Dynamics of 3D beam elements in a

corotational context: A comparative

study of established and new
formulations
Ansys Approach
25/05/2013
Table of content
05/25/2013 2
Introduction (Slide 3)
Example description (Slide 4-5)
Material properties calculation (Slide 7-8)
Ansys Classic approach (Slide 10-16)
Ansys Workbench approach (Slide 18-24)
Conclusion (Slide 25)
Introduction
05/25/2013 3
Because of missing some needed parameters (Young
modulus, density, cross-section, etc.), this report will first
calculate some material and geometry data as inputs in
Ansys, based on the information in the paper (Slide 7-8)
Beam4 is the old element type in Ansys (and not
supported and documented now), but will be used to
compare with new technology (Slide 10-16)
Beam188 is the new and default beam element in Ansys,
will be used to check its capability to this problem (Slide
18-24)
Example description (1)
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This classic example, introduced by Simo and
Vu-Quoc, has often been used in order to
check the ability of various nonlinear dynamic
formulations. A right-angle cantilever, depicted
in left figure, is subjected to an out-of-plane
concentrated load applied at the elbow. The
load acts only during 0t(s)2 and thereafter
the cantilever undergoes large-scale free
vibrations. The amplitude of vibration is of the
same order of magnitude as the structures
dimensions. The frame is modeled with a total
of 20 beam elements (10 elements per
member) and the computations are performed
with t=0.25s.
Example description (2)
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The elbow and the tip out-of-plane displacements histories are given in below figure
Material properties
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Material Properties (1)
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z
y
B
H
1
A
A daA A HB

3
2
12
y
A
BH
I y dA

3
2
12
z
A
B H
I z dA

6
10 EA EHB
3
3
10
12
y
BH
EI E
Material Properties (2)
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z
y
B
H
0.012 0.1095
0.012
8.33 7
83.33
12 6
y z
H B
A HB
E E
I I E

Ansys APDL Modeling
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FE Model
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20 Beam4 elements were used (10 on each line)
Material properties
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Component
Material
name
Youngs modulus
Pa
Poisson
ratio
Density
kg/m
3
Frame - 8.33E7 0 83.33
Analysis Settings
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Number of steps: 3
Auto time stepping: Off
Time step: 0.05s
Time integration method: Newmark
Full Newton-Raphson procedure
Step
Endtime
(s)
1 1
2 2
3 30
APDL code
Boundary Conditions
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50 N load is applied in Z-direction in step
1, 0 for remaining steps
Frame is fixed in all directions at
marked location
Directional deformation in Z-axis
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Animation in 30
seconds (Step: 0.25s)
Total deformation in Z-axis
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Animation in 30
seconds (Step: 0.25s)
Out-of-plane displacement history
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Excel table
Ansys Workbench Modeling
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FE Model
05/25/2013 18
20 Beam188 elements were used (10 on each line)
Material properties
05/25/2013 19
Component
Material
name
Youngs modulus
Pa
Poisson
ratio
Density
kg/m
3
Frame - 8.33E7 0 83.33
Analysis settings
05/25/2013 20
Number of steps: 3
Auto time stepping: Off
Time step: 0.05s
Time integration method: Newmark
Full Newton-Raphson procedure
Step
Endtime
(s)
1 1
2 2
3 30
Boundary Conditions
05/25/2013 21
50 N load is applied in Z-direction in step
1, 0 for remaining steps
Frame is fixed in all directions at
marked location
Directional deformation in Z-axis
05/25/2013 22
Animation in 30
seconds (Step: 0.25s)
Total deformation in Z-axis
05/25/2013 23
Animation in 30
seconds (Step: 0.25s)
Out-of-plane displacement history
05/25/2013 24
Excel table
Conclusion
05/25/2013 25
Ansys Workbench is a state-of-art technology of Ansys,
its new (and default) element Beam188 gives a better and
faster results compared to Beam4 (old element and is not
support now)
Ansys cannot solve this problem with time-step 0.25s, but
have to reduce to 0.05s to obtain the solution
In both case, the result is not actually fit with the result in
the paper