ixCube 4-10

Brief introduction for membrane and cable systems.

ixCube is the evolution of 20 years of R&D in the field of membrane structures so it
takes a while to understand the basic features. You must consider that 3 built in
Form-Finding methods are available so input differs in function of the type of
modelling and strategy used.

Force Density Method (FDM)

This method models the membrane as a net of links and nodes. The links between
nodes will be flagged as membrane elements and will have a property that indicates
if the link is a warp or a weft fiber. A Membrane model will be made out of 2
layered groups a Tenso-Group and a Mesh Group. The Tenso-Group will keep the
link elements and we will treat them as normal fem2 elements ( we assign C value,
material and any other property) while the mesh group will be used to calculate
area, apply wind and snow loads on the model and at the end make final patterns
for production. Pre-Stress of the membrane will be controlled by the C values
assigned for the membrane links and boundary cables. Prestress can be plotted in
Plot -> Response

Fig 1

Fig 2

Fig 3 - Pre-stress plot after form finding with the FDM method

NFDM and URS Method

When using the NFDM method or the URS method we always use Tenso-Groups to
model our membrane shape but the FDM net is not used anymore. The solver will
find the final shape using the Triangle mesh elements and this means only the mesh
sub-group is filled with a triangle mesh.
The NFDM and the URS methods are conceptually more easy to use since we use
real units (pre-stress and cable pre-tension are force/length and a force ).
The quality of the mesh of course will drive the quality of the final solution like any
FEA analysis .

Fig 4 - Example of stress plot for a model using the NFDM method

GENERAL CONCEPTS
The fem model needs to be created inside Fem Groups: There are 3 types of Fem
Groups:
1) Tenso-Group : Tenso-Groups are special groups to keep membrane mesh
elements. The Tenso-Group will create automatically a sub-group named
Mesh when we add Tri-mesh elements. Membrane loads are applied to the
mesh and also this is the only group enabled in the patterning module.
2) Fem2 : Fem2 is a group for 2 node elements. We can add cable,truss and
beam elements inside a Fem2 group. Fem2 groups have the facility to group
simple elements in chains ( a list of connected fem2 elements) Chain elements
will compare under the Fem2 group in the browser tree and we can select,
change their property or delete them in a simple and direct way enabling a
simplified editing for lists of connected elements.
3) Shell-Plate group : This group will hold Plate-shell elements. These elements
have a bending, shear and in plane stiffness.

Fem2 Main Properties :

When we select a fem2 object we see a list of properties

Fig 5

Fig 6

C Value (FDM only. Valid for all elements flagged as FF-Deformable)

If we are using the FDM ( Force Density Method ) the pre-stress for the membrane
and the pre-tension for the cable elements is controlled by the C value.
The C value is the ratio between F/L where f is the final Force in the Element and L
is the final length, so the C value has the dimension of a force over a length, if you
change units remember to check C values of the membrane and cable elements.
Type
This is the type of fem element, available types are :

Membrane : this is a special element used ONLY in FDM method

Cable : Tension only element
Beam : Timoshenko beam element
Truss : Tension-Compression only element
Gap : compression only element
Spring : Spring element

 Rigid-Link : infinite stiff element

Notes:
The membrane type element is a special element for membrane models used in the
FDM method.
With this element we model the Membrane-Net in the Force Density method and
the software will calculate automatically are influence. The stress is controlled with
FDM C value.
Behavior
Only for Beam elements. We generally set beam elements to have a linear behavior,
this means small deformations and rotations while the non-linear beam will
undergo large rotations.
Use non-linear for all other elements ( cables, truss, )

Deformability (This is a very important Flag)

This property controls if the element geometry will be a result of the Form-Find
process OR it will stay in a fixed position while form-finding and after that become
a part of the stiff model .
For example we are making a model made out of a membrane connected to a stiff
ring on a pole.
While Form-Finding we do not want to deform the ring or the pole but only the
membrane, after form-finding a global equilibrium must be implied between the
membrane stress state and the supporting pole-ring element. For this reason after
the FF step a global stiffness matrix analysis will find the final equilibrated solution
where the only loads applied in the model are the pre-stress of membrane and
cables.

Seed
This is the common property for fem elements , it collects a material where E
modulus, Poisson and other material related properties are set plus a geometry
cross section with Inertia, Area ect. Please look at the Data-Base Explore to see
available materials and sections.

Angle (Only Beam elements)

This is the angle of rotation around the local X axis ( axial axis ) of the stiffness plane
(Y-Z or plane 2-3).
The beam elements have a local reference frame called 1-2-3 (X-Y-Z) the colors of
these axis on screen are always the 3 main RGB (Red, Green, Blue) so its easy to
remind which color is the 1 2 or 3 local beam axis.
Plot of the local axis can be activated in Plot->Options->Labels Object Axis (see
figure 7)

Fig 7

End Restraint A - End Restraint B (Only Beam elements)

Only for Beam elements.
Beam elements are by default fixed to the 2 end nodes with all DOFS (degrees of
freedom)
We can locally unfix one or more degree of freedom by setting the relative check
box to false
The check boxes are :
Dx = movement in local X direction ( direction 1 )
Dy = movement in local Y direction ( direction 2 )
Dz = movement in local Z direction ( direction 3 )
Rx = rotation around local X direction ( direction 1 )
Ry = rotation around local Y direction ( direction 2 )
Rz = rotation around local Z direction ( direction 3 )
A value of
True = Fixed
False = Free

Weft Flag (FDM only - Only Membrane Elements )

This flag tells which direction this fiber belongs too (Warp or Weft ). When using the
FDM method the membrane model is made out of a spatial grid of membrane
elements. Since membrane material has generally different properties in warp and
weft we need a method to specify which elements are warp and which elements are
weft .

Pretension (NFDM,URS and FDM method)

This is the pre-tension for elements flagged as FF-Deformable when we are using
the NFDM method or URS method. (if we are using the FDM method the C value
controls pre-tension for elements flagged as FF-Deformable).

For elements flagged as Stiff-Deformable we can also assign a pretension in this

field. After Form-Finding the system will start a non-linear Newton Raphson matrix
analysis. In this analysis the elements flagged as Stiff-Deformable will have initial
pretension equal to the value input in this field.
(Elements flagged as FF-Deformable will have a pretension computed in the FF
process).

NOTE:
If we are using the FDM method and we want to assign a pre-tension to
elements flagged as stiff-deformable we NEED to activate the check box keep
pretension (see fig 6 )

Properties for Membrane Mesh Elements

Fig 8

When using the NFDM or the URS method we will see after selecting mesh
elements the properties: (fig 8 )

N Layers:
Number of membrane layers (Not used in the stiffness analysis for the current
release)
Warp Stress
Pre-stress in the warp direction as F/L ( force over length )
Weft Stress
Pre-stress in the weft direction in F/L ( force over length )
Seed
Material to use for this membrane mesh
Be aware that the direction of the warp-weft fibers must be assigned. Please look at
the video tutorials on how to assign warp-weft direction to a mesh Group.

Shell elements
In the current version shell-plate elements can be used only as stiff-deformable.
This means they will never enter the FF process. This will change in future releases.
When we select a plate-shell element we can see the properties :

Thickness
Thickness of the plate shell element
Deformability
Use stiff-deformable for current version
Seed
Material to use for the plate-shell element

Layers and Groups

Like any CAD program the system has the concept of layers to group common
entities. FEM Groups ( Tenso-Groups, Fem2 and Shell-Plate Groups ) will be placed
under the current layer when they are created. You can drag and drop a group to a
new layer to put order in your model.
Layers not empty cannot be deleted.
Fem elements ALWAYS belong to a FEM group. A FEM group is in effect a container
for FEM entities.
A FEM Group behaves like any CAD entity (line,circle,solid,surface).
When we issue a transformation tool like Copy, Rotate, Mirror, Polar Array, Scale
the ENTIRE group and not the specific sub-entities will be transformed (copied).
Only the DELETE command will be applied on sub-entities ( FEM elements).
To delete a FEM Group there is a specific command on the browser .

Example :
We create a Tenso-Group and fill it with a triangle mesh using one of the modeling
tools available.

If we select one triangle from the mesh and issue a copy the entire Mesh Plus its
parent Group (Tenso-Group ) will be copied.
Note:
CAD commands will operate on FEM groups ONLY with a PRESELECTION.
This means :
A) Select one or more fem elements
B) Recall a CAD transform command
C) At the prompt to select elements click the Enter key to accept current
selection
D) Input other parameters to run the command

If we recall a CAD transform command without selecting any FEM element these
will NOT BE selectable at the command prompt. This behavior lets us control in a
accurate way what we are moving copying ect.

Form-Finding
When the Form-Finder is run the following steps are performed in sequence :
1) The restraints of the model are checked. Nodes attached to elements that do
not have rotational stiffness are automatically fixed for the rotation.
2) The system checks the model to detect part flagged as FF-Deformable and
the part flagged as Stiff-Deformable (if any exists).
3) The objects flagged as Stiff-Deformable will fix the restraints of connected
nodes to Fully-Fixed and the relaxation procedure starts .
4) After relaxing the model with the current FF-Solver (FDM,NFDM or URS
method ) the nodes fixed as step 2 assume their original restraint (user
restraint or restraint set at step 1 )
5) If a Stiff-Deformable part exists a Newton-Raphson stiffness analysis is
performed where the global model will have only pre-stress computed at step
3.

6) At the end of the Stiffness analysis elements are updated and final node
positions, element stresses and forces are stored as part of the Initial state.

Stiffness analysis
The fem solver is based on a classical FEA analysis matrix solver with a nonlinear
Newton Raphson method.
For the stiffness analysis we must set :
Number of increments = in how many steps the loads are applied on the
model
Number of iterations = within each step the solver will iterate at maximum n
of iterations to converge to assigned tolerances.
For the tolerance we assign a threshold value for :
Energy Et : if for 2 consecutive iterations i and i+1 | Ei+1 Ei | > Et the solver
will stop with a convergence not reached error
Displacements Dt : if for 2 consecutive iterations i and i+1 | Di+1 Di | > Dt the
solver will stop with a convergence not reached error .
Residual Forces Ft : if for 2 consecutive iterations i and i+1 | Fi+1 Fi | > Ft the
solver will stop with a convergence not reached error .