Manually creating connections in LS-DYNA models

In Pre/Post, you can use the 1D Mesh or 1D Connection command and the options in the Element Associated Data and Mesh Associated Data dialog boxes to manually create connections between parts (physical property tables) in a FEM file. You must specify:

• The type of connection to create.

• The physical property tables to connect or where self-contact occurs.

• For certain connection types that involve contact you can specify additional required and optional properties for contact. For more information, see Specifying additional LS-DYNA contact properties.

Selecting a connection type

You use the Connection Options list in the Mesh Associated Data or Element Associated Data dialog box to specify the type of connection to create.

Connection Option	Supported element types to define the connection	Connection type	Notes
*CONTACT_SPOTWELD	3D element: **ELEMENT_SOLID(8)**1D element: ELEMENT_BEAM	ClinchSeam weld	For more information, see Modeling spot welds for LS-DYNA.You can also use the Contact command in the Simulation file to create *CONTACT_SPOTWELD definitions. For more information, see Supported LS-DYNA contact types.
CONTACT_TIED_NODE_TO_SURFACECONTACT_TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE	2D elements: ELEMENT_SHELL(4),ELEMENT_SHELL(3),ELEMENT_SHELL(8), ELEMENT_SHELL(6), ELEMENT_TSHELL(6), **ELEMENT_TSHELL(8)**3D elements: ELEMENT_SOLID(4),ELEMENT_SOLID(8), ELEMENT_SOLID(6),ELEMENT_SOLID(10)	Adhesive	A *CONTACT_TIED_NODE_TO_SURFACE connection constrains translational degrees of freedom only.A CONTACT_TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE connection constrains translational and rotational degrees of freedom.You can also use the Contact command in the Simulation file to create *CONTACT_TIED_NODE_TO_SURFACE and ^CONTACT_TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE definitions. For more information, see Supported LS-DYNA contact types.
CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERALCONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE	1D element: ELEMENT_BEAM2D elements: ELEMENT_SHELL(4),ELEMENT_SHELL(3), ELEMENT_SHELL(8), ELEMENT_SHELL(6), ELEMENT_TSHELL(6), **ELEMENT_TSHELL(8)**3D elements: ELEMENT_SOLID(4), ELEMENT_SOLID(8), ELEMENT_SOLID(6),ELEMENT_SOLID(10)	Bolt	Use these connection types to model self-contact within a single surface.You can also use the Contact command in the Simulation file to create *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERAL and *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE definitions. For more information, see Supported LS-DYNA contact types.
*CONSTRAINED_RIGID_BODIES	1D element: ELEMENT_BEAM2D elements: ELEMENT_SHELL(4),ELEMENT_SHELL(3), ELEMENT_SHELL(8), ELEMENT_SHELL(6), ELEMENT_TSHELL(6), **ELEMENT_TSHELL(8)**3D elements: ELEMENT_SOLID(4), ELEMENT_SOLID(8), ELEMENT_SOLID(6),ELEMENT_SOLID(10)	Bolt (for modeling self-contact)	Use this option to connect multiple rigid bodies by merging two rigid bodies (the slave body merges with the master body). The rigid bodies do not need to share common nodes, since LS-DYNA updates the motion of each body's nodes independently.

Specifying the physical property tables to connect

Depending on the option that you select from the Connection Options list, you must specify the physical property tables that contain the elements to connect or where self-contact occurs.

• For *CONTACT_TIED_NODE_TO_SURFACE, and *CONTACT_TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE connections, use the LS-DYNA Parts for masters option to define the physical property tables that contain the elements to connect.

• For *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERAL and *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE connections, use the Additional LS-DYNA Parts for slaves option to define any additional physical property tables where self-contact occurs.

• For *CONSTRAINED_RIGID_BODY connections, use the Additional LS-DYNA Parts for slaves option to specify the physical property tables that contain the elements to merge with the master rigid body.

Exporting connections

When you export a solution that contains a connection:

• The software writes out the keyword information in the following order:ID and heading information.MPP Card 1 (if a Massively Parallel Processing Option (MPP) modeling object is specified for a connection).MPP Card 2 (if a Massively Parallel Processing Option (MPP) modeling object is specified for a connection).Card 1 (specifies the IDs of the master and slaves as well as the type information).Card 2 and Card 3 (if a Contact Card 2 Card 3 modeling object is specified for a connection).Card A and Card B (if a Contact Card A Card B modeling object is specified for a connection).

• The software exports any *CONTACT_ keywords with their ID and heading information. For example, *CONTACT_SPOTWELD_ID. If you define a Massively Parallel Processing Option (MPP) modeling object for a connection, the software appends the _MPP suffix before the _ID. For example: CONTACT_SPOTWELD_MPP_ID.

• If you do not specify a modeling object, the software writes out a blank card, except for the last card, where the software does not write any card out.

• For all connection types except *CONSTRAINED_RIGID_BODIES, the software uses the *SET_PART keyword rather than the *PART keyword to represent a single slave or master part. For *CONSTRAINED_RIGID_BODIES connections, the software uses a *PART keyword.

• If there are multiple physical property tables with identical properties in the same mesh collector, the software issues an error message and exports the first connection only.

Look up more details

LS-DYNA elements

Defining constrained joint connections for LS-DYNA models

Modeling spot welds for LS-DYNA

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Manually creating connections in LS-DYNA models, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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