Workshop 11

Linear Static Analysis of a Cantilever Beam:

Multiple Load Cases
Introduction
In this workshop you will become familiar with using load cases in a linear static
analysis. You will model a cantilever beam using the same geometry created in
Workshop 1. The left end of the beam is encastred while a series of loads are applied to
the free end. Six load cases are considered: unit forces in the global X-, Y-, and Z-
directions as well as unit moments about the global X-, Y-, and Z-directions. The model is
shown in Figure W11–1. You will solve the problem using a single perturbation step with
six load cases and (optionally) using six perturbation steps with a single load case in each
step.

Figure W11–1 Cantilever beam model.

© Dassault Systèmes, 2020 Introduction to Abaqus

 W11.2

To begin this workshop, open the database containing the cantilever beam model created
earlier.

Note: In the event you were unable to complete the previous workshop successfully,
accidentally deleted your model database file, etc., a script is provided to generate the
prerequisite model definitions for this workshop. Set your Abaqus/CAE working
directory (File→Set Work Directory) to or open Abaqus/CAE from the beam directory
and run the script ws_intro_beam.py by selecting File→Run Script from the main
menu bar. Then proceed with the rest of the workshop.
Preliminaries
1. In the Model Tree, click mouse button 3 on the model BEAM and select Copy
Model from the menu that appears. In the Copy Model dialog box, enter
Beam-LC as the new model name. Click OK.
2. In the Model Tree, click mouse button 3 on the model Beam-LC and select Set
As Root so that only the contents of the Beam-LC model is displayed in the
Model Tree.

Defining a linear perturbation static step

1. In the Model Tree, click the “+” sign next to Steps to expand the container.
2. Click mouse button 3 on the step BeamLoad and select Delete to delete the
general static step created earlier.
Abaqus switches to the Step module and warns you that deleting a step also
deletes attributes such as output requests and loads that are defined in the step.
Click Yes to accept this.
The general static step will now be replaced by a linear perturbation static step.
Note: The step replacement option could have been used instead of the technique
described above. In that case, step-dependent attributes would have been
preserved. Since we simply want to use the geometry and properties of the beam,
it is more efficient to delete the step (along with its attributes).
3. In the Model Tree, double-click Steps to create a new step.
4. Name the step BeamLoadCases.
5. From the list of available Linear perturbation procedures in the Create Step
dialog box, select Static, Linear perturbation and click Continue.
6. In the Description field of the Basic tabbed page, type Six load cases
applied to right end of beam.
7. Click OK to create the step and to exit the step editor.

© Dassault Systèmes, 2020 Introduction to Abaqus

 W11.3

Defining a rigid body constraint to transmit the load

As indicated in Figure W11–1, we wish to apply forces and moments to the free end of
the beam. However, the beam is modeled with solid C3D8I elements, which possess only
displacement degrees of freedom. Thus, only forces may be directly applied to the model.
Rather than applying force couples to the model, we will apply concentrated moments to
the end of the beam. To this end, all loads will be transmitted to the beam through a rigid
body constraint. This approach is adopted to take advantage of the fact that the rigid body
reference point possesses six degrees of freedom in three-dimensions: 3 translations and 3
rotations and thus allows direct application of concentrated moments. Rigid bodies and
constraints will be discussed further in Lesson 14.

To create a rigid body constraint:

1. The reference point will be located at the center of the free end. You will first
create a datum point at this location in order to later position the reference point.
a. Switch to the Interaction module.
b. From the main menu bar, select Tools→Datum.
c. In the dialog box that appears, select Point as the type, and Midway
between 2 points as the method.
d. On the free end of the beam, select any two diagonally opposite points.
This creates a datum point at the center of the section.
2. In the toolbox, click (or select Tools→Reference Point) to create a reference
point for the rigid body constraint. The reference point should be placed at the
location of the datum point created earlier (i.e., at the center of the free end of the
beam).
3. In the Model Tree, double-click Constraints to create a rigid body constraint.
4. In the Create Constraint dialog box, select Rigid body as the constraint type and
click Continue.
5. In the Edit Constraint dialog box, select Pin (nodes) as the Region type and
click on the right side of the editor.
6. In the viewport, select the face at the free end of the beam as the pin region for the
rigid body.
7. When you have selected this face, click Done in the prompt area.
8. In the Reference Point section of the dialog box, click . Select the reference
point created earlier as the rigid body reference point.
9. Click OK to close the Edit Constraint dialog box.

© Dassault Systèmes, 2020 Introduction to Abaqus

 W11.4

Defining loads and load cases

To define loads:
1. In the Model Tree, double click Loads to enter the Load module and create a new
load.
2. In the Create Load dialog box:
a. Name the load Force-X.
b. Select BeamLoadCases as the step in which the load will be activated.
c. In the Category list, accept the default category selection Mechanical.
d. In the Types for Selected Step list, accept Concentrated force as the
type and click Continue.
e. In the viewport, select the reference point RP-1 as the point to which the
load will be applied.
f. In the prompt area, enter refPt as the name of the set which will be
created and click Done to accept the selection.
g. In the Edit Load dialog box, enter a value of 1 for CF1.
h. Click OK to complete the load definition.
3. Using a similar procedure, create two additional Concentrated force loads
named Force-Y and Force-Z and three Moment loads named Moment-X,
Moment-Y, and Moment-Z, with the definitions as listed in Table W11–1.
Tip: To define the additional forces, simply copy Force-X into a new name and
edit its definition; to define the moments, first create Moment-X and then
copy/edit it to define the additional loads. When defining Moment-X click Sets in
the prompt area and select refPt as the load region.
Abaqus/CAE displays arrows at the reference point indicating the loads applied to
the model.

Table W11–1. Load definitions

Load name Definition

Force-X CF1 = 1
Force-Y CF2 = 1
Force-Z CF3 = 1
Moment-X CM1 = 1
Moment-Y CM2 = 1
Moment-Z CM3 = 1

© Dassault Systèmes, 2020 Introduction to Abaqus

 W11.5

To define load cases:

1. From the main menu bar, select Load Case→Create (or click in the toolbox)
to create a load case in the step.
2. In the Create Load Case dialog box, name the load case LC-Force-X, accept
BeamLoadCases as the step, and click Continue.
The load case editor appears.
3. Click at the bottom of the Edit Load Case dialog box.
4. In the Load Selection dialog box that appears, select Force-X and click OK to
confirm the selection and to return to the load case editor.
5. Click OK to exit the Edit Load Case dialog box.
6. Create five additional load cases: one for each of the remaining loads. Name the
load cases LC-Force-Y, LC-Force-Z, LC-Moment-X, LC-Moment-Y, and
LC-Moment-Z and add the corresponding load to each.
Tip: Copy/edit LC-Force-X to define the additional load cases.
Note that the fixed-end boundary conditions were defined in the initial step, and
therefore, are active in each load case of the analysis step.

© Dassault Systèmes, 2020 Introduction to Abaqus

 W11.6

Creating and submitting the analysis job

To create and submit the analysis job:

1. In the Model Tree, click to display the entire model database in the Model
Tree.
2. At the bottom of the Model Tree, double click Jobs to create a job.
The Create Job dialog box appears.
3. Name the job Beam-LC and select the model Beam-LC. Click Continue.
The job editor appears.
4. In the Description field of the Edit Job dialog box, enter Cantilever Beam
with Multiple Load Cases. Click OK.
5. In the Model Tree, expand the Jobs container and click mouse button 3 on the
job named Beam-LC to access the job menu.
6. From the job menu, select Submit. Ignore the warning stating that no history
output has been requested. History output is not relevant for perturbation steps.

Viewing the analysis results

When the job has completed successfully, click mouse button 3 on the job Beam-
LC in the Model Tree and select Results from the menu that appears.
Abaqus/CAE switches to the Visualization module and opens the output database
created by the job (Beam-LC.odb). Examine the results of the analysis. Note that
load case output is stored in separate frames in the output database. Use the
Frame Selector (click in the context bar) to choose which load case is
displayed (alternatively, open the Step/Frame dialog box by selecting
Result→Step/Frame). Figure W11–2, shows contour plots of the Mises stress
for each of the load cases.

Force-X Force-Y Force-Z

Moment-X Moment-Y Moment-Z

Figure W11–2 Mises stress contours.

© Dassault Systèmes, 2020 Introduction to Abaqus

 W11.7

Combining results from the load cases and envelope plots

You will now linearly combine the results of each load case to plot the stress and
deformation in the beam under a given load combination. Recall that each load case is
based on a unit load; the results of each load case will be scaled relative to those obtained
for LC-Force-Y when combining the data.
1. From the main menu bar, select Tools→Field Output→Create From Frames.
2. In the dialog box that appears, accept Sum values over all frames as the
operation.

3. In the Frames tabbed page, click . In the Add Frames dialog box that
appears, choose BeamLoadCases as the step from which to obtain the data.
Click Select All and then click OK to close the dialog box.
4. Remove the initial frame; for the remaining frames, enter the scale factors shown
in Figure W11–3.

Figure W11–3 Scale factors for linear combination of load cases.

5. Switch to the Fields tabbed page to examine the data that will be combined.
Accept the default selection (all available field data) and click OK to close the
dialog box.
6. From the main menu bar, select Result→Step/Frame.
7. In the Step/Frame dialog box, select Session Step as the active step for output
and click OK.

© Dassault Systèmes, 2020 Introduction to Abaqus

 W11.8

8. Plot the Mises stress as shown in Figure W11–4. Note that this figure has been
customized to overlay the undeformed model shape on the contour plot and a
deformation scale factor of 5e4 has been used.

Figure W11–4 Mises stress due to combined loading.

9. Now create an envelope plot of the maximum stress in the beam:

a. From the main menu bar, select Tools→Field Output→Create From
Frames.
b. In the dialog box that appears, select Find the maximum value over all
frames as the operation.

c. In the Frames tabbed page, click . In the Add Frames dialog box that
appears, choose BeamLoadCases as the step from which to obtain the
data. Select all but the initial frame then click OK to close the dialog box.
d. Switch to the Fields tabbed page. Unselect all output and then select only
S and U. Also select the Element Nodal position for S. This is
recommended when computing the maximum (or minimum) value over all
frames. Otherwise, the maximum (or minimum) integration point values
from different frames are determined and then extrapolated. Integration
point values coming from different frames may cause the extrapolated
values to deviate significantly since such integration point values do not
correspond to a physically meaningful state. Using nodal values that have
been extrapolated from a consistent set of integration point values is more
realistic in this case.
e. Click OK to close the dialog box.
f. From the main menu bar, select Result→Step/Frame.
g. In the Step/Frame dialog box, select Session Step as the active step for
output and The maximum value over all selected frames as the frame,
as shown in Figure W11–5. Click OK and then dismiss the warning
message that appears (you will set the primary variable in the next step).

© Dassault Systèmes, 2020 Introduction to Abaqus

 W11.9

Figure W11–5 Frame selection for envelope plot.

h. In the Field Output dialog box (Result→Field Output), select S_max as

the primary variable and U_max as the deformed variable.
i. Plot the Mises stress as shown in Figure W11–6. Note that this figure has
been customized to overlay the undeformed model shape on the contour
plot and a deformation scale factor of 5e4 has been used.

Figure W11–6 Envelope plot of maximum Mises stress.

© Dassault Systèmes, 2020 Introduction to Abaqus

 W11.10

Using Multiple Perturbation Steps (Optional)

Now perform the same analysis using multiple perturbation steps rather than multiple
load cases.
1. In the Model Tree, click mouse button 3 on the model Beam-LC and select Copy
Model from the menu that appears.
2. In the Copy Model dialog box, enter Beam-MS as the new model name. Click
OK.
3. For the model Beam-MS, delete the step BeamLoadCases.
Note that all of the loads and load cases will be deleted when you delete the step
BeamLoadCases.
4. Create six new linear perturbation static steps named Step-FX, Step-FY, Step-
FZ, Step-MX, Step-MY, and Step-MZ.
5. In the Model Tree, double-click Loads for the model Beam-MS and define a
concentrated force load called Force-X in the step Step-FX with CF1=1 at the
reference point.
6. Similarly, create loads named Force-Y, Force-Z, Moment-X, Moment-Y, and
Moment-Z in steps Step-FY, Step-FZ, Step-MX, Step-MY, and Step-MZ,
respectively. Here CF2=1, CF3=1, CM1=1, CM2=1, and CM3=1 at the reference
point in the respective loads.
Note that the fixed-end boundary conditions were defined in the initial step, and
therefore, are active in each analysis step.
7. Create a job named Beam-MS for model Beam-MS. Enter the following job
description: Cantilever Beam with Multiple Perturbation Steps.
8. Submit the job for analysis.
9. When the job has completed successfully, open the output database created by the
job (Beam-MS.odb) in Abaqus/CAE and compare the results obtained using both
modeling approaches. You will find that the results are identical.

© Dassault Systèmes, 2020 Introduction to Abaqus

 W11.11

Comparing solution times

Next, open the message (.msg) file for each job in the job monitor. Scroll to the bottom
of the file and compare the solution times. You will notice that the multiple step analysis
required three times as much CPU time as the multiple load case analysis. For a small
model such as this one, the overall analysis time is small so speeding up the analysis by a
factor of three may not appear significant. However, it is clear that for large jobs, the
speedup offered by multiple load cases will play a significant role in reducing the time
required to obtain a solution for a given problem.

Multiple load case analysis:

ANALYSIS SUMMARY:
TOTAL OF 1 INCREMENTS
0 CUTBACKS IN AUTOMATIC INCREMENTATION
1 ITERATIONS
1 PASSES THROUGH THE EQUATION SOLVER OF WHICH
:
:

JOB TIME SUMMARY

USER TIME (SEC) = 0.10000
SYSTEM TIME (SEC) = 0.10000
TOTAL CPU TIME (SEC) = 0.20000
WALLCLOCK TIME (SEC) = 1

Multiple perturbation step analysis:

ANALYSIS SUMMARY:
TOTAL OF 6 INCREMENTS
0 CUTBACKS IN AUTOMATIC INCREMENTATION
6 ITERATIONS
6 PASSES THROUGH THE EQUATION SOLVER OF WHICH
:
:

JOB TIME SUMMARY

USER TIME (SEC) = 0.4000
SYSTEM TIME (SEC) = 0.2000
TOTAL CPU TIME (SEC) = 0.6000
WALLCLOCK TIME (SEC) = 2

© Dassault Systèmes, 2020 Introduction to Abaqus