FE simulation: Consistent Units

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

March 3, 2010

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Consistent System of Units

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Consistent System of Units

ABAQUS and most other simulation codes do not have a built-in unit system (except for rotation DOF & angles)

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Consistent System of Units

ABAQUS and most other simulation codes do not have a built-in unit system (except for rotation DOF & angles)

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Consistent System of Units

ABAQUS and most other simulation codes do not have a built-in unit system (except for rotation DOF & angles) It is the users responsibility to ensure that the units chosen are self-consistent.

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Consistent System of Units

ABAQUS and most other simulation codes do not have a built-in unit system (except for rotation DOF & angles) It is the users responsibility to ensure that the units chosen are self-consistent. Consistent = derived units can be expressed in terms of the fundamental units without conversion factors.

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Consistent System of Units

ABAQUS and most other simulation codes do not have a built-in unit system (except for rotation DOF & angles) It is the users responsibility to ensure that the units chosen are self-consistent. Consistent = derived units can be expressed in terms of the fundamental units without conversion factors. Specifying model data in inconsistent units will yield results that are not physically meaningful

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Consistent System of Units

ABAQUS and most other simulation codes do not have a built-in unit system (except for rotation DOF & angles) It is the users responsibility to ensure that the units chosen are self-consistent. Consistent = derived units can be expressed in terms of the fundamental units without conversion factors. Specifying model data in inconsistent units will yield results that are not physically meaningful Inappropriate units may cause numerical problems during solution (round-o errors)

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

System of units: the basics

Fundamental Units: the SI system The fundamental units used in the SI system are the following: Mass [M], specied in kilograms Length [L], specied in meters Time [T], specied in seconds Temperature [] , specied in degrees Kelvin (or Celsius) Electric current [A], specied in amperes

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

System of units: the basics

Derived Units These quantities are derived from the fundamental units. Typical derived units in the SI system are: Force (in Newtons) = MassAcceleration = ML/T 2 Density = Mass/Volume = M /L3 Stress or Pressure (in Pascals) = Force/Area = (ML/T 2 )/L2 = M /LT 2 Work, Energy, or Unit of Heat (in Joules) = ForceLength = ML2 /T 2 Power (in Watts) = Energy/Time = ML2 /T 3 Electrical Charge (in Coulombs) = CurrentTime = AT

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Typical consistent set of units

System: Length Time Mass Force Temperature Area Volume Velocity Acceleration Angle, rotation Angular Velocity Mass density Moment, torque Line load Surface load Stress, pressure Youngs modulus Thermal exp. coef. Beam cross-section inertia I Energy, Work, Heat Power, heat transfer rate Q Temperature gradient Heat ux Therm. conductivity Specic heat Cp MKS m sec Kg N C m2 m3 m/sec m/sec2 rad rad/sec2 Kg/m3 N-m N/m N/m2 Pa Pa / C (/K) m4 J W C/m W/m2 W/m- C J/Kg- C mmNS mm sec tonne N C mm2 mm3 mm/sec mm/sec2 rad rad/sec2 Tonne/mm3 N-mm N/mm N/mm2 MPa MPa / C (/K) mm4 mJ mW C/mm mW/mm2 mW/mm- C mJ/tonne- C FPS ft sec slug lbf F ft2 ft3 (cu-ft) ft/sec ft/sec2 rad rad/sec2 slug/ft3 ft-lbf lbf/ft lbf/ft2 / F (/K) ft4 ft-lbf ft-lbf/sec F/ft lbf/ft-sec lbf/sec- F ft-lbf/slug- F IPS in sec lbf-sec2 lbf F in2 in3 (cu-in) in/sec in/sec2 rad rad/sec2 lbf-sec2 /in4 in-lbf lbf/in lbf/in2 Psi Psi / F (/K) in4 in-lbf in-lbf/sec F/in lbf/in-sec lbf/sec- F in2 /sec2 - F

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Unit conversion table 1

SI to other metric units

Time Length meter Velocity Acceleration Mass Density Force Moment Stress/Pressure Energy Power SI (m, k, s) second (s) 1 meter (m) 1 m/s 1 m/s2 1 kilogram (kg) 1 kg/m3 1 Newton (N) 1Nm 1 Pascal (Pa) 1 Joule (J) 1 Watt (W) Metric (mm, k, s) second (s) 1000 millimeter (mm) 1000 mm/s 1000 mm/s2 1.0e-3 tonnes 1.0e-12 tonnes/mm3 1 Newton (N) 1000 N mm 1.0e-6 N/mm2 1000 millijoule (mJ) 1000 milliwatt Metric (cm, g, s) second (s) 100 centimeter (cm) 100 cm/s 100 cm/s2 1000 gram (g) 1.0e-3 g/cm3 1.0e5 dyne (dyn) 1.0e7 dyn cm 10 dyn/cm2 1.0e7 erg 1.0e7 erg/s

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Unit conversion table 2

SI to English units
Time Length Velocity Acceleration Mass Density Force Moment Stress/Pressure Energy SI (m, k, s) second (s) 1 meter (m) 1 m/s 1 m/s2 1 kilogram (kg) 1 kg/m3 1 Newton (N) 1 Nm 1 Pascal (Pa) 1 Joule (J) English (inch, lbf, s) second (s) 39.370 inches (in) 39.370 in/s 39.370 in/s2 5.7100e-3 lbf s2 /in 9.3572e-8 lbf s2 /in4 0.22481 lbf 8.8508 lbfin 1.4504e-4 lbf/in2 8.8507 lbfin English (foot, lbf, s) second (s) 3.2808 feet (f) 3.2808 f/s 3.2808 f/s2 6.8522e-2 slugs 1.9403e-3 slug/ft3 0.22481 lbf 0.73756 lbfft 2.0885e-2 lbf/ft2 0.73756 lbfft

Note: lbf = pound force

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Imported geometry: CAD units ...

CAUTION: CAD File Units & exported geometry !!!

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Imported geometry: CAD units ...

CAUTION: CAD File Units & exported geometry !!!

1

Most CAD systems use mm units internally (by default) and the user can usually choose dierent display units.

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Imported geometry: CAD units ...

CAUTION: CAD File Units & exported geometry !!!

1

Most CAD systems use mm units internally (by default) and the user can usually choose dierent display units. However, units may be modied when exporting the CAD model into STEP/IGES/SAT les

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Imported geometry: CAD units ...

CAUTION: CAD File Units & exported geometry !!!

1

Most CAD systems use mm units internally (by default) and the user can usually choose dierent display units. However, units may be modied when exporting the CAD model into STEP/IGES/SAT les So ALWAYS CHECK THE PART DIMENSIONS when importing a CAD le for FE analysis

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units

Imported geometry: CAD units ...

CAUTION: CAD File Units & exported geometry !!!

1

Most CAD systems use mm units internally (by default) and the user can usually choose dierent display units. However, units may be modied when exporting the CAD model into STEP/IGES/SAT les So ALWAYS CHECK THE PART DIMENSIONS when importing a CAD le for FE analysis In Abaqus: use Tool Query Distance to verify the units

Joel Cugnoni, LMAF / EPFL

FE simulation: Consistent Units