MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

CAL POLY POMONA

INTERDEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE
TO: Dr. Parham Piroozan DATE: March 8, 2011
ORG: Mechanical Engineering REF: Final Project

FROM: Nick Goldberg ME 406A-01 Tues. Winter 2011

SUBJECT: Final Project Results – Analysis of a Plate in Tension with a Central Hole

References:

[1] Logan, Daryl. A First Course in the Finite Element Method. 4 ed. Cengage Learning,
2007. Mason, OH.

[2] Getting Started with NEi Nastran. Version 10.0. NEi Software Inc., 2010.
Westminster, CA.

[3] Piroozan, P. NEiNastran Course Handouts. Winter 2011. ME 406A. California

Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA.

Abstract:

A symmetrical plate was analyzed by Nick Goldberg using NEiNastran on March 1, 2011
to find the maximum displacement and stresses. The maximum displacement was
0.00072 in. at the right and left edges of the plate and the maximum stress was found to
be 1042 psi at the top and bottom of the hole in the plate.

Methodology and Results:

The plate geometry was created in Solidworks 2010 and imported into NEiNastran. In
order to reduce computational time due to expected complex meshing, the plate was
reduced to ¼ of the original shape. See Figure 1: Reduced model geometry for an
illustration of the original and reduced geometry.

When reducing the geometry, additional constraints were required to ensure the plate
would deform as if it were the original geometry. The plate was constrained to prohibit
movement in the x-direction along the vertical edge and constrained to prohibit
movement in the y-direction along the horizontal edge. See Figure 1: Reduced model
geometry .

The material used was carbon steel, with a modulus of elasticity of E = 30 x10 6 psi and
Poisson’s ratio of ν = 0.3.
 B
E
D
Constrained Reduced
x-Direction Geometry
A
C
Original B
Geometry Constrained
y-direction
y

B
x
Figure 1: Reduced model geometry

A 320 psi load was placed on the plate in the positive x-direction. Since the force was a
function of area, no modification of the load was required to compensate for the reduced
plate condition.

Due to the stress concentration that exists around the hole, the greatest level of detail is
desired at that location. Moving away from the hole toward the right end of the plate, the
stress becomes constant. Due to this fact, when meshing the plate it was decided that a
finer mesh would exist toward the center hole, and a coarser mesh would radiate to the
edge. This required applying a bias to the meshing, a feature available only when
analyzing the plate as a solid. Therefore, the plate was analyzed as a solid element using
tetrahedral elements with midside nodes. The addition of midside nodes increases the
element nodal count from four nodes to ten nodes, increasing overall accuracy of the
analysis. See Figure 2 for an illustration of the meshing.

Figure 2: Variable meshing employed

After analyzing the plate, the maximum displacement occurred on the right side of the plate, as
expected. The maximum displacement at that edge was 0.00072 in. Nearly the entirety of this
displacement occurred in the x-direction, with only 5 x 10-6 in. resulting in the y-direction. A
contour of this displacement is shown in Figure 3. Note the undeformed shape is shown in grey.
Necking is prominent in the region near the hole.

2
 Figure 3: Contour of displacement of the plate

The hole acts as a stress concentration, forcing the stress due to the side loading to travel
around the hole (See Figure 4). Note that the stresses are expected to be lower at the right
and left sides of the hole, but greater at the top and bottom of the hole.

Figure 4: Flow of stresses around the hole

As expected, the stresses were found to be highest at the top and bottom of the hole, due
to the flow seen in Figure 4. See Figure 5 for the stress contour.

3
 Figure 5: Stress contour demonstrating increased stress around the top of the hole

The maximum stress and displacement of the various locations shown in Figure 1 is
tabulated in Table 1. A stress element at point A is shown in Figure 6.

Table 1: Stress and displacement at various locations

Point Displacement (in) Stress (psi) % of Maximum
A
B
C
D
E

The stress distribution along section B-B is visible in Figure 7. The distribution illustrates
the decreasing stress moving from the hole outward.

4
 = psi

= psi
= psi
= psi
= psi

= psi = psi
= psi

= psi

Figure 6: Stress element at point A