The Element Properties form appears when the Element Properties toggle is chosen.There are several option menus available when creating element properties. The selections made on the Element Properties menu will determine which element property form appears, and ultimately, which element will be created.

Element properties are simply categorized as Generic 0D, Generic 1D, Generic 2D and Generic 3D. An element configuration ID, required for each property set definition, is used to distinguish element types (e.g., Generic 3D, Configuration 8 might represent an 8-node hexahedral while Generic 3D, Configuration 10 might represent a 10-node tetrahedral). Each category of element dimension has a number of pre-defined property definitions. For example, Generic 1D properties include Configuration ID, Orientation, Offset at Nodes 1 and 2, and Pinned degrees-of-freedom at nodes 1 and 2. The remaining properties are generically defined as Prop 1, Prop 2, etc. Each of the generic properties can contain real scalar, string, integer or material property name data.

Element property data is stored in Neutral File Packet 04 (see Packet Type 04: Element Properties (p. 731) in the Patran Reference Manual). Finite element definitions, stored in Packet 02, reference the associated Packet 04 element properties by the property ID.

Two analysis types are available under the PATRAN 2 Neutral File Preference: Structural and Thermal. Element property sets can reference materials. For those element property sets created under the Structural type, the following materials are available: Isotropic, 2D Orthotropic, 3D orthotropic, 2D Anisotropic, 3D Anisotropic and Composite. Element property sets created under the Thermal type can only reference Thermal Isotropic (TIS) and Thermal Anisotropic (TAN) materials. For more details about these materials, please refer to the Material Librarysection of this document.

The following pages give an introduction to the Element Properties form, and details of all the element property definitions supported by the PATRAN 2 Neutral File Preference.

This form appears when Element Properties is selected on the main menu. There are four option menus on this form, each will determine which element type will be created, and which property forms
will appear.

This subordinate form appears when the Input Properties button is selected on the Element Properties form. The data entered is stored in Neutral File Packet Types 02 (Element Data) and 04 (Property Data). The shape code will be 2 (Packet 02, Header Card, entry IV and Packet 04, Header Card, entry N1).

In addition to the Configuration Id entry, the remaining entries are generically described as “Prop N” where N = 1, 2, ...39. The data entered in these boxes is stored in Packet 04 Data Cards. Each Data Card contains five data entries. Thus, Prop 1 through Prop 5 are on the first Data Card, Prop 6 through Prop 10 on the second Data Card, etc. All of these entries are optional. Only the first data entry up to the largest data box number with entered data are stored in Packet 04. The number of data fields stored is indicated in Packet 04, Header Card, entry N4.

This subordinate form appears when the Input Properties button is selected on the Element Properties form. The data entered is stored in Neutral File Packet Types 02 (Element Data) and 04 (Property Data). The shape code will be 2 (Packet 02, Header Card, entry IV and Packet 04, Header Card, entry N1).

The remaining entries are generically described as “Prop N” where N = 1, 2, ...34. The data entered in these boxes is stored in Packet 04 Data Cards. Each Data Card contains five data entries. Thus, Prop 1 through Prop 5 are on the first Data Card, Prop 6 through Prop 10 on the second Data Card, etc. All of these entries are optional. Only the first data entry up to the largest data box number with entered data are stored in Packet 04. The number of data fields stored is indicated in Packet 04, Header Card, entry N4.

This subordinate form appears when the Input Properties button is selected on the Element Properties form. The data entered is stored in Neutral File Packet Types 02 (Element Data) and 04 (Property Data). The shape code will be 3 or 4 for a triangle or quadrilateral, respectively (Packet 02, Header Card, entry IV and Packet 04, Header Card, entry N1).

In addition to the Configuration Id and Material Orientation entries, the remaining entries are generically described as “Prop N” where N = 1, 2, ...38. The data entered in these boxes is stored in Packet 04 data cards. Each data card contains 5 data entries. Thus, Prop 1 through Prop 5 are on the first data card, Prop 6 through Prop 10 on the second data card, etc. All of these entries are optional. Only the first data entry up to the largest data box number with entered data are stored in Packet 04. The number of data fields stored is indicated in Packet 04, Header Card, entry N4.

This subordinate form appears when the Input Properties button is selected on the Element Properties form. The data entered is stored in Neutral File Packet Types 02 (Element Data) and 04 (Property Data). The shape code will be 5, 7, or 8 for a tetrahedral, wedge or hexahedral, respectively (Packet 02, Header Card, entry IV and Packet 04, Header Card, entry N1).

In addition to the Configuration Id entry, the remaining entries are generically described as “Prop N” where N = 1, 2, ...39. The data entered in these boxes is stored in Packet 04 Data Cards. Each Data Card contains five data entries. Thus, Prop 1 through Prop 5 are on the first Data Card, Prop 6 through Prop 10 on the second Data Card, etc. All of these entries are optional. Only the first data entry up to the largest data box number with entered data are stored in Packet 04. The number of data fields stored is indicated in Packet 04, Header Card, entry N4.