LS-DYNA elements

Physical properties and element attributes

The following table lists the LS-DYNA elements that are supported in Pre/Post. It also lists the keyword and physical property tables that can be defined for each element type. For more information about defining physical and material properties, see Physical properties and element attributes.

In the LS-DYNA environment in Pre/Post, you define the model's physical and material properties using the physical property named PART and the modeling objects named SECTION and HOURGLASS.

For example, in a physical property dialog box such as PART, you can specify the Pre/Post material or type the ID of an external LS-DYNA material.

You can define the material orientation for 2D and 3D elements in the physical properties, Mesh Associated Data dialog box, or the Element Associated Data dialog box.

The following table lists the LS-DYNA elements supported in Pre/Post. It also lists the keyword and physical property tables that can be defined for each element type. The SECTION modeling object contains additional physical properties such as shell thickness, spring constant, and so on.

For descriptions of an element type, see the LS-DYNA documentation.

Manual meshing limitations for LS-DYNA elements

• LS-DYNA does not support solid wedge elements in parabolic form (15-node wedge). Therefore, you cannot use the Element Extrude command to extrude *ELEMENT_SHELL6 type elements

• You cannot use the Element Extrude command to extrude *ELEMENT_SHELL8 type elements.

0D Elements

Element/LS-DYNA Keyword	Description	Mesh collector/Physical property name	Associated modeling object name
*ELEMENT_MASS	0D structural mass element.	n/a	n/a
*ELEMENT_INERTIA	Lumped inertia element assigned to a node.	n/a	n/a

1D Elements

Element/LS-DYNA Keyword	Description	Mesh collector/Physical property table name	Associated modeling object name
*CONSTRAINED_JOINT	Joint element with different types. Use the Joint Type option in the Mesh Associated Data dialog box to select the type of joint to create, such as Spherical, Revolute, or Cylindrical.	N/AUse the Mesh Associated Data or Element Associated Data dialog boxes to define the properties.	Constrained Joint Options
*CONSTRAINED_INTERPOLATION	A spider type element that you can use to connect a single independent node to multiple dependent nodes with weighting factors on each node. For example, you can use a *CONSTRAINED_INTERPOLATION element to connect a point or node to an edge. Use the Element Associated Data dialog box to define the node weighting factors.	N/AUse the Mesh Associated Data or Element Associated Data dialog boxes to define the properties.	Constrained Joint Options
*CONSTRAINED_NODAL_RIGID_BODY	A nodal rigid body that consists of the nodes that you specify. The first node that you specify is the master node and always has six degrees of freedom.	N/AUse the Mesh Associated Data or Element Associated Data dialog boxes to define the properties.	Constrained Nodal Rigid Body Optional
*CONSTRAINED_RIVET	A special type of spot weld that you can use to model a rivet connection.Note: In Pre/Post, to create a *CONSTAINED_RIVET element, you must create *CONSTAINED_SPOTWELD element first, then modify the Element Type in the Mesh Associated Data dialog box *CONSTAINED_RIVET	N/AUse the Mesh Associated Data or Element Associated Data dialog boxes to define the properties.	Constrained Joint Options
*CONSTRAINED_SPOTWELD	A rigid link that you can use to connect two shell elements (top to bottom). You can also specify properties, such as a failure time that specifies when the spot-weld fails.	N/AUse the Mesh Associated Data or Element Associated Data dialog boxes to define the properties.	Constrained Joint Options
*ELEMENT_BEAM	Two-node 1D linear beam element (beam, truss).	PART (beam)	SECTION_BEAMHOURGLASS
*ELEMENT_BEAM_OFFSET	Section properties (created automatically when you define offset and use default orientation).	PART (beam)	SECTION_BEAMHOURGLASS

2D Elements

Element/LS-DYNA Keyword	Description	Mesh collector/Physical property table name	Associated modeling object name
*ELEMENT_SHELL(3), (4), (6), (8)	Three, four, six, and eight node 2D thin-shell elements.	PART (shell)	SECTION_SHELLHOURGLASS
*ELEMENT_SHELL_THICKNESS	Thickness extracted from midsurface (created automatically).	PART (shell)	SECTION_SHELLHOURGLASS
*ELEMENT_SHELL_OFFSET	Thickness offset (created automatically when you define offset).	PART (shell)	SECTION_SHELLHOURGLASS
*ELEMENT_SHELL_BETA	Material orientation (created automatically when you define the angle in Element Associated Data).	PART (shell)	SECTION_SHELLHOURGLASS
*ELEMENT_SHELL_MCID	Material orientation (created automatically when you define material coordinate system in Element Associated Data).	PART (shell)	SECTION_SHELLHOURGLASS

3D Elements

Element/LS-DYNA Keyword	Description	Mesh collector/Physical property table name	Associated modeling object name
*ELEMENT_TSHELL (6), (8)	Six-node and eight-node 3D solid Hex6 and Hex8 elements.	PART (thick shell)	SECTION_TSHELLHOURGLASS
*ELEMENT_SOLID(4), (6), (8), (10), (20)	Four, six, eight, ten, and twenty node 3D solid elements for isotropic materials.	PART (solid)	SECTION_SOLIDHOURGLASS
*ELEMENT_SOLID_ORTHO	Material orientation for orthotropic/anisotropic materials (created automatically when you define material orientation). Material orientation is defined by two vectors.	PART (solid)	SECTION_SOLIDHOURGLASS

Look up more details

Specifying non-laminate materials for LS-DYNA models

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LS-DYNA elements, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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