Welcome to the FE Part 1

Welcome to the FE Part

2 FE Part
Introduction

Introduction
The FE Part is a wholly Adams-native modeling object with inertia properties and is accurate for very
large deformation cases (that is, geometric nonlinearity) of beam-like structures. The FE Part differs from
the linear flexible body option within Adams Flex in two significant ways: 1) it has the ability to
accurately represent large deformations which the linear modes approach cannot and 2) its modeling does
not require an FEA-produced file like the modal neutral file (MNF). The FE Part also differs from the
beam force element in that it possesses inertia properties. The inertia properties are specified using
symmetric, consistent mass matrix which remains constant. For a more detailed comparison with other
methods of modeling geometric nonlinearity within Adams click here. The FE Part has below
formulation options:
3D Beam: A three-dimensional fully geometrically nonlinear representation useful for beam-like
structures. Accounts for stretching, shearing, bending, and torsion.
2D Beam (XY, YZ, or ZX): A two-dimensional geometrically nonlinear representation useful
for beam-like structures whereby the centerline of the beam can be assumed constrained to a
plane parallel to the model's global XY, YZ or ZX plane. The 2D Beam can stretch or bend in
plane. The 2D Beam will solve faster than the 3D Beam.
These formulation options are based on an MSC-authored adaptation of Absolute Nodal Coordinate
Formulation (ANCF). The Adams FE Part implementation differs from pure ANCF primarily in that it
is more like a hybrid between ANCF and geometrically exact beam theory to overcome the limitations
of the conventional ANCF formulation. In this way, the new formulation doesn't suffer from the
notorious "shear locking" phenomena.
The name "FE Part" is appropriate for this entity since this formulation is rooted in finite element
modeling and its implementation within Adams shares the finite element modeling concept of nodes (see
below).
The FE Part does not support material nonlinearity. Also, currently the FE Part is recommended to be
applied only to modeling beam-like structures. Other shapes like plates/shells or solids are not currently
directly supported. System linear modes analysis via Adams Linear is not currently supported for models
including FE Parts nor are Adams2Nastran exports or analyses using Adams Controls.

Note: FE_PART contact with hollow sections is not supported.

There is no problem if the geometry belongs to a any other PART or FLEX_BODY,

only if the geometry belongs to an FE_PART and there is contact on that FE_PART
then we do not support it.
 Welcome to the FE Part 3
Building FE Parts

Building FE Parts
The FE_Part is composed of small pieces, known as finite elements. The behavior of each element is well
known under all possible support and load scenarios. The elements share common points called nodes,
section properties are assigned on each node. The basic building blocks to create FE_Part are described
below:
Material - Defines a collection of constants needed to define the stress-strain relationship for a
given physical material. Currently, only elastic behavior is supported. The number of constants
varies depending on whether the material is isotropic, orthotropic, or anisotropic.
Nodes - Define the neutral axis of the beam, whose axis passes through the origin of each node.
All nodes must be oriented such that the positive x-axis is tangent to the neutral axis of the beam
centroid. To this end, we need to specify the location and orientation of the node with respect to
the BCS of the element. Also, the number of nodes used, n, determines the number of degrees of
freedom (DOF) of the FE Part as such:
DOF for 3DBeam : = 3*((4*number_of_nodes)-1),
DOF of 2DBeams : = 4*(number_of_nodes).
Within Adams View these nodes are objects with names (typical of other Adams View objects)
and labels which are single positive integer identifiers passed to Adams Solver. The modeling
automation provided by the FE Part create and modify wizard in Adams View will name and
label nodes in a consistent fashion, but users may rename FE Nodes.
Section Properties - Define the cross-sectional property values for each node specifying area
and area moments of inertia (Iyy, Izz and Iyz) of the beam.

Interacting with Adams Modeling Elements

The FE Part interacts with the rest of the Adams model similar to other body types in Adams.
Markers - Markers on FE Parts must be associated with a single node. The marker need not
necessarily be coincident with a node. Adams Solver will compute the initial offset to the node
and it will keep the offset in subsequent computations. The marker will move as if it is rigidly
attached to its node. Within Adams View an FE Part marker can be defined as either location-
based or node-based. During pre-processing, the location based marker will always remain at the
specified location and automatically associate itself with the nearest node even after "re-
meshing" the FE Part.
The node-based marker will always remain associated with the specified node even if it is not the
nearest node. Markers automatically generated on FE Parts by Adams View, for example when
interactively creating a constraint or force, will be location-based.
The FE Part does not support a floating markers. So, an FE Part cannot be the reaction body for a
torque vector (VTORQUE), force vector (VFORCE), general force (GFORCE), curve-curve
constraint (CVCV) or point-curve constraint (PTCV).
Constraints - Through markers, the full suite of Adams constraints (for example, joints, joint
primitives, and motions) can be applied to an FE Part.
4 FE Part
Building FE Parts

Applied Forces - Through markers, the full suite of Adams point forces (for example, single
component and multi-component forces and torques) can be applied to an FE Part. The FE Part
does not currently support a preload definition.
Contact - Geometry belonging to an FE Part can be used for FE Part-Solid or FE Part-FE Part
contact force definitions. FE Part-Flexible Body contact force definitions are not supported
currently. To learn more about modeling contact between FE Part and other bodies in Adams see
Contacts section.
FE Load - A distributed applied load (force and moment) per unit length on a beam using
function expressions can be defined and is known as the FE Load. The function expressions can
depend on, among other things, runtime functions which define quantities along the length of the
FE Part centerline (S, SD, SV and SA). Function S defines the position along the length of the
centerline as a value between 0 and 1. The other measures provide the values of the global
position, velocity and acceleration at the position defined by S.

Building within Adams View: the FE Part Wizard

FE Part creation and modification is supported within Adams View primarily through the FE Part wizard.
This wizard is launched either via a modification action on FE Part or, for creation purposes, via the FE
Part icon within the "Flexible Bodies" container on the "Bodies" tab:

The wizard is divided into three pages. The specific details regarding each input item are provided in the
FE Part Wizard dialog box help. A summary of the modeling capabilities enabled by each page of the FE
Part wizard are summarized below.

Formulation Page
On the Formulation page the formulation option (described in the Introduction) is selected and the
material properties are specified. Aside from damping ratios, the material property definition for the FE
Part references a standard Adams material object. This material definition was expanded for the FE Part.
In addition to the isotropic definition option, it also supports an orthotropic beam and anisotropic beam
both of which can be applied to, and utilized by, the FE Part.

Centerline Page
On the Centerline page one defines a guide to be used for the definition of the FE Part beam centerline.
This can be specified as either a straight line between two markers or a graphical curve (B-spline). This
guide is then used, on the subsequent page, to specify the start and end of the FE Part centerline and is
used to pick locations for any intermediate nodes. It should be noted that this guide does not belong to
 Welcome to the FE Part 5
Building FE Parts

the FE Part (it is not referenced by the eventual Adams Solver dataset content relevant to the FE Part)
and that the actual FE Part centerline can differ from this guide depending on the shape of the guide and
the number of nodes used in the FE Part. The actual centerline of the FE Part will be determined by an
interpolation through the nodes defined on the Nodes page of the wizard. The selected reference curve is
hidden automatically after FE part's creation so as to make the FE Part's centerline more easily seen.

Nodes Page
On the Nodes page, the FE Part's nodes are defined. All FE Parts must have at least two nodes - which
define the start and end of the beam. The table on this page allows one to add more nodes at locations
defined by their distance along the length of the centerline (S).
At each node it is required to define the cross-sectional properties of the beam. This is done with Adams
View by creating and referencing a section object. Each section must have area and area inertia values
specified since this is what Adams Solver uses to calculate the behavior of the FE Part. The FE Part can
have different cross-sectional properties at each node.

Nodes Parameterization
The "Parameterize" option on the FE part wizard's Node page allows users to specify if they want the
curve control points to define the FE Part's centerline shape AND node locations (S values) or just the
FE Part's centerline shape keeping the node locations (S values) constant in the face of subsequent curve
control point changes.
Once the "Parameterize" option is selected the table on the Nodes page will be populated with rows
corresponding to each of the spline's control points' positions. It will replace all previously existing
nodes/rows.
If option is not used, then any change in location of curve control points will not update node locations,
only FE Part shape gets changed based on new shape of curve.
By using the "Parameterize" option, one can re-mesh the FE Part's nodes by moving, adding or removing
control points the reference curve's control points. The FE part nodes' "S" values will be automatically
adjusted based on modified curve control points. And, any addition or deletion of curve control points
will automatically add or remove the required number of FE Part nodes.
An important limitation to note here is that when adding or deleting curve control points the nodes'
parameterization will remain only if the FE part has a uniform angle and section for all of its nodes. This
is because otherwise Adams has no way to predict how to apply section and/or angle definitions to the
new node set. So, when adding or removing curve control points to which an FE Part's node set is
parameterized, if that node set has non-uniform angle and/or section definitions then the user will be
prompted to cancel the operation of accept that the parameterization is lost. Lost parameterization means
that the preexisting node set definition would be applied to the new curve shape; the number of nodes
and their S values will remain unchanged.
When only the locations of the curve control points are modified (that is, the number of points remains
constant) then the parameterization can, and will, remain intact.
6 FE Part
Building FE Parts

It should also be noted that in any scenarios where the control points are added to or deleted from the
reference curve, node-dependent markers (that is, markers whose locations are tied to that of a specific
node) will get converted to "location based" markers and remain located at the same XYZ coordinate and
be edited such their motion will governed by what is now the nearest node in the new mesh.

Note regarding node orientations:

Nodes will automatically be created with an orientation such that the x-axis is tangent to the
centerline and the Y and Z axes are the normal and bi-normal to that x-axis. By default, the
specific position of the Y and Z axes are such that there is no twist angle about x-axis. This
orientation constitutes what the nodes table in the FE Part wizard calls "Angle" = 0. One can
rotate the node about its x-axis by modifying this "Angle" value.

Geometry
In addition to centerline geometry (wire), the FE Part can also have certain types of geometry which can
be defined through one of two ways on the Nodes page of the FE Part wizard: through the section
specification or through an external piece of geometry imported into Adams View.

Extruded Cross-Section Dimensions:

The section object in Adams View offers some standard cross-section types whose dimensions can be
used to create geometry and, optionally, be used to derive the cross-sectional properties required by
Adams Solver (area and area inertias). It also offers a generic (user-defined) cross-section (Note: The
section properties cannot be automatically derived from the dimensions of the generic cross-section so
one must specify them directly). The table below shows for which of these types of cross-sections Adams
View can create (extrude) and animate geometry along the FE Part centerline. As noted below, some
types can support geometry that, along the length of the FE Part, is both uniform (that is, same
dimensions) and tapered (for example, same cross-section type but different cross-sections). Adams
 Welcome to the FE Part 7
Building FE Parts

View does not support geometry creation/animation for FE Parts that have mixed cross-section types (for
example, solid-circular at one node and solid rectangular at another).

Cross-Section Type Uniform Tapered

Solid Circular x x
Solid Elliptical x x
Solid Rectangular x x
Solid I Beam x x
Hollow Circular
Hollow Rectangular
General Section x x

Note: Depending on the shape of the centerline, to achieve proper extruded geometry it may
require that care be taken when selecting the number and location of FE Part nodes even in
circumstances where the node set is sufficient to achieve a centerline matching that of the
reference curve. See below for examples of such node refinement for extruded geometry:
8 FE Part
Building FE Parts
 Welcome to the FE Part 9
Building FE Parts

External Geometry
The other option for geometry definition is to assign a piece of external geometry to the FE Part. Imported
shell or Parasolid files are supported; when importing such files the reference marker must belong to the
FE Part and be coincident with the node at S=0. Also, note that the Section properties will not
automatically reflect the cross-sections of the imported geometry. You must manually specify the section
properties at each node just the same as if you did not provide any geometry. As with all FE Parts, the
calculation will assume that the cross-section centroid lies on the FE Part centerline. For rendering during
animation the vertices of the external geometry are moved according to actual calculated positions of the
centerline. External geometry that extends beyond the start and end nodes of the centerline will not
deform but will move rigidly.
To add geometry that moves rigidly and per the motion of a particular FE Part marker one should attach
a separate body (for example, rigid part) with its own geometry at that position.

Building within Adams Solver

Adams Solver only requires at a minimum that an FE Part be defined by node locations, corresponding
section properties (area, area inertias) at each node location and, if contact is specified in the model, the
geometry used for the contact force definition. The Adams Solver dataset can optionally contain
information about other Adams View-generated objects (for example, sections). See the Adams Solver
documentation on the FE_PART statement for more details.
It is expected that some users will choose to define FE Parts directly in the Adams Solver dataset (.adm
file) with the minimal set of required information. If such datasets are imported into Adams View
modification of the FE Part is not supported through the FE Part wizard. Even datasets exported from
Adams View containing Adams View-created FE Parts will not be supported for modification through
the FE Part Wizard if read back into Adams View. That Adams View database (.bin file) or Adams View
command file (.cmd file) should be used for such purposes.
All Adams Solver analysis types are supported by the FE Part with the exception of system linear modes
analysis via Adams Linear. This is not currently supported for models including FE Parts.
The FE Part supports shared-memory parallel (SMP) multi-threading. So, models with multiple FE Parts
(3D Beam or 2D Beam types) or single large FE Parts (3D Beam type), in terms of the number of nodes,
should exhibit performance improvements when setting the number of threads greater than one on
multiple CPU/core machines.
10 FE Part
Post Processing FE Parts

Post Processing FE Parts

FE Parts can be post-processed similarly to other types of Adams bodies through XY plots of result sets,
measures and requests; and, through animation.

Result Sets
The FE Part result set generated by Adams Solver and automatically available for post-processing within
Adams PostProcessor contains several components for each node on the FE Part:
Motion data in 6 components, 3 each translational and rotational:
Displacement
Velocity
Acceleration
Force data in 6 components, 3 each translational (forces) and rotational (torques) which can be
interpreted as internal loading at the node.

Using Measures and Requests with FE Parts

To create measures or requests about FE Parts can reference markers belonging to an FE Part in the same
manner as Adams markers belonging to other kinds of bodies can be used. There is no capability to create
an object measure based on the FE Part itself nor are there FE Part specific functions that can be used in
output request function definitions. However, output request functions can be created which reference
the runtime functions which define quantities along the length of the FE Part centerline (S, SD, SV and
SA).

Animation Capabilities
FE Parts can be animated in Adams PostProcessor. Both the wire geometry for the centerline and the
solid/shell geometry (if present) will animate per the calculated deformation of the centerline and (if
present) the calculated positions of the shell/solid surface vertices.
By default color contour plots of the FE Part deformation will be shown. This deformation is defined by
the displacement of the geometry vertices relative to it's initial displacement from the datum node. By
default the datum node is the node at S=0. Note that during the simulation the colors will appear
differently than in post-processing animation because the entire extent of deformation throughout the
simulation is not yet known thus the color scale is can be changing. For more details please see the dialog
box help for the FE Part Wizard.

FE Loads
The result set for the FE Load will contain components for each of the three directions of force and each
of the three directions of torque (FX, FY, FZ, TX, TY, TZ) at each node on the corresponding FE Part
 Welcome to the FE Part 11
Post Processing FE Parts

and at all the midpoints between nodes on the corresponding FE Part. The numbering begins with the
load applied on the node at Distance (S) = 0 (FX0, FY0 and so on); next is the load applied midway
between the node at S=0 and the next nearest node in increasing S (FX1, FX1 and so on); this is followed
by the load applied on the next nearest node in increasing S (FX2, FX2 and so on); this continues in
increasing S over locations at nodes and midpoints between nodes until the node at S=1.
12 FE Part
Post Processing FE Parts
Appendix
14 Appendix
FE Part Compared to Other Methods for Geometric Nonlinearity

FE Part Compared to Other Methods for Geometric

Nonlinearity
The FE Part modeling object is accurate for beam-like structures undergoing very large deformation; that
is, geometric nonlinearity. Therefore one will want to compare this approach with other common
approaches for modeling geometrically nonlinear flexibility of beam-like structures in Adams. The other
principal approaches are:
Discrete Flexible Link: a series of rigid bodies connected by Adams Solver BEAM, FIELD or
BUSHING force objects
Multi MNF: a series of modal neutral file (MNF) based Adams Flex linear flexible bodies
connected by fixed joint type constraints or bushings
There are advantages (pros) and disadvantages (cons) of each approach:
FE Part
Pros
Geometrically nonlinear and distributed mass formulation does not require subdivision in
lumped masses or linear flexible components
Modification and parameterization is often easier than the other two approaches
Modeling a distributed load via the FE Load is far less time consuming than using discrete
force vectors or MFORCES
Support for stress and strain recovery in APostProcessor (X-Y plots)
Reduced noise in nonlinear contact where a geometry "wraps" around another since the
geometry is not discretized
No "seams" in the stress/strain results due to discretization
Refining or coarsening the model (number of nodes in this case) is often easier than in the
other two approaches
2D formulation option for faster analysis on planar problems
Cons
Design position assumed to be unloaded (that is, does not support pre-stress/pre-load and
cannot be worked around via model save/reload commands)
No support for ALinear
No support for AControls
No support for Adams2Nastran export
No support for stress and strain recovery in APostProcessor (animated color contour plots)
Discrete Flexible Link
Pros
Can be defined in a preloaded/pre-stressed condition (and support model save/reload)
Support for ALinear
 Appendix 15
FE Part Compared to Other Methods for Geometric Nonlinearity

Full support for AControls

Supports use of 2D parts for faster analysis on planar problems
Cons
Time consuming to modify and parameterize (Adams command language skill required in
many instances)
Time consuming to apply distributed loads to it
No direct support for stress/strain recovery (need to write your own requests)
Refining or coarsening the discretization is somewhat time consuming without Adams
command language skill
Mass properties approximated by discretization
Multi MNF
Pros
Can be defined in a preloaded/pre-stressed condition (and support model save/reload)
Support for ALinear
Full support for AControls
Modal stress/strain recovery (X-Y plots and animated color contour plots)
Distributed mass properties
Cons
Model setup is time consuming (MNF generation for discretization of what is usually a
single piece of geometry)
Higher skill required for model setup (definition of interaction between discrete flexible
bodies is not straightforward to do correctly)
Time consuming to modify and parameterize aspects of it requiring MNF re-generation
(shape, material and so on.)
Sometimes time consuming to work with applied distributed loads (MFORCE workflow)
Refining or coarsening the discretization is time consuming
No 2D option

Another consideration is model solve time. On this consideration it is difficult to compare the three
approaches generally speaking. The comparisons are expected to be model dependent. One would want
to compare the coarsest model which achieves sufficiently accurate results from the various approaches.
Model coarseness/fineness is defined by number of nodes (FE Part), parts (discrete flexible link) or
flexible bodies (multi-MNF).
16 Appendix
FE PART Formulation

FE PART Formulation

2D Beam
The 2D beam element is derived from the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation (ANCF) Euler-
Bernoulli beam theory[1-3]. These elements are ideally suited for long, slender beam with negligible
shear deformation. The 2D beam element is a two-node beam element with a position vector and a
T T T
gradient vector used as nodal coordinates e i = [ r r x ] . Thus, each node has 4 coordinates: 2
components of the global position vector and 2 components of the position vector gradient at each node.
This formulation displays no shear locking problems and it is computationally more efficient compared
to the original ANCF due to the reduced number of nodal coordinates. It should be noted that these beam
elements do not exhibit any out-of-plane motion and they should be defined in (and their motion is
limited to) the plane parallel to the global XY, YZ or ZX plane.
The global position vector of an arbitrary point on the beam centerline with element spatial coordinate
x is given by:

r ( x, e ) = S ( x )e
The shape function matrix for this element is defined as:

2 12
S = [ S 1 IS 2 IS 3 IS 4 I ] R
where:

I is the 2 2 identity matrix and the shape functions Sj, j = 1,...,4 are defined as:
2 3 2 3
s 1 = 1 3 + 2 , s 2 = l i ( 2 + )

2 3 2 3
s 3 = 3 2 , s 4 = l i ( + )

x 8
Here = ---, l i is the length of the ith element, and e = [ e i e i + 1 ] R is the vector of element
li
nodal coordinates.

The mass matrix for the ith element is computed as:

li
T
M i = A i S S dx
0
 Appendix 17
FE PART Formulation

where and Ai are the mass density and the cross sectional area, respectively. One of the salient
attributes of this formulation is that the mass matrix does not depend on the nodal coordinates and it
remains constant during the simulation. The mass matrix is symmetric and consistent (not lumped).

12
The external force vector ( Q e R ) for the ith element due to gravity can be obtained as:

li
i T
Qe = Ai S f g dx
0

T
where f g = [ 0, g, 0 ] is the gravity force vector considering Y as the vertical axis.

The strain energy expression for the ith element is

li li
1 2 1 2
U i = --- EA i ( 11 ) dx + --- EI i ( ) dx
2 2
0 0

1 T r x r xx
where 11 = --- ( r x r x 1 ) is the axial strain and = -------------------
- is the magnitude of curvature
2 rx
3

vector. For initially curved beam (with no pre-stresses), the strain energy expression becomes

li li
1 2 1 2
U i = --- EA i ( 11 ) dx + --- EI i ( 0 ) dx
2 2
0 0

12
The elastic forces vector ( Qs R ) for the ith element is determined from the strain energy
expression as

li li
11 T T
= EA i ( 11 ) ---------- dx + EI i ( 0 ) ------ dx
i
Qs
e e
0 0

It should be noted that all the integral functions are computed numerically using the Gauss-quadrature
formula. The nodal coordinate vector, the external and elastic force vectors, and the mass matrix for the
entire beam are formed using the element connectivity.
18 Appendix
FE PART Formulation

3D Beam
The 3D beam formulation is derived from both the ANCF shear deformable beam theory and the
geometrically exact beam formulation [4-7]. A beam is described by its centroid line r(x,t) and the cross
section moving frame A(x,t), where A = [n t1 t2] is the transformation matrix from the moving frame to
the global coordinate system.

Figure 1 Geometrical description of a particle on the beam

As shown in Figure 1, the coordinates of a particle P on the beam are defined as

p
r ( x, y, z, t ) = r ( x, t ) + A ( x, t )d
where d = (0 y z)T define the coordinates of particle in the cross section reference frame.

The transformation matrix A(x,t) is described by the rotation vector ( x, t ) , which is

2
A = I + f ( ) + g ( )

2 2 2
where I is the 3 3 identity matrix; = = 1 + 2 + 3 ; and
 Appendix 19
FE PART Formulation

sin -
0 3 2 ---------- 0.01
1- 2
= 3 0 1 , f() = 2 4 6 , g ( ) = -- f ---
2 2

2 1 0 1 ----
- + ----- ----- + < 0.01
3! 5! 7!

The position vectors of the centroid line r ( x, t ) and the rotation vectors of the moving frames ( x, t )
are independently interpolated in each element

2 3 2 3
r ( x, t ) = ( 1 3 + 2 )r 0 ( t ) + l ( 2 + )r'0 ( t )
2 3 3 2
+ ( 3 2 )r 1 ( t ) + l ( )r'1 ( t )
2
( x, t ) = ( 1 3 + 2 ) 0 ( t ) + 4 ( 1 ) m ( t ) + ( 2 2 ) 1 ( t )

x
where l is the length of the element, = -- is the normalized arc-length coordinate in the element.
l

Figure 2 Generalized coordinates of 3D beam element

As shown in Figure 2, the generalized coordinates of a beam element are

T T T T T T T T
q = ( r 0 r'0 0 m r 1 r' 1 1 )
20 Appendix
FE PART Formulation

Thus, each 3D beam element has 21 generalized coordinates. The governing equation of the beam can be
derived from Lagrange's equation

T
T ------
d- ------- T V
---- - + ------- + ---------- = Q i
dt q i q i q i q i

= 0
where
T = the total kinetic energy of the beam
V = the total elastic potential energy of the beam

= the constraint equations

= the Lagrange multipliers for the constraints

Q= the generalized applied forces

The kinetic energy of the kth element is

1
k 1 T T
T = --- ( Ar r + J ) dx
2
0

where

= B
in which

2
B = I g ( ) + h ( )
with

sin -
------------------- 0.01
3

h() =
1 2 4 6
----- ----- + ----- ----- + < 0.01
3! 5! 7! 9!
and

= density of the beam

 Appendix 21
FE PART Formulation

A= area of the cross section

J= rotary inertia of the cross section

= angular velocity of the moving frame

The elastic potential energy of the kth element is

1
1 T
k T
V = --- [ C A + ( 0 ) C I ( 0 ) ] dx
2
0

where

T T
= A r' A 0 r'0 , = B'

= strains of the centroid line

= curvature of the moving frame

.
( ) = the corresponding value in the un-deformed configuration

CA = stiffness matrix of the strain

CI = stiffness matrix of the curvatures

in which

c1 c2 c3 c 4 I yy + c 6 I zz + 2c 5 I yz c 4 I yy c 5 I yz c 4 I yz c 5 I zz
CA = A c2 c4 c5 , CI = c 4 I yy c 5 I yz c 1 I yy c 1 I yz
c3 c5 c6 c 4 I yz c 5 I zz c 1 I yz c 1 I zz

with

2 2
I yy = z da , I zz = y da , I yz = yz da
A A A

For isometric materials, c1 = E, c4 = c6 = G, and c2 = c3 = c5 = 0.

For orthotropic materials, c1 = Ex , c4 = Gxy, c6 = Gxz, and c2 = c3 = c5 = 0.

The virtual work done by the external force in the kth element is
22 Appendix
FE PART Formulation

l
k T T T
W = [ r ( x, t )f ( x, t ) + ( x, t )t ( x, t ) ] dx = q Q
0

where

T
= B
f = applied distributed force on the beam
t = applied distributed torque on the beam
 Appendix 23
FE PART Results

FE PART Results
The FE PART results can be viewed in the Adams PostProcessor. By default, Adams solver generates the
results set at each output time step which includes the following entities (for each node):
The generalized coordinates (global position and Euler angles) : X, Y, Z, Psi, Theta, Phi
The generalized velocities (global translational and angular velocities) : Vx, Vy, Vz, Wx, Wy, Wz
The generalized accelerations (global translational and angular acc.) : Accx, Accy, Accz, WDx, WDy,
WDz
The elastic/internal forces (in local frame) : Fx, Fy, Fz
The elastic/internal torques (in local frame) : Tx, Ty, Tz
Using these results, the beam stresses and strains are computed.

Recovery of strains and stresses in beams

From the input file, we have the material properties matrix C and the geometric properties of the cross
section A, Iyy, Izz and Iyz at each node, where

c1 c2 c3
C = c2 c4 c5
c3 c5 c6

1. If the material is orthotropic, c1 = Ex , c4 = Gxy, c6 = Gxz, and c2 = c3 = c5 = 0, in which Ex is the

Young's modulus in the normal direction of the cross section; Gxy and Gxz are the shear moduli of
the cross section.
E
2. If the material is isotropic, c1 = E, c4 = c6 = -------------------- , and c2 = c3 = c5 = 0, in which E is the
Young's modulus, and v is the Poisson's ratio.2 ( 1 + v )
The strain and stress at any particle on the beam are computed using the following steps:
1. From the FE_PART results, we know the force F and torque T of each node in the local frame,
and they are calculated using the following formulas

F1 T1
F = F2 = CA , T = T2 = CI (1)

F3 T3

where is the stretch-shear strain and is the torsion-bending curvatures, which are both 3 1 vectors
and
24 Appendix
FE PART Results

T T
= ( 1 2 3 ) and = ( 1 2 3 ) and CA are CI both 3 3 matrices

c1 A c2 A c 3 A c 4 I yy + c 6 I zz + c 5 I yz c 2 I yy c 3 I yz c 2 I yz c 3 I zz
CA = A c2 A c4 A c 5 A , CI = c 2 I yy c 3 I yz c 1 I yy c 1 I yz
c3 A c5 A c 6 A c 2 I yz c 3 I zz c 1 I yz c 1 I zz

then and at each node can be calculated from the Equation (1).

2. The stretch-shear strain and the torsion-bending curvatures are continuous along the beam,
so ( s ) and ( s ) at a cross section s ( 0 s 1 ) . The strains at a particle with coordinates
(s,y,z) can be calculated by

xx ( s, y, z ) = 1 ( s ) 3 ( s ) + z 2 ( s )

xy ( s, y, z ) = 2 ( s ) z 1 ( s )

xz ( s, y, z ) = 3 ( s ) y 1 ( s )
T
3. The corresponding stress is = C with = ( xx xy xz ) , and the other components are
yz = zz = yz = 0 .
 Appendix 25
Orientation of FE Part Nodes

Orientation of FE Part Nodes

Node Orientation
The trajectory of an FE Part is decided by either two markers or a reference GCURVE
Based on the input an FE Part BSpline curve is created to align with reference GCURVE
The BSpline is influenced by its reference marker, and all its point coordinates (XYZ) are with
respect to the reference marker
Next, nodes are placed by Distance (S) along curve. The orientation of each node is based on the
tangent to the BSpline curve at its location. This is shown by the yellow colored node icons in
the image below
Node's X direction is always tangent to BSpline
Node's Y and Z direction are based on nature of BSpline curve. Thus, the node's orientation
may vary based on nature of curve. It will gradually change along the path of curve in case
of 3D spatial curve.
The node's Y and Z direction represent respective shear directions. Hence, the
corresponding Section definition always aligns with these axes.

Example 3D Spatial Curve

If the BSpline is oriented spatially in 3D space, then its tangent (X), normal (Y) and bi-normal (Z) will
be correctly oriented along the length of the BSpline:
26 Appendix
Orientation of FE Part Nodes

And corresponding sections will follow the orientation of the respective nodes as shown below:

See the Create Section dialog box help for details on how the section is oriented relative to the node.
 Appendix 27
References

References
1. Shabana, A.A., Computational continuum mechanics. 2008: Cambridge University Press, New
York.
2. Khude, N., D. Melanz, I. Stanciulescu, and D. Negrut. A Parallel GPU Implementation of the
Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation with a Frictional/Contact Model for the Simulation of
Large Flexible Body Systems (DETC2011-48816 ). in Proceedings of the ASME 2011 IDETC &
CIE Conference.Washington DC, 2011.
3. Khude, N., D. Melanz, I. Stanciulescu, and D. Negrut. Efficient Parallel Simulation of Large
Flexible Body Systems With Multiple Contacts. Journal of Computational and Nonlinear
Dynamics, 8(4), 2013.
4. Simo, J. C. A Finite Strain Beam Formulation, the three dimensional Problem. Part I. Comp.
Meth. Mech. Eng., Vol.49, pp. 55-70, 1985.
5. Simo, J. C. Three Dimensional Finite Strain Rod Model. Part II: Computational Aspects. Comp.
Meth. Mech. Eng., Vol.58, pp. 79-116, 1986.
6. Ren, H. A Computationally Effecient and Robust Geometrically-Exact Curved Beam Formulation
for Multibody Systems. in Proceedings of the 7th Asian Conference on Multibody Dynamics.
Busan, Korea, 2014.
7. Ren, H., N. Khude, J. Ortiz, M. Collingridge. A Shear-Locking Free Model of Timoshenko Beams
with Large Deformation and Large Rotation. in Proceedings of the ECCOMAS Thematic
Conference. Zagreb, Croatia, 2013
28 Appendix
References