Previewing contact and glue element locations (Simcenter Nastran)

When you solve a model that contains either contact or glue conditions, Simcenter Nastran internally creates contact or glue elements using the contact or glue regions and search distance that you define. Although these contact or glue elements may become inactive as Simcenter Nastran iterates, it can be helpful to understand where those elements are created.

You can use the Export a Preview Bulk Data File option in the Contact Parameters-Linear Global and Glue Parameters-Linear Global dialog boxes to write out a bulk data file that contains dummy:

• Shell element entries for face locations.

• PLOTEL entries for edge locations.

• GRID, property, and material bulk data entries.

When the software writes the preview output depends on whether you are previewing contact or clue conditions:

• For contact conditions, the software writes the preview output when it evaluates the initial, open contact condition. This occurs before any loading is applied to the model.

• For glue conditions, the software writes the preview output when it creates the glue elements. This occurs before any loading is applied to the model.

When you import the preview file, the software uses these dummy entities to display the source and target locations for contact and glue conditions. In the following simple example, (1) shows the original model in which the red mesh is enforced vertically into the green mesh. (2) shows how the preview appears when you import the file.

Note:

The colors shown in (2) were manually modified in Pre/Post after the preview file was imported.

All contact elements begin with an active status. But the end of the solution, some contact elements may become inactive because they did not participate in the converged solution. To view the locations of the final, active contact elements, you can use the options on the Contact Result tab in the Structural Output Request modeling object dialog box to request the output of contact tractions. After you solve the solution, you can view the contact tractions in the OP2 file in post processing. The following graphic shows an example of those contact tractions.

Simcenter Nastran uses the following naming convention for the preview files:

<input_file_name>_cnt_preview<subcaseid>_<contactsetid>.dat

<input_file_name>_glue_preview<subcaseid>_<gluesetid>.dat

For example, if an input file named test.dat includes a subcase numbered 101 and a glue condition numbered 201, then the name of the resulting preview file is:

test_glue_preview_101_201.dat

The Export a Preview Bulk Data File option corresponds to the PREVIEW field for the BCTPARM and BGPARM bulk data entries.

Where do I find it?

Application	Pre/Post
Prerequisites	A Simulation file is the displayed part and the work part, Simcenter Nastran is the specified solver, and Structural or Axisymmetric Structural is the specified analysis type
Command Finder	Modeling Objects
Location in dialog box	Type→Contact Parameters-Linear Global or Glue Parameters-Linear Global

How do I

Define surface-to-surface contact

Define surface-to-surface gluing (Simcenter Nastran)

Define edge-to-surface gluing

Create an axisymmetric nonlinear contact

Learn more

Contact and glue overview (Simcenter Nastran, Simcenter 3D Multiphysics)

Defining parameters for contact conditions (Simcenter Nastran)

Defining parameters for glue conditions

Surface-to-Surface Contact (Simcenter Nastran, Simcenter 3D Multiphysics, Abaqus, ANSYS)

Surface-to-surface gluing (Simcenter Nastran, Simcenter 3D Multiphysics)

Edge-to-Edge Contact (Simcenter Nastran, Simcenter 3D Multiphysics)

Internal edges for source and target regions

Edge-to-Surface Gluing (Simcenter Nastran)

Controlling the stiffness of edge-to-surface glue (Simcenter Nastran)

Edge-to-Edge Gluing (Simcenter Nastran, Simcenter 3D Multiphysics)

Advanced nonlinear contact for axisymmetric elements (Simcenter Nastran)

Automatic face pairing

Quick links

Command reference

Pre/Post video examples

Bulk Entry Descriptions

Simcenter 3D tutorials

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Previewing contact and glue element locations (Simcenter Nastran), Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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