Tapered beams (Simcenter Samcef)

You can use the Beam Cross-Section Property physical property table to specify beam section tapers on a 1D mesh. The taper is defined as a linear transition from the section defined as the Fore Section to the section defined as the Aft Section.

The Beam Cross-Section Property physical property table is exported in the Simcenter Samcef input file as a .CHB command.

For more information, see the Chain of Beams command in the Simcenter Samcef solver documentation.

Limitations

• You can define a Beam Cross-Section Property physical property table on a 1D mesh collector only if all the elements it contains are collinear, that is, the elements are connected to each other in a continuous way. If one element is not connected to the others, or if an incorrect head-to-tail configuration is detected, the export stops.Correct configurationIncorrect configurationIncorrect configuration

• For the Fore Section and Aft Section sections, you can set standard beam sections such as ROD or I sections. You cannot use any of the custom beam sections such as the User Defined Properties, Face of Solid, or General Geometry.

• The Fore Section and Aft Section sections that you define must both have the same Section Type. For example, you cannot create tapered beams between a ROD Fore Section and an I Aft Section section.

Example 1: Beam with taper applied to the end nodes of the chain

In this example of a tapered beam, the Fore Section is a rod section with DIM1 dimensions of 123 mm. The Aft Section is a rod section with DIM1 dimensions of 1.23 mm.

This Beam Cross-Section Property physical property is applied on a mesh labeled 1d_mesh1.

The output in the Samcef input file shows the following data for sections and chains.

Sections definition:

.BPRNOM "ROD(1)" UNIT 0.001  TYPE "CIRCLE" R 123NOM "ROD(2)" UNIT 0.001  TYPE "CIRCLE" R 1.23

Chain of beams definition:

.CHBGROUP “1d_mesh1” FORE “ROD(1)” AFT “ROD(2)”

Example 2: Beam with taper applied to each element

With the same sections and mesh as described in the example above, the output in the Samcef input file is now:

.BPRNOM "ROD(1)" UNIT 0.001  TYPE "CIRCLE" R 123NOM "ROD(2)" UNIT 0.001  TYPE "CIRCLE" R 1.23

.CHBGROUP “1d_mesh1” FORE “ROD(1)” AFT “ROD(2)” INTERPOLATE 0

Note:

The INTERPOLATE 0 indicates that we apply the taper on each element.

Where do I find it?

Application	Pre/Post
Prerequisite	Simcenter Samcef as the specified solver
Command Finder	Physical Properties
Location in dialog box	Type list →Beam Cross-Section Property

Look up more details

Beam Cross Section Property dialog box (Simcenter Samcef)

Beam Property dialog box (Simcenter Samcef)

Quick links

Command reference

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Tapered beams (Simcenter Samcef), Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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