Introduction to Finite Element Analysis

for University Courses and Research

Presented By: Donald Christensen

May 5, 2011
AGENDA

• Presentation Objectives
• Finite element method
• Patran graphical user interface
• MSC Nastran input file structure
• Structural elements
• Materials
• Element properties
• Loads and boundary conditions
• Analysis submission
• Basic post-processing
• Demo

5/5/2011 2
OBJECTIVES

• This presentation is intended to be an overview Finite Element Analysis

using MSC.Patran and MSC.Nastran. It is provided to be a supplement
to a university course in FEA or to establish a foundation for a research
project.
• It is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all MSC.Patran and
MSC.Nastran features. However, it should serve as a starting point for
finding necessary information in MSC product documentation.

5/5/2011 3
WHAT IS THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD?

• The Finite Element Method (FEM) is a numerical approximation method.

It is a method of investigating the behavior of complex structures by
breaking them down into smaller, simpler pieces.
• These smaller pieces of structure are called elements. The elements are
connected to each other at the nodes.
• The assembly of elements and nodes is called a finite element model.
The piston head shown in the next slide is an example of a finite element
model.

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SAMPLE FINITE ELEMENT MODEL

Node

Element
Sample Finite Element Model

5/5/2011 5
FINITE ELEMENTS

• Finite elements have shapes which are relatively easy to formulate and
analyze. The three basic types of finite elements are beams, plates, and
solids.

Beam Plate Solid

(1D) (2D) (3D)

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ONE DIMENSIONAL ELEMENTS

• 1D beam elements are used to model long, slender structural members,

as demonstrated in this communications tower finite element model.

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TWO DIMENSIONAL ELEMENTS

• 2D plate elements are used to model thin structural members such as

aircraft fuselage skin or car body

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THREE DIMENSIONAL ELEMENTS

• 3D solid elements are used to model thick components such as the piston
head shown below:

5/5/2011 9
HOW DOES FEM WORK ?

• Basic Approach
– A given problem is discretized by dividing the original domain into simply
shaped elements.

X
Z
– Elements are connected to each other by nodes.

5/5/2011 10
HOW DOES FEM WORK ? (Cont.)

• Each node is capable of moving in six independent directions: three

translations and three rotations. These are called the degrees of freedom
(DOF) at a node.

y

uy Three translations (ux , uy, uz)

Three rotations (θx , θy, θz)
{u} = displacement vector
x
= { ux uy uz θx θy θz }
ux
uz
z

5/5/2011 11
THE DISPLACEMENT METHOD

• All structural engineering analyses must satisfy the following three

general conditions:
– Equilibrium of forces and moments:
• ΣF = 0, ΣM = 0

– Strain-Displacement relations (also called compatibility of deformations):

ensures that the displacement field in a deformed continuous structure is free
of voids or discontinuities

5/5/2011 12
THE DISPLACEMENT METHOD (Cont.)

– Stress-Strain relations (also called constitutive relations):

• For a linear material, the generalized Hooke’s law states

{s} = [E] {e}

where {s} = { sx s y sz txy tyz tzx }

{e} = { ex ey ez gxy gyz gzx }
[E] = 6 x 6 matrix of elastic constants

5/5/2011 13
THE DISPLACEMENT METHOD (Cont.)

• These three conditions can be used to generate a system of equations in

which the displacements are unknown.
• The stiffness matrix [K] is used to relate the forces acting on the structure
and the displacements resulting from these forces in the following
manner:
{F} = [K] {u}

where {F} = forces acting on the structure,

[K] = stiffness matrix [kij], where each kij term is the
force of a constraint at coordinate i due to a unit displacement at j with all
other displacements set equal to zero
{u} = displacements resulting from {F}
• Boundary conditions are applied to prevent rigid body motions, and the
system of linear equations is solved for the unknown {u}.

5/5/2011 14
BUILDING A FINITE ELEMENT MODEL

• The Finite Element Method approximates the behavior of a continuous

structure with a finite number of elements.
• As one increases the number of elements (and hence, decrease the size
of the elements), the results become increasingly accurate, but the
computing time also increases.
• Patran provides numerous modeling tools to help the user build finite
element models with the right balance between accuracy and model size.

5/5/2011 15
PATRAN GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE

• The Patran GUI for the Window is shown in the following slides. Except
for the color scheme and icon arrangements, the Windows and Unix GUIs
are basically identical.
• This material will be presented using the Windows GUI.

5/5/2011 16
WINDOWS GUI

5/5/2011 17
THE MAIN MENU
Menu Bar

Status Icon
Tools Application Tabs ● Static Green indicates Patran is
waiting for user input
● Rotating Blue indicates Patran is
performing a process which can
be stopped immediately with the
abort icon
● Rotating Red indicates that
History Window Patran is performing a process
which cannot be interrupted
Command Line

5/5/2011 18
THE MAIN MENU (Cont.)

Undo - will undo last command

Abort - Stops operation in progress

Reset Graphics

Refresh Graphics Display and Viewing Icons

Open Recent

File Save

Print

Copy to Clipboard

5/5/2011 19
THE VIEWPORT

Display Mode

Current Group

Current Viewport

Database Name

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APPLICATION FORMS

Action
Object
Method

Select Menu
(Filter Buttons)

5/5/2011 21
APPLICATION FORMS (Cont.)
Toggle button is an on/off
switch

Select databox is used to

enter data

Data can be inserted by

placing the mouse at the
desired location, clicking “...” suffix denotes that a
the left mouse button, subordinate form will open up
and typing in the desired upon clicking the button
data

Existing text can be

edited

Slide bar assigns a value to associated variable

Apply causes action to execute
Control icon allows the switching between different actions.
Hyphens indicate action can be In this example, the icon can be set to highlight or split.
undone only immediately after
its execution
Causes the content of a form to reset back to default values;
the default values may be constant or can change

5/5/2011 22
ENTITY PICKING

• Picking is performed in two ways:

– Keyboard entry into a databox
– Graphical picking with the mouse

5/5/2011 23
ENTITY ID SYNTAX

Syntax Description

Point 1 2 3 Refers to points 1, 2, and 3

Point 1:9:2 Points 1 through 9 by 2

Point 1:# All points

Curve 1 2, 3/ 4 Different forms for delimiters: space, “,” and “/”

Surface 3.1 References an entity associated with a higher order one (i.e. edge 1 of
surface 3, that is similar to a curve)

Solid 1:10.2 Combinations of entity ID syntax is possible (face 2 of solids 1 through 10)

[x y z] Square brackets signifies coordinate specification

[xn28, 1, 2] Individual coordinates can reference existing entities, such as x = the x

coordinate of node 28
[1, zp5, 3] y = the z coordinate of point 5
[1, z5, 3] When a point is referenced the letter “p” can be dropped
[1, 2, ‘-64.0/20.0‘] Mathematical operations like division are possible to determine the
individual components
<R T Z> < > signifies a vector definition

{[ ][ ]} Signifies an axis with first point representing the base and the second
determining the direction

5/5/2011 24
ENTITY GRAPHICAL PICKING

• Individual and collective entity picking is controlled by

the Picking option under Preferences.
• For Single Entity Picking, a portion of the selected
entity must be within the physical limits of the cursor.
• For Centroid Single Picking, the closest entity to the
location of the cursor will be picked.
• Additional tools are available to aid the process of
picking, such as Cycle picking.
• The Preselection Settings highlight the Entity and
Label (ID #) of the entity before you select it.

5/5/2011 25
CURSOR PICKING

• Single Entity - Move the cursor to the entity label/centroid and press the
left mouse button

• Multiple Picking - Hold down the shift key and select the entities with the
left mouse button

Shift

5/5/2011 26
CURSOR PICKING (Cont.)

• Rectangle Picking (Click & Drag)

• Polygon Picking

You can also Ctrl “Click”

select this icon “Click”
from the select
menu

Note: To complete your selection, double-click the left mouse button

5/5/2011 27
CURSOR PICKING (Cont.)
● Deselect Move the cursor to the entity’s label/centroid and
click on the Ctrl + Shift + right mouse button

● Cycle Picking Picking an entity underneath another, or that is

close to other entities. Once the cycle picking
window appears, make the selection from the
window.

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PATRAN-NASTRAN WORKFLOW AND FILES
Patran
Pre-Processing Nastran
.bdf
●Import/create geometry
●Create finite element mesh Solver
●Apply boundary condition
●Apply loads K u = F
●Create material properties
●Solve for u
●Create element properties
●Submit model to solver ●Compute strain
●Compute stress

.xdb
Post-Processing .op2
●Deformation plots
●Stress fringe plots
●Reports .f04
.f06
.log
.db
.ses
.db.jou

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BASIC PATRAN FILES
File Extension File Type Comments

.db Database One per model

.ses Session File A Session File is opened at Patran start-

up and it is closed when you quit Patran.

.db.jou Journal File One per model. Record of all PCL commands
from database creation to present.
Concatenated session files. EXTREMELY
useful for rebuilding a database.

5/5/2011 30
BASIC NASTRAN FILES
File Extension File Type Comments

.bdf Input File Contains model definition. Popular extensions are

.bdf and .dat

.f06 Results File This is the main Nastran output file. It contains
the results of your analysis such as displacements
and stresses. It is in ASCII format so it can be
viewed in any text editor. It also contains
warning messages, error messages, and diagnostic
messages to help the user evaluate the quality of
the analysis results.
.f04 Execution Summary File Contains a time history of job execution.

.log Operating System Log File

.op2 Results File Used by Patran for post processing.

.xdb Results File Used by Patran for post processing.

5/5/2011 31
THE NASTRAN INPUT FILE

• The two files which contain the finite element model definition are
– The Patran database file
– The Nastran input file
• The Nastran input file is useful in a number of ways:
– Can be viewed and edited in any text editor
– Can include comments to document modeling assumptions and changes
– Allows the user to add entries which are not supported in Patran
– Useful in debugging a model

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ORGANIZATION OF THE NASTRAN INPUT FILE

• The Nastran input file is arranged in five sections:

Nastran Statement
Optional Sections
Optional File Management Section
Delimiter ID A,B
Executive Control Section

CEND
Case Control Section

BEGIN BULK Required Sections

Bulk Data Section

Required
Delimiters

ENDDATA

5/5/2011 33
NASTRAN INPUT FILE SECTIONS

• Nastran Statement – Used to modify system defaults. Not needed in most

runs.
• File Management Section – Allocates files, controls restarts and database
operations
• Executive Control Section – Solution type, time allowed, program
modifications, and system diagnostics
• Case Control Section – Requests Output and selects Bulk Data items
such as loadings and constraints to be used
• Bulk Data Section – Model definition, loadings, and boundary conditions

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NASTRAN INPUT FILE DELIMITERS

• The delimiters are

– ID A,B First statement in Executive Control Section
(optional)
– CEND End of Executive Control Section, beginning of
Case Control Section
– BEGIN BULK End of Case Control Section, beginning of Bulk
Data Section
– ENDDATA Last entry in the input file

5/5/2011 35
SAMPLE MODEL

E = 30x106 psi n = 0.3 A = 4.0 in2 J = 1.27 in4

5/5/2011 36
NASTRAN INPUT FILE OF SAMPLE MODEL
ID TRUSS,SAMPLE
Executive SOL 101
Control TIME 5
CEND
TITLE = SAMPLE INPUT FILE
SUBTITLE = TRUSS STRUCTURE
LOAD = 10
Case Control SPC = 11
DISP = ALL
ELFORCE = ALL
SPCFORCE = ALL
BEGIN BULK
$
$ GRID POINTS DESCRIBE THE GEOMETRY Comments start
$ with a dollar sign
GRID 1 0. 0. 0.
GRID 2 0. 120. 0.
GRID 3 600. 120. 0.
GRID 4 600. 0. 0.
$
$ TRUSS MEMBERS MODELED WITH ROD ELEMENTS
$
Bulk Data CROD 1 21 2 3
CROD 2 21 2 4
CROD 3 21 1 3
CROD 4 21 1 4
CROD 5 21 3 4
$
PROD 21 22 4. 1.27
MAT1 22 30.E6 .3
FORCE 10 4 1000. 0. -1. 0.
SPC1 11 12 1 2
SPC1 11 3456 1 2 3 4
ENDDATA

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FORMAT OF BULK DATA ENTRIES

• Each Bulk Data entry has a specific pre-defined format and purpose
(described in the Nastran Quick Reference Guide, Section 5)
• Shown below is the CROD entry description from the Quick Reference
Guide:

5/5/2011 38
FORMAT OF BULK DATA ENTRIES (Cont.)

• Each line contains 80 columns

• A Bulk Data entry may span multiple lines
• There are three data formats
– Integer
– Real
– Character String
• Each field in a particular entry has a required data format. See the Quick
Reference Guide for the correct format.

5/5/2011 39
FIELD FORMAT

• Each Nastran input file line contains 80 columns. There are three field
formats for entering data in these 80 columns:
– Small Field Format
– Large Field Format
– Free Field Format

5/5/2011 40
FIELD FORMAT (Cont.)

• Small Field Format

– Each line is divided into 10 fields
– Each field is 8 columns wide

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

 8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8 

GRID 10 7.5 8.6 9.0 456

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FIELD FORMAT (Cont.)

• Large Field Format

– A high degree of accuracy is required in some Nastran applications. The large
field format is used when the small field format does not provide enough
significant digits.
– An asterisk after the keyword signifies large field format.

GRID* 10 7.5 8.6 *GRID10

*GRID10 9.0 456

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FIELD FORMAT (Cont.)

• Free Field Format

– Fields are separated by commas or blanks (commas are strongly
recommended)
– To skip a field, use two commas in succession
– Integer numbers or character strings with more than eight characters cause a
fatal error
– Real numbers with more than eight characters are rounded off and will lose
some precision

Example:
GRID,10,,7.5,8.6,9.0,,456

5/5/2011 43
GRID POINTS

• Grid points are used to specify:

– Structural geometry
– Degrees of freedom of the structure
– Locations of points at which displacements are constrained or loads are
applied
– Locations where output quantities are to be calculated

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DEGREES OF FREEDOM

• Each grid point is capable of moving in six directions. These are called
degrees of freedom (DOF).

DOF1 = T1 = u1 = translation in direction 1

DOF2 = T2 = u2 = translation in direction 2 3
DOF3 = T3 = u3 = translation in direction 3
DOF4 = R1 = q1 = rotation in direction 1
DOF5 = R2 = q2 = rotation in direction 2
DOF6 = R3 = q3 = rotation in direction 3 1 2
5
4

5/5/2011 45
DEGREES OF FREEDOM (Cont.)

• For each grid point, all six degrees of freedom must be accounted for:
– Think in terms of 3D even if the problem is only 1D or 2D.
– Any un-used DOF must be constrained

1 2
5
4

5/5/2011 46
THE NASTRAN GRID ENTRY

• The NASTRAN GRID entry is show below:

Field Contents

ID Grid point identification number

CP Identification number of coordinate system in which

the location of the grid point is defined (integer 0 or
blank; default = basic coordinate system)

X1, X2, X3 Location of grid point in coordinate system CP (real)

CD Identification number of coordinate system in which displacements, degrees of freedom, constraints, and
solution vectors are defined at the grid point (integer 0 or blank; default = basic coordinate system).

PS Permanent single-point constraints associated with grid point (any of the digits 1-6 with no embedded blanks)
This method of constraining a structure is not recommended.

SEID Superelement ID

5/5/2011 47
NASTRAN ELEMENTS

• The Nastran element library contains over 50 finite elements

• Zero-dimensional
• One-dimensional
• Two-dimensional
• Three-dimensional
• Scalar
• Axisymmetric
• Rigid
• Heat transfer
• Fluid-structure
• P-version
• Contact
• “GENEL” user-supplied element

5/5/2011 48
COMMONLY USED NASTRAN ELEMENTS
0-D Scalar 1-D 2-D 3-D Axisymmetric Rigid
Elements Elements Elements Elements Elements Elements Elements

CONM2 CBUSH CROD CQUAD4 CHEXA CTRIAX6 RBAR

CELASi CONROD CQUAD8 CPENTA CTRIAX RBE2
(i=1,2,3,4) CTUBE CTRIA3 CTETRA CQUADX RBE3
CBAR CTRIA6 RSSCON
CBEAM CQUADR
CBEND CTRIAR
CSHEAR

5/5/2011 49
MASS ELEMENTS

• Zero Dimensional Mass Elements

– Mass elements are used when mass properties of a structural component are
idealized at a single grid point.
– They are used in dynamic analysis and static analysis where inertia loading
are used.
– Only 3 mass elements are created by MSC.Patran:
• CONM2 – a simple lumped mass definition
• CONM1 – a more complex mass definition
• CMASS1 – a scalar mass definition
– Of these the CONM2 is the most commonly used.

5/5/2011 50
SCALAR ELEMENTS

• Scalar Spring Elements

– CELAS1, CELAS2, CELAS3, CELAS4, CBUSH
– The CELASi elements are connected by two degrees of freedom - one at
each grid/ground connection point.
– The CBUSH elements connects from 1 to 6 degrees of freedom between two
GRID points.
– Force components: force P
or moment M
– Displacement components: translation u
or rotation θ

5/5/2011 51
SCALAR ELEMENTS

• Scalar Elements
CELAS1 Connects two points, which may be grid points, scalar points, or both,
with reference to a property entry.
CELAS2 Connects two points, which may be grid points, scalar points or both,
without reference to a property entry
CELAS3 Connects only scalar points with reference to a property entry (Not
Supported in Patran)
CELAS4 Connects only scalar points without reference to property entry (Not
Supported in Patran)
CBUSH Connects two GRID points. Avoids the grounding problem inherent in
CELASi elements (when mis-used). May connect 1 to 6 DOF.

5/5/2011 52
CBUSH ELEMENT

• Scalar Elements
– The CBUSH is the recommended form for scalar springs.
• It avoids the potential grounding which may occur when two non-coincident points
are connected.
• The CELASi elements simply insert terms directly into the stiffness matrix without
considering geometry or displacement coordinate systems.
• The CBUSH correctly accounts for the effects of geometry and displacement
coordinate systems.

5/5/2011 53
THE CROD ELEMENT

• General features of the CROD element are:

– Connected by two nodes
– Two force components:
• Axial force P
• Torque T
– Displacements components:
• ui and θi
– Straight, prismatic member
– The element stiffness matrix contains only terms for axial and torsional
degrees of freedom

A B Xe
T P P T

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THE CROD ELEMENT (Cont.)

• Element connectivity is defined on the Nastran CROD entry

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

CROD EID PID G1 G2

CROD 23 1 1 7

Field Contents

EID Element identification number

PID Identification number of PROD property entry

G1,G2 Grid point identification numbers of connection

points, where G1 = grid point at End A and
G2 = grid point at End B

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THE CROD ELEMENT (Cont.)

• Element property is defined on the Nastran PROD entry

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

PROD PID MID A J C NSM

PROD 1 1 4.516 37.398

Field Contents

PID Property identification number

MID Material identification number

A Cross-sectional area

J Torsional constant (equals to polar moment of

inertia for circular cross sections)

C Coefficient to determine torsional stress

NSM Nonstructural mass per unit length (Real)

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THE CBAR ELEMENT

• General Features of the CBAR Element

– Connected to two grid points
– Formulation derived from classical beam theory (plane sections remain plane
under deformations)
– Includes optional transverse shear flexibility
– Neutral axis may be offset from the grid points (internally a rigid link is
created)
– Principal moment of inertia axis need not coincide with element axis.
– Pin flag capability used to represent slotted joints, hinges, ball joints, etc.

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THE CBAR ELEMENT (Cont.)

• General limitations on CBAR:

– Straight, prismatic member (i.e., properties do not vary along the length).
– Shear center and neutral axis must coincide (therefore, not recommended for
modeling channel or angle sections).
– The effect of cross-sectional warping is neglected.
• Displacement Components:
– Six degrees of freedom at each end.
• Force components:
– Axial force P
– Torque T
– Bending moments about two perpendicular directions M1 and M2
– Shears in two perpendicular directions V1 and V2

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THE CBEAM ELEMENT

• CBEAM Element Overview

– Connected to two grid points
– Force components:
• Axial force P
• Shear forces in 2 planes V1 and V2
• Bending moments in 2 planes M1 and M2
• Total torque T
• Warping torque Tw
– Displacement components:
d
• ui , θi , and  
dx 
i

5/5/2011 59
THE CBEAM ELEMENT (Cont.)

• CBEAM Element Overview (Cont.)

– The CBEAM element includes all capabilities of the CBAR element plus
several optional capabilities that include:
• The cross-sectional properties may be specified at up to nine interior points and
also at both ends
• The neutral axis and shear center axis need not be coincident
• The effect of cross-sectional warping on the torsional stiffness
• The effect of taper on the transverse shear stiffness (shear relief)
• The nonstructural mass center of gravity can be offset from the shear center

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TWO-DIMENSIONAL ELEMENTS

• Two-Dimensional Elements Overview

5/5/2011 61
TWO-DIMENSIONAL ELEMENTS (Cont.)

• A plate is a structural element with one small dimension and two large
dimensions.
– A thin plate is one in which the thickness is much less than the next larger
dimension (roughly 1/15)
– For linear analysis, Nastran plate elements assume classical engineering
assumptions of thin plate behavior:
• The deflection of the midsurface is small compared with the thickness
• The midsurface remains unstrained (neutral) during bending. (This applies to lateral
loads, not in-plane loads.)
• The normal to the midsurface remains normal to the midsurface during bending

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TWO-DIMENSIONAL ELEMENTS (Cont.)

• Plate and shell elements (except CQUADR and CTRIAR) have no

stiffness in the normal rotational (drilling) degrees of freedom.
– CQUADR and CTRIAR plate elements have stiffness in the drilling degrees of
freedom.

No stiffness in the drilling

degrees of freedom or no
rotational stiffness in the
direction normal to the plate

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THREE-DIMENSIONAL ELEMENTS

• Commonly used solid elements:

– PENTA (6-15 nodes)
– HEXA (8-20 nodes)
– TETRA (4-10 nodes)

Note - any or all mid-side nodes

may be deleted

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THREE-DIMENSIONAL ELEMENTS (Cont.)

• HEXA
– Recommended for general use. Accuracy degrades when element is skewed
and used in a situation where bending behavior is dominant. In most modeling
situations, it has superior performance to the other 3D elements.
• PENTA
– Commonly used to model transition. This element is designed to behave well
as a reasonable thin shell element. If the triangular faces are not on the
exposed surfaces of the shell, it results in excessive stiffness.
• TETRA
– Frequently used by automatic mesh generators. The 4-noded TETRA is not
recommended for modeling. The 10-noded TETRA elements will provide
much better accuracy.

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RIGID ELEMENTS

• Rigid Elements
– A very useful set of elements are defined as Rigid Elements. They are most
commonly used as general connection elements, where we do not wish to
model the connections in detail.
– The most common Rigid Elements are:
• RBE2 - one independent node and multiple dependent nodes.
• RBE3 – one dependent node and multiple independent nodes.

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COMMONLY USED “RIGID” ELEMENTS IN
NASTRAN
• Geometry-based
– RBAR
– RBE2 }Really-rigid “rigid” elements
• Geometry- & User-input based
– RBE3
• Less Common “Rigid” elements
– RBAR1, RJOINT, RROD, RTRPLT, RTRPLT1, RBE1, RSSCON, RSPLINE
– User-input based
• MPC

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MATERIAL PROPERTIES

• Nastran and Patran can support a variety of material definitions, including:

– Isotropic
– 2D Anisotropic
– 2D Orthotropic
– 3D Anisotropic
– 3D Orthotropic (special case of 3D anisotropic)
– Fluid
– Composite

5/5/2011 68
MATERIAL PROPERTIES

• NASTRAN entry for isotropic materials

5/5/2011 69
WEIGHT UNITS vs. MASS UNITS

• Nastran expects your mass input (MATi, CONMi, etc.) to be in consistent

mass units.
• However, mass property data for the U. S. Customary System are
typically reported in the units of weight. There are two methods to handle
the weight units:
– Convert the weight units into the correct mass units before entering them into
the finite element model.
– Input the weight units into the finite element model. Then, use the Nastran
WTMASS parameter to convert weight units to mass units.

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WTMASS PARAMETER EXAMPLE

• For example, you are modeling a steel structure in the U. S. Customary

inch-pound-second system. The material density obtained from a
handbook is show below:
Weight Density = 0.283 lbf/in3
Method 1
Use Newton’s Second Law to convert weight to mass:
W=Mxg M = W x 1/g = W x 1/386.1 = W x 0.00259
Mass Density = 0.283 x 0.00259 = 7.33 x 10-4 lbf . sec2/in4
MAT1 1 29.E6 0.32 7.33E-4

Method 2
Enter the weight density directly into Nastran. Use the WTMASS parameter to
convert weight units to mass units.
MAT1 1 29.E6 0.32 0.283

PARAM WTMASS 0.00259

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ELEMENT PROPERTIES

• Element properties define how the structural element behaves in the

model. It serves two purposes.
– It associates the material to the elements
– It defines the attributes of the element, including:
• Stiffness values (Scalar elements)
• Cross-sectional properties (1D elements)
• Element orientation (1D elements)
• Thickness (2D elements)
• Membrane, bending, transverse shear and membrane-bending coupling behavior
(2D elements)
• Material orientation (2D and 3D elements)

5/5/2011 72
ELEMENT PROPERTIES

• CBAR Element Properties entry:

5/5/2011 73
ELEMENT PROPERTIES (Cont.)

• Alternative CBAR Element Properties entry:

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CREATING ELEMENT PROPERTIES

CBAR
CBEND

CBEAM

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CREATING ELEMENT PROPERTIES (Cont.)

• A snap shot of a NASTRAN input file shows how the connectivity entry,
the property entry, and the material entry are linked together.

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LOADS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

• Many different loads and boundary conditions can be applied to the

Nastran finite element model. Those supported by Patran include
– Displacement (constraints or enforced motion)
– Force
– Pressure
– Temperature (for generating internal forces due to CTE or in a thermal
analysis)
– Inertial loads
– Initial conditions (displacement or velocity)
– Velocity
– Acceleration
– Contact

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LOADS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS (cont.)

• Nastran FORCE entry

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LOADS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS (Cont.)

• Nastran SPC1 entry

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CREATING LOADS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
Sample Displacement Sample Force

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SUBMITTING ANALYSIS

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ATTACHING RESULTS

• Both Nastran binary output files can be accessed by Patran for results
post-processing. Each has advantages.
– The .xdb is a database that is accessed by Patran. The results do not
become a part of the Patran database. Therefore, large results files can be
attached without a degradation in performance. The .xdb must be kept with
the Patran database to view results. It does not support composite failure
indices.
– The .op2 is a results file that is read into the Patran database. The results
become part of the Patran database. As a result, the .op2 does not need to
be maintained in order to view results. The Patran database size will expand
due to the results data stored within. It does support composite failure
indices.

• Results are not automatically attached to the Patran database.

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ATTACHING RESULTS (Cont.)

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POST-PROCESSING

• The Patran Results menu provides options for a variety of result plots or
reports. The more commonly used plots include:
– Quick Plot
• Combined fringe and deformation plot
• Fringe results are averaged at the nodes
– Deformation
– Fringe
• Contoured plot
• Provides significant control for result averaging and extralopation
– Marker
• Plots individual markers for scalar, vector or tensor data.
– Graph
– Reports
– Freebody
• Provides tools to generate freebody and interface plots

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POST-PROCESSING (Cont.)

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DEMO

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