Technology Update
32
Sample Problem:
Collapsed Fuel Container
The nonlinear stabilization technique
can be used in a wide range of unstable
problems, including some that would
be difficult to solve with conventional
FEA methods.
Understanding Nonlinear
Stabilization Features
Enhancements in ANSYS Mechanical handle nonlinear problems
such as buckling, structural wrinkling and other large-deformation
analysis in which material behavior becomes unstable.
By Roxana Cisloiu and Jin Wang
ANSYS, Inc. Development
In large-deformation analysis, two major problems can
cause convergence difficulties and reduce simulation
accuracy (especially in static analysis with
implicit solvers): mesh distortion and structural
instability. A special nonlinear technique called
rezoning was released in ANSYS 10.0 for the first of
these problems, allowing users to repair the distorted
mesh (limited to 2-D for now) and continue the simula-
tion. In addition, a nonlinear stabilization technique
developed as an enhancement in ANSYS 11.0 allows
for state-of-the-art simulations of unstable nonlinear
problems such as post-buckling, snap-through,
structural wrinkling and other analysis in which
materials become unstable.
Numerical Damping for Large Deformations
An unstable structure usually is characterized by a
load-displacement curve in which the deformations
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Figure 1. Fuel container
example geometry and
boundary conditions
can become very large during a small load increment.
The newly developed tool in version 11.0 deals with
such instabilities by providing a numerical damping
scheme invoked by the STABILIZE command, which
activates or de-activates stabilization from one load
step to another or after a multiframe restart during a
load step. The stabilization feature can be thought of
as adding an artificial damper or dashpot element at
each node of an element for which this feature is
available. Stabilization is achieved by reducing the
large displacement of the node by adding to the force
equilibrium equations a damping force (stabilization
force) proportional to the pseudo-velocity of the node.
Since it is usually difficult to predetermine the
stability of a structure, it is more efficient and accurate
to run the nonlinear analysis without stabilization while
saving the restart files. Then, if the analysis fails to
converge due to instabilities, the stabilization can be
ANSYS Solutions | Volume 7, Issue 5 2006

Figure 2. Final deformation
at which ANSYS diverges
without stabilization
activated during a restart analysis from any substep
except the last converged one. If the behavior of a
problem is known to lose stability very soon after the
load application, then the stabilization can be turned
on at the beginning of the analysis.
The stabilization force can be controlled via an
energy dissipation ratio (STABILIZE,,ENERGY) or
a damping factor (STABILIZE,,DAMPING). ANSYS
provides the user with the option of applying
the stabilization force by keeping the damping factor
unchanged during each substep of a load step
(STABILIZE,CONSTANT,) or by gradually reducing
it to zero at the end of the load step (STABILIZE,
REDUCED,). The specific value that has to be applied
to achieve both convergence and correct deformation
patterns is determined through a trial-and-error
process.
Accuracy of the Analysis
Since artificial stabilization forces are introduced into
the problem, users are advised always to check the
accuracy of results obtained with this technique. This
can be done in the following ways:
I Compare the stabilization energy to the
potential energy. The stabilization energy
should be much less than the potential
energy for an acceptable result.
I If the previous condition is not satisfied, the
user can further compare the stabilization
forces to the applied loads and reaction forces.
An acceptable result requires that these forces
be much smaller than the others. Such a case
can occur when an elastic system is loaded
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33
Figure 3. Final deformation obtained
using the new nonlinear stabilization
tool in ANSYS 11.0
first and then unloaded significantly, resulting in
a small elemental potential energy but large
stabilization energy.
I When the above conditions are not fulfilled, the
results still might be valid if a large part of an
elastic structure undergoes rigid body motion,
as in a snap-through simulation. But the results
have to be used extra carefully.
Sample Problems
The nonlinear stabilization technique can be used in a
wide range of unstable problems. It is illustrated here
in several examples (Figures 1 through 8) that could
not have been solved otherwise in a practical manner
with conventional FEA methods.
Collapsed Fuel Container
The model (Figures 1, 2 and 3) represents half of a
five-liter fuel container modeled with SHELL181
elements with reduced integration as well as two pairs
of contact elements defined on both the inside and
outside surfaces of the bottle. The material considered
is elastic, and applied boundary conditions and forces
are shown in Figure 1. The initial simulation without
stabilization diverges at time 0.38 and no significant
deformation is visible, as can be seen in Figure 2.
A restart analysis is performed from the substep
before the last converged one with stabilization turned
on with the constant option and controlled by a
damping factor of 1.5. Using stabilization, the analysis
can be carried out up to the point at which the bottle is
almost fully collapsed, as shown in Figure 3.
ANSYS Solutions | Volume 7, Issue 5 2006
 Technology Update
Sample Problem: Local Pipe Buckling

34

Figure 4. Pipe geometry and boundary conditions

Figure 5. Equivalent stress at the last converged substep without stabilization

Figure 6. Final equivalent stress obtained with stabilization

Local Pipe Buckling deformation compared to the initial configuration, and

buckling is not yet initiated. Therefore, the analysis is
This model (Figures 4, 5 and 6) represents a thin-
restarted at time 0.62 and stabilization is turned on
walled pipe modeled with SOLID186 elements that
with the constant option, and a specified energy value
is subjected to a large, pure bending deformation.
of 0.04 is used. The model is solved to completion.
The material is chosen as elasto-plastic with a
The final deformation obtained with stabilization is
TB,BISO definition. The geometry of the model,
shown in Figure 6.
boundary conditions and applied pressures are shown
in Figure 4. The initial analysis is run without stabiliza-
tion and diverges at time 0.75 due to the instabilities
Wrinkled Thin Membrane
developed as a result of the local buckling of the pipe. The choice of this example (Figures 7 and 8) to test the
As can be noted in Figure 5, this stage shows very little performance of the stabilization feature was motivated

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by two reasons: the challenges that any finite element 35
software faces when simulating the development of
Sample Problem: Wrinkled Thin Membrane
the out-of-plane deformations in thin-film membranes
and the availability of experimental data for compari-
son in published literature (Alexander Tessler, David W.
Sleight and John T. Wang, “Nonlinear Shell Modeling
of Thin Membranes with Emphasis on Structural
Wrinkling,” 44th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Struc-
tures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference,
Norfolk, Virginia, AIAA 2003-1931, April 7 – 10, 2003,
pp. 11).
The model represents a square thin membrane
(Mylar ® polyester film) modeled with 100x100
SHELL181 elements. The model is clamped along the
bottom edge and subjected to an in-plane shear
loading along the top edge, as shown in Figure 7.
Because there is no mechanism that can initiate the
out-of-plane, buckled deformation, a well-known
procedure is used that consists of imposing pseudo-
random imperfections at each node in the out-of-
plane direction. The imperfection magnitudes are
dependent on the membrane thickness and are very Figure 7. Square thin-film membrane example geometry and loading
small so that they do not influence the final deformed
configuration. The imperfections, material data and
geometry employed are the same as in the above
referenced literature. Since the structural instabilities
are initiated soon after the load application, the
stabilization feature is activated from the beginning
with the constant option and an energy value of 0.5.
The out-of-plane deformations, as shown in
Figure 8, were found in close agreement with results
available in the literature in terms of number of
wrinkles, their orientation and amplitudes.

Summary
The new nonlinear stabilization technique shows
significant potential for use in solving many of today’s
formidable tasks such as post-buckling and other
shell, beam and solid structures with instabilities. The
novel stabilization technique proves to be a very
powerful tool with very few limitations, and it can be
used together with nearly any other nonlinear solution
Figure 8. Out-of-plane deformations
technique (except arc-length method). The addition of
nonlinear stabilization together with the recently
introduced rezoning feature has greatly amplified the
power of ANSYS nonlinear capabilities. It has proven
itself as an important step in the advancement of
simulating complex engineering processes. I

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