Beam on Plate

cirasj

I am new to this software and would like to model a beam used as a stiffener to a plate to determine stresses. I did a quick search through the forums and could not find a tutorial or help on this subject. I have a plate over a pit and would like to find out how much weight can be placed on it.

VMH

cirasj, can you give us a sketch with dimensions and thicknesses of what you trying to model? Thanks

VMH

cirasj,

There are many ways to do this. You can use a new feature from Mecway and do bonded contact as shown in video below. I didn't have your dimensions so I used random dimensions just to show the general concept. Also there are different ways of building the model so you don't have to do what I did. I used all shell elements but you are free to use what you feel fit.

As for the loading, I used a uniform distributed load/pressure over the entire area on top of the plate just as an example. You can apply uniform distributed load/pressure over a confined area, concentrated loads, etc. I forgot to add in the dead weight in the analysis shown in the video below. You can add this by right clicking on the load tab on the left hand side of the screen where the model "tree" is located. There is an option to add in the "New Gravity". You just need to put in the acceleration and Y-direction (vertical). For my example, I need to put in -32.2 ft/sec^2 on the Y-direction box. Attached is the model for reference.

Victor

Thanks VMH, that's very clear. I would add that you can also move the stiffeners away from the plate a little to make a more realistic connection without the flanges being embedded in the plate. Bonded contact allows some gaps like this and the structure's stiffness will increase accordingly.

An alternative approach, if all the stiffeners have the same cross-section, is to use beam elements for the stiffeners and shell offset for the plate. The CompositeBeam.liml sample included with Mecway shows this.

cirasj

Sorry for the delay. Been away from the program for a while. Here is a sketch.

@VMH, could you please upload the video again. Link not there.

VMH

cirasj, I no longer have that video along with a few that used to be uploaded. I deleted them from YouTube because someone downloaded the videos and uploaded to random websites for unknown purposes.

VMH

cirasj, I just made another video on this. See below. There are many different and faster ways to do this. Using a CAD software to build the components and then export and import them into Mecway is faster for me.

cirasj

Thank you. Very helpful.

cirasj

@vmh When I use a CAD system, do I just draw with lines and break it up in the program or do I need to break my lines? Also, can I draw a solid model in CAD and bring it in as an iges file?

I am new to this program and seriously concidering purchasing it.

VMH

Mecway is a great and affordable FEA code/software.

You can use a free CAD software like FreeCAD or any CAD software that can export .step/.stp or .iges. I use mostly .step/.stp. It's up to you how you plan to create your model based on your needs resulting in using wire/beam, shell, and/or solid elements.

I made video clip on building the same geometry using solid modeling. See link below. Note the mesh in the video clip below need to be further refine for better results (mesh convergence).