SAMCEF > Building a Model > Loads and Boundary Conditions
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Loads and Boundary Conditions
By choosing the Loads/BCs toggle located on the main menu of MSC Patran, the Loads and Boundary Conditions form will appear. When creating loads and boundaries, several option menus are available. The selections made in this option menu will determine which loads and boundary form is presented, and ultimately, which SAMCEF loads and boundaries will be created.
The following pages give an introduction to the Loads & Boundary Conditions form, followed by the details of all the loads and boundary conditions supported by the MSC Patran SAMCEF
Preference Guide.
Loads & Boundary Conditions Form
The Loads & Boundary Conditions form shown below provides the following options for the purpose of creating SAMCEF loads and boundaries. The full functionality of the form is defined in Loads and Boundary Conditions Form (p. 21) in the Patran Reference Manual.
The following table shows the allowable selections for all options when the Analysis Type is set to Structural.
 
Analysis Type
Object
Type
Structural
Nodal
Force
Nodal
Element Uniform
Element Variable
Element Uniform
Nodal
Nodal
Nodal
Nodal
Element Uniform
Append
Nodal
Nodal
Element Uniform
Nodal
Element Uniform
Element Uniform
 
Analysis Type
Object
Type
Thermal
Temperature (Thermal)
Nodal
Initial Temperature
Nodal
Load
Nodal
(S) Prescr. Temp. t=0.
Nodal
(S) Volumic Convection
Nodal
(S) Surfacic Flux
Element Uniform
(S) Convection
Element Uniform
(S) Volumic Flux
Element Uniform
(S) Therùal Gluing
Element Uniform
(S) Thermal Stick
Element Uniform
Basic Form
This subordinate form appears whenever the Input Data button is selected on the Loads and Boundary Conditions form. The information contained on this form will vary according to the Object that has been selected. Information that remains standard to this form is defined below.
Object Tables
On the Loads/BCs Input Data forms there are areas where the load data values are defined. The data fields presented depend on the selected Load Object and Type. In some cases, the data fields also depend on the selected Target Element Type. These Object Tables list and define the input data that pertain strictly to a specific selected object:
Displacement (Structural)
Object
Type
Type
Displacement
Nodal
Structural
Creates the BACON .CLM FIX or .CLM FNN command to define friction or imposed displacements.
 
Input Data
Description
Translations (T1,T2,T3)
Defines the enforced translational displacement values. These are in model length units.
Rotations (R1,R2,R3)
Defines the enforced rotational displacement values. These are in degrees.
 
Important:  
Use this boundary condition to define sliding surfaces by controlling translations in a coordinate frame with one axis normal to the surface.
Force (Structural)
Object
Type
Type
Force
Nodal
Structural
Creates the BACON .CLM CHA command
 
Input Data
Description
Force (F1,F2,F3)
Defines the applied forces in the translation degrees-of-freedom.
Moment (M1,M2,M3)
Defines the applied moments in the rotational degrees-of-freedom.
Pressure (Structural)
Object
Type
Type
Dimension
Pressure
Element Uniform
Element Variable
Structural
2D
Creates the BACON .CLM PRESS command to define uniform or variable pressure.
 
Input Data
Description
Top Surf Pressure
Defines the top surface pressure load on shell elements.
Bot Surf Pressure
Defines the bottom surface pressure load on shell elements.
Edge Pressure
Defines the edge pressure value on axisymmetric, plane strain, and plane stress elements.
 
Object
Type
Type
Dimension
Pressure
Element Uniform
Element Variable
Structural
3D
Creates the BACON .CLM PRESS command to define uniform or variable pressure.
 
Input Data
Description
Pressure
Defines the face pressure value on solid elements.
Inertial Load(Structural)
Object
Type
Type
Dimension
Inertial Load
Element Uniform
Structural
1D
2D
3D
Creates the BACON .CLM ACC/ROT/DROT commands listed below to define inertial loads, body forces and rotational speeds for static load cases.
 
Input Data
Description
Trans Accel (A1,A2,A3)
Defines translational acceleration in the translation degrees‑of‑freedom.
(Generates the command: .CLM ACC V a1 a2 a3.)
Rot Velocity (w1,w2,w3)
Defines rotational velocity in the rotational degrees-of-freedom.
(Generates the command: .CLM ROT V w1 w2 w3.)
Rot Accel (a1 a2 a3)
Defines rotational acceleration in the rotational degrees‑of‑freedom.
(Generates the command: .CLM DROT V a1 a2 a3.)
Node to Node Absolute Contact (formerly «Contact (Absolute)»)(Structural)
Object
Type
Type
Contact (Absolute)
Nodal
Structural
Creates the BACON .JEU command to define the limits of contact between nodes and a rigid foundation
.
Input Data
Description
Component
Defines the degree-of-freedom for which this condition applies.
Lower Bound (L)
Defines the lower bound value of contact.
Upper Bound (H)
Defines the upper bound value of contact.
Displacement (FIX)
Defines the imposed displacement value.
Friction
Defines the coefficient of friction.
Node to Node Relative Contact (formerly «Relative Contact»))(Structural)
Object
Type
Type
Contact (Relative)
Nodal
Structural
Creates the BACON .JER command to define the limits of contact between nodes on parallel straight lines and surfaces
 
Input Data
Description
Lower Bound (L)
Defines the relative lower bound value of contact.
Upper Bound (H)
Defines the relative upper bound value of contact.
Displacement (SER)
Defines the imposed relative displacement value.
Contact Direction
Defines the contact direction.
Butee
 
Friction
Defines the coefficient of friction.
At least one direction must have a non-zero value to generate the Direction parameter. In this case, directions which are ignored are assumed to be zero.
 
Important:  
At present, MSC Patran does not provide for definition of the relationship between surfaces. To overcome this limitation, a naming convention has been adopted. Nodes on each surface must be defined as LBCs with the same name (i.e., set name), but with suffices _1 and _2. For example, create LBC’s side_1 and side_2. Properties defined for side_1 will be written to the BACON input file.
Temperature (Structural)
Object
Type
Type
Temperature
Nodal
Structural
Creates the BACON .CLT command to define a temperature field.
Input Data
Description
Temperature
Defines the temperature at the node or mid surface of a shell node.
Gradient
Defines the temperature gradient for shell elements.
Displacement Retained (Structural)
Object
Type
Type
Displacement
Nodal
Structural
Creates the BACON .RET command to select dof for the creation of a super element or for the running of a DYNAM analysis
 
Input Data
Description
Translations (T1,T2,T3)
Defines the retained translational dof.
Rotations (R1,R2,R3)
Defines the retained rotational dof.
Node to Surface (Structural)
Description
 
Input Data
Description
Forces All Defaults
When set to a non zero value, all defaults are taken into account. Defaults are driven by Samcef module.
Nodes Projection
Forces nodes projection on master surface (topology correction)
Normal Accuracy
Accuracy used to «drive» the slaved node projection algorithm
Tangential Accuracy
Accuracy used to «extend» a master face area when the projection of a slave node lies outside the face
Tightening
Tightening value
Reference Distance
For each slave node, the pgm computes contact conditions with all the facets which are inside a sphere around the node
Shells Normals Direction
For shells only. 3 director cosine to indicate normal direction
Reverse Shells Normals
For shells only. Forces ALL the normals of the shells to be reversed
Lower Bound
Maximum displacement between the slave nodes and the master surface
Stop Distance
Offset for the master surface
Friction Coefficient
Friction value
Friction Option
Friction law
Contact Option
Contact option
Number of Closest Facets
For each node, number of master surface’s faces to be taken into account to detect contact
Coupled Iteration Method
Select the coupled iteration method
Uncoupled Iteration Method
Select the uncoupled iteration method
Reprofiling Only at Time Step
Enable the reprofiling at each time step start instead at each iteration
Facets Smoothing Transition
Enable the facets smoothing transition algorithm
Smooting Angle
Smoothing angle for the transition algorithm
Dummy
If one explicitly defines zeo values for the data above, Patran GUI will not display the LBC,...To by-pass this limitation, setting a non zero for the Dummy data will force Patran to display correctly the Lbc. The Dummy data is not exported to Samcef
Combinations
 
Keyword
Stick
Tigh_
SRot
Tigh_
LRot
Cont_
SRot
Cont_
SDis
Cont_
MDis
Cont_
LDis
Forces All Defaults
X
 
 
X
X
X
X
Nodes Projection
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Normal Accuracy
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Tangential Accuracy
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Tightening
 
X
X
 
 
 
 
Reference Distance
 
X
X
X
 
X
X
Shells Normals Direction
 
X
X
X
X
X
X
Reverse Shells Normals
 
 
X
 
 
X
X
Lower Bound
 
 
 
X
 
 
 
Stop Distance
 
 
 
X
X
X
X
Friction Coefficient
 
 
 
X
X
X
X
Friction Option
 
 
 
 
X
X
X
Contact Option
 
 
 
 
X
X
X
Number of Closest Facets
 
 
 
 
 
X
X
Coupled Iteration Method
 
 
 
 
X
X
X
Uncoupled Iteration Method
 
 
 
 
X
X
X
Reprofiling Only at Time Step
 
 
 
 
 
X
X
Facets Smoothing Transition
 
 
 
 
X
X
X
Smooting Angle
 
 
 
 
X
X
X
Dummy
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Allowed values
 
Keyword
Description
Forces All Defaults
(Integer)
1=takes all defaults
Nodes Projection
(Integer)
0=no projection
1=projection
Normal Accuracy
(Real)
strictly positive value
Tangential Accuracy
(Real)
strictly positive value
Tightening
(Real)
Reference Distance
(Real)
strictly positive value
Shells Normals Direction
(3 reals)
(directors cosine)
Reverse Shells Normals
(Integer)
0=do not reverse
1=reverse
Lower Bound
(Real)
Stop Distance
(Real)
strictly positive
Friction Coefficient
(Real)
strictly positive
Friction Option
(Integer)
0= no friction
1=classical
2=infinite
3=function of velocity
Contact Option
(Integer)
0= classical contact
1=scratch
2=always
Number of Closest Facets
(Integer)
strictly positive
Coupled Iteration Method
Any value will enable this option
Uncoupled Iteration Method
Any value will enable this option
Reprofiling Only at Time Step
Any value will enable this option
Facets Smoothing Transition
Any value will enable this option
Smooting Angle
(Real)
strictly positive
Dummy
(Integer)
Non zero
Default values
 
Keyword
Description
Forces All Defaults
«All Defaults» not enabled
Nodes Projection
No projection
Normal Accuracy
Automatically computed by the algorithm
Tangential Accuracy
Automatically computed by the algorithm
Tightening
COMPULSORY
Reference Distance
Infinite (i.e. all the facets of the master surface can potentially create contact conditions)
Shells Normals Direction
No direction imposed
Reverse Shells Normals
No reverse
Lower Bound
No lower bound active
Stop Distance
No stop distance
Friction Coefficient
COMPULSORY if friction is enabled
Friction Option
0 (i.e no friction)
Contact Option
0
Number of Closest Facets
10
Coupled Iteration Method
Coupled Iteration Method is the default
Uncoupled Iteration Method
 
Reprofiling Only at Time Step
By default, reprofiling occurs at each iteration
Facets Smoothing Transition
No facet smoothing
Smooting Angle
30 degrees
Remarks
 
Keyword
Description
Forces All Defaults
When set to a non zero value, all other values defined in the other fields of the Input data form are discarded
Nodes Projection
 
Normal Accuracy
See SAMCEF Contact manual for more details
This field has to be filled only in special cases, to help the algorithm in special contact conditions
Tangential Accuracy
(same as above)
Tightening
 
Reference Distance
In some cases, can reduce the computation time; in general, this field has to be left empty
Shells Normals Direction
See SAMCEF Contact manual for more details
In the case of shells, the pgm cannot compute from the master surface topology where is the material. By default, normals of elements point to the region of slave nodes (and of course, the material is in the opposite direction); this field forces the pgm to choose normal that is the closest to the given direction
Reverse Shells Normals
(same as above); this field forces the pgm to change the sign of the element’s default normal.
Lower Bound
 
Stop Distance
Acts as the master surface has a non-zero thickness (this is, useful for shell thickness modeling)
Friction Coefficient
Only one value is required as isotropic friction law is assumed
Friction Option
See SAMCEF Contact manual for more details
Contact Option
See SAMCEF Contact manual for more details
Number of Closest Facets
Can be combined with the <Reference Distance> criterion to accelerate the computation; in the major situations, this field has not to be filled
Coupled Iteration Method
See SAMCEF Contact manual for more details
Uncoupled Iteration Method
See SAMCEF Contact manual for more details
Reprofiling Only at Time Step
See SAMCEF Contact manual for more details
Facets Smoothing Transition
See SAMCEF Contact manual for more details
Smooting Angle
See SAMCEF Contact manual for more details
About contacts (part 1)
1. When relative displacements are small, one can assume that a slave node will always be projected onto the same target facet. The facet’s area may be extended when the slave node’s projection is outside.
The SAMCEF Preference will add the <UN2 1> parameter in the output bank file to force this configuration (and reduce the facets search time)
Contact re-profiling is not needed in such a model.
2. When displacements are moderate, one slave node will be in contact with a small number of facets: the <Number of Closest Facets> and the <Reference Distance> default values can be overwritten by the user to reduce the computation time.
Contact re-profiling is not needed in such a model.
3. When displacements are large, the previous way of working is not suitable because one should define a large <Reference Distance> and/or a lot of <Closet Facets>.
In such a model, special parameters are added in the output bank file to activate re-profiling: in this case, contact connectivity is recomputed by MECANO at each Newton iteration.
 
Important:  
Contact conditions cannot be used within a model in which cracks have been defined
About contacts (part 2)
1. «.._SDIS» ; small relative displacements of parts; the node is in contact with one and only one facet; the target facet is computed in the pre-processing phase (the choosen facet is the closest one to the node) and will never change; during each analysis step of the non-linear analysis, MECANO tries to (normally) project the node on this facet; if it can, contact is maintained; if it fails, contact is released; a contact release at time step ’i’ can, of course, be re-activated at time step ’j’ > ’i’
2. «..MDIS»; moderate relative displacements of parts; nodes are in contact with a number of nearest facets selected by the preprocessor; the list of facets is not updated during the non-linear analysis; same rules of «release/reactivation» of contacts as the SDIS is applied but here the module will handle a list of target faces..not one facet
alone !
3. «...LDIS»; large relative displacements of parts; the more general contact condition; nodes are in contact with a number of nearest facets selected, not by the pre-processor, but by the MECANO module; during each time step, the MECANO module will update this list of facets . LDIS option will often leads to huge computation time
4. So, if one is sure that non linear geometries are small AND that relative displacements of parts are small, use «SDIS»; in other cases/in doubt, use «LDIS»
About contacts (part 3)
1. «CONT_SROT»;Same as «SDIS « PLUS small rotations hypothesis ; so clearly the more restrictive hypothesis!
2. «TIGH_SROT»;is thightening with small rotations in areas where thightening occurs PLUS «small non linear geometries AND small relative displacements»
3. «TIGH_LROT»;is to be used when any of the TIGH_SROT above assumptions are not verified.
About load types and SAMCEF modules
 
Load type
Bacon command
Available for
SAMCEF module
Stick
.STI
linear, non-linear
ASEF, MECANO
Tigh_SRot
.CPS
linear, non-linear
ASEF, MECANO
Tigh_LRot
.MCT
non-linear ONLY
MECANO
Cont_SRot
.CPS
linear, non-linear
ASEF, MECANO
Cont_SDis
.MCT
non-linear ONLY
MECANO
Cont_MDis
.MCT
non-linear ONLY
MECANO
Cont_LDis
.MCT
non-linear ONLY
MECANO
Cyclic Symmetry (Structural)
Definitions
 
Input Data
Description
Rotation Axis
To select the X,Y or Z structural axis for the ’rotation’ option.
Rotation Angle
Define the rotation angle value around the selected axis.
The sign of the value defined the direction of the rotation
Number of sectors
Define the number of sectors for the cyclic symmetry. Therefore the rotation angle will be 360°/number_of_sectors.
The sign of the value defined the direction of the rotation
Wave Number
Select the mode family to be taken into account in the cyclic boundary consitions
Attribute Number
Attribute attached to the generated MAPP elements.
Translation Vector
Translation vector of slave nodes (’translation’ option only).
Nodes projection
Forces nodes projection on master surface (topology correction)
Normal Accuracy
Accuracy used to «drive» the slaved node projection algorithm
Tangential Accuracy
Accuracy used to «extend» a master face area when the projection of a slave node lies outside the face
Dummy
If one explicitly defines zeo values for the data above, Patran GUI will not display the LBC main characteristic, like arrows,...
Setting a non zero for the Dummy data will force Patran to display correctly the Lbc. The Dummy data is not exported to Samcef
Combinations
 
Input Data
Rot. Opt.
Trans. Opt.
Rotation Axis
X
 
Rotation Angle
X(1)
 
Number of sectors
X(*)
 
Wave Number
X
 
Attribute Number
X
X
Translation Vector
 
X
Nodes projection
X
X
Normal Accuracy
X
X
Tangential Accuracy
X
X
Dummy
X
X

1 mutually exclusive

Allowed values
 
Input Data
Description
Rotation Axis
(1 0 0) for global X axis, (0 1 0) for global Y axis, (0 0 1) for global Z axis. Only global axes can de defined.
Rotation Angle
(Real)
Number of sectors
(Integer)
Wave Number
(Integer)
strictly positive value
Attribute Number
(Integer)
strictly positive value
Translation Vector
(Direction Vector).
Nodes Projection
(Integer)
0=no projection
1=projection
Normal Accuracy
(Real)
strictly positive value
Tangential Accuracy
(Real)
strictly positive value
Dummy
(Integer)
Non zero
Default values
 
Input Data
Description
Rotation Axis
COMPULSORY.
Rotation Angle
COMPULSORY
Number of sectors
COMPULSORY
Wave Number
 
Attribute Number
 
Translation Vector
COMPULSORY
Nodes Projection
projection
Normal Accuracy
Automatically computed by the algorithm
Tangential Accuracy
Automatically computed by the algorithm
 
Remarks
 
Input Data
Description
Rotation Axis
 
Rotation Angle
’Rotation Angle’ and ’Number of sectors’ values are mutually exclusive
Number of sectors
’Rotation Angle’ and ’Number of sectors’ values are mutually exclusive
Wave Number
Wave number must be set to zero for static linear analysis
Wave number is not required for the ’translation’ option
Attribute Number
 
Translation Vector
The ’translation’ option defines a periodic condition more than a cyclic symmetry condition
Nodes Projection
no projection
Normal Accuracy
Automatically computed by the algorithm
Tangential Accuracy
Automatically computed by the algorithm
About load types and SAMCEF modules
 
Load type
Bacon command
Available for
SAMCEF module
Rotation
.ZYG ROTA
linear, non-linear
ASEF, DYNAM,
MECANO
Translation
.ZYG TRANS
linear, non-linear
ASEF, DYNAM,
MECANO
 
Mindlin Glue (Structural)
 
Description
 
Input Data
Description
Forces All Defaults
When set to a non zero value, all defaults are taken into account.
Reference Distance
All shells edges which are at a distance greater than Reference Distance from a slave node are ignored during the projection of the slave node. So between this slave node and a rejected shell edges, no SH3D element is generated
Allowed values
 
Input Data
Description
Forces All Defaults
(Integer)
1=takes all defaults
Reference Distance
(Real)
strictly positive
Default values
 
Input Data
Description
Forces All Defaults
«All Defaults» not enabled
Reference Distance
Infinite (i.e. all the edges of the master surface can potentially be taken into account)
Remarks
 
Input Data
Description
Forces All Defaults
When set to a non zero value, all other values defined in the other fields of the Input data form are discarded
Reference Distance
In some cases, can reduce the computation time; in general, this field has to be left empty
About load types and SAMCEF modules
 
Load type
Bacon command
Available for
SAMCEF module
Shell to Shell
.APS
linear, non-linear
ASEF, DYNAM,
MECANO
Shell to Volume
.APS
linear, non-linear
ASEF, DYNAM,
MECANO
 
Density of force (Structural)
 
For Surfacic/Surfacic_Axisym options
 
Input Data
Description
Sforce (SFx, SFy, SFz)
Surfacic Density of force vector
For Lineic option
 
Input Data
Description
Lforce (LFx, LFy, LFz)
Lineic Density of force vector
For Lineic in Beam axes option
 
Input Data
Description
PRz
Lineic density of force value on the beam z-axis.
PRy
Lineic density of force value on the beam y-axis.
Remarks
Input Data
Description
Sforce (SFx, SFy, SFz)
Surfacic Density allows to enter a density of force along arbitrary axes on the contrary of the Pressure lbc which defined a density of force perpendicular to the element.
A well know example of the Density of Force is the distributed force the snow on a roof
Hybrid Deformation (Structural)
Note:  
This option is no longer supported.
Append (Structural)
Creates a link between homogeneous mesh faces. The first application region is the master face. The second one are to be made of nodes of volumes elements.
Temperature (Thermal)
This panel allows to define a temperature with/without a time-dependency.
Initial Temperature (Thermal)
This panel allows the definition of an initial temperature
Load (Thermal)
Thermal loads are concentrated fluxes at nodes.
Prescribed Temperature at t=0 (Thermal).
This panel allows the definition of the temperature at time=0.
Volumic convection (Thermal)
Convection (Thermal)
This panel defines the classical convection on 2D elements (shells or membranes) or on faces of 3D elements
 
Volumic Flux (Thermal)
This panel defines a volumic on elements.The same panel is used for both 2D or 3D target elements
Surfacic Flux (Thermal)
This panel defines the surface flux on 2D elements (shells or membranes) or on faces of 3D elements
Radiation (Thermal)
 
Sticking (Thermal)
This panel helps to modelize classical sticking between two supports.
Description
 
Input Data
Description
Forces All Defaults
When set to a non zero value, all defaults are taken into account.
Nodes Projection
Forces nodes projection on master surface (topology correction)
Normal Accuracy
Accuracy used to «drive» the slaved node projection algorithm
Tangential Accuracy
Accuracy used to «extend» a master face area when the projection of a slave node lies outside the face
Allowed values
 
Keyword
Description
Forces All Defaults
(Integer)
1=takes all defaults
Nodes Projection
(Integer)
0=no projection
1=projection
Normal Accuracy
(Real)
strictly positive value
Tangential Accuracy
(Real)
strictly positive value
Default values
 
Keyword
Description
Forces All Defaults
«All Defaults» not enabled
Nodes Projection
No projection
Normal Accuracy
Automatically computed by the algorithm
Tangential Accuracy
Automatically computed by the algorithm
Remarks
 
Keyword
Description
Forces All Defaults
When set to a non zero value, all other values defined in the other fields of the Input data form are discarded
Nodes Projection
 
Normal Accuracy
See SAMCEF Contact manual for more details
This field has to be filled only in special cases, to help the algorithm in special contact conditions
Tangential Accuracy
(same as above)
Gluing (Thermal)
This panel helps to modelize the thermal gluing between two supports. Thermal properties of the junction can also be defined.
Description
 
Input Data
Description
Reference Distance
All shells edges which are at a distance greater than Reference Distance from a slave node are ignored during the projection of the slave node
Interface Conduction Coefficient
Interface Conductance
Radiation Property
Emissivity * Stefan-Boltzman constant
Surface Dissipation
Surface dissipation
Allowed values
 
Keyword
Description
Reference Distance
(Real)
strictly positive value
Interface Conduction Coefficient
(Real)
strictly positive value
Radiation Property
(Real)
strictly positive value
Surface Dissipation
(Real)
strictly positive value
Default values
 
Keyword
Description
Reference Distance
No reference distance
Interface Conduction Coefficient
 
Radiation Property
 
Surface Dissipation
 
Remarks
 
Keyword
Description
Reference Distance
In some cases, can reduce computation time, but, in general, this field has to be left empty
Interface Conduction Coefficient
 
Radiation Property
In this release, he same input scalar value is applied to both the master and slave support
Surface Dissipation
(same as above)