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SolutionControl
ThesolutioncontrolparametersontheNonlinearParametersformdifferdependingonthetypeofanalysis.
Note:Whenanitemisclickonthisform,adescriptionofthatitemdisplaysinthedisplayareaatthebottomofthe
form.
NonlinearStaticAnalysisThefollowingparametersapplytotheentireloadcase,unlessanalysisofstaged
constructionhasbeenselected,inwhichcasetheparametersapplyseparatelytoeachstageofconstruction.
MaximumTotalStepseditbox.Themaximumnumberofstepsallowedintheloadcase.Itmayinclude
savedstepsaswellasintermediatesubstepswhoseresultsarenotsaved.Settingthisvaluecontrols
howlongtheanalysiswillrun.Startwithasmallervaluetogetafeelforthetimetheanalysiswilltake.If
ananalysisdoesnotreachitstargetloadordisplacementbeforereachingthemaximumnumberof
steps,reruntheanalysisafterincreasingthemaximumnumberofsavedsteps.Thelengthoftimeit
takestorunanonlinearstaticloadcaseisapproximatelyproportionaltothetotalnumberofsteps.
MaximumNullStepseditbox.Null(zero)stepsoccurduringthenonlinearsolutionprocedurewhen:
Aframehingeistryingtounload.
Anevent(yielding,unloading,andsoforth)triggersanotherevent.
Iterationdoesnotconvergeandasmallerstepsizeisattempted.
Anexcessivenumberofnullstepsmayindicatethatthesolutionisstalledbecauseofcatastrophic
failureornumericalsensitivity.Ifamodelishavingtroubleconverging,settheMaximumNull(Zero)
Stepssothatthesolutionwillterminateearly.SetthisvalueequaltotheMaximumTotalStepsto
preventtheanalysisfromterminatingbecauseofnullsteps.
MaximumConstantStiffnessIterationsandMaximumNewtonRaphsonIterationseditboxes.
Iterationisusedtomakesurethatequilibriumisachievedateachstepoftheanalysis.Foreachstep,
constantstiffnessiterationistriedfirst.Ifconvergenceisnotachieved,NewtonRaphson(tangent
stiffness)iterationistriednext.Ifbothfail,thestepsizeisreduced,andtheprocessisrepeated.Use
theseparameterstocontrolhowmanyiterationsofeachtypeisallowed.Settingeitherparameterto
zeropreventsthattypeofiteration.Settingbothtozerocausestheprogramtoautomaticallydetermine
thenumberofiterationstoallow.ConstantstiffnessiterationsarefasterthanNewtonRaphson
iterations,butthelatterareusuallymoreeffective,especiallyforcablesandgeometricnonlinearity.The
defaultvaluesworkwellinmanysituations.
IterationConvergenceTolerance(Relative)editbox.Iterationisusedtomakesurethatequilibriumis
achievedateachstepoftheloadcase.Usethisparametertosettherelativeconvergencetolerance
thatisusedtocomparethemagnitudeofforceerrorwiththemagnitudeoftheforceactingonthe
structure.
Tip:Togetgoodresults,significantlysmallervaluesofconvergencetolerancemaybeneededfor
largedisplacementproblemsthanforothertypesofnonlinearity.Trydecreasingvaluesuntilconsistent
resultsareobtained.
UseEventToEventSteppingandEventLumpingTolerance(Relative)
MaximumLineSearchesperIteration,LineSearchAcceptanceTolerance(Relative)andLine
SearchStepFactor
TargetForceIteration

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MaterialNonlinearityParameters.Thedatainthisareaoftheformisinformationalonly.Fornonlinear
modaltimehistory(FNA)analysis,onlylinkobjectmaterialnonlinearityisconsidered.Fornonlinear
staticandnonlineardirectintegrationtimehistoryanalysis,alllinkandframeobjectnonlinearityis
considered.
NonlinearDirectIntegrationTimeHistory
MaximumSubstepSizeeditbox.Theanalysiswillalwaysstopateveryoutputtimestep,andat
everytimestepwhereoneoftheinputtimehistoryfunctionsisdefined.Inaddition,anupperlimiton
thestepsizeusedforintegrationmaybeset.Forexample,supposetheoutputtimestepsizewas
0.005,andtheinputfunctionswerealsodefinedat0.005second.IftheMaximumSubstepSizeissetto
0.001,theprogramwillinternallytakefiveintegrationsubstepsforeverysavedoutputtimestep.The
programmayusesmallersubstepsifnecessarytoachieveconvergencewheniterating.
Tip:Theaccuracyofdirectintegrationmethodsisverysensitivetointegrationtimestep,especiallyfor
stiff(highfrequency)response.Trydecreasingthemaximumsubstepsizeuntilconsistentresultsare
obtained.Keeptheoutputtimestepsizefixedtopreventstoringexcessiveamountsofdata.
Note:Thedefaultvalueofzeromeansnolimit,i.e.,usetheoutputtimestepsize.
MinimumSubstepSizeeditbox.Whenthenonlineariterationcannotconvergewithinthespecified
maximumnumberofiterations,theprogramautomaticallyreducesthecurrentstepsizeandtriesagain.
Usethisparametertolimitthesmallestsubstepsizetheprogramwilluse.Iftheprogramtriestoreduce
thestepsizebelowthislimit,itwillstoptheanalysisandindicatethatconvergencehasfailed.
MaximumConstantStiffnessIterationsperStepandMaximumNewtonRaphsonIterationsper
Stepeditboxes.Iterationisusedtomakesurethatequilibriumisachievedateachstepoftheanalysis.
Foreachstep,constantstiffnessiterationistriedfirst.Ifconvergenceisnotachieved,NewtonRaphson
(tangentstiffness)iterationistriednext.Ifbothfail,thestepsizeisreduced,andtheprocessis
repeated.Usetheseparameterstocontrolhowmanyiterationsofeachtypeisallowed.Settingeither
parametertozeropreventsthattypeofiteration.Settingbothtozerocausestheprogramto
automaticallydeterminethenumberofiterationstoallow.Constantstiffnessiterationsarefasterthan
NewtonRaphsoniterations,butthelatterareusuallymoreeffective,especiallyforcablesandgeometric
nonlinearity.Thedefaultvaluesworkwellinmanysituations.
IterationConvergenceTolerance(Relative)editbox.Iterationisusedtomakesurethatequilibrium
isachievedateachstepoftheanalysis.Usethisparametertosettherelativeconvergencetolerance
thatisusedtocomparethemagnitudeofforceerrorwiththemagnitudeoftheforceactingonthe
structure.
Tip:Togetgoodresults,significantlysmallervaluesofconvergencetolerancemaybeneededfor
largedisplacementproblemsthanforothertypesofnonlinearity.Trydecreasingvaluesuntilconsistent
resultsareobtained.
EventLumpingTolerance(Relative)
LineSearch
NonlinearModalTimeHistory(FNA)
StaticPeriodeditbox.Normallyallmodesaretreatedasbeingdynamic.Optionallythisparameter
maybeusedtospecifythathighfrequency(shortperiod)modesbetreatedasstatic,sothattheyfollow
theloadwithoutanytransientresponse.Thismaybeusefulforcertainquasistaticanalyses.Usually,
however,theiterationismorestableifdynamiceffectsareincluded.
Tip:Itisunlikelythatthisparameterwilleverneedtobechangedfromitsdefaultvalue.
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MaximumSubstepSizeeditbox.Theanalysiswillalwaysstopateveryoutputtimestep,andatevery
timestepwhereoneoftheinputtimehistoryfunctionsisdefined.Inaddition,anupperlimitonthestep
sizeusedforintegrationmaybeset.Forexample,supposetheoutputtimestepsizewas0.005,and
theinputfunctionswerealsodefinedat0.005second.IftheMaximumSubstepSizeissetto0.001,the
programwillinternallytakefiveintegrationsubstepsforeverysavedoutputtimestep.Theprogrammay
usesmallersubstepsifnecessarytoachieveconvergencewheniterating.
Tip:TheaccuracyofmodalmethodsisNOTverysensitivetointegrationtimestep.Themainreasonfor
limitingthemaximumsubstepsizeisforcomparisonwithotheranalysesthathaveusedsuchlimits.
Note:Thedefaultvalueofzeromeansnolimit,i.e.,usetheoutputtimestepsize.
MinimumSubstepSizeeditbox.Whenthenonlineariterationcannotconvergewithinthespecified
maximumnumberofiterations,theprogramautomaticallyreducesthecurrentstepsizeandtriesagain.
Usethisparametertolimitthesmallestsubstepsizetheprogramwilluse.Iftheprogramtriestoreduce
thestepsizebelowthislimit,itwillstoptheanalysisandindicatethatconvergencehadfailed.
ForceConvergenceTolerance(Relative)editbox.Iterationisusedtomakesurethatequilibriumis
achievedateachstepoftheanalysis.Usethisparametertosettherelativeconvergencetolerancethat
isusedtocomparethemagnitudeofforceerrorwiththemagnitudeoftheforceactingonthestructure.
EnergyConvergenceTolerance(Relative)editbox.Ifforceconvergenceoccurswithinthepermitted
numberofiterations,theworkaccomplishedbythenonlinearforcesiscomparedwiththework
accomplishedbyallotherforcetermsinthemodalequilibriumequations.Ifthedifference,expressedas
afractionofthetotalworkcompletedisgreaterthantheenergytolerance,thesubstepsizeisreduced
andtheiterationistriedagain.Thistoleranceisnotintendedtocheckforequilibrium,butitisintended
tolimittheamountofnonlinearitypermittedinanysubstep.
IterationLimitseditbox.Iterationisusedtomakesurethatequilibriumisachievedateachstepofthe
analysis.ThenumberofiterationspermittedforforceiterationvariesbetweentheMaximumand
MinimumIterationLimits.Theactualnumberpermittedforagivensubstepischosenautomaticallyby
theprogramtoachieveabalancebetweeniterationandsubstepping.Thenumberofiterations
permittedtendstobelargerforsmallersubsteps.
Tip:Itisunlikelythatthisparameterwilleverneedtobechangedfromitsdefaultvalue,unlessa
convergencefactorlessthanoneisbeingused.
ConvergenceFactoreditbox.Underrelaxationoftheforceiterationmaybeusedbysettingthe
convergencefactortoavaluemuchlessthanunity(i.e.,0.1to0.01).Smallervaluesincreasethe
stabilityoftheiteration,butrequiremoreiterationstoachieveconvergence.
Tip:Itisunlikelythatthisparameterwilleverneedtobechangedfromitsdefaultvalue.

TheSolutionControlarea/optionsappearontheNonlinearParametersform.AccesstheNonlinearParameters
formasfollows:

1.ClicktheDefinemenu>LoadCasescommandtodisplaytheLoadCasesform.
2.ClicktheAddNewCasebuttonorhighlightapreviouslydefinedloadcaseandclicktheAddCopyofCase
ortheModify/ShowCasebuttontodisplaytheLoadCaseDataform.

3.Makeoneofthefollowingselections:
SettheLoadCaseTypetoNonlinearorNonlinearStagedConstruction.
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SettheLoadCaseType/SubtypetoTimeHistory/NonlinearModalorNonlinearDirectIntegration.

4.ClicktheNonlinearParametersModify/Showbutton.

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