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Femap 101
Student Guide
Version 10.3
ii
Lesson No
Workshop(s)
Overview of Materials
Overview of Properties
Meshing Overview
Day 2
Lesson No
Topic
Workshop(s)
10
11
iii
Day 3
Lesson No
Topic
Workshop(s)
12
Postprocessing
13
Midsurfacing
14
Assembly Modeling
15
iv
Using Femap
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of general overview of Finite Element Modeling and
Analysis and the tools in Femap available to generate FEA models.
Topics
Femap UI Overview
Units
Femap Preferences
1-1
Lesson 1
Structural
Thermal
Fluid Flow
Optical
Electromagnetic
Femap can be used to model the first four types of FEA models.
1-2
Lesson 1
Material attributes
1-3
Lesson 1
Takeaway
A FEA model is at best, an approximation of a physical structure.
The accuracy of the results from a FEA model are only as good as the quality of
the mesh and the accurate application of material attributes and boundary
conditions to a model.
1-4
Lesson 1
Geometry
Materials
Boundary Conditions
Constraints
Loads
Properties
Mesh
Analyze
Post process
1-5
Lesson 1
Geometry
Import Geometry
File, Import
Geometry
File, References
Create Geometry
Geometry,
commands
Modify Geometry
Geometry,
commands
Modify, commands
Surfaces
1-6
Lesson 1
Properties
Model, Property commands
Property Types:
Isotropic
Line elements
2D and 3D Orthotropic
Plane elements
2D and 3D Anisotropic
Volume elements
Other elements
1-7
Lesson 1
Boundary Conditions
Constraints
Model, Constraint commands
Loads
Model, Load commands
Femap models can contain multiple Constraint Sets and Load Sets
Constraints and Loads can be assigned to geometry or meshes
For loads, the Model Info window allows:
1-8
Lesson 1
Single Nodes
Model, Node
command
Single Elements
Model, Element
command
Additional mesh creation and editing tools are available through the Meshing
Toolbox
1-9
Lesson 1
Analyze
Model, Analysis
command
Report
List, Output,
commands
Data Table
operations
1 - 10
Lesson 1
Dynamic zoom, pan and rotation supported via the mouse or through the use of
a 3D mouse device
1 - 11
Lesson 1
Femap standard material and beam section property libraries use in-lbs units
You can use the File, Notes command to make a notation for future reference and
to add a comment in the analysis file.
The following two pages have charts that show consistent unit values that should be
used to obtain accurate results.
1 - 12
Lesson 1
English
lbf in- s
SI
mN mm - s
SI
N mm - s
SI
Nm-s
Length
inches
mm
mm
Mass Density
lbm/in3
kg/mm3
Tonnes/mm3
kg/m3
Force
lbf
mN
Stress,
Pressure,
Modulus of
Elasticity and
Shear
Modulus
psi
kPa
MPa
Pa
Moment,
Torque
lbf/in
N/mm
N/mm
N/m
Velocity
in/sec
mm/sec
mm/sec
m/s
Acceleration
in/sec 2
mm/sec 2
mm/sec 2
m/sec 2
Temperature
Coefficient of
Thermal
Expansion
in/degF
mm/degC
mm/degC
m/degC
Model Data
1 - 13
Lesson 1
English
lbf in- s
SI
N mm s
SI
mN mm s
SI
Nms
Length
inches
mm
mm
Mass Density
lbm/in3
kg/mm3
Tonne/mm3
kg/m3
Temperature
Coefficient of
Thermal
Expansion
in/F
mm/C
mm/C
m/C
Energy
lbf-in
mJ
Thermal
Conductivity
lbf/sec-F
W/mm-C
mW/mm-C
W/m-C
Specific Heat
lbf/sec2-F
J/kg-C
mJ/Tonne-C
J/kg-C
Heat Transfer
Coefficient
lbf/in-sec-F
W/mm2
mW/mm2
W/mm2
lbf-in/sec
mW
Model Data
Heat
Generation
(Flux)
1 - 14
Lesson 1
Units Conversion
Use the Tools, Convert Units command to convert units.
Length: 0.001 m = 1 mm
Force: 1 N = 1 N
1 - 15
Lesson 1
Femap model files saved in versions prior to Femap v10.2 are stored as .mod files
Femap automatically converts older version .mod or .modfem files to the current
version of Femap
When this conversion occurs, you are presented the FEMAP Neutral File
Converter message box, then the Neutral File Read Options dialog box, where
you confirm the options for converting from the older model file.
A Femap Neutral File (.NEU file extension) is a Ascii text file and can be exported from
Femap using the command, File, Export, Femap Neutral. This command allows you
to write a Neutral file for an earlier version of Femap (v4.1 through the current release of
Femap).
Entities not supported in the earlier version of Femap will be ignored in writing the
Femap Neutral File.
Femap Neutral files are read into Femap files using the command File, Import, Femap
Neutral. The Neutral File Read Options dialog box allows the selective import of
geometry, mesh, output, groups and/or views into the active Femap model.
CT 1900 Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 Rev 010612
1 - 16
Lesson 1
Femap Preferences
Preferences are used to configure Femap for optimum performance and the way you
prefer to work. These are described in detail in the Femap Commands manual and in
Femaps online help.
Preferences are stored in the femap.ini file under the main Femap installation folder
If you specify a different Start In location for your Femap startup shortcut, Femap
will first look in that location for a femap.ini file and use the preferences set in that
file. In addition, any changes to preferences will automatically be stored in the
femap.ini file in that folder.
If no femap.ini file exists in your startup folder, changes will be made to the
femap.ini file in the main Femap installation folder, provided that you have write
permission for that folder.
Messages
Views
Render
User Interface
Database
Geometry/Model
Interfaces
Library/Startup
Color
Spaceball
1 - 17
Lesson 1
You can modify the Geometry Engine and allow editing of solids in a part initially
created using the Standard Geometry Engine by changing the Femap preference to
Parasolid.
Femap stores geometry in meters. The Solid Geometry Scale Factor is used to
internally store your geometry units as meters in Parasolid.
For example, if you select Inches, the Scale Factor is 39.37 (inches/meter). Femap
uses the inverse of this number to store the geometry in its model database (1 inch
= .0254 meters).
This scaling will allow you to import and model parts that are outside of the
Parasolid modeling limits ( +/-500 x 500 x 500).
Note: If you import geometry with a different scale other than the files original scale,
new or modified geometry will be out of scale with the imported geometry.
1 - 18
Lesson 1
Hardware Acceleration can be toggled off if your graphics card drivers are causing
instability in Femap, or if your graphics card does not fully support OpenGL, such as
in a laptop without a graphics accelerator chip.
Including less entities with the Include In Dynamic Rotation option will speed up
dynamic rotation of large models.
Setting the BitBlt Delay can be used to help with performance on consumer or
game-oriented graphics cards.
1 - 19
Lesson 1
Drivers from the manufacturers of the graphics card chipset tend to be more stable
then the drivers from the maker of the graphics card. (e.g. use an ATI or nVidia
driver vs. an ASUS driver)
1 - 20
Lesson 1
Database Options
Database Performance
Timed Save
Scratch Directory
Click the Database Options Help button for detailed information on settings in this tab.
Note that any changes made in the Database tab requires you to exit and to start a
new Femap session.
1 - 21
Lesson 1
If this option is left blank, Femap will write its temporary files to the Windows TEMP
folder location
When a Windows TEMP variable is not defined, the location of the Femap
scratch files defaults to your Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local
Settings\Temp folder. In many cases, this is a location on the network other
than your local PC.
Setting the Femap Scratch folder or setting the TEMP variable to a network file
location may seriously degrade Femaps performance and dramatically increase file
save times. In addition, if your network fails for any reason, any opened files in a
Femap session have the potential to be corrupted.
Exit and restart Femap after changing the Scratch Directory folder.
1 - 22
Lesson 1
Database Memory Limit - sets the maximum amount of system memory that
FEMAP will use to hold parts of the model and results in memory.
Max Cached Label - sets the largest label for which FEMAP will reserve memory.
This option must be set to a ID higher than any entity in the model.
Blocks/Page - sets the "page" size. The optimum setting of this number often
depends on the speed of the disk and controller.
Generally, this should only be changed with high-speed physical drives and/or
disk-caching enabled.
Open/Save Method generally this should be changed only when you experience
very slow opening and saving of Femap models.
1 - 23
Lesson 2
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of the Femap User Interface.
Topics
Graphics Windows
Dockable Panes
Entity Editor
Entity Selection
Shortcut Keys
Online Help
2-1
Lesson 2
Floating dockable
pane
FEMAP Trays
2-2
Lesson 2
Graphics Windows
Femaps graphics windows have the ability to display:
Multiple Models can be opened at the same time each with multiple views.
A single model with multiple views has the view name displayed in the view tab
When multiple models are open, each view has their view tab displayed as
Model Name : View Name
2-3
Lesson 2
Views can be dynamically rotated, zoomed, and panned using the mouse.
True Windows - provide easy transfer from Femap to other Windows programs.
Windows Metafiles
2-4
Lesson 2
Menu commands displays short-cut keys (hotkeys) and shows toolbar icons on
menu (includes user-defined shortcut keys and icons, when assigned)
2-5
Lesson 2
Commands
Keyboard
User Commands
Options
Set options on the toolbars such as using large icons, showing tooltips (with or
without shortcut keys), and menu animation options (options are selected for ALL
toolbars).
2-6
Lesson 2
Toolbars
Dockable Toolbars
Toolbars can be docked anywhere
around the perimeter of the main Femap
window.
When docked, toolbars can be placed
next to one another or stacked on top
of one another.
Floating Toolbars
Toolbars can be peeled off the perimeter of the main Femap window and made to
float anywhere within the main Femap window.
2-7
Lesson 2
Customizing Toolbars
Three (3) methods to customize or create a new toolbar:
Click the Customize icon (down-arrow icon) on a docked or floating toolbar and then
select Customize from the context-sensitive menu.
2-8
Lesson 2
2-9
Lesson 2
2 - 10
Lesson 2
View Manipulation
View Rotation, Zooming and Panning
View Orientation Toolbar
Entity Display Toolbar
View Toolbar
2 - 11
Lesson 2
Action
No command active
Rotate
Pan
Ctrl+Left or Ctrl+Middle
mouse button
Zoom
Shift+Left or Shift+Middle
mouse button
2 - 12
Lesson 2
This toolbar is not activated as part of the standard Femap GUI layout, you will need
to activate and place it.
The Isometric, Dimetric, and Trimetric view orientation(s) can be modified using
Femaps Preferences.
Select the View tab and set the angles for these views under the View and Dynamic
Rotation section.
As an alternative, you can use the View, Rotate, Model command (F8 hotkey) to rotate
or orient views.
Version 10 added the option to Rotate Around any coordinate system, including
those defined by the user.
2 - 13
Lesson 2
Coordinate
Systems
Constraints
Text
Nodes
Surfaces
Regions
View Analysis
Elements
Model Toggle
Loads
View Geometry
Toggle
Curves
Connectors
View Labels
Toggle
Points
Note:
2 - 14
Lesson 2
Access via the View, Visibility command, the Ctrl+Q hotkey or by clicking the View
Visibility icon on the View toolbar.
2 - 15
Lesson 2
View Toolbar
The View toolbar allows control of the active view orientation, magnification, view style,
and layers.
2 - 16
Lesson 2
2 - 17
Lesson 2
Dockable Panes
There are eight (8) standard dockable
panes
Model Info
Meshing Toolbox
PostProcessing Toolbox
Entity Editor
Entity Info
Data Table
Data Surface Editor
Messages Window
2 - 18
Lesson 2
Floating
Docked
Docked and Tabbed (Retracted) Place cursor over tab to have pane fly-out and
be used (Docked and Tabbed Panes can also be Stacked)
2 - 19
Lesson 2
Docking position indicators only appear when a dockable pane is being dragged from
one position to another.
An outline of where the pane will be positioned will appear when the cursor is placed
over a specific Indicator.
2 - 20
Lesson 2
Messages Pane
Can be turned on and off using the Tools, Other Windows, Messages menu or with
the Messages icon on the Panes toolbar.
The Messages pane is also the default location for listing the results of Tools, Check
and List commands
The command List, Destination is used to toggle on and off results of List
commands to the Messages pane. This command can also be used to specify
listing out to a file.
Font, font size and text colors for the Messages pane are set using the File, Preferences
command under the Messages tab.
Undock the Messages pane by double-clicking on its title bar. To return it to its previous
docked location and size, double click its title bar again.
When typing in the Messages window, anytime you type a shortcut key, the
command assigned to the key will be invoked.
2 - 21
Lesson 2
2 - 22
Lesson 2
Coordinate Systems
Connections
Properties
Regions
Connectors
Aero Model
Model
Elements
Materials
Properties
Layups
Functions
Data Surfaces
Views
Groups
Layers
Selection List
2 - 23
Lesson 2
2 - 24
Lesson 2
Collapse/Expand All
Collapses or expands ALL categories in the Model Info tree at once. Can be
used to only show what you need to view specific entities.
Reload From Model
Reloads the Model Info tree with all current information from the model. Always
collapses the whole tree completely.
Reset All Visibility Options
Sends selected data to the Data Table pane for sorting, filtering, and evaluation.
The Data Table MUST be open and unlocked for this icon to be used.
Note:
Defaults for Show When Selected can be set in the Show Entities
Defaults section found on the User Interface tab of the Preferences dialog
box.
2 - 25
Lesson 2
2 - 26
Lesson 2
Entity Editor
Turn on and off the Entity Editor pane with the Tools, Entity Editor menu or with the
Panes toolbar.
Provides information of specific entities in Femap displayed using different types of
fields. The types of fields include:
2 - 27
Lesson 2
Select Toolbar
When an entity in the tree is highlighted, it will appear in the Entity Editor
(Analyses and entities in the Selection List from the tree will not populate the
Entity Editor when highlighted)
When activated, the last chosen
entity will appear in the
Entity Editor pane.
2 - 28
Lesson 2
Lock/Unlock Toggle - When unlocked, the Entity Editor will always display the
entity that was last selected using an entity entry method. When locked, the data
in the Entity Editor will remain there until the pane is unlocked.
Copy to Clipboard - Copies the current data in the Entity Editor to the clipboard
so it can be pasted into the Messages window or an outside program
Clear All clears the contents of Entity Editor window. Does not delete the
entity.
Categorized - Default listing method of the Entity Editor. For each entity, groups
similar parameters, options, and settings together for more efficient use.
Alphabetic - Displays all the fields without any categories in alphabetical order
Reload From Model - Reloads the Entity Editor fields with the values that are
currently in the model for the chosen entity. Use this to recover the original values
for all the fields, except for modifications made with a prior Update Model action.
Update Model - Applies any changes made in the Entity Editor to a chosen entity
and saves the changes to the model database
2 - 29
Lesson 2
Allow you to collapse and expand individual categories and sub-categories inside
the Entity Editor.
Shows a title and short description of what each field of every entity represents.
Also documents the Nastran Bulk Data entry (if applicable) the field will produce
when a Nastran Input File (*.DAT, *.BDF, or *.NAS file usually) is exported.
Note:
2 - 30
Lesson 2
Tray on Right
Properties
Load Sets
Constraint Sets
Groups
Output Sets
Right-clicking the Status Bar brings up a customization menu which can be used to
toggle individual Tray items on and off
2 - 31
Lesson 2
2 - 32
Lesson 2
Select
2 - 33
Lesson 2
2 - 34
Lesson 2
The Add method allows you to graphically, and through Methods, add entity IDs to
the list of IDs.
The Remove method allows you to graphically remove entity IDs from the list, and
is dependant on the order you removed the entities. So if you were to add the entity
ID after removing, it would still be included in the list.
The Exclude method allows you to exclude entity IDs permanently from the list
(Used primarily with Groups)
The Delete command will delete the entity ID from the list.
Selection methods with the Method button vary depending on the entity type.
2 - 35
Lesson 2
Select entities graphically from the screen using a Box, Circle, Polygon, or Freehand
shape
Add additional entities based on entities already selected using Add Connected
Fillets and Add Tangent Surfaces
Select From List button. For objects that have "Titles" the "Select from List"
button can be used to choose entities from a list dialog box. Ctrl+L in a dialog
box field brings up the list of "Titled" entities.
2 - 36
Lesson 2
You can enter additional filter strings or push the Clear All Filters
clear your filter and return to the original, unfiltered selection list.
2 - 37
Lesson 2
2 - 38
Lesson 2
2 - 39
Lesson 2
Click the Methods button to change the definition method of the vector.
Note: To change the Method of specifying the coordinates of the vector, place the
cursor in one of the coordinate boxes, and press the Ctrl+Z hotkey.
2 - 40
Lesson 2
Note: To change the method of specifying the coordinates of the plane, place the
cursor in one of the coordinate boxes, and press the
Ctrl+Z hotkey.
2 - 41
Lesson 2
Shortcut Keys
Femap contains preprogrammed shortcut keys for commonly used commands.
F5 - View Select
F6 - View Options
F8 - View Rotate
Ctrl+Z Undo
See Appendix A of the Femap User Guide for a complete list of preprogrammed
shortcut keys
Customized shortcut keys can be saved to a .LAYOUT file and imported into other
installations of Femap.
In some cases, importing a .LAYOUT file with customized shortcut keys only into a
new version of Femap will not recreate some or all of the customized shortcut keys.
2 - 42
Lesson 2
Note: When typing in the Messages window, anytime you type a shortcut key, the
command assigned to the key will be invoked.
2 - 43
Lesson 2
On-Line Help
Menu Help - Femap provides description of each command while pointing at it or
accessing it on the Status Bar .
Help is context sensitive
Access a command
2 - 44
Lesson 2
Toolbars
Dockable Panes
Whats New
Examples
Using Help
2 - 45
Lesson 3
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of the Femaps geometry import, creation and editing
tools.
Topics
Geometry Overview
Geometry Import
Solids Overview
Geometry Cleanup
3-1
Lesson 3
Geometry Overview
Femap supports the creation and modification of wireframe, surface, and solid geometry
using the Parasolid geometry kernel
Femap reads multiple CAD formats
Femap geometry creation and editing
Points, 2D and 3D curves
Surfaces
Solid creation and editing operations
Supports Solid, Sheet and Non-manifold Bodies
Midplane surface extraction and editing (to be covered in a separate lesson)
3-2
Lesson 3
3-3
Lesson 3
Note:
If you change the Geometry Scale Factor to a value other than the value of
Femaps preference in one of these dialog boxes, Femaps preference will
update to the input value.
3-4
Lesson 3
Geometry Importing
Import geometry with the File, Import, Geometry command.
Import Geometry icon can be found on the Model toolbar
3-5
Lesson 3
3-6
Lesson 3
Solid Bodies
A Solid body is completed enclosed by surfaces and has no gaps or dangling surfaces.
Any Solid body is shown in the Model Info panes Geometry tree with this icon:
Note:
Running the Tools, Mass Properties, Solid Properties command will show
that a Solid body has Volume.
3-7
Lesson 3
Sheet Bodies
Sheet bodies have one or more contiguous surfaces that do not enclose a volume
For multi-surface Sheet bodies, all surfaces must connect on a common edge with
one other surface as the Base and Side Walls solid body below.
Since the eight Rib bodies do not connect on a common edge with any other
surfaces, these are all separate Sheet bodies.
A Sheet body is shown in the Model Info panes Geometry tree with the icon below.
3-8
Lesson 3
3-9
Lesson 3
The Meshing Toolbox has the Entity Locator tool to locate curves and surfaces within
solids by specifying a search method and size. You will use this tool in Exercise 3b
Geometry Modification and Preparation.
3 - 10
Lesson 3
Note:
3 - 11
Lesson 3
3 - 12
Lesson 3
Workplanes
The Workplane is used to define the local X-Y plane for 2D wireframe and some solid
geometry creation commands.
Access via the Tools, Workplane command or the F2 hotkey.
Snap Options control display of the grid spacing, etc. of the workplane
Workplane display can be toggled on and off in the Workplane Management dialog
box using the Draw Workplane check box or with the View Style, Workplane icon
on the View toolbar
Grid display options in the View Options Tools and View Style dialog box
controls color and fill settings for the workplane
3 - 13
Lesson 3
3 - 14
Lesson 3
Lines
Creation with the Geometry, Curve Line
commands:
Locate on the Workplane:
Project Points
Horizontal
Vertical
Perpendicular
Parallel
Midline
At Angle
Angle to Curve
Point and Tangent
Tangent
Rectangle
Locate in 3D space:
Continuous
Points
Coordinates
Offset
Vectored
3 - 15
Lesson 3
Arcs
Arcs are always placed on the Workplane
Arc creation with the
Geometry, Curve Arc commands:
Center-Start-End
Radius-Start-End two points on the arc
define the start and end of the arc. A
positive radius will create an arc less then
180 degrees while a negative radius will
generate an arc greater than 180 degrees.
Angle-Start-End two points on the arc define the start and end of the arc; a positive
angle will generate the arc from the start to the end in a counterclockwise direction
a negative angle will generate the arc clockwise from the start point to the end point..
Chord-Center-Start locate the center, start point for the arc, and a chord length
less than twice the radius.
Points locate the start point, a point on the arc, and the end.
Center and Points use this to create an arc in 3D space. Specify by four points:
Center, start, end, and a fourth point that defines the direction of the arc.
Start-End-Direction specify the start and end points, and the tangent direction for
the start point.
3 - 16
Lesson 3
Circles
Circles are always placed on the
Workplane
Circle creation with the
Geometry, Curve Circle commands:
Radius two points define the
center and a point on the circle.
Diameter two points on the circle
define the diameter.
Center define the center and the
radius of the circle.
Two Points locate two points on the
circle and enter the radius.
Point-Tangent locate the center
point and a tangent curve.
Concentric create a circle by selecting an existing circle and the new circles
radius.
Points on Arc create a circle by three points.
Center and Points create a circle by defining the center, starting point on the
circle, and a point defining the positive direction of the circle.
3 - 17
Lesson 3
Splines
Splines can be generated by Control Points
or by Points on the spline (the splines control
points are automatically generated by Femap).
Four (4) point Bezier splines are created when
using the following commands:
Ellipse
Parabola
Hyperbola
The spline created by the Blend command creates a spline blending two curves. A
Blend Factor controls the interior shape.
The Offset spline uses a point projected onto the Workplane to determine the offset
location.
Combine a set of contiguous curves into a single curve using the Multiple Curves
command. Not to be used with sharp corners.
3 - 18
Lesson 3
3 - 19
Lesson 3
Note:
Except for the Break operation, these commands cannot be applied to solid
or surface geometry curves.
3 - 20
Lesson 3
3 - 21
Lesson 3
Surface Curves
The Geometry, Curve - From Surface set of commands are used to create curves on
surfaces with the following techniques:
Intersect select two intersecting surfaces and/or solids.
Project project the selected curve(s) normal to the selected surface(s).
Project Along Vector - project the selected curve(s) along the specified vector onto
the selected surface(s).
Parametric Curve specify a location to generate a curve along a U or V direction
on the selected surface.
Slice split the selected surface(s) and/or solids by a plane.
Split at Locations generate a parametric curve on a surface by specifying the start
and end locations of the curve.
When the Update Surfaces option is enabled (default for new models), the curves
become part of the surface and will split the surface into multiple surfaces (if the
curves selected make up a closed loop). Otherwise, the curves generated by this
command are simply internal curves of the surface.
3 - 22
Lesson 3
3 - 23
Lesson 3
3 - 24
Lesson 3
3 - 25
Lesson 3
3 - 26
Lesson 3
3 - 27
Lesson 3
3 - 28
Lesson 3
3 - 29
Lesson 3
3 - 30
Lesson 3
3 - 31
Lesson 4
Overview of Materials
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of creating and editing materials with Femap.
Topics
Defining Materials
Modifying Materials
Material Libraries
4-1
Lesson 4
Defining Materials
Create new materials with the Model, Material
command or right-click on the Material object in
the Model Info pane
Default material type is Isotropic
4-2
Lesson 4
4-3
Lesson 4
4-4
Lesson 4
Temperature
Stress
Strain
Frequency
Isotropic
Fluids
4-5
Lesson 4
The Define Function dialog box has a pull-down to select the Type of function. For
materials, you should select one of the following:
The Data Entry field of this dialog box has multiple options for defining functions
Use the Paste from Clipboard option to take data from a spreadsheet and copy it into
your Femap function.
4-6
Lesson 4
In the field that you are using a function, enter a scalar multiplier of the selected
function (in most cases a value of 1), and then with the cursor still in that field, press
the Ctrl+f hotkey. This will activate the Select Function dialog box.
Click the Function References tab, click the Function pull-down and select the
function to be applied to that field. Just like when using the first option, the value
entered in the material field will cause the material attribute to be the scalar value
time times the function used for that field.
4-7
Lesson 4
Material Type
Isotropic
Nonlinear Elastic
Elasto-Plastic
Plastic
Orthotropic (2D
and 3D)
Anisotropic (2D
and 3D)
To assign the type of material nonlinearity and the attribute for the nonlinearity, select
the Nonlinear tab in the Define Material dialog box and then select the Nonlinearity
Type.
4-8
Lesson 4
Modifying Materials
Use the Modify, Edit Material command:
)or:
In the Model Info pane select the material(s) to be edited, right-click and
then, select Edit from the menu.
4-9
Lesson 4
Material Libraries
Femap has the ability to store an retrieve materials in a materials library. In the Femap
main installation folder, there are four material database files that can be used:
material.esp:
mat_eng_SI.esp:
Since these libraries can be deleted during the uninstallation of Femap or replaced when
performing a repair of a Femap installation, any customization of these libraries should
be accomplished by copying these databases to a location other than the Femap
installation folders and regularly backed up.
To load a material from a materials library, click the Load button in the Define Material
dialog box.
To store a new or modified material to a library, click the Save button in the Define
Material dialog box.
Saving a material does not over-write an existing material, but creates a new
material database entry.
4 - 10
Lesson 5
Properties
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of creating and editing properties with Femap.
Topics
Element Types
Defining Properties
Editing Properties
5-1
Lesson 5
Properties
Element Types
A Property defines the element shape (type) and associated material. Properties define
additional analysis information for each element type, and are controlled by the element
type.
Femap supports the following element types:
Line (1D) Elements:
Rod
Shear Panel
Tube
Membrane
Curved Tube
Bending Only
Bar
Plate
Beam
Laminate
Link
Plane Strain
Curved Beam
Axisymmetric Shell
Spring Damper
Plot Only
DOF Spring
Gap
Plot Only
Axisymmetric
Solid
Other Elements
Mass
Mass Matrix
Rigid
Stiffness Matrix
Slide Line
Weld/Fastener
5-2
Lesson 5
Properties
Defining Properties
Create new properties with the Model,
Property command or in the Model Info
pane, right-click on the Property object
and select New.
5-3
Lesson 5
Properties
Material selection
Property Values these attributes will change based on the property Type.
Thickness
Area, etc
Radius
5-4
Lesson 5
Properties
5-5
Lesson 5
Properties
Enter appropriate values for a shape and specify the Stress Recovery locations.
Use the arrow buttons to locate these points.
The Reference Point can be used to set the mesh location and when used, Femap
will automatically calculate offsets from the beams shear center.
Choose General Section under Shape to select any planar surface as the cross
section of a beam.
Beam properties will be automatically calculated by after clicking OK.
5-6
Lesson 5
Properties
Use the Modify, Update Elements, Line Element Orientation command to change
orientation of the selected beam elements.
The Modify, Update Elements, Line Element Offsets command is used to change the
offset of the selected beam elements.
Can also change the offset by setting the location of the node to the beam
Reference Point.
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Lesson 5
Properties
5-8
Lesson 5
Properties
5-9
Lesson 5
Properties
5 - 10
Lesson 5
Properties
5 - 11
Lesson 5
Properties
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Lesson 5
Properties
5 - 13
Lesson 5
Properties
Automatically creates new properties for the variable thickness planar elements.
By default, nodes are located at the midplane (1/2 the thickness) of shell elements.
Use the Mesh, Mesh Control, Attributes on Surface command to preset the
offset.
Constant element offset can also be set in FEMAP 10 and above when meshing
surfaces by pressing More Options button and setting the appropriate options in
the Offset section.
5 - 14
Lesson 5
Properties
To convert from Parabolic to Linear, select No in the first dialog box presented in
the command.
You must manually delete and/or merge any midside nodes for elements converted
from Parabolic to Linear.
5 - 15
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of the tools available in Femap to control and
generate meshes.
Topics
Mesh Control
Feature Suppression
Geometry Meshing
Hex Meshing
6-1
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
6-2
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Mesh Control
The Mesh, Mesh Control menu creates settings for:
6-3
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
If you only need a uniform mesh, this will be the only mesh control operation you
need to do.
At Point, used to specify the size along any curve that references that point, and
does not already have a size specified.
On Surface, used to specify the size on all of the curves referenced by the
surface, and gives other options for controlling the mesh on the surface.
On Solid, provides the same basic mesh control as the previous, but also has
additional options that pertain primarily to multi-solid meshing, and hex meshing.
6-4
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Add: The current curve mesh size is increased by the number of elements
specified
Subtract: The current curve mesh size is decreased by the number of elements
specified. It is not reduced below 1
Set To: The curve mesh size is set to the number of elements specified
Note:
Mesh, Mesh Control, Custom Size Along Curve, can be used to place nodes at
specific locations along curves, and match one curve's mesh sizing to another curve or
curves.
Mesh, Mesh Control, Mapped Divisions on Surface, allows you to specify divisions
for a mesh on 3 and 4 sided surfaces
Mesh, Mesh Control, Mesh Points on Surface, defines specific locations on a surface
where nodes will be created when the surface is meshed
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
6-6
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Resulting mesh after applying the Mesh, Mesh Control, Custom Size along
Curve command matching the bottom edge to the top three (3) edges.
6-7
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
At Point - used to assign meshing properties to points, so that when the points are
meshed, the properties will automatically be assigned to the points
Along Curve used to assign a 1D property (rod, beam, etc.) to the selected
curve(s).
On Surface - most commonly used for assigning plate properties to surfaces, and
should be used when meshing multiple surfaces with different properties in one
meshing operation.
When the selected property type requires additional input such as orientation
and offset, you are prompted to assign those attributes
6-8
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Femap will automatically assign the corner points when the Mapped Four Corner
option is selected and no points are selected
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Interactive feature suppression is also available in the Meshing Toolbox under the
Feature Suppression toolset.
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Max Size of Small Feature is the effective diameter of the interior feature calculated
by taking of the perimeter length of the interior feature divided by pi.
The default value of this option is equal to the value of the Element Size.
Vertex Aspect Ratio is used to optimize mesh sizing at locations where both long and
short curves are joined at common vertices
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Suppressing short edges on certain solids or surfaces may cause the mesher to fail.
While not common, an error stating you have a "hole" in the mesh will inform you of
this situation.
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
This first sizes all curves using parameter-based sizing, then determines an
average distance between each of the mesh locations on each curve. If the
distance between any of the mesh locations is more than 1% different than the
"average distance", then that curve is resized using length-based sizing.
For many cases, there will be no difference between Parameter and Length-based
mesh sizing, however, for complex curves and surfaces such as splines, there is a
difference:
Parameter-based
Mesh Sizing
Length-based
Mesh Sizing
CT 1900 Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 Rev 010612
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Chord Height = maximum normal distance from the element edge to the curve
or surface
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Similar to the Automatic Mesh Sizing dialog box for surfaces except for:
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
The Assembly / Multi-Body Sizing options can be used to automatically set mesh
approaches on solids with adjacent surfaces when multiple bodies are selected .
Use the Remove Previous Slaving option to remove the mesh sizing and slaving
on bodies that have had mesh sizes previously applied.
Adjust Colors changes the colors of surfaces that have mesh sizes set. The
following lists the colors and their meanings:
Dark Transparent Blue free surfaces that have mesh sizes successfully
applied.
Light Solid Blue surfaces that have been matched to an adjacent surface for
the purpose of creating a continuous mesh.
Skip Sizing on Slaved Surfaces skip mesh sizing on surfaces that are slaved to
another surface.
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Takes the surfaces you select, and uses the enclosing outer curves to form a
regular boundary surface.
This feature works best with surfaces that have small to moderate curvature.
Can be used to remove sliver surfaces by selecting surfaces that surround the
sliver.
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Geometry Meshing
Mesh, Geometry, Point - is the most basic of the automatic meshing commands.
Will generate nodes (and elements for 0D element types such as Mass Elements) at
the selected points.
Mesh, Geometry, Surface - creates nodes and planar elements on a selected set of
surfaces.
Must first define the mesh sizing using one of the various Mesh Control commands
There are also basic Mesh Control options on the Automesh form, as well as Mesh
Smoothing, and Element Shape options
Mesh, Geometry, Volume - creates nodes and elements in a selected set of volumes.
Mesh, Geometry, Solid - Produces a 3-D solid tetrahedral mesh in a solid part
Mesh, Geometry, Solids From Elements - meshes a plate element mesh that
encloses a volume into a solid element mesh
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
To see all of the surface meshing options available, press the More Options button.
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Pre-V10 Meshing can be used to have FEMAP mesh using the old meshers
and options.
Connect Edge Nodes and a Tolerance can be set to automatically merge
nodes on surfaces of stitched bodies.
Toggle Mapped Meshing on or off and set various mapped meshing options.
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Laplacian moves the node towards the centroid of the surrounding nodes.
Offset options allow you to offset to the top face, bottom face, or by a specified
value as the mesh is created instead of having to do it as a secondary step.
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Min Elements Between Boundaries forces the mesher to attempt to put the
specified number of elements between adjacent boundaries
Max Element Aspect Ratio attempts to create elements which are under the
specified aspect ratio
Quick-Cut boundaries splits boundaries with more then the specified number of
nodes into smaller pieces for meshing.
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Use the Quad Edge Layer option to set the depth of quad elements around
features
0
Layers
1
Layer
2
Layers
3
Layers
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Merge Nodes
2..All Nodes
Tet Growth Ratio specify a factor to increase the size of the interior elements
over the size of the initial surface mesh.
Initial Size Ratio used to provide additional control for the size of the mesh.
Lower values results in denser meshes.
Update Mesh Sizing activates the Automatic Mesh Sizing dialog box for solids.
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
The Prepare Geometry option is used as the basis for the settings in the Geometry
Preparation Options dialog box. This is activated by clicking the Prepare Options
button.
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
With these commands you can revolve , extrude, or sweep curves or line elements
into plane elements, and plane elements into volume elements. You can also select
face(s) on volume element(s) to create additional volume elements.
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
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Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Begin by slicing the solid into simple sections that are extrusions using the following
commands:
Use Mesh Control to set the size and link the adjacent surfaces
6 - 32
Lesson 6
Meshing Overview
Meshing Toolbox
In the next section, you will learn about the Meshing Toolbox. This toolbox allows for
interactive modification of geometry and meshes to improve the quality of meshes:
Feature Editing
Geometry Editing
6 - 33
Lesson 7
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of Femaps capabilities in managing, creating and
editing boundary conditions .
Topics
Constraint Sets and Constraints
Load Sets
Body Loads
Load Categories Structural, Thermal, and Fluid loads
Creating and Editing Loads
Structural Load Types
Thermal Load Types
Fluid Load Types
Advanced Femap Loads
Load Set Options for Advanced Analyses
7-1
Lesson 7
Constraint Sets
The Model, Constraint, Create/Manage Set command creates a new Constraint Set or
activates an existing Constraint Set.
This command is also available in the Status Bar.
You may create as many different Constraint Sets as necessary.
Combine multiple Constraint Sets with the Model, Constraint, Combine command.
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Lesson 7
7-3
Lesson 7
Clicking the More button will create the constraint set with the ID and Title and will
then resets the options in the New Constraint Set dialog box to enable the creation of
a new constraint set.
If one or more constraint sets are in a model, you can also create a Nastran
SPCADD/MPCADD Combination constraint set.
When a Nastran deck is created by Femap, it writes out the Nastran SPCADD and
MPCADD cards as needed.
7-4
Lesson 7
The Reference Constraint Set for Nastran SPCADD/MPCADD dialog box will list the
Available (standard) Sets and the Referenced Sets.
Manage references by selecting one or more Standard reference sets and click the Add
Referenced Sets or Remove Referenced Sets.
Note: Nastran combined sets are not displayed in the graphics window unless Show
Constrained Entities is selected from the context-sensitive menu in the
Model Info pane.
CT 1900 Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 Rev 010612
7-5
Lesson 7
Creating Constraints
Use the Model, Constraint commands, Constraint toolbar, or the Model Info tree.
7-6
Lesson 7
Nodal Constraints
Nodal Constraints - specify six (6) specific degrees of freedom with the Model,
Constraint, Nodal command
X translation = 1, X rotation = 4
Y translation = 2, Y rotation = 5
Z translation = 3, Z rotation = 6
Specify Coordinate System
Constraint Equations relate the motion or displacement of one node to the motion or
displacement of one or more other nodes. To create these, use the command, Model,
Constraint, Equation.
Often referred to a MPCs
7-7
Lesson 7
Geometry Constraints
Geometric constraints - applied to
geometry and expanded to nodes
during export to an analysis file.
Model, Constraint, On Point
Model, Constraint, On Curve
Model, Constraint, On Surface
Expand Geometric constraints
manually by using the Model,
Constraint, Expand command.
Available when
constraining a
surface.
7-8
Lesson 7
Editing Constraints
Edit Constraints with:
Modify, Edit, Constraint
Definition
Modify, Edit, Constraint
Individual
Individual constraints in a
Constraint Definition may
be edited. If the
Constraint Definition is
subsequently edited, the
individual edit is
overwritten by the value of
the Constraint Definition..
Includes the option to Edit Where Applied add and/or remove entities where
a constraint is applied. (new in v10.1)
Entity Editor
Note:
Constraints created prior to Femap v9.3 are shown in the Model Info tree as
Other Constraints.
This also applies to all FEMAP models created by importing analysis files.
7-9
Lesson 7
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Lesson 7
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Lesson 7
Clicking the More button will create the load set with the ID and Title and will then
resets the options in the New Load Set dialog box to enable the creation of a new
load set.
If one or more load sets are in a model, you can also create a Nastran Load
Combination load set.
When a Nastran deck is created by Femap, it writes out the Nastran LOAD cards
as needed.
7 - 12
Lesson 7
The Reference Load Sets for Nastran Load dialog box will list the Available (standard) Sets and
the Referenced Sets.
Manage references by selecting one or more Standard reference sets and click the Add
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Lesson 7
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Lesson 7
Body Loads
Body or Global Loads applied to the entire model
Translational Acceleration (gravity) and Rotational Acceleration
Use to apply the weight of the structure as a load
Rotational Velocity and Center of Rotations
Specify the Coordinate System for translational and rotational accelerations and
velocities
Thermal Default Temperature
Required for all Nastran Heat Transfer analyses
7 - 15
Lesson 7
Note:
7 - 16
Lesson 7
7 - 17
Lesson 7
Editing Loads
Edit Loads with:
Modify, Edit, Load Definition command
Modify, Edit, Load Individual command
Individual loads in a Load Definition may be edited. If the Load Definition is
subsequently edited, the individual edit is overwritten by the value of the Load
Definition.
You can convert a Load Definition to Other Loads by right-clicking the Load
Definition in the Model Info tree and selecting Remove Definition.
You can highlight any number of individual Loads of the same type found in the
Other Loads section of a Load Set in the Model Info tree and combine them into a
Load Definition using Create Definition
Model Info pane
Includes the option to Edit Where Applied add and/or remove entities where a
load is applied. (new in v10.1)
Entity Editor
7 - 18
Lesson 7
Points
Curves
Surfaces
Nodes
Elements
Force
Bearing Force
Moment
Torque
Displacement
Enforced Rotation
Velocity
Rotational Velocity
Acceleration
Rotational Acceleration
Distributed Load
Pressure
7 - 19
Lesson 7
7 - 20
Lesson 7
The Load Angle (default = 180 degrees) is the total angle that the bearing load is
applied across the selected surface(s). The direction of the bearing force is the
bisector of the Load Angle and is specified after approving the inputs of the Create
Loads dialog box.
Normal To Surface will distribute the load normal to the selected surface(s).
Disabling this will distribute the load in direction specified.
When multiple surfaces are selected, the Total Load option is automatically enabled
spreading the specified Magnitude among all the surfaces selected, otherwise, the
magnitude will be applied to each surface
When the Traction Load option is selected, the distributed load will pull on the
surfaces pointing away from the solid volume instead of pushing on the surfaces
pointing towards the solid volume
Once the inputs for the Bearing Loads are completed and the OK button is pushed, you
will be prompted to specify the direction of the bearing force.
7 - 21
Lesson 7
Once the inputs for the Torque are completed and the OK button is pushed, you will
be prompted to the location and orientation of the axis about which the torque is
applied.
7 - 22
Lesson 7
Points
Curves
Surfaces
Nodes
Elements
Temperature
Element Temperature
Convection
Radiation
Element Heat
Generation
7 - 23
Lesson 7
Load Type
Points
Curves
Surfaces
Nodes
Elements
General Scalar
Steam Quality
Relative Humidity
Unknown Condition
Fan Curve
Periodic Condition
7 - 24
Lesson 7
Method
Constant value entered into the Value field
Variables distributed or position dependent loads
Click the Advanced button to create or edit the Variable
Data Surfaces advanced methods for creating variable loading conditions
Note:
7 - 25
Lesson 7
7 - 26
Lesson 7
7 - 27
Lesson 7
Data Surfaces
The Data Surface Editor pane allows more flexible and complex load definitions.
After setup, the data surface can be edited directly using the Data Surface Editor.
7 - 28
Lesson 7
7 - 29
Lesson 7
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Lesson 7
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Lesson 7
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Lesson 7
Functions
Variables
Data
Surfaces
Bearing Force
Torque
Temperatures
Convection / Radiation
Fluid Loading
7 - 33
Lesson 7
7 - 34
Lesson 7
Note:
After selecting the type of Nonlinear Analysis, click the Defaults button to
automatically enter the NX Nastran Nonlinear defaults and modify as
needed.
7 - 35
Lesson 7
7 - 36
Lesson 7
Notes on Loads
NX Nastran Displacement and Enforced Rotation loads require constraining the loaded
object in the direction of the applied load
e.g. A Displacement Load of x=.10, and y=.10 applied to a point requires that the
corner be constrained in X and Y.
For NX Nastran Advanced Nonlinear (SOL601), loads should be applied with a timebased function.
For solvers other than NX Nastran, refer to the Femap Users Guide for details on the
loads supported by Femap for the solver used Also refer to that solvers documentation
on how to apply loads.
7 - 37
Lesson 8
Purpose
This lesson provides an introduction to selection, viewing, and data collection tools in
Femaps user interface.
Topics
Select Toolbar
View Options
Data Table
Programming Interfaces
8-1
Lesson 8
Select Toolbar
The Select Toolbar allows you to select entities one at a time or create a list of selected
entities that will remain active until you toggle off or clear the selection list. This
functionality allows you to choose entities of different types first and then perform
multiple commands from the menus or the toolbars on the selected entities.
The Select toolbar is essential to the use of the dockable panes, especially the Entity
Editor and Data Table because the selector is often the best way to place an entity into
either of these panes.
The Select toolbar consists of 5 items which aid in the selection process:
Snap Modes (Snap to Screen, Snap to Grid, Snap to Point, Snap to Node)
8-2
Lesson 8
8-3
Lesson 8
Add To Selection - Adds entities to the current selection list when Select Multiple
is active or simply chooses entities when Select Single Item is active. This is the
default
Remove From Selection - Removes entities from the current Selection List when
Select Multiple is active. Only allows selection of entities currently in the Selection
List. Does not highlight anything when Select Single Item is active
8-4
Lesson 8
8-5
Lesson 8
When Select Related is turned on, Select Multiple is also automatically toggled on.
8-6
Lesson 8
8-7
Lesson 8
8-8
Lesson 8
8-9
Lesson 8
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Lesson 8
8 - 11
Lesson 8
Initial Selection
8 - 12
Lesson 8
8 - 13
Lesson 8
8 - 14
Lesson 8
8 - 15
Lesson 8
Select Toolbar
Context Sensitive Menus
While a certain entity type is active in the selector, only that entity type will be available
for picking in the graphics window. Since FEMAP is only highlighting one specific entity
type at a time, there are context sensitive menus for each entity type (except Text).
These menus can be accessed by highlighting an entity in the graphics window and then
clicking the right mouse button. These Context Sensitive menus contain frequently used
commands for each entity type.
Any time there is an active entity in the Select Toolbar, clicking Alt + clicking the right
mouse button in the graphics window will bring up the Quick Access Menu instead of the
context sensitive menu related to the active entity. This can very helpful for picking
mode purposes and to toggle Show Tooltips.
8 - 16
Lesson 8
8 - 17
Lesson 8
View Options
The View, Options (F6 hotkey) command allows you control the way your view is
displayed. See the View Options section of the Femap Commands manual for details on
the multiple options available in these dialog boxes
There are three major categories in the View Options dialog box:
Labels, Entities and Color controls the way text, geometry and mesh entities,
and the color of entities are displayed in the active view.
Tools and View Style controls view entities, style and display of view objects
such as Symbols in the active view.
Use the Apply button to update the active view without leaving the View Options
command.
8 - 18
Lesson 8
Transparent
Solid
Shaded
You also have the option to specify a bitmap as a logo background. The bitmap for
the logo is specified in the Femap Preferences dialog box in the Views tab.
A view with its View Options, Entity Display settings, and Background can be saved to a
View Library within the Visibility dialog box (activated with the Ctrl+Q hotkey or from
the View toolbar) by clicking the Save View button.
Changes made to
the active view can
also be removed
via the Reset View
button in this dialog
box.
8 - 19
Lesson 8
Data Table
Use the Tools, Data Table command or the Panes toolbar to turn the Data Table on
and off.
When the Data Table is first opened, it is locked. The Lock/Unlock icon must be
selected to unlock it to enable it to receive or update data.
Data is placed into an interactive, dynamically changing table using various methods to
fill the table provided it is unlocked
Each item appears as a single row separated into a number of columns when it
enters the Data Table.
Information of entities of the same type can be sorted, filtered, and evaluated to help
you understand what is occurring in your model before and after analysis.
In many ways, the Data Table is a complement to the other dockable panes and can
also simply be an alternate method to list and view entity data
All FEMAP entities which can be selected using the Select toolbar can be sent to the
Data Table.
Several commands are available for listing and sorting results when the Data Table is
open and analysis results sets are loaded into your FEMAP model:
8 - 20
Lesson 8
Programming Interfaces
Program Files
FEMAP has the ability to record and replay command sequences using Program
Files.
API FEMAP has an Application Programming Interface that can be used to customize
FEMAP for applications such as:
Automate tasks such as swapping the background colors of views for printing .
Interface with other programs for the purposes for importing, modifying, or reporting
data.
FEMAP has a built-in Basic language programming environment through the API
Programming pane.
Microsoft Visual Basic and Visual C++.NET can also be used to develop custom
applications for FEMAP.
The API can be used to embed FEMAP into other applications; open, create, and/or
modify FEMAP models; or to develop standalone FEMAP applications without using
FEMAPs GUI.
Examples of API applications are shipped with FEMAP in FEMAPs API folder. The
Custom Tools toolbar is set by default to point to this folder.
8 - 21
Lesson 9
Purpose
This lesson provides an introduction to selection, viewing, and data collection tools in
Femaps user interface.
Topics
Layers
Groups
View Options
9-1
Lesson 9
The box to the left of the objects ID/name is the Visibility Toggle and indicates
whether or not the object is displayed.
You can also select one or more of the same object type and then Right-click to bring up
the Visibility Toggle menu.
Femap will display the combination of selected geometry, element types, materials,
properties and groups, eliminating the need to organize the model by layers or by
creating additional groups.
9-2
Lesson 9
9-3
Lesson 9
9-4
Lesson 9
Element Quality
Material Data
Property Data
9-5
Lesson 9
Entity / Label - allows you to toggle the display of individual load and constraint
types
Group
Layer allows you to create new groups as well as toggling the display of layers
Loads / Constraints also allows you to set and control the display of single or
multiple Load and/or Constraint Sets
Geometry
Connection
Coordinate
System
Element
Material
Property
9-6
Lesson 9
Layers
Groups
Entities
Display
Simultaneously?
9-7
Lesson 9
Layers
Create new layers using the Tools, Layer command. This activates the Layer Manager
dialog box.
Delete a layer
9-8
Lesson 9
Activate layers
Manage layers
Delete layers
9-9
Lesson 9
Coordinate
Screen
Plane
Volume
Group Rules
9 - 10
Lesson 9
Group Management
The Group, Create/Manage command opens the Group Manager dialog box. The
Layer Manager dialog box has options to:
9 - 11
Lesson 9
9 - 12
Lesson 9
In all take entities that are common to all of the selected groups.
Not in Any take entities that do not exist in any of the selected groups.
Subtract remove the entities from the selected groups from another group.
Only in One - take only the entities that exist in one of the selected groups.
Not in All - take only the entities from the selected groups that do not exist in all of
the selected groups.
Note:
9 - 13
Lesson 9
Manage Referenced
Groups
Add to Selection adds the contents of the selected group(s) to the Selection List
Export Neutral exports the contents of the selected group(s) to a Femap Neutral file
9 - 14
Lesson 9
Choose between:
Show Full Model when selected, the selection of individual groups in the
group list section of this dialog box is grayed out.
Show Single Group when selected, the selection of individual groups in the
group list section of this dialog box is grayed out.
The Visibility Toggle is the box to the left of the groups ID and name and
indicates whether or not the group is displayed.
9 - 15
Lesson 9
A blank checkbox
indicates that the
group is not displayed.
9 - 16
Lesson 9
Click Grp: (#) on the Status Bar Tray and select the group you want to activate.
Show Active
Show Multiple
9 - 17
Lesson 9
View Options
In many cases, you may want to display specific entity indicators such as surface
normal, curve direction or element normal's. The View Options dialog box offers options
to display these indicators.
Example Turn on display of rigid elements degree of freedom indicators and
master/slave nodes:
An unfilled box
indicates the Slave
Node on the rigid
element
A filled box
indicates the
Master Node on the
rigid element
9 - 18
Lesson 9
9 - 19
Lesson 10
Purpose:
The Meshing Toolbox is used for accessing FEMAPs interactive geometry cleanup
and idealization tools and interactive mesh editing tools. This lesson is an overview
of the tools available in the Meshing Toolbox.
Topics:
Entity Locator Tools
Feature Suppression Tools
Feature Removal Tools
Feature Editing Tools
Geometry Editing Tools
Combined / Composite Curves Tools
Combined / Boundary Surfaces Tools
Mesh Sizing Tools
Mesh Surface Tools
Mesh Locate Tools
Mesh Quality Tools
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Lesson 10
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Lesson 10
Do Not Locate - deletes the current entity from the list of located entities and keeps
the entity from being located again during the current model editing session.
Remove - deletes the current entity from the list of located entities
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Lesson 10
Feature Suppression
Feature Suppression controls allow you to interactively suppress or remove
suppression of:
Loops select one edge on an feature to automatically suppress the entire set of
curves and surfaces comprising the feature
Curves select curve(s) to be suppressed. Should not be used on solids.
Surfaces select surface(s) to be suppressed. Should not be used on sheet bodies.
Suppress or Restore
Limit Size prevents selection of entities that have their length less than the specified
Smaller Than value.
Update Colors - set options to toggle and colors for suppressed entities.
Show Suppressed - allows you to highlight suppressed Curves or Surfaces
Restore All features in either selected solid(s) (In Solids button) or in the entire
Model
CT 1900 Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 Rev 010612
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Lesson 10
Feature Removal
Feature Removal differs from Feature Suppression in that the underlying solid or
surface geometry is modified.
Loops includes an option to set the Limit Size for selecting loops.
Add Surface Mesh Point - adds a Mesh Point on Surface at the center of the
loop.
Curves includes an option to set the Limit Size for selecting loops. Also includes
an option for Aggressive Removal
Surfaces - when a single surface on a solid is selected, Femap will attempt to clean
up the solid to result in a clean solid. In some cases, no operation will be performed
and in others, other adjacent surfaces will be removed. There is also an option for
Aggressive Removal
Note:
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Lesson 10
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Lesson 10
definitions
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Lesson 10
Add By Curve create the composite surface by selecting a common edge on the
two original surfaces
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Lesson 10
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Lesson 10
Advanced Options
gives you access to
most of the options in
the Mesh Surface dialog box
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Lesson 10
With the Locate Multiple option you can select multiple nodes and move them
simultaneously
The Locate Method specifies whether to move the node:
Dynamic drag the position of the selected node(s) using the cursor
Manual, Vector specify the direction and distance to move the selected node(s)
Smooth will move the adjust the other nodes of the attached elements to smooth the
mesh quality
Enabling the Project option constrains the nodes movement so that it remains attached
to its surface
Constrain to Curve constrains the nodes movement to remain attached to its curve
Once a node or nodes have been moved, you have the option to Save or Discard the
edit(s)
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Lesson 10
2 or 4
Minimum Distortion displays the minimum element distortion value in the Meshing
Toolbox pane
Max Distortion displays the maximum element distortion value in the Meshing
Toolbox pane
Note:
To display the quality of internal elements, you must use the Meshing
Toolboxs Entity Locator Elements Quality tool
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Lesson 11
Purpose
This lesson provides an introduction to the setup of analyses using Femaps Analysis
Set Manager.
Topics
Preview/Edit Input
Analyze Process
11 - 1
Analysis Sets are stored along with the Femap model file or can be stored in a Femap
library that is available across different model files.
To enter the analysis Manager select the Model, Analysis command.
11 - 2
Response Spectrum
Random Response
Design optimization
Nonlinear
Nonlinear statics
Heat Transfer
Advanced Nonlinear
11 - 3
Edit sets by double click on tree item or highlight and select Edit button
Delete
Copy
11 - 4
Can add additional NX Nastran cards and/or Include Files with Start/End Text
options
Case Control
Subcases
Select Master Requests and Conditions then click the New button
Multi set:
Select constraint and loads sets and Femap will create a subcase for each
combination of selected constraint and load set(s)
11 - 5
If you want to analyze only a portion of the model, you can specify a single group to
write out only with the Portion of Model to Write option.
Some models may have specified the mass properties entry for materials as weight
density rather then mass density. In this case, enable the WTMASS option and
specify the value of the gravitational constant.
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Just like in NX Nastran Advanced Dynamics, these can also be set as options in a
load set.
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Preview/Edit Input
Preview
Edit Preview edits performed using this option will be a one time only edit and will
only be applied when applying the Export or Analyze button
Add comments
Analyze or Export
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Analyze Process
Analyze operation
Results automatically
loaded into Femap
(Femap Preferences
default).
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Note:
11 - 11
Lesson 12
Purpose:
This lesson provides an detailed overview of post-processing results in Femap.
Topics:
Contour Options
XY Plots
Freebody Display
Vector Plots
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Lesson 12
The default display for any new Femap view is the Model style. Both styles have
multiple types of displays that can be selected in the View Select dialog box. Graphical
display of deformed and/or contour results can be also be set in the PostProcessing
toolbox.
Results can also be listed in the Messages pane and/or to a text file and can also be
displayed in the Data Table
Note:
For versions of Femap prior to v10.2, selection of results type, output sets,
and output vectors is controlled through the View, Select command and the
Post toolbar and display settings for results is controlled through the View,
Options command.
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Lesson 12
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Lesson 12
Auto Redraw Automatically refreshes the active graphics pane when any
changes are made to the Deform Style or the Contour Style. On by default for
any new model, turn this off for large models for better performance when
multiple changes are going to be made to the results display.
Manual Redraw Refreshes the active graphics pane when any changes are
made to the Deform Style or the Contour Style
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Lesson 12
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Lesson 12
Scale Select the type of scale for the deformed shape: % of Model or Actual
Deformations.
For % of Model, you can set the display scale of the Max % Model equal to
the highest value of the deformed vector selected times the value of the largest
extent of the undeformed model.
You can also enable the Scale Based on Group where the largest
deformation displayed is based on the maximum value of the deformed
vector in the displayed groups
For Actual Deformations, you directly set the scale of the deformed values.
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Lesson 12
For Deformed, Animate, Animate MultiSet and Trace styles, you have the option to
display the Undeformed Model. The undeformed model can be displayed using the
views element color display settings or by enabling the Use View Color option.
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Lesson 12
Shape select from a Linear or Sine (sinusoidal) distribution of the frames. For
both types, you can select between Full, Full-Abs(olute), Half, or Half-Abs(olute).
Full displays the loading and unloading of the model while Half displays only
the loading of the model
Animation Control opens the Animation Control dialog box where the animation
can be paused, stepped from frame to frame, frame delay and full or half shapes
can be toggled on and off.
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Lesson 12
Final Output Set select the Final Output Set for animation
Specify the Increment between the Output Set and the Final Output Set
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Lesson 12
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Lesson 12
Label display either No Labels, the Output Set ID or the Output Set Value
Length Display the trace of the deformation as the Full Length path or to
animate the path with the Animate Growth setting
Color set the color of the trace path
Show Locations show a symbol at the location along the trace path for each
output set selected
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Lesson 12
Location - displays the coordinate of the streamline start point. This option
also allows you to specify the location by a selected Coordinate System.
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Lesson 12
Streamline display the Draw Start or indicators of the start point(s) of the
streamline(s) and display the color of the streamline(s) by either a contoured color
line or by Use View Color
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Lesson 12
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Lesson 12
Show On display contours on the Full Model, Active Group, or from the list of
groups in the model
Levels - Specify the Level Mode, Contour Palette and # of Levels. Enable
Continuous Colors and Animate the contour colors when the Deform Animate
style is enabled.
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Lesson 12
Legend - Enable display of the legend as well as specify the Position of the
legend. Specify the Label Color mode and the View Color. In addition, you can
enable both Exponential Labels and Label Erase Background. Set the Label
Frequency, Label Digits and label Shrink to %.
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Lesson 12
Elements that Pass / Elements that Fail Enable none, one, or both of these
options and set the Color options for the displayed elements.
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Lesson 12
Dynamic Control - activate the Dynamic Section Cut Control dialog box. For
Parallel Sections, this will dynamically move all the section cuts. For Multiple
Sections, you select which section cut you want to dynamically move.
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Lesson 12
Contour Vectors opens the Contour Vector Options dialog box to specify the
Vector Type, Elemental Vectors and output data orientation
Vector Options specify the Vector Style and set the color of the vectors and Use
View Color to those set in the Contour Vector Options dialog box or display by
contour color
Length enable Adjust Length to Value to display the vectors relative to the
highest value specified by value of the Arrow Length
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Lesson 12
Freebody Display
Freebody diagrams are created in Femap with the Freebody tool. To create a new
freebody, click the Add Freebody icon under the Freebody Properties tool.
This activates the Freebody Manager dialog box. Click the New Freebody button.
Note:
When freebody displays are needed, you will need to specify the output of
Grid Point Forces or equivalent for non-Nastran solvers. This is the Force
Balance option in the Analysis Set Manager, Nastran Output Requests
dialog box.
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Lesson 12
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Lesson 12
When the Entity Selection Mode is set to Entity Select, click the Select
Freebody Elements icon to active the Select Entity Select Freebody Elements
dialog box.
The Show Freebody Elements icon can be used to display the freebody
elements selected using the highlighting option set for the model.
The Reset Freebody Elements icon can be used to clear the freebody element
selection.
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Lesson 12
When the Entity Selection Mode is set to Entity Select, the Select freebody
elements, Show freebody elements, and Reset freebody elements icons are
available.
Additionally, when Entity Selection Mode is set to Entity Select, click the Select
freebody nodes icon to active the Select Entity Select Freebody Nodes dialog
box. When the nodes are selected, you will be prompted in a dialog box to create
and automatically locate a total summation vector at the center of the selected
nodes.
The Show freebody nodes icon is used to display the freebody elements
selected using the highlighting option set for the model.
The Reset freebody nodes icon is used to clear the freebody node selection.
The Place summation vector at the center of selected nodes icon is used to
generate the force and/or moment summation vector at the center of selected
nodes.
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Lesson 12
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Lesson 12
Note:
In order for this command to be available, you must first activate a results set
that includes beam or bar force and stress output vectors.
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Lesson 12
By default, the active Output Set is selected and can be changed when multiple
output sets exist in the Femap model.
Elements allow you to either select a Single beam or bar element or Multiple
elements with the entity selection dialog box.
Dynamically change the Location of the cross section based upon the length of the
beam.
The Multiple option will generate the number of cross sections equally distributed
along the length of the element(s) selected. This will disable dynamic location of
the cross section
Show Stress allows the selection of one of the following:
0..von Mises Stress
1..Maxium Shear Stress
2..Maximum Principal Stress
3..Minimum Principal Stress
4..Axial Stress
5..Y Shear Stress
6..Z Shear Stress
7..Combined Shear Stress - has an option to display a Vector Plot
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Lesson 12
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Lesson 12
When the command is activated, the View Select dialog box controls:
XY Style for XY plots see page 12-43 for a detailed explanation of options
Model Style for model entity display. See Chapter 6.1.5.2 of the Femap Commands
manual, Choosing a Model Style for more details.
Draw Model
Features
Quick Hidden Line
Full Hidden Line
Free Edge limits the display of the model to only free element edges
Free Face limits the display of the model to only those elements with free faces
Deformed style
Contour style
Note:
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Lesson 12
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Lesson 12
Contour Options
The contour algorithm in Femap will use either nodal or elemental data to perform the
contouring. Depending on the selected options and the available data, Femap will use
several different approaches to calculate the contours.
Contour Type Using the default option of Match Output will automatically set the
contour data to the either Nodal for nodal results such as displacement or
Elemental for elemental results such as.
Contour Group allows the display of results of the Active or Selected group
without activating the group.
Data Conversion options see following 3 pages for a more detailed description
Element options
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Lesson 12
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Lesson 12
N = (W+ X+ Y+ Z)/4
without:
N = (A+ B+ C+ D)/4
max (W, X, Y, Z)
without:
max (A, B, C, D)
min (W, X, Y, Z)
without:
min (A, B, C, D)
Node N
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Lesson 12
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Lesson 12
Output Transformations
By default, Femap displays NX Nastran results in the global or basic rectangular
coordinate system. The Select PostProcessing Data dialog box has options to
transform output vectors to user-selected directions. This option also exists in the
PostProcessing toolbox.
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Lesson 12
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Lesson 12
Animation Commands
Create the animation in the View Select dialog box and select Animate as the Deformed
Style
This will create an animation of the active Deformation Output Vector in the Deformed
and Contour Data Dialog Box
By selecting the View, Advanced Post, Animation command, you can control the
speed of the animation.
Once the plot is Animating it can be saved as an AVI file or Animated Gif file (*.GIF)
using the File, Picture, Save command and selecting the Video for Windows (*.
AVI)or Animated GIF (*.GIF) format.
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Lesson 12
XY Plots
Use View, Select (F5) command to generate XY plots also accessible from the
Graphics Windows context-sensitive menu.
XY vs ID - plots XY data as a function of the element or node ID
XY vs Set - plots XY data versus the Output Set ID for an Output Vector across several
Output Sets
XY vs Set Value - similar to vs Set, except uses Output Set value for X
XY vs Position - plots XY data vs the position of nodes or element in an axis direction
for an output Vector in on Output Set
XY vs Function - (not a post-processing option) plots XY data for a function
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Lesson 12
XY Plots of Functions
Functions can be displayed quickly by selecting the function to be displayed in the
Model Info window and selecting Show from the context-sensitive menu.
Opens a new graphics view titled XY Show
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Lesson 12
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Lesson 12
Vector Plots
Multiple types of Vector plots can be generated using results data.
Select Vector as the Contour Style in the View Select dialog box, then the Deformed
and Contour button.
Once an Output Set is selected, click the Contour Vectors button to specify the
options for the plot. This opens the Contour Options dialog box.
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Lesson 12
CT 1775
1900 Student Guide for Femap 101 - v10.3 Rev 010612
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Lesson 12
Extrapolate allows you to linearly extrapolate output from the center of planar or
solid elements to the element corners. Primarily used for analysis programs that do
not generate corner results.
Global Ply creates new output vectors in selected output sets for "Top Ply",
"Bottom Ply", and every "Global Ply" currently in the model.
Expand Complex creates new output at specified phase intervals based upon
selected magnitude/phase data.
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Lesson 12
Contour/Criteria Style
Contour Levels
Contour Legend
Criteria Plots
Criteria Limits
Criteria - Elements that Pass
Criteria - Elements that Fail
XY Plots
XY Titles
XY Legend
XY Axes Styles
XY X - and
XY - Y Range/Grid
Freebody Diagrams
Freebody
Freebody Node Markers
Freebody Node Vectors
Freeboy Total Force and Moment
Freebody Nodal Force and Moment
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Lesson 12
Post Toolbar
Allows quick display of Deformed and Contour plots
Detailed Postprocessing settings accessible from the Post Options pull down icon
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Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
Purpose:
Midsurfacing is a technique that is used to build idealized models of thin bodies. This
lesson is an overview of the tools available Femap to create midsurface models.
Topics:
Midsurfacing
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Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
Midsurfacing
Midsurfacing is the process of extracting the midplane between parallel surfaces in
order to reduce the complexity and increase the accuracy of the Finite Element Model.
Solid: 113,512 nodes and 63,875 elements. ( > 3 minutes solve time).
Shell: 1725 nodes and 1576 elements. (< 10 seconds solve time).
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Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
Creates a single sheet surface between two surfaces that extends beyond the extent of both
surfaces.
Trims a surface with a solid and deletes any part(s) of the surface which lie outside the
volume of the solid.
Extends a surface by using one of a surface's edge curves and "extending the surface using
a specified "Extend Shape method. This command is also available in the Meshing Toolbox,
Geometry Editing, Extend tool.
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Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
Use where the part has multiple wall thicknesses or has features that are
branching or non-tangent.
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Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
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Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
Creates midsurfaces
Splits the selected surfaces at their intersections
Prompts you for the material for the selected surface(s) and then automatically
creates the properties with the wall thickness(es)of the original solid.
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Lesson 13
Midsurfacing
Midsurfaced Geometry
2 Sheet Solids and 2 curves at Tjunction between Sheet Solids, both of
which needs to be sized the same for
mesh continuity
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Lesson 14
Purpose:
In the context of FEA, modeling assemblies may use multiple techniques to connect the
components of a FEA assembly. This lesson is an overview of the tools available in
Femap to model FEA assemblies.
Topics:
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Lesson 14
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Lesson 14
Coincident Nodes
Connecting Similar Element Types can be accomplished with Coincident Nodes. To
check and merge coincident nodes, use the Tools, Check, Coincident Nodes
command.
Set a Tolerance for merging nodes. Pairs of nodes whose distance is less than or
equal to the Tolerance will be used in merging or listing nodes.
The Action setting is used to specify the option to merge and/or list the coincident
nodes detected among the nodes selected for checking.
The Keep ID setting is used to have Femap automatically select the node to keep,
or to keep the lowest ID, highest ID or to interactively select the nodes to keep.
Move To specifies that the coincident node remains at the current location, at the
location of the lower or higher ID, or move the node to midpoint of the location of the
pair of coincident nodes.
The Preview Coincident option is used to display coincident nodes before merging
Enable the option for Safe Merge to prevent distorted elements when nodes are
merged
Make Groups can be used to create group(s) of nodes merged or detected using
this tool. The resulting group(s) are created depending on the Action selected.
When Connection Regions are detected among the nodes selected to be checked
for coincidence, you have the option to Merge Across Connections.
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Lesson 14
Rigid Elements can be used to transmit rotations between Solids and Shells and Solids
and Beams by transferring the translation on the nodes on the plate elements to the
nodes on the solid elements.
Use a minimum of two dependent nodes on the solid for every independent node
on the shell or beam.
Note:
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Lesson 14
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Lesson 14
To create a RBE3 rigid element, click the RBE3 (Interpolation) tab in the Define
RIGID ELEMENT dialog box
Generally, you should only specify the use of translational DOFs for the
Independent nodes on RBE3 elements
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Lesson 14
When an RBE2 element is converted, you are prompted for Ok to Convert only
Translation Degrees of Freedom. As a general practice, you should click OK.
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Lesson 14
You can either change the value of the Factor, or you can select the Distance
Weighting option that causes Femap to calculate a weighted interpolation factor
based on that nodes distance from the Reference Node relative to all the other
nodes selected in Step 1.
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Lesson 14
RBE1 rigid elements may also have more than one Independent node
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Lesson 14
Welded Connections
Femap supports Weld Properties and Elements
Spot Weld uses an effective length calculation based on the thickness of the two
shell elements connected.
Note:
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Lesson 14
Rigid Elements
Gap Elements
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Lesson 14
Connection Property
The Connect, Automatic command finds the closest surfaces between solids and
automatically generates Connectors (also known as Contact Elements) between
adjacent Connection Regions. This command is also found in the Model Info pane by
right-clicking on the Connections object and selecting the Automatic menu item.
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Lesson 14
Distance Tolerance
Angular Tolerance
0..All Connections
1..Face-Face Only
2..Edge-Face Only
Check for Connections in Same Solid generally not used unless you are
checking for contact within a single part such as a flexible seal
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Lesson 14
Glued
Descriptions of the these type of connection properties will be detailed in the next few
pages.
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Lesson 14
Linear contact can be used only in NX Nastran Linear Statics and Basic Nonlinear
solutions.
Always click the Defaults button when switching Contact Type or manually
creating a new Connection Property.
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Lesson 14
NX Linear
Glued Contact Property Options
Glued Contact has the following property options. In most cases, selecting the
Defaults button will result in the proper settings.
1..Spring when this is selected, you can change the Normal Factor and
Tangential (Penalty) Factors
2..Weld (default) should be used for most cases as this prevents the
introduction of artificial rotational energy into the connection.
When selected, you can change the Glue Factor, but this is not
recommended.
Eval Order - determines the number of "Linear Contact or Glue Points" for a single
element on the source region.
Refine Source - determines if the source region is refined for the "Linear" or
"Glued" Contact solution.
Search Distance if the two contact segments lie within this distance, NX Nastran
activates glued contact between the pairs.
Note:
For more details on Glued Contact, see the NX Nastran Users Guide,
Section 9.7.
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Lesson 14
Min(imum) and Max(imum) Contact Search Distance if the element faces of the
contact segments are within these values, NX Nastran activates the linear contact
algorithm for these contact faces.
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Lesson 14
0..Calculated (default) - Use the initial position of the nodes in the contact
pairs. In the case of penetrations, a model may experience "press fit" behavior
when using this option.
Shell Offset use the default (0..Include shell thickness) unless the contact
segments are defined at the top of the shell mesh, not the mid plane of the shells.
Note:
For more details on Linear Contact, see the Femap Commands manual,
Section 4.4.3.1. You can also refer to the NX Nastran Users Guide,
Chapter 19 for additional details on gluded and linear contact.
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Lesson 14
NX Nastran checks for contact between element faces from the Slaves element faces
to the Masters element faces and internally builds contact element pairs between the
two element faces. Therefore, as a rule, you should model with the following in mind:
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Lesson 14
A Connection Region is created by clicking the Define Region button in the Define
Contact Connector dialog box, by selecting the Connect, Region command or by rightclicking the Connections Region object in the Model Info pane.
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Lesson 14
Bolt Preload an axial force load applied to the bar or beam elements or Bolt
Region
Two elements that connect the ends of the bolt to the rest of the mesh usually
Rigid elements
API script automates generation of bolt mesh Custom Tools, Meshing, Hole to Hole
Fastener
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Lesson 14
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Lesson 14
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Lesson 14
Valid only for SOL110 Complex Modal Analysis (Normal Modes with Rotor Dynamics
option) and SOL111 (Modal Frequency Analysis with Rotordynamics option)
14 - 24
Lesson 15
Purpose:
This lesson is an overview of methods to check and debug Finite Element Models.
Topics:
Results Checking
Model Debugging
Common Errors
15 - 1
Lesson 15
Pros
Coarse
Model
Lower number of
Elements
Less Degrees of
Freedom
Fine
Model
Cons
Accuracy for
complicated geometry is
improved
Higher number of
Elements
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Lesson 15
Checking Results
It is always a good idea to do a reality check with the results of any Finite Element
Analysis. Using engineering knowledge and common sense will allow a user to
determine if the results make sense for the applied boundary conditions. For instance,
an under-constrained or unconnected (nodes not merged where they should be) model
may exhibit much larger displacements than expected a displacement in the opposite
direction of the applied load during a linear cantilever beam analysis.
Some Good Practices:
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Lesson 15
Model Debugging
Recommended minimum checks on input
At the G-size
Mass Checks
Loading checks
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Lesson 15
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Lesson 15
First time use of a new capability. It is always a great idea to make a small test
model in order to see how NX Nastran functionality works as it will take less time to
debug and give insight into the usage of the feature
Reference the Femap Examples document as this has examples of nearly all
types of analyses that can be performed with Femap and NX Nastran.
Always use unique IDs NX Nastran sometimes allows for duplicate element IDs,
but not always. Duplicates can and do lead to problems, especially during data
recovery
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Lesson 15
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Lesson 15
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Lesson 15
If unfamiliar with an element type that needs to be used, make simple models and
compare the answers to theory
Geometry
Undeformed plots
Based on Loads
Shrink plots
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Lesson 15
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Lesson 15
Check center of gravity and total weight (mass) versus known values
Loads
Constraints
Verify they are correct (location and orientation in output coordinate system of the
GRID points)
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Lesson 15
Are the reactions at the correct locations and do they have the correct orientation?
Remove known constraints and check for unconstrained motion under applied loads
or imposed displacements
Apply a uniform T to the structure. It should expand freely, meaning that it will
create no reactions, element forces, or stresses
Statics
Check reactions
Check load paths use grid point force balance to trace loads
Use different options (i.e., topological and geometric) and compare results
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Lesson 15
Plots
15 - 13
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
A-1
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Femap Preferences
Preferences are used to configure Femap for optimum performance and the way you
prefer to work
Preferences are stored in the femap.ini file under the main Femap installation folder
If you specify a different Start In location for your Femap startup shortcut, Femap
will first look in that location for a femap.ini file and use the preferences set in that
file. In addition, any changes to preferences will automatically be stored in the
femap.ini file in that folder.
Views
Render
User Interface
Database set
performance options
Geometry/Model
Interfaces select
default
Analysis Interface
Library/Startup
Color
Spaceball
Many Femap
preferences
will take effect
immediately
after they have been
set, but in some cases
you will need to close and re-open Femap for the changes to take effect. Examples are:
Database
A-2
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Specify a Startup View (from the View Library) used when creating a new Femap
model
Set view options such as turning the Workplane Never Visible in New View
Contour Palette sets the default post processing contour palette for any new view
A-3
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Hardware Acceleration can be toggled off if the graphics card, or it's drivers, are
causing instability in Femap.
Including less entities with the Include In Dynamic Rotation option will speed up
dynamic rotation of large models.
Setting the BitBlt Delay can be used to help with performance on consumer or
game-oriented graphics cards.
A-4
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Drivers from the manufacturers of the graphics card chipset tend to be more stable
then the drivers from the maker of the graphics card. (e.g. use an ATI or nVidia
driver vs. an ASUS driver)
A-5
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Graphical Selection
Mouse Interface
Meshing Toolbox
Dockable Panes
Model Info
Toolbars
A-6
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Database Options
Database Performance
Timed Save
Scratch Directory
Click the Database Options Help button for detailed information on settings in this tab.
A-7
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
If this option is left blank, Femap will write its temporary files to the Windows TEMP
folder location
When a Windows TEMP variable is not defined, the location of the Femap
scratch files defaults to your Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local
Settings\Temp folder. In many cases, this is a location on the network other
than your local PC.
Setting the Femap Scratch folder or setting the TEMP variable to a network file
location may seriously degrade Femaps performance and dramatically increase file
save times. In addition, if your network fails for any reason, any opened files in a
Femap session have the potential to be corrupted.
A-8
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Select between the Parasolid or Standard geometry engines to start with. The
Parasolid engine is recommended.
Selecting the Standard engine will only allow the construction and editing of
wireframe curves and boundary surfaces.
Femap stores geometry in meters. The Solid Geometry Scale Factor is used to
internally store your geometry units as meters in Parasolid.
For example, if you select Inches, the Scale Factor is 39.37 (inches/meter). Femap
uses the inverse of this number to store the geometry in its model database (1 inch
= .0254 meters).
This scaling will allow you to import and model parts that are outside of the
Parasolid modeling limits ( +/-500 x 500 x 500).
Note: If you import geometry with a different scale other than the files original scale,
new or modified geometry will be out of scale with the imported geometry.
FEMAP can be set to Delete Construction Geometry, Move it to the NoPick Layer, or
simply do nothing when used.
A-9
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Load Expansion on Midside Nodes sets the defaults for modification of the distribution of
Geometry-based loads (such as Forces on Surfaces and Moments on Curves) when
these loads are expanded to the nodes on Parabolic elements at the time of analysis.
To obtain an even distribution of force across a parabolic element, most programs
require a larger portion of the force be assigned to the midside nodes.
You can set the factors Along Edges, On Tri-Face, or On Quad-Face to represent
the amount of the total load on the element which will be applied to the midside
node.
You will typically want to use the default values as shown above, as well as use the
Midside Node Adjustment Default. If you have further questions on the
distribution required for your solver program, please consult the reference
documentation for your analysis program.
Element Quality checks can be turned on or off permanently and default values set for
each quality check via the Element Distortion button.
Default output orientations for various element shapes can be permanently set for use
when transforming results from the Output Orientation button.
A - 10
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
0..Parametric
1..Equal Length
First set the mesh size on curves using parametric spacing, then determines an
average distance between each of the mesh locations on each curve. If the
distance between any of the mesh locations is more than 1% different than the
average distance, then that curve is resized using equal length sizing.
A - 11
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
The Enable Old Analysis Interfaces option allows the import of models and results
from older, unsupported solvers.
Setting the File Reference Options allows FEMAP to check if imported Geometry,
Analysis Input decks, and/or Analysis Results have been modified when a FEMAP
model is opened.
Use the File, References command to check references during a FEMAP session.
Increase the value of Max Lines to Monitor from the default value of 5000 if you like to
view the .f06 file during analysis execution.
A - 12
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
Objects saved such as Materials, Functions, etc. are saved into the preferred library
Specify the location of your Custom Tools Path and an optional Program File or
API Script to run at the beginning of every new Femap session and opening of a
new model file
Color preferences allow you to select the default colors for entities
A - 13
Appendix A
Femap Preferences
A - 14
Appendix B
Composite Layups
Purpose
This lesson provides an overview of creating and editing properties with Femap.
Topics
Defining Properties
Editing Properties
B-1
Appendix B
Composite Layups
Composite Layups
Layups are a Femap object that designates multiple composite plies
Ply ID (number)
Material
Thickness
Angle
B-2
Appendix B
Composite Layups
Update Material
Update Thickness
Update Angle
B-3
Appendix B
Composite Layups
The selected ply or plies will be copied to the top of the Layup.
Delete
Symmetric
The mirrored plies will be added to the top of the Layup in reverse order of
selection.
Reverse
Reverse the order of the selected plies based on the original position (i.e., the
selected ply which was closest to the Bottom of Layup will now be closest to the
Top of Layup in the list).
The selected ply or plies will be moved closer to the Top of Layup (Move Up) or
Bottom of Layup (Move Down) in the order selected.
Rotate
The selected ply or plies are rotated by the angle input in the Rotate Ply By dialog
box. The order of the plies in the Layup is not effected.
Copy and paste the selected ply or plies to the top of the current or another Layup.
B-4
Appendix B
Composite Layups
Thickness
Ply Angles
Titles
Color
Scale
B-5
Appendix B
Composite Layups
B-6
Appendix B
Composite Layups
A Failure Theory must also be specified for the Laminate element property.
B-7