2.

3-1

Nonlinear Material - Plastic

Deformation

BASIC ANALYSIS

2.3

2.3-2

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-3

Model Description:

The model consists of a 100 mm long rod (meshed into 10 rod elements) with a cross sectional area
of 1 mm2. The linear part of the material definition is assumed to be an isotropic steel, with the following properties:

E = 200000 N/mm2
= 0.3

BASIC ANALYSIS

In this example, a simple rod structure will be used to demonstrate the capabilities of MSC/NASTRAN for Windows with elasto-plastic nonlinear material analysis. The rod is fully constrained at
one end and has an axial tensile load applied at the other. The applied load is of sufficient magnitude to cause the material to move into the plastic region of the stress-strain curve and undergo permanent deformation. In a second load case, the rod will be unloaded leaving the structure in a
permanently deformed state.

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-4

Exercise Procedure:
1. Start MSC/NASTRAN for Windows 3.0.2 by double-clicking on the MSC/NASTRAN for
Windows icon.
For this exercise, you will select the New Model option.

New Model

Open Model File:

2.

Define the materials.

The desired nonlinear elasto-plastic material is defined using a stress strain function.

Model/Function...
Title:

Nonlinear Material

Type:

4..vs. Stress

Data Entry:

Single Value

X:

Y:

More

X:

200

Y:

0.001

More

X:

250

Y:

0.003

More

X:

275

Y:

0.005

More

OK
Cancel

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

3.

2.3-5

To look at a plot of this function, do the following:

View/Select...

Model Data...
1..Nonlinear Material

Function/Select:
OK
OK
Reconfigure the plot.

View/Options...
Category:

PostProcessing

Options:

XY Axes Style

X Tics:

11

Y Tics:

14

Options:

XY X Range/Grid

Axis Range:

2..Max Min

Minimum:

-13.75

Maximum:

288.8

Options:

XY Y Range/Grid

Axis Range:

2..Max Min

Minimum:

-2.5E-4

Maximum:

0.00525

Options:

XY Curve 1

Data Labels:

2..Output Value

Curve Style:

2..Lines with Points

OK

BASIC ANALYSIS

XY of Function

XY Style:

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-6

The plot on your view screen should look similar to the following:

4.

Create the material properties.

Model/Material...
Title:

Material_1

Youngs Modulus, E:

200,000

Poissons Ratio, nu:

0.3

Nonlinear >>
Nonlinearity Type:

Plastic

Hardening Rule:

0..Isotropic

Function Dependence:

1..Nonlinear Material

Yield Criterion:

0..von Mises

Initial Yield Stress:

200

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-7

BASIC ANALYSIS

OK
OK
Cancel
Clear the graphics screen of the XY Function Graph.

View/Select...
Draw Model

Model Style:
OK
5.

Create the model.

Once the nonlinear material has been created, the rest of the model can be generated from the following steps:
Generate the line geometry.

Geometry/Curve - Line/Coordinates...
X:

Y:

Z:

OK

X:

100

Y:

Z:

OK

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-8
Cancel

View/Autoscale (Ctrl+A)
6.

Define the number of elements (ten) on the curve.

Mesh/Mesh Control/Custom Size Along Curve...
ID:

OK
Num Elements:

10

OK
Cancel
7.

Define the element properties.

Model/Property...
Title:

Property_1

Material:

1..Material_1

Elem/Property Type...
Line Elements:

Rod

OK
Area, A:

OK
Cancel
8.

Mesh the geometry.

Mesh/Geometry/Curve...
Pick Curve 1 from the graphics
screen.
OK
Property:

1..Property_1

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-9

OK
Apply the constraints to the model where one end (left end) of the rod is fixed.
Model/Constraint/Nodal...
Constraint_1

Title:
OK

Pick Node 1 (left end) from the graphics screen.

OK
Fixed
OK
Cancel
10. Apply the 300 N and 0.001 N (effectively zero) axial tensile end loads to the free
end of the rod for both loading and unloading cases.
Model/Load/Set...
300 N Load

Title:
OK
Model/Load/Nodal...

Pick Node 11 (right end) from the graphics screen.

OK
Highlight Force from the load type list.
Load:

FX
FY
FZ

Value:

300

BASIC ANALYSIS

9.

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-10

OK
Cancel
11. Create the second load.
Model/Load/Set...
ID:

Title:

Zero Load

OK
Model/Load/Nodal...
Pick Node 11 from the graphics screen.
OK
Highlight Force from the load type list.
Load:

FX
FY
FZ

Value:

0.001

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-11

BASIC ANALYSIS

OK
Cancel
View/Regenerate

(Ctrl+G)

The final model should look something like the following figure:

12. Set the nonlinear solution parameters.

Model/Load/Nonlinear Analysis...

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-12

Solution Type:

Static

Defaults...
Number of Increments:

10

Intermediate:

3..ALL

OK
REPEAT this procedure for the 300 N Load set before going on.

Model/Load/Set...
ID:

Title:

300 N Load

OK
Model/Load/Nonlinear Analysis...
Solution Type:

Static

Defaults...
Number of Increments:

10

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

Intermediate:

2.3-13

3..ALL

OK

13. Analyze the model.

File/Analyze...
Analysis Type:

10..Nonlinear Static

Output Types:

2..Displacements and Stress

Loads...
Select All
OK
OK
When asked "OK to Save model Now?, select Yes.

Yes
File name:
Save

Plastic Deformation.mod

BASIC ANALYSIS

It is possible to change the nonlinear solution parameters, to select solution strategy overrides for
example, but it is not usually necessary. For certain problems however, the default settings may not
lead to a solution convergence.

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-14

If asked, OK to Read Nonlinear Stresses and Strains?, select Yes.

Yes
When the MSC/NASTRAN manager is through running, MSC/NASTRAN will be restored on
your screen, and the Message Review form will appear. To read the message(s), you could select
Show Details. Since the analysis ran smoothly, we will not bother with the details this time.

Continue
14. Process the results.
View/Select...
XY Style:

XY vs Set Value

XY Data...
Output Set:

1..Case 1 Time 0.1

Output Vector:

1..Total Translation

Output Location/Node:

11

Show Output Sets (Blank=All):

From:
To:

1
20

The load steps of interest are from 1 to 20, covering the loading and unloading load cases. Node 11
is located the free end of the rod structure, and the quantity that will be plotted on the XY plot is
total translation.

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-15

BASIC ANALYSIS

OK
OK
Reconfigure the plot.

View/Options...
Category:

PostProcessing

Options:

XY X Range/Grid

Axis Range:

0..Automatic

Options:

XY Y Range/Grid

Axis Range:

0..Automatic

Options:

XY Curve 1

Data Labels:

0..No Labels

OK
Your view screen should now display a plot similar to the following:

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-16

The plastric strain for an element can also be plotte using rod element number 10, for instance.

View/Select...
XY Style:

XY vs Set Value

XY Data...
Output Set:

1..Case 1 Time 0.1

Output Vector:

3286..Rod Plastic Strain

Output Location/Element:

10

Show Output Sets (Blank=All):

From:
To:

OK
OK
You should obtain a plot similar to the following:

1
20

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation

2.3-17

BASIC ANALYSIS

15. Finally, exit the program when you are done.

File/Exit
When asked if you wish to save the model, select Yes.

Yes

2.3-18

Nonlinear Material - Plastic Deformation