Force load orientation under non-linear deflection

protontim

If I specify a force load on a node in a non-linear model using the global coordinate system to specify its orientation, and that node deflects in simulation and its orientation changes, does the force load on that node also rotate with the node and stay fixed relative to the node coordinates, or does it stay fixed to the original system coordinates?

Victor

Good question. This is always an issue for large displacements. In Mecway, all loads remain defined relative to what they were originally defined on. This makes some of them follower loads and some not. For example:

Force on a node is specified in global coordinates so it remains constant in global coordinates.

Normal pressure on a face rotates to always be normal to the face.

Both normal pressure and X,Y,Z pressure apply a force proportional to the area of the face, so if the face changes size, the force changes magnitude to maintain the pressure that you specified.

Force on several element faces is distributed in proportion to their areas. If the face areas change relative to each other, then the force will be redistributed over the new face areas.

protontim

Thanks for that clarification.