal direction

API calculates exact element size

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 30

Create Cylinder Cont’d

Ring 1 Station 1

Ring 1 Station 2

Ring 1 Station 1

Ring 1 Station 2

Left Hand Rule:

Right Hand Rule:

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 31

‒ This API sets the cylinder thicknesses for each PID based on thicknesses in corresponding cells in an Excel

spreadsheet.

Set Cylinder Thicknesses

The first property PID created by the ‘Create

Cylinder’ is 10,000. The PIDs can be

changed, but the value below must match

This can be changed, but must match the first

cell of the excel file.

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 32

‒ Viewing feature that aligns the FE model global axis to the closest screen axis

‒ Useful in creating close-to-isometric views

Orient One Axis

Date: 4/12/2016 Slide 33

‒ Viewing feature that orients FE model to the closest orthogonal view in the Global Coordinate System

Orient All Axes

Questions?