Does anyone know if it is possible to simulate a material (for a user defined stress/strain curve) of rectangular prism geometry with one fixed face and one force applied outward (on the opposite face) in a nonlinear dynamic study until the material breaks?
Also, if the material was under a load higher than the max stress, would this cause a "failure in the first time step"?
Hi Mark:
It's kind of a "yes" and "no" answer.
The SW Sim software does not show material splitting open (unless you pre-split the geometry). LS-DYNA software from Livermore Labs, actually does analysis like this.
However: you could place a sensor (or sensors) on the component to alert you when the stress, or strain, or strain energy density, approaches a value that you specify. Of course you would have to define criteria for what is considered a "break". I suspect the maximum strain energy density the material can hold, might be a good start.
For the second question: No, the software won't stop on its own if the material exceeds your criterion (unless it gets to the end of the integration period).
I hope that helps. - Tony
Hi Anthony,
Thank you for your response.
So would I need to know the max force the material could take without breaking or the simulation would not run?
As far as the second question, I should have been more specific. I was referring to an error that I commonly get when running the simulation (error in the first time step). This is a common recurring error for the nonlinear dynamic study when I run a simulation.
Hi Mark. The simulation should run if you've supplied it with a stress-strain curve that presumably contains expected values during the simulation- but since it's stopping at the first time step, then you would need to get with your VAR to troubleshoot that. The troubleshooting can be tricky for nonlinear.
But definitely, if the simulation fails at the first step, your VAR is obligated to trouble-shoot the issue. Hope that helps a little.
You need a "failure model" to have things come a part in an FEA code and that is not a supported function in SWX sim. It is available in other codes more expensive codes. You can still get the "answer" of an estimate of the breaking load as Tony's mentions above.
I am running a study on SolidWorks Simulation Premium. Do you know if a "failure model" is supported for premium?
