LESSON 1
Linear and Nonlinear
Analysis of a Cantilever Beam
Objectives:
■ Create a beam database to be used for the specified
subsequent exercises.
■ Compare small vs. large displacement analysis.
■ Linear elastic theory.
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1-2
LESSON 1 Linear and Nonlinear Analysis of Beam
Model Description:
In this exercise, a cantilever beam is subjected to a static load. The
beam is initially analyzed using small deformation theory. However,
after reviewing the results, it becomes apparent that small deformation
theory is not appropriate for this problem. Subsequently, a large
deformation analysis is performed and its results are compared to the
small deformation analysis.
The model built in Lesson 1 will be used for this analysis. The model
is made using eight, 2D plane stress, incompatible mode elements.
The elements are uniformly spaced along the length of the beam (i.e.
a mesh eight elements wide and one element deep). The incompatible
mode type element is designed specifically for in-plane bending and is
well suited for this problem.
P
A
A
L
a
Data for basic case:
L = 100.0 in (2.54m)
a = 1.0 in (25.4mm)
b = 2.0 in (50.8mm)
Linear elastic b
Young’s modulus=30.0 x 106 lb/in2 (207 GPa)
Poisson’s ratio =0.3
P = 6000 lb (27200 N)
Section A-A
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Exercise Procedure:
1. Open a new database. Name it cantilever_beam
File/New ...
New Database Name: cantilever_beam
OK
The viewport (PATRAN’s graphics window) will appear
along with a New Model Preference form. The New
Model Preference sets all the code specific forms and
options inside MSC/PATRAN.
In the New Model Preference form set the Analysis Code
to MSC.Marc.
Tolerance: ● Based on Model
Analysis Code: MSC.Marc
Analysis Type: Structural
OK
2. Create the model geometry.
■ Geometry
Action: Create
Object: Surface
Method: XYZ
Vector Coordinate List: <100, 2, 0>
Apply
The surface in Figure 1.1 will appear in your viewport.
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LESSON 1 Linear and Nonlinear Analysis of Beam
Figure 1.1 - Surface for the Cantilever Beam
Z X
3. Create the finite element mesh.
■ Elements
Action: Create
Object: Mesh Seed
Type: Uniform
Number: 8
Click in the Curve List databox and screen select the bottom edge of
the surface.
Curve List: pick bottom edge (see Figure 1.2)
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Figure 1.2 - Mesh Seed Location
Left Edge
(Surface 1.1)
Bottom Edge
(Surface 1.4)
Z X
Now create a mesh seed for the left edge of the beam
Number: 1
Curve List: pick left edge (see Figure 1.2)
4. Create the model’s finite element mesh. On the Finite
Element form change:
Action: Create
Object: Mesh
Type: Surface
Element Topology: Quad 4
Surface List: Surface 1
Apply
1-6
LESSON 1 Linear and Nonlinear Analysis of Beam
5. Now create the material and element properties for the
beam. The beam is made of a Linear Elastic material with
Young’s modulus of 30.0E6 lb/in2, with a Poisson’s ratio
of 0.3 and a mass density of 0.00074.
■ Materials
Action: Create
Object: Isotropic
Method: Manual Input
Material Name: steel
Input Properties...
Constitutive Model: Elastic
Elastic Modulus: 30.0E6
Poisson’s Ratio: 0.3
Density: 0.00074
OK
Apply
6. Input the properties of the Cantilever Beam under
Properties. The beam will be assigned an incompatible
modes element formulation. These elements are designed
for conditions where bending is the predominate loading.
■ Properties
Action: Create
Dimension: 2D
Type: 2D Solid
Property Set Name: beam
Options:
Plane Stress
Standard Formulation
Input Properties...
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Formulation Options: Assumed Strain
Material Name: steel
Thickness: 1.0
OK
Select Members: Surface 1
Add
Apply
7. Now apply the loads and boundary conditions. The left
end of the beam is fixed in all active degrees of freedom.
■ Loads/BCs
Action: Create
Object: Displacement
Type: Nodal
New Set Name: fixed
Input Data...
Translations: <0, 0 >
OK
Select Application Region...
Geometry Filter: ● Geometry
Select Geometric Entities: see Figure 1.3
Figure 1.3 - Fixed end of beam
Select points 1:2
Add
OK
Apply
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LESSON 1 Linear and Nonlinear Analysis of Beam
8. Create Groups, which will contain all the entities
comprising the cantilever beam.
Group/Create...
New Group Name: cantilever_beam
❒ Make Current (OFF)
❒ Posted
❒ Unpost All Other Groups
Group Contents: Add Entity Selection
Entity Selection: Point 1:4 Surface 1
Node 1:18 Elm 1:8
Apply
Now create two other groups with nothing in them for now.
New Group Name: rigid_body1
Entity Selection: (leave this box empty)
Apply
Cancel
9. Create the interference Geometry
Place a semicircular arc at the mid-span of the beam just below it a few
inches.
■ Geometry
Action: Create
Object: Curve
Method: 2D ArcAngles
Radius: 10
Start Angle: 0.0
End Angle: 180
Construction Plane List: Coord 0.3
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Center Point List: [50, -15, 0]
Apply
10. Now place the two geometric arcs you just created into the
groups created previously.
Group/Modify...
Change Target Group...
Existing Groups: rigid_body1
Cancel
Member List to Add/Remove: Curve 1
Add
OK
11. Close the Database.
You have now completed the foundation database for the cantilever
beam problems. Do not delete the database, since you will be using it
for a few of the following exercises.
File / Close
Note: You may want to make a backup of this database,
cantilever_beam.db.
12. Open a new database named tip_load.db
File/New ...
New Database Name: tip_load
OK
Tolerance: ● Based on Model
Analysis Code: MSC.Marc
Analysis Type: Structural
OK
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LESSON 1 Linear and Nonlinear Analysis of Beam
13. Import the old database. Use the cantilever beam model
from the first part of this exercise.
File/Import ...
Object: Model
Source: MSC.Patran DB
Import File: cantilever_beam
This will be the old database just created.
Apply
Close the summary form by selecting “OK.”
OK
14. Now graphically display only the cantilever beam.
Group/Post...
Selected Groups to Post: cantilever_beam
Apply
Cancel
Note: You should always be aware of which is the current group. It is
always listed in the header of the graphics screen after the database
name and the viewport name.
15. Next, you will create the point load that totals 6000 lbs at
the end of the beam.
■ Loads/BCs
Action: Create
Object: Force
Type: Nodal
New Set Name: tip_load
Input Data...
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Force: <0, -3000 >
OK
Select Application Region...
Geometry Filter: ● Geometry
Select Points: see Figure 1.4
Figure 1.4 - Free end of beam
Select points 3:4
12
12
Add
OK
Apply
Your model should now look like the picture shown in Figure 1.5:
Figure 1.5 - Beam with applied Loads/BCs
3000.
3000.
12 1
12
16. Your model is now ready for analysis. You will be using
the Default Static Step to perform this analysis. The
default static step is an analysis step which runs a Linear
Static solution on the corresponding Default load case.
■ Analysis
Action: Analyze
Object: Entire Model
Method: Full Run
Job Name: linear
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LESSON 1 Linear and Nonlinear Analysis of Beam
Load Step Creation...
Solution Parameters...
Linearity: Linear
OK
Apply
Yes
Select Yes when asked to overwrite.
Cancel
Apply
17. When the analysis job is finished read the results back into
PATRAN.
■ Analysis
Action: Read Results
Object: Result Entities
Method: Attach
Available Jobs: linear
Select Results File... linear.t16
OK
Apply
18. We will now use MSC/PATRAN to post process the
results of the linear static analysis.
■ Results
Action: Create
Object: Quick Plot
Select Results Case: Default, A1:Incr=1, Time=0
Select Fringe Result: Displacement, Translation
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Select Deformation Result: Displacement, Translation
Apply
19. This will plot a true-scaled version of the real deformation.
Finally, to see the whole plot, click on the Zoom out icon from the
toolbar.
Zoom Out
Your model should appear as shown in Figure 1.6:
Figure 1.6 - Beam Deformation (actual)
20. To plot a scaled version of the real deformation set the
scaling factor by clicking on the Deformation Attributes
icon:
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LESSON 1 Linear and Nonlinear Analysis of Beam
● Model Scale
Scale Factor: 0.1
Apply
Finally, to see the whole plot, click on the Fit View icon from the
toolbar.
Your screen will appear as shown in Figure 1.7:
Figure 1.7 - Beam Deformation (scaled)
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Linear beam theory predicts the maximum beam deflection in the Y-
direction and stress to be:
3 3
( PL ) 4PL
------------------
U max = -------------- or 3
3EI E × ab
where b = 2 “ and a = 1”
3
6, 000 × ( 100 ) × 4-
U max = -----------------------------------------------
6 3
= 100
30 ×10 × ( 1 ) × ( 2 )
M max × b 6PL-
σ max = ---------------------- ------------
I a(b)
2
6 × 6, 000 × 100-
σ max = --------------------------------------
2
= 900,000
1 × (2)
The maximum Y deflection of the beam can be taken directly off of
the displayed spectrum/range. The largest value should correspond to
a magnitude of 99.64, which is in very close agreement with our hand
calculation of 100.
Linear beam theory assumes plane section remain plane and the
deflection is small relative to length of the beam. As can be clearly
seen by this analysis, the deflection is very large and this analysis is in
violation of the underlying assumptions used for linear beam theory.
These results match the linear hand calculations and also show that the
small deformation assumption is not valid and therefore, a non-linear,
large deformation analysis needs to be performed. In large
deformation analysis, the bending and axial stiffness are coupled.
Thus, as the cantilever beam deflects, a portion of the load P puts the
beam in tension which tends to stiffen the beam in bending (i.e.
“geometric stiffness”). Thus, one would expect to see a much smaller
deformation in the large deformation analysis as compared to the
small deformation analysis. To set up a large deformation analysis,
one needs to change the analysis set-up and re-submit the job to
MSC.Marc.
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LESSON 1 Linear and Nonlinear Analysis of Beam
Part 2 - NonLinear Analysis
21. Now set up a Large Displacement Analysis by creating a
nonlinear static step. You will use the same default load
case and use the default solution parameters and output for
the nonlinear static solution.
■ Analysis
Action: Analyze
Object: Entire Model
Method: Full Run
Job Name: nonlinear
Load Step Creation...
Job Step Name: nonlinear elastic analysis
Solution Parameters...
Linearity: NonLinear
Nonlinear Geometric Effects: Large Displ.(Updated
Lagr.)/Small Strains
OK
Apply
Cancel
Load Step Selection...
Select nonlinear elastic analysis from the Existing Job Steps listbox.
Deselect the Default Static Step step by clicking on it once in the
Selected Job Steps listbox.
OK
Apply
After the job starts to run, MSC.Marc creates several files that can be
used to monitor the job and verify that the analysis has run correctly.
One file is nonlinear.log. This ASCII file contains Element, Loads &
Boundary Conditions, Material Translation, Step Control parameters,
Equilibrium and Error information. When the job completes, this file
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contains an Analysis Summary which summarizes the error and
iteration information. Another useful ASCII file is the nonlinear.sts
file. This file contains a summary of job information; including step
number, number of increments, number of iterations, total time of
step, and time of a given increment. Also, the nonlinear.out file
contains a summary of any job errors. These files can be viewed
during or after a job has completed. A more convenient method might
be to use the Analysis application, Monitor.
Action: Monitor
Object: Job
View Status File...
After the job has finished, a successful completion will result with: Job
ends with exit number: 3004
22. Read in the results of the analysis
■ Analysis
Action: Read Results
Object: Result Entities
Method: Attach
Available Jobs: nonlinear
Select Results File...
nonlinear.t16
OK
Apply
23. Now we will post process the nonlinear analysis and
compare these results to the linear static analysis.
■ Results
Action: Create
Object: Quick Plot
Select Result Case: Nonlinear..., A2:..., Time=1
Select Fringe Result: Displacement, Translation
Quantity: Y Component
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LESSON 1 Linear and Nonlinear Analysis of Beam
Select Deformation Result: Displacement, Translation
Apply
As a final step, get the maximum Y deflection from the fringe
spectrum/range. Enter that value into the table below. Another
interesting post-processing technique is to create an animation by
selecting the Animate Results Icon in the Results form.
Table 1:
Small Large
Deflection Deflection
MSC.Marc
Theory -100.0 ------
As shown in the results obtained, inclusion of large deformation
effects are very important in realistically modeling the physical
behavior of the cantilever model.
24. Quit out of MSC/PATRAN
Close the database and quit PATRAN.
This concludes the exercise
File/Close
File/Quit
------ -100.0 Theory
-57.3 -95.5 MSC.Marc
Large Deflection Small Deflection
ANSWERS:
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