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Acket Initial Strain

Initial-Strain Analysis

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Meniar Ben Charrada
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11 views

Acket Initial Strain

Initial-Strain Analysis

Uploaded by

Meniar Ben Charrada
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 8

Created in COMSOL Multiphysics 6.

Bracket — Initial-Strain Analysis

This model is licensed under the COMSOL Software License Agreement 6.2.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. See www.comsol.com/trademarks.
Introduction
The various examples based on a bracket geometry form a suite of tutorials which
summarizes the fundamentals when modeling structural mechanics problems in
COMSOL Multiphysics and the Structural Mechanics Module.

In this example you learn how to introduce a prestrain to a structure and investigate how
it affects the assembly.

It is recommended that you review the Introduction to the Structural Mechanics


Module, which includes background information.

Model Definition
This tutorial is an extension of the example described in the section “The Fundamentals:
A Static Linear Analysis” in the Introduction to the Structural Mechanics Module. That
same model is also available as a standalone model in the Application Libraries as
Bracket — Static Analysis.

In the previous example, the pin was only considered as providing a load, whereas in this
example, a pin is actually modeled as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Bracket geometry.

2 | BRACKET — INITIAL-STRAIN ANALYSIS


An initial strain simulates that the pin is 1 mm too short in the axial direction. This could,
for example, happen if there was a mismatch in dimensions due to manufacturing
tolerances.

Results
Figure 2 shows how the pin compresses the bracket arms, and that the largest stresses are
found in the region where the bracket arms are joined to the bolt supports.

Figure 2: Von Mises stress distribution in the bracket. The deformation is exaggerated.

Figure 3 shows the third principal strain in order to visualize the total strain in the
structure. As the pin is stiff when compared to the bracket, the total strain in the pin is
almost the same as the initial strain given in the example.

3 | BRACKET — INITIAL-STRAIN ANALYSIS


Figure 3: Strain distribution in the bracket.

Notes About the COMSOL Implementation


Initial stresses and strains can be specified in the Initial Stress and Strain subnode to a
material model. Think of the strain or stress that you introduce as an inelastic contribution,
which is not necessarily constant over the simulation. You can define a stress/strain
distribution with constant values or as an expression which can, for example, be space or
time dependent. The initial stresses and strains can also be results from another study, or
even from another physics interface in the same study. The External Stress and External
Strain subnodes can be used for similar purposes, but provide more options.

The structure is modeled as an assembly, so that the pin and bracket are considered as
different objects. They are then connected using a Continuity condition. This means that
the bracket and the pin can be meshed independently, so that the original mesh on the
bracket can be kept unaltered.

Application Library path: Structural_Mechanics_Module/Tutorials/


bracket_initial_strain

4 | BRACKET — INITIAL-STRAIN ANALYSIS


Modeling Instructions

APPLICATION LIBRARIES
1 From the File menu, choose Application Libraries.
2 In the Application Libraries window, select Structural Mechanics Module>Tutorials>
bracket_basic in the tree.
3 Click Open.

GLOBAL DEFINITIONS

Parameters 1
In the Parameters table, define a strain value that corresponds to a reduction of the pin
length from 215 mm to 214 mm.

1 In the Model Builder window, under Global Definitions click Parameters 1.


2 In the Settings window for Parameters, locate the Parameters section.
3 In the table, enter the following settings:

Name Expression Value Description


L0 215[mm] 0.215 m Initial pin length
L 214[mm] 0.214 m Current pin length
InitStrain (L-L0)/L0 -0.0046512 Pin strain

GEOMETRY 1
Add the pin geometry to the bracket assembly by importing it into the existing geometry.

Import 2 (imp2)
1 In the Home toolbar, click Import.
2 In the Settings window for Import, locate the Import section.
3 From the Source list, choose COMSOL Multiphysics file.
4 Click Browse.
5 Browse to the model’s Application Libraries folder and double-click the file
bracket_pin.mphbin.

6 Click Import.

Form Union (fin)


1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Geometry 1 click
Form Union (fin).

5 | BRACKET — INITIAL-STRAIN ANALYSIS


2 In the Settings window for Form Union/Assembly, locate the Form Union/Assembly section.
3 From the Action list, choose Form an assembly.
4 Click Build Selected.

SOLID MECHANICS (SOLID)

Adding Initial Stress and Strain


Specify the initial strain under the Linear Elastic Material node.

1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Component 1 (comp1)>Solid Mechanics (solid)
node, then click Linear Elastic Material 1.

Initial Stress and Strain 1


1 In the Physics toolbar, click Attributes and choose Initial Stress and Strain.
2 In the Settings window for Initial Stress and Strain, locate the Domain Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Manual.
4 Select Domain 2 only.
The prestrain direction is the axial direction of the bolt, which coincides with the global
X direction.
5 Locate the Initial Stress and Strain section. In the 0 table, enter the following settings:

InitStrain 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0

MESH 1

Size 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Mesh 1>Free Tetrahedral 1
click Size 1.
2 In the Settings window for Size, locate the Geometric Entity Selection section.
3 From the Geometric entity level list, choose Domain.
4 Select Domains 5, 6, 10, and 11 only.
5 Click Build All.

ADD STUDY
1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Study to open the Add Study window.
2 Go to the Add Study window.

6 | BRACKET — INITIAL-STRAIN ANALYSIS


3 Find the Studies subsection. In the Select Study tree, select General Studies>Stationary.
4 Click Add Study in the window toolbar.
5 In the Home toolbar, click Add Study to close the Add Study window.

STUDY 1
In the Home toolbar, click Compute.

RESULTS

Stress (solid)
Click the Zoom Extents button in the Graphics toolbar.

Third Principal Strain


1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 3D Plot Group.
2 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, type Third Principal Strain in the Label
text field.

Surface 1
1 Right-click Third Principal Strain and choose Surface.
2 In the Settings window for Surface, click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner of
the Expression section. From the menu, choose Component 1 (comp1)>Solid Mechanics>
Strain>Principal strains>solid.ep3 - Third principal strain - 1.
3 In the Third Principal Strain toolbar, click Plot.
4 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Scale list, choose Linear symmetric.
5 In the Third Principal Strain toolbar, click Plot.
6 Click the Clipping button in the Graphics toolbar.
7 In the Graphics window toolbar, click next to Clipping, then choose
Add Clip Plane.
8 In the Graphics window toolbar, click next to Clipping Active, then choose
Show Gizmos.
9 Click the Zoom Extents button in the Graphics toolbar.

7 | BRACKET — INITIAL-STRAIN ANALYSIS


8 | BRACKET — INITIAL-STRAIN ANALYSIS

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