Academic Program

Simulation Revolution with Altair SimSolid™

1st Edition April 2019

1
Table of Content
Table of Content ........................................................................................................... 2

Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................ 5

What Is This Book About ............................................................................................... 6

What is Altair SimSolid™ ............................................................................................... 8

Comparing Traditional FEA and Altair SimSolid™ Modeling Methods ....................... 10

Sources of Modeling Error in Traditional FEA ......................................................... 12

Altair SimSolid™ Approach...................................................................................... 14

Some Frequently Asked Questions ......................................................................... 16

Application Examples .............................................................................................. 19

Access Platform ................................................................................................... 19

Complex Machined Plate .................................................................................... 20

Modal Analysis of a Quad Copter Frame ............................................................ 20

Large Model Analysis .......................................................................................... 22

From Theory to Practice ............................................................................................. 31

User Interface Definitions ....................................................................................... 31

File Handling and Formats .................................................................................. 31

User Interface ..................................................................................................... 32

Main Menu Toolbar ............................................................................................ 33

Mouse Buttons .................................................................................................... 34

Entity Selection ................................................................................................... 35

Standard & Custom Views .................................................................................. 35

Bookmark Browser.............................................................................................. 36

Visualization Styles.............................................................................................. 39

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 Customize Interface ............................................................................................ 40

Project Tree ......................................................................................................... 41

Workbench Toolbars ........................................................................................... 42

Units .................................................................................................................... 44

Specifying Type of Analysis ..................................................................................... 45

Structural Analysis .......................................................................................... 45

Modal Analysis ................................................................................................ 45

Dynamic Analysis ............................................................................................ 45

Thermal Analysis ............................................................................................. 45

Exercise – Intro Model Handling ......................................................................... 46

Modeling, Analysis and Postprocessing .................................................................. 51

Modeling ............................................................................................................. 51

Geometry ........................................................................................................ 52

Assembly ......................................................................................................... 57

Connections .................................................................................................... 60

Material......................................................................................................... 119

Loads and Boundary Conditions ................................................................... 126

Modeling Guidelines ..................................................................................... 139

Solving ............................................................................................................... 144

Specify Solution Setting ................................................................................ 144

Modal Analysis .............................................................................................. 148

Linear Static Analysis..................................................................................... 157

Non-Linear Analysis....................................................................................... 171

Thermal Analysis ........................................................................................... 195

Solution Guidelines ....................................................................................... 208

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 Postprocessing .................................................................................................. 210

Design Studies with Multi-CAD Assemblies ...................................................... 223

Capstone Projects ..................................................................................................... 227

Plate with Hole ...................................................................................................... 227

Straight Cantilever Beam ...................................................................................... 229

Normal Mode Cantilever Beam ............................................................................ 231

Thermal Analysis Cooling Fin ................................................................................ 232

Thermal Analysis Table Frame .............................................................................. 233

Thermally Loaded Support Structure.................................................................... 234

Lateral Buckling of a Right-Angle Frame ............................................................... 236

Appendix: Altair SimSolid™ Technology Overview ................................................... 239

Abstract ............................................................................................................. 239

Product Summary ............................................................................................. 240

Altair SimSolid™ Theoretical Background ......................................................... 240

Overview of initial research .............................................................................. 240

Theoretical Background .................................................................................... 242

External Approximations by Finite Elements .................................................... 245

Geometry-Functions Decoupling ...................................................................... 249

Altair SimSolid™ Software Implementation...................................................... 253

References ........................................................................................................ 255

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Acknowledgement
Most of the content of this book (most likely 99% of this book) is based on existing
material such as training documents, reports, blog posts, and video recordings.

All the credit goes to Ken Welch, Victor Apanovitch, Girish Kalyan Mudigonda Kuravi,
Michele Loverre, Sean Putman, Monica Relli, and Alessandra Perrone.

Michele and Girish – Your help was extremely important. Thank you both
very much.

A special thank you goes to Kristian Holm for all the advice and discussions.

Diana Teodoreanu and Giulio Guglielminotti Calabrese for additional input.

The entire SimSolid documentation team for putting together great learning
material.

The global Academic Tech Team - Rahul Ponginan, Nimisha Srivastava, Pranav
Harikrishnan, Priyanka Nagaraj, Rahul Rajan, Shannon Harshkant Mistry, and Smitha
Ramaiah for all the important support.

Best regards

Dr. Matthias Goelke

On behalf of the global Academic Tech Team (altairuniversity).

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What Is This Book About
With this eBook, we want to introduce you to a kind of revolutionary simulation
method. In these days we hear many buzzwords like disruptive, innovative, novel
and so on. Because of that, we learned (or we get used) to simply neglect – or not to
listen to - these kind of marketing phrases anymore. However, looking at Altair
SimSolid™ we think and believe that the term “revolutionary” simulation method
not only makes sense, it is also an appropriate description.

SimSolidTM is a fully-featured structural analysis solution that can analyze complex

parts and large assemblies efficiently on a desktop class computer. It eliminates
geometric simplification and meshing, the two most time-consuming tasks in other
simulation software. The solution is both fast and accurate and helps achieve
meaningful design inputs in seconds to minutes without the need for high-
performance computing machines.

In this book, we will show and demo this new structural analysis method. To practice
your skills, we included exercises (do-it) along with examples (view it) in this book
which is especially suited for the absolute beginner. As the SimSolidTM technology is
advancing very fast, we will add more complicated and demanding topics to the next
edition of the ebook.

While learning and using

SimSolidTM in your projects,
we recommend visiting our
moderated SimSolid™
Support Forum. It is more
than a moderated Forum –
it is a knowledge base, too.

(https://forum.altair.com/forum/232-altair-simsolid )

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Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to keep the book free from technical as well
as other mistakes. However, publishers and authors will not be responsible for loss,
damage in any form and consequences arising directly or indirectly from the use of
this book. © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. All rights reserved. Contains trade secrets
of Altair Engineering, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
transmitted, transcribed, or translated to another language without the written
permission of Altair Engineering, Inc. To obtain this permission, write to the
attention Altair Engineering legal department at: 1820 E. Big Beaver, Troy, Michigan,
USA, or call +1-248-614-2400

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What is Altair SimSolid™

The short video below provides an excellent introduction into SimSolid™ and some
of its capabilities.

https://altair-2.wistia.com/medias/llyarn8qkc

The image below highlights what Ken Welch just stated in the video – because of
SimSolid’s technology (more about it in the remainder of the book) you will
experience tremendous time savings with SimSolid compared to the traditional
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) process.

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The upper part of the image depicts the traditional FEA process, whereas the lower
part reflects the analysis process with SimSolid™.

FEA

SimSolid™

To improve design, the structural performance has to be understood and optimized

early in the design process, i.e. getting rapid feedback to evolving design variants of
real-world parts and assemblies. It is NOT intended for detailed stress studies. For
this, traditional FEA in the system verification phase are still used.

In other words, SimSolid complements but does not replace existing FE Solvers

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Comparing Traditional FEA and
Altair SimSolid™ Modeling
Methods

Implementation of analysis in the design process means that analysis results are
used to make design decisions. It is, therefore, important that analysis tools provide
results with predictable accuracy. Analysis results validation is a complex problem
because all numerical methods are approximate and there can be many sources of
errors including the major ones: modeling errors and approximation errors.

SimSolid eliminates the two most time-consuming and expertise-extensive tasks of

geometry simplification and meshing. These two steps typically take between 30%
and 70% of the total modeling and analysis time, so this represents significant
process improvement. More important, these tasks constitute the bulk of the
training requirement for traditional FEA (Finite Element Analysis). Not only is less
time required but also less training means that a larger pool of users can take
advantage of the benefits that design simulation provides.

In the table below the traditional modeling and analysis steps of a Finite Element
Analysis are compared with the analysis process of SimSolid.

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Traditional FEA SimSolid
Task Time Task Time
Geometry simplification - Hours? Not required- SimSolid works on 0
remove small features full fidelity CAD assembly
Geometry replacement – Hours? Not applicable – SimSolid 0
convert solids to surfaces, handles multi-scale geometry
beams, bars, etc. efficiently
Geometry cleanup – make sure Hours? Not required – SimSolid is 0
surfaces align, remove gaps and tolerant of gaps and overlaps
cracks
Meshing - sensitive to quality of Hours? Not applicable – SimSolid does 0
geometry not use a FE mesh
Mesh seeding – complex for Hours? Not applicable – SimSolid does 0
multi-scale geometry not a FE mesh
Mesh validation – aspect ratio, Hours? Not applicable – SimSolid does 0
skew, warp, etc. not use a FE mesh
Assembly connections – difficult Hours? Assembly connections - Seconds
to visualize and diagnose automatic and robust, simple to to
problems adjust manually minutes
Solve – needs big computer, lots Hours? Solve – multi-pass adaptive Seconds
of RAM, lots of CPU time solve, all done on standard to
desktop computer minutes
Solution convergence – not NA Solution convergence -always Included
practical for large assemblies done. Built into solve step above
Automatic global-local analysis – NA Automatic global-local analysis – Seconds
not practicable for large easily done on a part by part to
assemblies basis minutes
Traditional FEA time required Hours SimSolid time required Minutes
Complex workflow to days Simple workflow

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Sources of Modeling Error in Traditional FEA
Modeling errors occur when the CAD geometry model is being modified to make it
suitable for traditional FEA meshing. The modification can include many steps such
as assembly simplification, part de-featuring, surface idealization, and geometry face
clean up.

Successful meshing is pre-requisite to obtaining any results in FEA. Even if only

global displacements are of interest, the geometry still has to be meshed to the
smallest detail. Furthermore, meshing has to use the correct element type, show
right element shape (no degeneration or bad aspect ratio) and have enough
elements to model the expected stress pattern. These quality requirements are
quite difficult to satisfy for complex parts. Adaptive re-meshing to satisfy numerical
convergence is possible but not practical in many situations and is not commonly
performed in design analysis of assemblies.

For assemblies, the situation is getting even worse because meshes in contact areas
of parts must be either compatible or good enough to provide meaningful results.
The latter gets practically impossible in case of multi-scale assemblies when large
parts are connected through small parts like bolts, nuts, rivets, pins, etc.

Assembly idealization is also dependent on the solution method. Pictured above is

an example of small parts that can be simply removed in Statics analysis but need to
be replaced by mass points or artificial bodies with six inertia moments in Dynamics
analysis in order not to change mass distribution in the structure.

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 Other sources of error in traditional
FEA include special element
consideration for connections. Bolts
and welds are problematic in that
both special elements and
particular mesh patterns are
required to model them
adequately. To the left are examples of connection idealizations of a bolt replaced
by beam and spider rods.

The final stumbling block is solving.

Even if the model has been
successfully meshed, the solution is
still not assured. Having meshed
complex geometry, the model is often
found to be too large to be solved
within a reasonable time or contains
poorly shaped elements that cause
instabilities in the numeric of
traditional FEA solver methods.

Using the traditional FEA workflow to manage these potential error sources is
complex. Training, and re-training can be expensive and time-consuming. Occasional
(infrequent) use of simulation is especially problematic. Errors introduced by
misapplication of a user interface workflow are far too common.

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Altair SimSolid™ Approach
All the traditional complexities of geometry simplification and meshing are not
present in SimSolid. The true geometry is processed directly. Assemblies can have
parts with different scales (big/small or thick/thin). Connections between parts are
more straightforward to apply. The time required to setup the simulation model is
dramatically shorter and the reduction in the required process steps means there is
much less possibility of user error.

Adaptive refinement is always activated during the solution process. Simple controls
are available to increase the relative number of equations or to adjust the number
of adaptive solution passes performed. This can be done on both a global (all parts)
or part local basis. The degree of solution completeness can be easily managed by
the user at a high level without the need to create and closely manage complex
meshing patterns.

The above is summarized in the table below. For more technical information, please
see Appendix 1 – Whitepaper SimSolid Technology Overview

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Traditional FEA SimSolid
Simple regions – TET, etc. Arbitrary regions – whole part can be
a region
DOF is associated with a node - it is DOF is not point-wise. It can be
point-wise associated with volumes, surfaces,
lines and/or point clouds
DOF are nodal Ux, Uy, Uz DOF are integrals over corresponding
displacements geometrical objects, not nodal
3 DOF per node Many DOF per single associated
geometry object are possible,
depends on solution adaptation
Boundary compatibility is met exactly Boundary compatibility is met
approximately and is adjusted during
solution passes
Shape functions are simple low degree Shape functions can be of arbitrary
interpolation polynomials class and are derived during the
solution phase
Geometry level of detail decision by Full geometry detail - modeling errors
user minimized
Types of elements decision by user No elements
Mesh density and distribution based No meshing
controls decision by user
Correct interpretation of analysis Minimal settings in dynamics and non-
settings by user linear analyses including separating
• Solver & solution methods contact with friction
• Tolerances and options
Solution adaptation is mostly based Solution adaptation is based on local
on local energy density change, it is energy density change and absolute
relative errors on boundary
• Rarely used for assemblies • Always active
• Easy to set both global (whole
assembly) and local (part
based) solution adaption

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Some Frequently Asked Questions
As a sort of wrap up of the preceding paragraph we included some frequently asked
questions here.

1. What differentiates SimSolid from other simulation solutions?

o SimSolid is a fully-featured structural analysis solution that can analyze

complex parts and large assemblies efficiently on a desktop class computer.
It eliminates geometric simplification and meshing, the two most time-
consuming tasks in other simulation software. The solution is both fast and
accurate and helps achieve meaningful design inputs in seconds to minutes
without the need for high-performance computing machines.

2. How is it different from traditional FEA (h and p-element)?

o SimSolid is a generalization and extension of the finite element method. In

SimSolid, each part can be represented by a single region or large general
shaped regions.
o Solution refinement is performed via p-enrichment or via introduction of
special non-polynomial functions. Solution adaptation is based on relative
local energy density changes and absolute errors on region boundaries.
o The degrees of freedom are also not point wise, they can be associated with
volumes, surfaces, lines and/or point clouds. DOF are integrals over
corresponding geometrical objects, not nodal. Depending on the solution
adaptation, there can be many degrees of freedom for a single associated
geometry object.
o Boundary compatibility is met approximately between regions and is
adjusted during each solution pass.

3. Is it based on iso-geometric analysis?

o SimSolid is not based on iso-geometric analysis. Unlike SimSolid, IGA is not

mesh free. It is a finite element method that requires analysis-ready
geometry and hence (iso-geometric) elements.

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4. What makes SimSolid so fast?

o The number of degrees of freedom used to represent the geometry can be

orders of magnitude less compared to traditional FE. SimSolid is also multi-
threaded.

5. Is it a displacement or force-based formulation?

o It is a displacement-based finite element formulation.

6. Is SimSolid accurate?

o The accuracy of SimSolid across a range of typical solution domains has been
confirmed by comparing against well-known reference solutions. 7. What
are the error criteria used?
o There are two primary absolute error criteria used: (1) displacement error at
boundary with prescribed displacements, (2) traction error at boundary with
loads. There are several relative error criteria (frequency, strain energy, etc.)
used.

Some questions related to Hardware

7. Does it leverage GPUs?

o Today, SimSolid only runs on CPUs and does not leverage any GPUs.

8. What is the recommended computer configuration?

o SimSolid is only supported on windows platform. It is recommended to use a

Windows 10 OS on an Intel I7 based computer with at least 4-cores and 16
GB of memory.

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So, how does the Simsolid analysis process look like. The respective working steps
(still high level and rather general) are described next.

SimSolid helps you regarding the next steps (step 1-4). The default settings provided
by the program are automatically adjusted.

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Application Examples
Below we describe some inspirational examples.

Access Platform
An assembly of 153 parts consisting of 10 small bolts, washers and nuts as well as
123 other parts including hollow tubular frames, solid ladder rungs and a single large
complex floor grate was analyzed. 412 connections were automatically generated.
This model illustrates the ability of
SimSolid to efficiently analysis a large
assembly with parts of varying size
scales (small to large) and varying
geometric complexity. Typical
modeling and solution time for a
static analysis on an 8-core Intel i7
was 10-minutes.

Close up detail of bolt, nut and washer geometry

SimSolid simulation solution

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Complex Machined Plate
Static analysis of a complex machine plate consisting of 1,200+ faces and 150+ small
holes. Typical solution time on an 8-core Intel i7 is 4-minutes. Reanalysis is faster,
typical 45-seconds.

Modal Analysis of a Quad Copter Frame

Quad copter frame consisting of 48 parts and 986 connections. Unconstrained
modal analysis to calculate the first 10 flexible modes. Typical solution time on an 8-
core Intel i7 is 4-minutes. How long will it take you to do this with a classical Finite
Element Analysis?

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In order for simulation to truly drive the design process it needs to work lock step
with each geometry concept and concept modification. The complexity of traditional
FEA eliminates its use in all but the most trivial of design conditions. Simulation
working directly on design geometry provides a path to quick meaningful answers
that guide designers and engineers to more optimal design scenarios.

Only SimSolid can provide this by not only eliminating time-consuming and expertise
extensive geometry simplification techniques such as defeaturing and mid-planning
but by also eliminating the mesh all together. The result is a simulation tool that is
both:

• fast enough with respect to both model and solve time to be used every day
• simple enough to be used occasionally without the need for extensive
training and monitoring.

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Large Model Analysis
In the report below, we discuss the working steps of a SimSolid analysis of quite a
large structure, a rotating theater stage. Ken Welch posted this article on our Blog
end of 2016 already (https://blog.altair.com/large-model-analysis-using-simsolid/).

In statics, analyzing large models provides the ability to evaluate complete load
paths. This provides both a high-level overview of the project’s structural feasibility
as well as insight where to do more detailed studies. In dynamics, analysis of
complete assemblies is even more important as parts interact and any part removed
in simplification changes mass and mass distribution which in turn affects
frequencies and mode shapes.

In the past with traditional FEA, the only practical option was to merge large multi-
part assemblies into single lumped structures and then mesh and solve them in this
aggregated form. This led to several problems. One, numerical convergence was
difficult to ascertain. Adaptive analysis was not practical and the time to solution for
a single meshing and solve step was significant. Second, merging led to many sharp
geometric features that in turn caused artificial stress hot spots to occur. More often
than not, lack of high-performance computing (HPC) capacity meant structural
analysis of large assemblies was not considered at all.

Using Altair SimSolid, analysis of large models is very practical. Model merging is
never done, so the simulation is done on geometry that more closely represents the
physical object. Adaptive analysis is always active, so numerical convergence is
always considered. Options are available to enable an engineer to locally refine the
numerical solution on a part or part feature level making it easy to drill in for more
detail where necessary. Best of all, models are efficiently processed on standard
low-cost computers.

As a case in point, we will consider the steps necessary to model and analyze a large
rotating theater stage. Designed and manufactured by SBS Buehnentechnik in
Dresden, Germany, the design requirements dictated that the stage remain stiff

22
enough, but not too heavy, so that it can be moved and reconfigured without
requiring huge motors. Insight on displacement sag from the dead load+gravity
loads, floor level gaps occurring between rotating rings, and dynamic frequencies of
the entire structure were desired. The structural steel frame model consisted of over
5,200 parts and two rotating stages. On top of this, a wooden floor panel with
stringers was placed.

Rotating theater stage support framework, wood flooring removed

The size and complexity of extremely large models, like this rotating stage, can make
them a real challenge to visualize and process in conventional FEA systems. Altair
SimSolid has several tools to make this easier. In the following, we highlight a few of
them and provide examples of how they are used.

Review Parts Tool

First, is the “Review parts” tool. Available from the Assembly workbench toolbar, the
Review parts tool provides an easy way to sort your parts by Volume or Relative
volume. Selecting a part (or group of parts) in the list will highlight their overall
location on the model and a convenient zoom button is available when too much
“surface clutter” is present. Parts can be suppressed or deleted directly from this

23
menu making it a fast process to pare down the parts list to what is actually required
for the analysis.

Review part tool – zoom to selected small part

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Create Connections Tool

Once the part analysis set is defined, assembly connections

must be determined. The “Set connections by proximity” is
the first tool in the Connections workbench toolbar and one
of Altair SimSolid’s most commonly used modeling features.
This tool will automatically create connections for all parts in
the model based on a simple set of high-level parameters.
Altair SimSolid is more tolerant than traditional FEA with
respect to geometric mismatch between parts. Many people
find this tool is all that is required to create assembly
connections in a large complex model.

Show Disconnected Groups Tool

The “Show disconnected group of parts” tool is available from the Connections
workbench toolbar. It provides a ranked view (most to least) of connected part
groups. For situations where connections cannot be found automatically, Altair
SimSolid will display this dialog to help you diagnose the causes. Simply select each
group name and all parts associated with it will be displayed as shown. Use the
zoom button to locate hard to find parts and, if necessary, Suppress and/or Delete
buttons are there to remove any problems.

Dialog show disconnected groups of parts – Group 1 selected

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Review Part Connections

Connections can be a real challenge to visualize in a large model with many

thousands of parts. Altair SimSolid has a great method to sift through all the clutter.
Connections for any single part can be easily viewed by right mouse button (RMB)
selecting the part in the project tree or graphics area and selecting the “Review part
connections” menu item. This will isolate the view to only show parts connected to
the one selected and will display a dialog to cycle through each connection. Options
are available to edit any connection or contact conditions directly from this dialog.

Connection missing? The “show not connected neighbor parts” checkbox can be
used to toggle the display of adjacent parts. Find the one you want and pick the
“Add new” button to manually create the missing connection.

Review part connections – view limited to only connected parts,

edit contact condition selected

26
Check Rigid Motions

After connections are complete, one final check is available to see if any rigid
motions are present in the model. Rigid motions can arise from complex interactions
between connections. For instance, from internal hinges (mechanism movements)
or from overall rigid motion due to insufficient constraints. Rigid motions can be
extremely difficult to diagnose and correct in most traditional FEA applications.
Altair SimSolid’s rigid motion check tool makes this much easier.

To get started, select the “Check rigid motions” button in the structural workbench
toolbar. If any rigid motions are found, a displacement motion result is displayed
that allows you to easily animate the parts that are insufficiently constrained. Select
a motion and press the animate button. If necessary, exaggerate the deformation
scale. The disconnected or weakly connected part movement will highlight where
the problem is. For very complex assemblies, selecting the “Review moving parts”
button will hide all other parts to help visualize where the problem is.

Check rigid motions – “Review moving parts” button is selected. Only parts with
movement are shown.

27
Check rigid motions – Zoom button selected. View zooms in to show Part 0 close up.

Rotating Stage Results

For our Rotating stage model, both static and modal analyses were performed. The
static analysis contained side support posts, gravity and a dead load applied to the
wooden floor. The modal analysis used the same post constraints and calculated the
fundamental frequencies and mode shapes. All analyses were done on a Windows
10 based I-7 laptop with 16 GB of RAM. Altair SimSolid’s standard solution
refinement with 3 adaptive solution passes was used.

Here are a few results from the static analysis. Time required to solve was 11-1/2
minutes. Maximum memory used by Altair SimSolid was under 6 GB. Note that with
Altair SimSolid, the word “solve” is equivalent to “Mesh + solved 3 times with
adaptive mesh refinement” in traditional FEA context. A second run was made with
Altair SimSolid detailed solution refinement with 4 adaptive passes. The time
required here was slightly longer, 21 minutes. Displacement and stress were
comparable to the initial run.

28
29
Finally, here are the first two constrained modes. Time required to solve was 22
minutes.

30
From Theory to Practice
After going through all these more “theoretical” aspects, we are now opening up the
next chapter: SimSolid in Practice

User Interface Definitions

Instead of just reading through the paragraphs below, we recommend to “apply” the
given explanations to a model.

File: Pullup_bar.ssp

File Handling and Formats

SimSolid process 3 types of files:

STL format (files with extension .STL). STL is a common facet-based format written
by most CAD systems. In STL format assembly geometry is represented by triangles
which are defined by XYZ coordinates of their vertices and do not contain any
information about triangle's connectivity. STL geometry model is not water-tight.
Gaps, overlaps, and triangle's incompatibility are possible. In case of assemblies,
solids are not identified in an STL file of the assembly. Triangles of all solids are
output in a continuous file without any separation. STL is a simplest standard format
widely used in different industries.

SSG format (files with extension .SSG). SSG files can be both imported and exported
(saved) from the application. SSG format is a proprietary format that represents
geometry with the same triangles as STL format, but which contains additional
information about the triangle's connectivity and about solids of an assembly. SSG
geometry model is water-tight.

31
SSP format (files with extension .SSP). SSP files are a SimSolid proprietary geometry,
solution data and results format file. SSP files store all model data and are used to
archive/save the complete project instance.

SimSolid also provides the ability to import 3D solids from CAD files directly without
requiring assistance from the CAD application. All mainstream CAD systems are
supported including:

User Interface

Definitions of the User Interface

32
Main Menu Toolbar

In the video below some of the graphics and visualization methods are explained
(with captions only; 2:10 minutes)

https://youtu.be/SlGbohwhMjA?t=4

33
Mouse Buttons
o Model Rotation – left mouse button (LMB) click + drag to rotate model
o Model Translation – right mouse button (RMB) click + drag to pan model.
o Model Zoom – rotate the mouse wheel to zoom the model.
o Model Zoom Extents (Fit) – either pick the fit to window button on the main
toolbar or click the window background with RMB and select Fit geometry
to window

• Box Zoom – use the Box zoom button from the main window toolbar then
click and drag box using LMB. A faster alternative just hold SHIFT key and
drag with LMB.

• Alternative CAD system mouse mappings are available from Settings >
Mouse setting menu

Mouse Settings

34
Entity Selection
o Single select – Select a single entity using the left mouse button (LMB)

o Multiple select – Select multiple entities by holding down Ctrl key and select
with LMB

o Box select – Holding down Ctrl key and drag to select items within the box
▪ Drag box down – any entities partial enclosed within the box will be
selected

▪ Drag box up – all entities must be fully enclosed within the box to be
selected

Standard & Custom Views

o Standard views – top, bottom, front, back, etc.
▪ Available on pulldown menu in main toolbar
▪ By selecting main axis X, Y or Z
arrowheads

35
 o Z-up or Y-up definition
▪ Defined in the Settings → Screen coordinate system menu

o User defined views

▪ Available on main toolbar button are added to bottom of Standard
views pull down menu
▪ User defined views are model specific – are saved in Project file

Bookmark Browser
Views can also be saved using Bookmarks (see below), but with one important
difference. Bookmarks also save the graphics state. This includes part visibility,
visualization style (shaded, wireframe, transparent, etc.) and result quantity.

The Bookmark browser is a convenient way to record your simulation modeling and
result images. Captions can be associated with each image and the entire gallery can
be exported as image and/or animation files.

36
More than just saved images, the Bookmark browser can be used to quickly return
the graphics window to the state recorded in the thumbnail. Simply pick any 2D
thumbnail image and the graphics window will sync to the equivalent 3D display
view. This provides a fast and easy way to scan through your entire project file.

All Bookmark browser information is saved in the project file providing a simple
bookmark function to locate and display views at a later time.

The Bookmark browser is visible by default below the Project Tree. If it is not
displayed, select the Bookmark
browser button in the main
toolbar.

Note that the location of the

bookmark browser may be changed by the user.

To redock it, simply drag the window to either the left or right side of the application
window and release the title bar. The application will suggest several docking

37
location options if a window (Project or Help) is already present on that side of the
screen.

Animation Bookmarks

Bookmarks can also save animations. To do this, simply select the camera button
while an animation is active. Animation bookmarks are indicated by a black triangle
in the upper left corner of the bookmark thumbnail.

Exporting Image/Animation Files

Export of images from the bookmark browser can be done in one of two ways. To
export all bookmark images and animations, select the “Save as files” button and
then select a target folder. All images will be saved to the specified folder as PNG
files. All animations will be saved as MP4 files. To export a single image or
animation, RMB select the image thumbnail and pick the “Save to a file” menu item.
Note that more than one image can be saved in the same manner by CTRL-selecting
multiple images prior to the RMB selection.

https://youtu.be/FPFTj2tYi1I?t=4

38
Visualization Styles
Parts can be displayed as shaded, wireframe or
transparent. Parts can be hidden. These parts can
be shown as ghosted (light transparent).

To hide part:

Select one or more parts in either the project tree

or graphics region. Use CTRL key to multi-select

RMB and select Hide menu

To show hidden parts, RMB in a blank area of the graphics window and select Show
all hidden parts

Note: Use bookmarks to save a favorite graphics style or visual grouping

Visualization Examples

39
Customize Interface
SimSolid works very well right out of the box, but there are
still a few user preferences that you may want to be aware
of.

All are accessible from the main Setting menu. The simplest
is the Appearance settings. This allows you to set the color
schemes for the user interface (Navy blue or Asphalt grey
for background)

Next you may want to consider the Screen coordinate

system settings. This allows you to set the direction of the standard views such as
Top, Front, etc.

Two settings are provided. Type 1 has the global Y-

axis pointing toward Top. Type 2 has the global Z-
axes pointing toward Top. These are the two most
common systems used in CAD systems today. Select
Set as default to save your preference for future
SimSolid sessions.

40
Project Tree
The Project tree is the primary way to manage all SimSolid entity interaction.

A workbench is a related set of Project tree entities to which certain actions can be
applied.

Entities in the workbench will be

bolded when active and a
Workbench toolbar will appear
to the right of the Project tree.

Entity selection can be made in

Project tree or directly on object
in graphics window

o Select using left mouse

button (LMB)
o Group select using shift-
LMB or Ctrl-LMB

Display entity context menu

using right mouse button (RMB) selection in either the graphic window or project
tree.

Double-click Project tree entity to open Edit Dialogs.

41
The default name of the
project (Design study 1,
BASELINE) in combination
with the title of the
analysis (Structural 1,
Modal 1, Dynamic
transient 1 etc.) are
displayed in the graphics
area.

Hence, change the names in the Project tree, to change the text in the graphics area
as shown in the image.

Workbench Toolbars
The toolbar displayed is based on the currently selected workbench in the Project
tree, e.g. clicking on Assembly in the Project Tree will show the

Assembly Toolbar

Connections Toolbar

42
Structural Analysis Toolbar

43
Units
SimSolid manages all units. These are the default values only. They can still be
overridden on most data input forms. Mixed unit input is fully supported throughout
the product.

This short video (1:20 minutes) provides a bit more information on this topic

https://youtu.be/eyKhsoPwNOA?t=3

44
Specifying Type of Analysis

Select the type of Analysis by clicking on the respective icon

Structural Analysis

Structural Linear

Structural Nonlinear

Modal Analysis

Dynamic Analysis
Transient Frequency Response Random Response

Thermal Analysis

45
After clicking on the analysis icon, the analysis will be added/listed in the Project
tree.

Exercise – Intro Model Handling

File: Bridge.ssg

Import Geometry

Either Project → Import from file

Or alternatively

Import will prompt the dialog window about automatically detected connections:

46
Keep on investigating the structure:

Rotate (LMB) the model to a

view of your choice

Dimension / Units

To understand the overall dimension of the “bridge” check the “Unit System” being
used first:

47
To measure the length (dimension) of the bridge click on the icon

To ease visualization, you may want to pick (LMB) on the part of interest, then RMB
→ Hide → Unselected parts (everything will be hidden but the selected part)

Now it is rather straight forward to measure the distance between the locations of
interest (here left and right corner of the “plate”).

48
A different way of measuring distance is named “Ray probe”

This mode of measurement launches a ray

through the model and computes the lengths
of the segments where the ray intersects the
model surface. The ray’s direction can be either
normal to the surface location (default) or
normal to the screen.

To launch a ray probe measurement:

• Optionally orient the model so the desired

ray direction is normal to the screen
• Select the ray direction option – normal to
surface or normal to screen
• Pick a point on the model
• The dialog box displays the list of segments where the ray intersects the model
surface, as well as their lengths
• Selecting two segments in the list also shows the distance between the
segments

To get information about coordinates:

Pick a point on the model surface, the dialog box

displays the XYZ-coordinates of the point. By default,
point coordinates are calculated in the global
coordinate system. To obtain point coordinates in
another coordinate system, select the system in the
Coordinate system pull-down list.

49
In case you are interested in detailed information of the part selected, then RMB (on
the part of interest) to open the “Part info” window (see below).

50
Modeling, Analysis and Postprocessing
The typical working steps of a SimSolid structural analysis are summarized in the
following short video

https://altair-2.wistia.com/medias/ku5t8nlxc6

Let’s have a closer look at the individual steps.

Modeling
Modeling is the act of building up (setting up) the analysis. In SimSolid most steps
are highly automated, e.g. recognition of bolts, nuts, contact regions and so on. Of
course, user can manually edit model entities.

51
Geometry
SimSolid does not import CAD surface or solid geometry. Instead it uses a more
efficient faceted geometric approach.

From CAD (SolidWorks, Fusion 360 or Onshape)

o Full CAD hierarchical assembly

tree structure used
o CAD part faces used (preferred)
o Facets are based on CAD add-in
faceting parameters

From STL

o Multi-body STL used. Flat assembly tree

structure only
o SimSolid determined part face
structure based on surface curvature
(will miss fillet faces, see example on
right)
o Facets are based on STL file export parameters (must take care, as some
CAD system export poor quality STL)

Why is native CAD preferred over STL?

STL not as robust with welds. Weld functionality is particularly oriented to CAD
representations of geometry (faces and edges). STL representation does not in
general work as well.

STL is not as efficient. STL are just simple facets. It takes longer to import and
validate them. SimSolid must infer solid bodies and faces. This takes more time and
can lead to longer solve times. With CAD solids we fully understand the topology
and take advantage of part instances to represent/solve multiple similar parts more
efficiently.

52
STL is not as robust/reliable. There are instances where STL geometry is not as
robust with non-manifold geometries, etc.

STL will work with generic CAD geometries, but as you can see, the direct CAD
integration is far superior, easier to support and is in most cases the preferred path

STL does not represent the assembly topology. With CAD geometry integration, you
get the full Assembly > sub assembly > part > part face tree structure. STL is a simple
multi-body approach.

STL does not represent CAD faces. STL does not have a face structure. SimSolid must
infer faces from curvature to find edges. This will lead to a different set of faces with
curved geometry (fillets and holes) and can make it more difficult to apply loads and
constraints.

STL can be problematic for curved geometries. The user must take care to adjust
facet density to adequately represent curved geometry.

Note: The SimSolid generic STL importer is intended for use with more organic
geometries (for example 3D lattice type parts) that cannot be easily represented by
standard CAD solids

Geometry facet settings

o To modify facet parameters, select Settings >

Geometry import settings menu
o Resolution (4 levels): standard (default),
enhanced, fine, custom (see image)
o Faceting best practice – use a level of
tessellation that is enough to capture the
general part shape but not be overly fine. Too
much detail does not improve the solution
accuracy and only slows down the solution
sequence.

53
Resolution (4 levels): standard (default), enhanced, fine, custom. Increasing the
level of resolution, the run time increases, so should be used only when necessary.

Geometry Overlap Check on Model Import

A part overlap check on will be done during model import. This provides useful
feedback on model quality.

Overlaps are presented as primary parts grouped with their overlapping neighbors.

Expand the tree branch to see the neighbor parts. Select a part name to view in the
graphics area. SHIFT or CTRL select the neighbor parts to help visualize the overlap.
Use zoom to part button to focus the view only on the selection.

For those that don’t require this function, it can be deactivated in the Settings >
Geometry import setting menu

54
Note: In SimSolid, parts that overlap can still be connected. A best practice is to
make sure this overlap is not in a critical stress region of the model.

Review Geometry Defects

To check geometry defects and part overlaps goto “Project tree” select Assembly,
then activate the “Check geometry defects” option

This will identify any free or non-manifold edges in the model.

55
Exporting Individual Part Geometry Files

Individual parts can be saved as SimSolid

formatted SSG files.

To do this, select the parts you would like to

save, then RMB and click on Save part(s) in
.ssg file. This option is useful for archival
purposes or to move a group of parts to
another project file.

Note: STL should only be used for organic shapes such as lattices, topo-optimized
shapes, etc. SimSolid does not import CAD surface or solid geometry, it instead uses
a more efficient faceted geometric approach. Since STL files have a flat assembly
tree structure, SimSolid determines the part face structure based on surface
curvature that can lead to missing fillet faces. It is therefore recommended to use
CAD geometries that have CAD part faces.

Also note, that the general rule is to use actual manufacturable geometry. It is also
recommended to never merge parts.

Moreover, it is possible to determine any geometric defects prior to running the

analysis. You can check any geometric defects such as overlaps/gaps, non-manifold
faces etc. using the “check geometry defects” button in the Assembly workbench
toolbar.

56
Assembly
To review an Assembly, goto the “Project tree” select Assembly, then click on the
“Review parts” icon.

Review parts to rank and find parts based on volume or relative volume. Selected
parts can be zoomed to, suppressed or deleted.

Review Parts is useful for finding then suppressing or deleting small parts.

Click on an assembly or part in the Project tree and select Info menu to get
summary
information.

Text on dialog
can be copied
and pasted using
standard MS
Windows CRTL-C
and CTRL-V keys.

57
Query Assembly

Managing materials in complex assemblies.

Open the material application dialog, select a material property, select one or more
parts in the Project tree or the Graphics window and pick Apply to selected
materials.

Note: There is no limitation on the size of assembly that SimSolid can handle, it is
only limited by the machine resources that are available.

58
In this highly recommended (training) video, Ken Welch shows how to deal with
large assemblies (duration 13 minutes).

https://altair-2.wistia.com/medias/qx63fvprzc

59
Connections
Many real-life structures consist of individual (initially) separated parts. For the
structural analysis these parts have to be “linked” together, i.e. they may come into
contact (bonded=glued), slide or separate (contact opens up). Quite often parts are
welded together. Welds have both location and size and cannot be set as separating
or sliding. Welds can connect parts along edges no matter the angle in contact.

In short: Welds provide a more accurate representation that more closely matches
mechanical part interaction. Moreover, welds work well with sheet metal parts.

We always recommend to connect parts as they are manufactured. If they are

welded in reality, weld it in the model as well.

In this chapter we will discuss the following types of connections (and methods)

o Auto-connections
o Bonded, Sliding and Separation with Friction
o Bolts
o Spot Welds
o Seam Welds
o Virtual Connectors

For assemblies, SimSolid will prompt you to automatically create connections using a
proximity method. Simple select a global tolerance for part gap and penetration
tolerances (shown below). Default values are proposed based on the overall model
bounding box. These may or may not be acceptable based on the relative scale of
your model. Accept or adjust the tolerance defaults and select OK to continue.

Note: Auto connections uses gap and penetration tolerances to connect parts in the
assembly. Best practice is to set these tolerances just large enough to connect. It is
recommended to keep connections with large overlaps away from areas of
performance interest.

60
Obviously, connections are ultimately important which is the reason why this
chapter is a bit longer, despite the fact, that SimSolid makes it easy to create
connections between parts in an assembly.

The below description is copied from a Blog post (https://blog.altair.com/new-

simsolid-filletseam-weld-connections/ )

To begin, select the new Create fillet/seam welds button in the connection’s
workbench toolbar.

Fillet/seam welds are defined along edges between parts and have a specified weld
cross section size. Welds are defined using one of the following three methods:

o Master weld method – This method will find welds between a single master
part and a group of adjacent parts. Note: The selection of master and mate
part is arbitrary in SimSolid. The selection does not influence the results.
o Group weld method – This method will find all welds between all selected
parts.
o Weld by edges method – This method will find welds on a selected set of
connected edges.

61
To create new welds, first define a weld size,
then simply select the method tab and follow
the input prompts. Pick your entities to weld,
then select the Find welds button. All welds
locations will be shown in the Welds found list.
Use the up/down cursor keys to browse the list.
Each selected weld will be highlighted on the
model. Use the Delete button to remove any
unwanted welds.

Note that welds will not be found in situations where the part edge is shorter than
the weld size. When ready, select OK and the specified welds will be created and
added to the connection menu.

One final thought, weld size can be easily adjusted after the fact. Simply group select
the welds in the project tree then pick the right mouse button Edit menu as shown.
Now pick the new size and select OK.

62
In most cases, standard connections will be all you need. But when simple bonded
faces are not enough, use the Spot, laser, and fillet/seam weld functions to model
your assembly in even greater detail.

The Challenge in Creating Connections

A CAD joint between two parts may look OK, but parts often have multiple small
gapped and overlapped geometries to deal with, this requires tedious geometry
clean-up and repair prior to doing analysis

The good news:

SimSolid is tolerant of geometry gaps and overlaps. Can find connections

automatically more often than other systems. SimSolid accepts CAD geometry

“as is” without the need for tedious cleanup and repair

63
Connections & Contact Conditions
SimSolid can solve very large assemblies and has many ways to connect parts
including:

Contact Connections (see paragraph further below for further details)

o Bonded, sliding
o Separating contact
o Bolted
o Separating-closing

Weld Connections

o Spot, laser, seam

Virtual Connections

Connections are defined as attachments locations between different parts in an

assembly:

o Are specified per design study

o Can be simple connections
o Can be welds – spot, laser, seam

Contact Conditions are defined as interaction methods (bonding, sliding, separating

or disabled) at the connection

o Are specified per analysis

o Contact condition types – bonded, sliding or separating contact (nonlinear)

64
Creation of Connections
Connections can be automatically or manually created and managed using the
connection workbench and the connections toolbar

65
Examples of Permitted Connections

Note: While these contacts are permitted, it is not a good practice to have excessive
overlap in areas where stress detail is desired

As stated above, Connections can be automatically found by SimSolid using the

Automatic connections button on the Connections toolbar.

Dialog Settings

o Gap and penetration tolerances – this is the search distances that will
be used. Best practice is to set as small a value as possible to still find
the connection.

o Domain Resolution level (Normal, Increased, High) – this sets the

precision of the connection search algorithm. In most cases Normal will
be fine. Only needs to be changed for extreme aspect parts – very thin,
very long, etc. (see image further below)

66
Some Considerations
o Care must be taken that connections don’t create hinges (allow rotation
between parts). This will cause structural instability during the solution
process.

o Large penetration tolerances can increase model stiffness and reduce the
accuracy of stress near the connection boundary. Only use a penetration
tolerance sufficient to cover the largest overlap

o If connections cannot be found and you feel the gap/penetration tolerances

are adequate, try increasing the connection search resolution level. Should
only be needed for extreme aspect parts – very thin, very long, etc.

o Normal

o Increased – this is 4x resolution of Normal

o High – this is 16x resolution of Normal. Caution - use sparingly. Will

slow down execution time.

67
Connections Resolution
Connections resolution is visualized by contact symbol density. Make sure there is
adequate coverage in thin or curved regions.

Moreover, connections that are too weak may lead to mechanisms (rigid body
motion).

Normal, increased, high are defined in “Automatic

connections” window

Note: The default normal contact resolution is adequate for most situations. Only
increase the resolution for areas with detailed geometric requirements such as thin
edges or where small and large parts are connected.

Moreover, keep in mind that the selection of master and mate part is arbitrary in
SimSolid. The selection does not influence the results.

Measure Assembly Gaps Using Ray Probe

At the beginning I thought I can skip this part – measure assembly gaps using Ray
probe. However, it is a helpful feature which helps to better understand part
geometry. This is needed later while creating connections between specific parts.

68
During normal operation, SimSolid’s smart contact identification automatically
determines part connections. In cases where connections cannot be found, SimSolid
has the Ray probe measurement tool for measuring part geometry and relative
position in 3D space.

The measurement dialog is accessed from the main window toolbar

Select the “Ray probe” tab and then pick one or more points on the model. Rays are
cast normal to the screen through all model geometry and model segments are
identified.

How to apply it?

For instance, you may use the

predefined view “Top”

Which rotates the geometry into this view.

Then click on the Measurements icon

69
Select the Ray probe method in the tab (here the Ray direction “Normal to Screen”
is activated)

Then click on the point of interest next (blue point/dot) in the image below)

70
Rotate the model back in view of your preference.

The dialog box displays the list of segments

where the ray intersects the model surface, as
well as their lengths. The arrows / symbols
indicate its location (selected Segment 0 is
highlighted as a red arrow)

To better visualize the result of the Ray probe have a look at the isolated bolt

71
Manually Create Connections

1. Pick Add connection

2. Pick Master part from the Model or Project tree
3. Pick one or more Mate parts from the Model or Project tree
4. Pick appropriate search settings
5. Pick “Find connections”

Proximity connection:

Special manual connection that are created between parts

based only on distance criteria. Used to find connections for
welded parts where only single edges are within the specified
gap or penetration tolerance.

72
Parts with Self-Contact
That is, a part that connects to itself as shown in the image below.

Connections between different areas on the same part can be defined by using the
Add connection tool.

Open the tool and select the same part for both the master and the mate. Accept
the warning to search for self contact, set your tolerances and search for
connections.

73
This will prompt the message:

Accept the connection and you are now good to go. The self connection area on the
part has been defined.

Review Part Connections

To see where a connection is on the model,

simple select it in the project tree. The model
turns transparent and the connection is
highlighted by a red cross-hatch pattern.

For instances where the model is more

complex, use the “Zoom In” command on the
Context menu (use RMB to select the connection). Now the view will zoom in to the
connection location and only the two parts
associated with the connection are displayed.

A “+”and “–“ Zoom button will appear on the

connection to allow you to fine tune the view

An alternate method is to RMB pick a part and select the “Review part connections”
menu item. This display a dialog listing all connections associated with the selected
part only.

74
OR

Use Review connections dialog,

Which allows you to sort all connections by attribute.

Any connection selected will be highlighted in the

graphics window

75
Above we started reviewing connections by selecting the “Connection” in the
Project tree. Now we start with RMB, pick a part in the model or the Project tree and
select the “Review part connection” menu

Check for Disconnected Parts

In Project tree select Connections:

Find and show disconnected groups of part to show disconnected groups

of parts. Disconnected groups can be zoomed to, suppressed or deleted.

If there are disconnected groups of parts, it is possible to change the values of Gap
and Penetration in Automatic connections until there are no disconnected
parts found.

76
Show Disconnected Groups of Parts

Go to Connections in the Project tree and activate the icon

this then may either prompt the message

or will list the disconnected groups of parts

77
Contact
Contact conditions are specified on a per analysis basis.

Types of Contact
o Bonding: assumes the connection region is perfected bonded (no movement
in any direction)
o Sliding: no movement is allowed normal to connection face, sliding without
friction is allowed tangential to the face
o Separating (with friction): allows connection region to pull apart (separate).
Friction coefficient defines the sticking/sliding threshold. The friction
coefficient must be between 0.0 and 1.0. Typical values are 0.1 to 0.2. Value
of 0 indicates sliding and 1 indicates bonded. This is a non-linear solution
and will take more time than simple bonded or sliding contact.
o Disabled: the connection region is deactivated for this analysis. The parts act
if they were disconnected, i.e. they may separate from each other or even
inter-penetrate into each other under the load. The applied forces do not
transfer through the disabled contact. Graphic icons for disabled contact are
colored black.
o Separating – Closing: identical to Separating contact except the existing
gaps may also close. Only regions in the contact area can open or close.
Graphic icons for separating/closing contact are colored blue.

To define type, either RMB select or double-click contact to open contact condition
type dialog.

Note: SimSolid does support non-linear contacts that can open and close. It
currently only supports small sliding; large sliding is not yet supported.

78
 Separating contact (animation only)

https://altair-2.wistia.com/medias/8q3tnljevb

Example – Separating Contact

Let us consider two solid bars in contact, one on the top of the other. Each bar’s
dimensions are 10 by 1 by 1 m (L x W x H).

The lower bar is fixed on the bottom surface and separating contact is set between
the bars with a friction coefficient of 0.15. Four load cases are considered. In all load
cases, the upper bar is loaded with uniformly distributed total load 2 N. Loads at the
right end of the upper bar are different for the load cases.

79
Load case 1, complete separation

Total lifting load of 1 N is applied at the end of the

upper bar. In this load case, the bar can be in the
equilibrium state only if total separation of contact
happened and upper bar contact lower bar in a very
narrow hinge-like area at the bar’s corners. The
contact is fully released, the bar is rotating around the
“hinge”, stress is distributed as if the bar is on two
supports and the reaction at the hinge is 1 N
(downward force 2 N, lifting force 1N)

80
Load case 2, partial separation

In the second load case, the lifting load is reduced

to 0.9 N. This provides partial contact separation.
SimSolid results indicate the non-separation zone
and a clear separation area.

The reaction force in the contact is a vertical 1.1 N

which is the exact value (downward force 2 N,
lifting force 0.9 N)

Load case 3, full horizontal slippage

Next consider a total shifting horizontal force of 0.31 N applied to the end of the
upper bar. Maximum friction force is given as:

Fmax = (friction coefficient)*(compressive load) = 0.15*2 = 0.3 N

Hence, the active shifting force (0.31

N) is larger than the maximum
friction force. The bar is expected to
start sliding. One can see the upper
bar compresses along the contact
area and the left end begins to slip.

81
Load case 4, partial horizontal slippage

Finally, the total shifting force is reduced to 0.29 N. This is below the maximum
friction force limit.

Now, one can see that there is no slip in the left side and compression along the
length of the upper bar.

This example is also documented in the video: “How to model separating contact with
friction in SimSolid Cloud”

https://youtu.be/M7TQv_pRzsg

82
Review Contact Conditions
Contact conditions are color coded:

o Bonded→ red

o Sliding→ yellow

o Separating→ green

o Disabled→ black

o Separating-closing → cyan/blue

Note: The contact condition is specific to the analysis

Persistent Contact Conditions

Persistent Contact Conditions are useful when the same contact conditions apply to
multiple analyses and load cases. Persistent contact conditions are defined at the
design study level and are the default for any new analysis in that design study.

Can be over-written by contact conditions at the analysis level (see below).

83
Exercise - Connections
File: Hanger_beam.ssp

The goal of this exercise: Learn how to create automatic connections and how to
create manual connections

84
Check for Disconnected Parts

Automatic Connections

Using the values for Gap and Penetration as shown in the image, should prompt the
warning

In the pop-up window “Warning” click on “OK”. This will open the “Disconnected
groups of parts” window

85
Next, we are going to create connections manually:

Click on Add/Edit Connection in Connections toolbar.

Select Master connect, select the Master part and the Mate part(s) of master part in
the model

Don’t miss to confirm with “Find connections”

86
Simply repeat the same steps for the other missing
connections.

Note: You can change the Connection resolution

level to increase the resolution and to find more
points in the contact zone

87
Weld Connections
Welds

o are special connections that define weld properties

o are always assumed perfectly bonded
o have dimensions that define weld length and section size only. They do not
have physical part properties.

Weld types

o Spot – defined by spot weld diameter and geometric location (point)

o Laser – defined by laser weld width and geometric location (line)
o Seam (fillet) – defined by seam weld section size and geometric location
(part edge)

Spot Welds
Spot welding is a common manufacturing technique to connect sheet metal parts in
an assembly. While the process to create the physical weld is well understood, the
methodology to model it for analysis is not.

Traditional FEA systems require a variety of specialty elements with varying material
properties and specific mesh transitions around weld areas. Many application
specific approximations are used and the process to create the weld connection is
tedious and error prone.

In SimSolid, weld definitions

are much simpler. Since only
3D solid geometry is used,
spot welds can be placed
directly on the model and only
require a single parameter for
the spot diameter.

88
Watch this video to see how spot welds are handled:

https://youtu.be/RmrpcYoj5Y4

To create spot welds, select locations on two overlapping thin

parts

In the Project tree you’ll then see Connections→ Spot welds

89
Spot Weld Automation

Multiple spot welds locations can be read from external (.csv) file. This can be
created in MS Excel or Google Sheets but must be saved in .csv (comma separated
variable) format. The file must have a header row and one or more additional data
rows (one for each spot weld).

The header row can have any number of fields but only the following will be read:

“X_Pos”, “Y_Pos”, “Z_Pos” – this is the X, Y and Z coordinates of the spot weld
location

“Connected Part 3” (optional) – by default, SimSolid will create a sport weld

between the two closest parts to the XYZ value. If a third part is also desired, place
any alpha-numeric value here. This will tell SimSolid to create 2 welds between the 3
closest parts. Note: three part spot welds can only be defined using the external file
format method.

Note that welds will only be found within a tolerance of the spot weld diameter. So,
for a 5-mm weld, the XYZ values must be within 5-mm of the part surfaces.

90
Spot Weld - How to Post-Process

In SimSolid, spot weld location is defined on the actual faces of 3D sheet metal. No
need to model the offsets. This is the basis for accurate spot weld force predictions
including torque, shear and bending.

To view these forces, select the Spot weld forces button in the
structural workbench toolbar. Then simply pick a spot weld to view
its resultant normal force, shear force, bending moment and torque.

As an alternative, CTRL-Select and SHIFT-Select multiple values to sum the forces

and moment contributions. An additional set of vector will show the location and
direction of the summed forces.

91
Laser Welds
Create laser welds in a similar manner. Select one or more-line segment locations on
two overlapping thin parts

92
Seam Welds
Seam (fillet) welds are defined along edges between parts and have a specified weld
cross section size (it is the leg length) and a minimum weld edge length.

Any geometric edges found that are less than the minimum weld length will not
receive a weld.

Optionally, intermittent welds may be specified. Two parameters are required; the
weld pitch and the weld segment length. Note that the pitch must be greater than
the segment length

Welds Creation Methods

Master weld – this method will find welds on the edges between a single master
part and a group of adjacent parts. To use, select the parts and then press Find
welds button. All welds found will be shown in the Welds found list. Use the

93
up/down cursor keys to browse the list. Each selected weld will be highlighted on
the model. Use the Delete button to remove any unwanted welds. Select OK to
create the welds.

Group weld – this method will find welds for all edges found between all selected
parts. To use, select the parts and then press Find welds button. As before, all welds
found will be shown in the Welds found list. Use the up/down cursor keys to browse
the list. Each selected weld will be highlighted on the model. Use the Delete button
to remove any unwanted welds. Select OK to create the welds.

Weld by lines/edges – this method will find welds on only a selected set of user
defined lines or part edges. To use, select the line or edges and then press Find
welds button. Again, all welds found will be shown in the Welds found list. Lines are
created in the Assembly workbench toolbar using the Create line on part button.

Weld from solids - this method is a bit different. It

will convert a selected set of tubular or prismatic
parts into welds. A tubular part is created in a CAD
system using a sweep of a circle, triangle or circle
segment (“pie” shape) along a part edge. See
examples of weld section part shapes in the image:

To use, select the weld shaped parts and then press

Find welds button.

94
Again, all welds found will be shown in the Welds
found list. Select OK to create the welds. The weld
shaped parts will be suppressed and replaced with
fillet welds that span the same location on the
model.

During part selection, SimSolid will validate that the

part is a recognized weld shape. Parts that are not
recognized will be rejected. HINT: To accelerate
selection, use CTRL-Drag to select a group of parts in
the graphics window. Any parts that are not weld
shaped will be flagged and rejected.

The next video is about creating fillet welds (3:30 minutes)

https://youtu.be/4tiLy4Ktde0

95
Exercise - Seam Welds
File: welded_frame.ssp

Before we start “welding” let us have a look at the dimension of the structure

Using the Ray probe (see explanation further above) to measure distances (note the
red arrows in the image)

96
Selected segment (little arrows on the left) is highlighted in red (non-selected are
blue)

Let us create seam welds now.

A. By Maser Weld

We start by selecting the Master part first (using the values for section size and
length as suggested by SimSolid).

Master part

97
Mate part

Confirm with “Find welds”

To visualize the welds, select the respective welds in the Project tree.

B. Create Seam Welds – by Group Weld Option

Recall the definition of “group weld option” - this method will find welds for all
edges found between all selected parts.

Leg length (section size) and minimum length are set to:

98
while creating seam welds by means of the “group weld option”.

Seam welds by group weld option

Zoomed in area:

99
Optionally, intermittent welds may be specified. Two parameters are required; the
weld pitch and the weld segment length. Note that the pitch must be greater than
the segment length

Review the next images to better understand the weld parameters (welds are
depicted in red circles)

Leg length 3 mm; min. length 12 mm, weld segment length 10 mm, pitch 20 mm

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Leg length 8 mm; min. length 12 mm, weld segment length 10 mm, pitch 20 mm
(note that the welds are “larger” due to the increased leg length)

Leg length 8 mm; min. length 12 mm, weld segment length 10 mm, pitch 40 mm
(note the increased spacing between the welds)

101
Virtual Connectors
Virtual connectors can be applied in cases where the corresponding connecting
parts are missing in the model. Virtual connectors are a rigid imaginary part created
between selected faces representing the geometrical support of the connector. The
type of contact interaction between a virtual connector and a real part is defined by
the type of virtual connector.

In here we focus on the connector type, Virtual Pin. A Virtual Pin can connect an
arbitrary number of coaxial cylindrical faces.

o Bonded Virtual Pins are glued into the support faces.

o Rotating pins can rotate around the axis of the cylindrical faces (sliding
in circumferential direction) but cannot slide along the axis. It acts like a
hinge between connected parts

How to define a Virtual Pin

102
Select the faces to apply the connector to. For
Virtual Pins, cylindrical faces must be selected.
Select one face and SimSolid will automatically
select all faces that are coaxial to the one selected.
If this is not what you want (that is, too many are
selected), select a face label in the dialog and press
delete to remove it from the Virtual Pin definition.

Select the connector pin type – either bonded or

sliding

Virtual connection (no audio)

https://altair-2.wistia.com/medias/bryt6g2o7r

Bolts Connectors
Standard FEA methods simulate bolt geometry and bolt physics in a very simplistic
way. The bolt is usually replaced by either a rod or beam element which is in turn
connected at its ends to other parts via many other beams called “spiders” (figure
below). Essentially, FEA bolt modeling is based on 1D models.

103
The load path in this case is as follows: part 1 > spider 1 > bolt beam > spider 2 > part
2. A beam representing the bolt shank is loaded at the end nodes only. Therefore, in
case there is no moment at the beam ends, the beam is under pure axial loading and
has uniform axial stress along its axis. Note that this bolt tightening value and

Common bolt representation in conventional FEA

distribution is obtained under huge modeling assumptions.

Some quick terminology

Bolts are commonly defined by length, diameter and thread pitch. In the following,
thread Pitch and bolt turns are used to specify the bolt tightening load. The amount
of prescribed turn is dependent on the bolt Length to Nominal Diameter ratio.

104
SimSolid always simulates bolt as a full solid with all the geometrical details. A bolt is
connected to other parts at bolt head and at bolt shank. Bolts have material
properties (stiffness & mass) and the stresses in bolt are described by a full 3D stress
tensor.

Note: When geometry is imported, bolts are automatically

identified by their geometric attributes (bolts are required
to have cylindrical bodies and a head with a hexahedral (or
double Hex) based shape. The hex shape can be on an
outer or inner diameter in the bolt head. Nuts are
identified in a similar manner using this hex based
geometric signature.

Note: SimSolid 2019 does not recognize Torx type bolts

To edit bolts/nuts, RMB click on the respective entity in the Project tree opens up
the Bolt tightening or Nut tightening menu

105
The image below depicts the Bolt tightening menu and the bolt tightening method
applied (here: Number of bolt turns). Highlighted in yellow are the 3 ways to

load/tighten the bolt (more details in the text below).

106
Bolt Tightening
is realized as it occurs in real world – by defining displacement of a nut or part (in
case bolt has no nut) relative to the
bolt shank. For user convenience,
instead of prescribing total relative
displacement, one only needs to enter
thread pitch H and number of turns in
the force input dialog.

When a bolt is tightened, it elongates.

Let us consider the following example.
A bolt with a nut connects two

absolutely rigid parts A and B. Let us assume that the thread pitch is equal to H = 1
mm

Then, if the nut makes two turns during bolt tightening, N = 2, it must pull the bolt
shank out onto the distance equal to

107
This distance is the bolt elongation. If parts A, B are not absolutely rigid, the
elongation will be less than 2 mm because the parts are squeezed and will deform

Bolt tightening in SimSolid

The relative displacement D of bolt shank with respect to the nut is applied at bolt
threads which are in contact with the nut. These displacements generate a
significant shear forces applied to bolt threads. The forces pull the bolt down,
elongate the bolt, and eventually translate into bolt axial stress and axial force.

In a 3D model, the bolt axial stress is never uniform – neither along the bolt axis nor
in a cross-section of the shank. Theoretically, it must equal zero at the end of bolt. It
reaches maximum at the portion of the shank beyond the bolt threads.

In SimSolid, tightening loads can be applied to a variety of geometries, including

o Blind bolts (without nuts)

o Bolts with nuts
o Nuts on threaded rods

Three methods are available to specify bolt/nut tightening loads:

o Bolt turns (the value is specified as fractional bolt turns

and not degrees or radians. For example, a value of 0.5
represents a nut turn angle of 180-degrees)
o Bolt Torque with friction
o Target axial load

To create a tightening load:

For blind bolts (those without nuts), open the Bolt tightening
dialog, select one or more bolt parts in the model, specify the bolt
thread pitch and then the desired tightening method values.

108
For bolts with nuts or nuts on a threaded rod, open the Nut tightening dialog and do
the same thing. Select one or more nuts and then specify the thread pitch and the
desired tightening method values.

Tightening Load Guidelines

One common rule of thumb is to load the bolt to 70% of its tensile strength. In
SimSolid, you can visualize the bolt load in a number of ways. To look at the bolt
forces, open the Bolt/nut result loads dialog and pick either a bolt or nut.

Note - the tab “Bolts” is active

As an alternative, use a normal stress plot to view the cross-sectional stress in the
bolt, or use the Safety zone plot to view the failure criterion in the bolt.

109
Let’s see how a bolt preload analysis works (2 minutes)

https://youtu.be/J22L9IBAZnI?t=3

Technical Details

Torque M and axial force F relate to each other in the following way. M is the
maximum moment realized at the end of the tightening and it is equilibrated by
moment from friction forces in contact between nut and the structure.

Let us assume for simplicity that normal forces in contact are distributed evenly, so
the contact pressure is (here R0 and R1 are inner and outer radii of contact spot):

Friction distributed force will be (f is a friction coefficient):

In polar coordinate system, the elementary moment of the friction force with
respect to the bolt axis is (here r is distance to axis while dR, dTet are radius and
angle differentials respectively):

110
By integrating the elementary moment over the contact area one obtains

This expression relates applied torque, M, and axial force, F

Axial force depends on the structure and bolt stiffness, and on nut displacement
relative to the bolt (here K is structure stiffness factor, D is relative displacement):

Relative displacement can be expressed through nut turns as (here N is number of

turns, H is thread pitch):

Therefore,

Let us assume that at first analysis pass one nut turn is prescribed N (1)=1, and
corresponded axial force F(1) is found from the analysis.

Then one can find structure stiffness factor as:

Which implies

Now we can relate torque to number of turns:

111
Therefore, in order to realize prescribed torque M, after the first analysis is done
with N=1, second analysis (second convergence pass) must be performed with

In general, at pass (i + 1) the number of turns applied is (where N(i) is number of

turns applied at previous pass, and F(i) is result axial force evaluated at previous
pass):

These corrections for number of turns applied are important because in the course
of passes solution is refined, which changes structure stiffness factor K in equation A
above. So, K is not constant, but depends on pass K(i)

Example - Bolt Tightening

To examine this in more detail, let’s look at an example. Here is a blind bolt (green)
connecting two plates (red and blue).

We will use two of the three methods

(number of bolt turns, torque, target
axial force) to create the tightening load
and examine the results.

112
 1. Open the Bolt tightening load dialog and use the number of turns method.
For simplicity, let’s assume 1 mm thread pitch and 1 complete bolt turn.

Number of turns method

Once the analysis is complete, we open the Bolt/nut

forces dialog and examine the bolt forces results.
We see a large axial load of 5.833e+5 N.

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 2. Specify a target axial force of 583300 N. With standard solution settings, the
achieved axial force, 5.85e+5 N, is very close to our target and notice that
that the equivalent number of bolt turns is 1.00. We got to the same result
but used two different input methods.

Which method to use is a matter of choice. What is important is that SimSolid

provides full 3D bolt tightening without all the 1D assumptions typical in
conventional FEA.

Note: In case the bolts in your assembly are not recognized by SimSolid, keep in
mind that bolts are recognized by certain (hexagonal) head and shaft geometric
patterns.

Also note, the rotation direction for pre-tension of a nut/bolt does not matter.

114
Typical Connection Problems
The wrong connection tolerances are used: SimSolid’s default tolerances in auto
connections are based on the model scale. The maximum is 3 mm. This may not be
appropriate.

o If there are still issues, increase the connection resolution.

Large variations in model scales: in some instances, assemblies contain very large-
scale changes. That is, parts that are both big/small or thick/thin

o SimSolid’s auto connections uses one assembly level scale when searching
for connections. This may not be sufficient in all cases.
o The remedy is to use manual connections between the two parts (big/small
or thick/thin) and increase the connection resolution.

Too much geometry overlap: while SimSolid can find connections for parts that
have large overlaps be careful that you don’t push the boundary too far. This is a
non-physical condition.

o The remedy is to either remove the overlap or make sure that it is not
located in an area of the model where detailed results are desired.
o Also note, in some cases this may lead to a numeric instability message.

Geometry hinges: certain geometry may contain hinges. These are areas where
parts may rotate relative to one another. This is often caused by a connection at a
very thin or very sharp (pointed) edge.

o The remedy is to either thicken the geometry to remove the condition or

use manual connections between the two parts and increase the connection
resolution.

Sheet metal edges: sheet metal parts can contain very thin edges. This can be
challenging to connect, especially if the edges are curved.

Two remedies are recommended:

115
 o Use manual connections between the two parts and increase the connection
resolution
o Use fillet welds.

Improper Connections

Improper connections can cause hinges to form in a model and will cause a “numeric
instability message” during analysis. This may cause the solution to not complete or
complete but contain rigid body motions.

How to Identify
SimSolid offers various ways to check for disconnected parts:

1. Select Connections in the Project Tree and activate the icon “Find and show
disconnected groups of parts”.

If there are no disconnected parts, you will

see the following message

116
2. Use the Check rigid motions tool. This is a quick analysis that we search for
rigid motion and if found allow you to visualize where they are.

3. Do a modal analysis. Use the same constraints as the static analysis.

o Zero constraints will lead to 6 rigid body modes. A fully constrained
model will not have any rigid body modes. Animate the rigid body mode
to see where the connection issues are located.

117
The discussion above about disconnected parts and associated rigid motions (if they
are not corrected) is nicely described in this video (7:20 minutes)

https://youtu.be/t8_A2DnBKUg

How to Fix It
Quite sure there are different ways to solve it. Review the geometry like described in
the previous paragraph “Measure Assembly Gaps Using Ray Probe” or check the
original geometry in the original CAD system.

You may also delete all existing connections and use the “Automatic connections”
option with slightly bigger values for gap and penetration.

Then check for disconnected parts again. It may be an iterative process, but still a
very fast one to overcome such issues

118
Material
For the time being, SimSolid 2019 supports the following material models:

o Isotropioc
o Elastoplastic
o Rigid
o User Extensible

To review and / or edit the material database available in SimSolid, RMB click on
“Default material” then select “Edit” in the Project tree.

The Edit Material Database dialog is used to create and edit material property
definitions.

The default database location is

C:\users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Simsolid\SimSolid-Material-DB.ssm. This
can be changed by the user to any writable directory path. Do not place the material
file within the SimSolid application directory as this is typically read-only.

119
 o Within the material database, material are organized by names
and groups.
o Material creation is done using the “Add group” and “Add
Material” buttons. To add a material, select the target group
first, then the Add material button. Fill in the material values
then select “Save material” to commit it to the database.

In addition, the Add material function can be invoked by right-clicking on the

material group name in the material tree. Deletion (or edit, rename) is also done by
using the right-click menu selection on the given entity in the tree.

Note: When adding material data, pay special attention to the unit’s labels and
enter values in the proper scale. Units can be either SI or IPS but to avoid confusion
we recommend that you enter values in SI. SimSolid will convert them on-the-fly for
those that insist on using IPS

To assign a material to a part, select the part in the Assembly

list, and activate the “Apply material” icon.

From the list of available materials, select the one you are
going to use.

120
Note: The default material mentioned / labeled in the
Project tree will be applied to any parts without
material when an analysis is run

You may want to define parts as rigid (no deformation occurs) but still want to
assign mass or density material properties.

Select the part in the Assembly overview, activate the

“Set part rigid” icon

and insert the respective values

121
 “Select material” opens the material database

Review Material Property Assignment

Large assemblies can have many material properties. SimSolid makes it easy to
review material property assignments.

RMB Assembly and select:

o Show > Materials – This will show a list of all material property assignments.
Pick a material name and all parts with that material property will be
highlighted.
o Show > Parts without materials – This will hide all part with materials and
only show parts without material property assignments.

122
Note: SimSolid currently only supports isotropic materials. Other material models
including composite materials will be supported in the future.

However, it does support material plasticity. SimSolid uses deformable theory of

plasticity to evaluate small strain plasticity in materials. You can define an
elastoplastic behavior using stress-strain curve or K-n power law function.

https://youtu.be/46HrJBHoi6g?t=4

123
Non-Linear Material Properties
Non-linear structural effects are specified in Structural settings dialog

At least one model material property must contain a non-linear stress vs strain
curve.

For any analysis that exceed the elastic limit, SimSolid will provide three outputs for
each result quantity:

Elasto-plastic, full load: the results at full load assuming a non-linear stress- strain
curve is used.

Elastic, full load: the results at full load assuming a linear (straight) stress-strain
curve is used.

After unloading: the residual results after loading has been removed.

124
In material non-linear analysis, the stress-strain relationship is given by a curve
instead of a single value of the elasticity modulus. This defines what happens once
the load exceeds the elastic region limit.

In SimSolid, Henki-Nagai deformational plasticity theory is used when simulating

structures loaded beyond yielding. Isotropic hardening is assumed and unloading
results in residual stresses and strains. This model is well suited to ductile materials
such as mild steels.

125
Loads and Boundary Conditions
SimSolid provides very general methods for applying loads and boundary conditions.
They may be applied to any part region and in any arbitrary reference frame.
Depending on the chosen analysis type you will see different loads and boundary
conditions icons

For instance, if the analysis type is linear you will see:

In case of a modal analysis you will see the following options:

Open the respective dialog (from above) and specify the region to apply the load or
displacement to. Four entities are possible: a part face, edge, vertex or the more
general spot.

126
Spots
Many traditional FEA systems require faces to be split to create localized loads and
constraints. In SimSolid we use a more efficient technology named Spots.

o Spots can be rectangular, circular or triangular. They can even be points,

lines or arcs
o Spots are projected onto parts normal to the screen
o Spots can be projected onto more than one face or more than one part

Creating Spots for load application

To create a Spot, open the Create Spot dialog which is located in the Assembly
workbench

Now, simply pick the shape parameters on the dialog then drag the spot using the
left mouse button (LMB) or rotate the spot using the right mouse button (RMB) to
the desired position on the model.

Clicking OK will project the Spot on the model‘s surface in the view direction (normal
to the screen), and the projected shape is the actual geometry of the spot used in
the analysis.

127
To change the view normal, use the LMB to click select any point on the model. The
view will be rotated such that the surface normal of the selected point is aligned to
the screen and the point is centered in the view. Use the zoom wheel to zoom the
view about the current cursor location

In the short but intuitive video below, you can see how spots are created and used
(1:30 minutes)

https://youtu.be/P3woWcLeoHU

128
Pressure

Pressure is assumed to be uniform and can be applied to a face(s) only

129
Hydrostatic Pressure Load

Hydrostatic pressure is defined as the pressure exerted

by a fluid at equilibrium due to the force of gravity.
Hydrostatic pressure increases in proportion to depth
measured from the surface because of the increasing
weight of fluid exerting downward force from above.

Typical examples of hydrostatic pressure include a large

body of water exerting force on a dam or the force
creating by fluids within a pressurized tank.

Hydrostatic loads can be easily defined using the

following methodology. First open the new Hydrostatic loads dialog found in the
structure’s workbench.

Next, select the faces on the model where the pressure

will be applied. Then, locate the fluid surface by defining a
XYZ point on the surface and a vector that indicates the
depth (gravity) direction. Note that while this can be
entered on the dialog, it is often easier to just drag the
water surface indicator (the sphere at the center of the
concentric circles) to the desired location.

Next, specify the density of the liquid and the pressure at

the liquid’s surface. For a free surface in an unpressurized
(open) enclosure, the pressure is 0, but for a pressurized
enclosure, such as a tank shown here, a uniform pressure
will exist on and above the liquid’s surface. It is assumed
that all selected faces (or partial faces) above the liquid’s

130
surface will have the same pressure as is applied to the surface. This make it easy to
pressurize a container.

Finally, selecting OK will automatically create a gravity entity in the direction

specified. Two entities will appear on the project tree, one for gravity and one for
the hydrostatic pressure.

Gravity Load

Gravity is a body load uniformly distributed over the volumes of parts of an

assembly and is intended to simulate the force of
gravity as it affects your model.

To apply a Gravity load:

Specify directional components of the load in the

corresponding fields in the dialog: the direction
of gravity load is always defined in the global
coordinate system. When choosing a sign, note
that a negative value opposes the coordinate direction.

Specify amplification factor: the gravity load magnitude is specified as a ratio of 1G

gravitational load, and the ratio can be changed using the Amplification factor field.

Only one gravity load can be applied to a model. Once applied, the Gravity load can
be edited or deleted through the context menu on the Gravity Load item in the
Project tree.

Gravity load act on all unsuppressed parts of the assembly.

131
Inertia Load

An inertia load is a body load uniformly distributed over the volumes of the parts in
an assembly. In SimSolid, both translational and rotational inertia loads are
available. For any given analysis, one translational inertia load and multiple
rotational inertia loads can be specified.

Note: Translational inertia applies to parts while rotational may be applied to all or a
subset of parts.

Translational Inertia Loads are defined in the global XYZ reference frame. These
loads are specified in terms of acceleration in a given direction. Note that these
loads will be superposed with the gravity load (if present).

To define a translational inertia load simply open the load dialog and specify an
acceleration and direction value.

132
Inertia loads act in the opposite to direction specified. An acceleration in the +X
direction will cause a force in the -X direction. This is different to the gravity load
which has a force in the direction specified

Rotational Inertia Loads can be applied to the whole

assembly or to a selected set of parts. The axis of
rotation is defined by a point and direction vector.
Select a straight edge or curved cylinder edge to locate
the axis of rotation. If necessary, use the Flip axis
button to change the way the axis points. Drag the ball
to approximately position the origin point, then fine
tune the text values on the dialog.

Once positioned, simply specify the acceleration along

the axis, angular velocity or angular acceleration as
required and select OK to close the dialog. For
direction, use the right-hand rule – thumb pointing
along axis and fingers curl in direction of acceleration
or velocity.

A leaf in the project tree will be created for each type

of Inertia Load and the axis will remain on the model
with labels for the non-zero values.

Multiple rotational inertia loads can be defined. This implies that rotational inertial
can be nested. For example, gears attached to other rotating gears.

133
Inertia Relief
is applied to a structure in order to simulate deformations and stress in cases where:

o The structure is unconstrained so it can move as a rigid body

o An active load is suddenly applied to the structure, so the structure starts
moving with translational and rotational accelerations.

The solution to the problem of analysis of unconstrained structures is based on

D’Alembert Principal.

In Inertia Relief Analysis, fictitious inertia forces are calculated and distributed over
the volume of the structure in such a way that they are in exact balance with the
user applied forces.

In SimSolid, when analysing the inertia relief, there is no need to apply additional
constraint which would eliminate rigid body motion of the structure. The user
specifies the active loads and the rest is done automatically.

The inertia relief cannot be combined with other translational or rotational inertia
load. Also, no immovable, sliding or hinge constraints can be defined

134
Hinge Constraint

The hinge constraint will allow free rotation about the center line of a cylindrical
face but constrain movement in both the radial and axial directions. It may be
applied to full or partial cylindrical faces that can be either concave or convex.

Bearing Load

The bearing load acts as a pressure, whose magnitude is spread using a sinusoidal
distribution. Controls are provided for easy specification of direction and load span
angle. Like the hinge constraint, it can be applied to full or partial cylindrical faces
that are either concave or convex.

Both, hinge constraints and bearing loads are briefly discussed in the next video (2
minutes)

https://youtu.be/IpAAAQS1AUA

135
Load application on hard to reach part faces is a challenge. The “clipping plane” is a
helpful feature to overcome this issue as demonstrated in the video below (1:20
minutes)

https://youtu.be/RLKjdJEHHyc

136
Supports

It is possible to define directional support in

Load/displacement panel:

Change Force in Displacement in Total load or

displacement along axes and set the values to 0
mm.

Recall

Proper load application can be a challenge. Having many options is one thing but
deciding which method to use and which value to apply is another.

A real advantage of SimSolid is that the entire assembly can be solved and not just a
small subset of parts. Breaking out parts means that you are responsible for coming
up with the load/displacement values and directions. This is not always obvious and

137
is a common area for mistakes in traditional FEA. With SimSolid, the assembly
topology will determine the load path and is more realistic.

138
Modeling Guidelines

Before we proceed with the analysis, let us recall some important modeling
guidelines (i.e. keep these recommendations in mind)

1. Check for free surfaces and merged parts

• Import only solids (with the Parasolid reader, we only bring in solids ignoring
surfaces. But it is best to export solids only from the CAD system).

Check Settings→ Geometry Import Settings

• Do not merge parts

o Part definition becomes complex
o Solver works harder
o Solution accuracy and performance can deteriorate

2) Check for solids with curvature

• If the faceting of those solids is coarse, bring in finer resolution of those parts. This
can be accomplished by RMB on Assembly and import parts. In this way you can
bring in specific components with higher resolution.

139
 • Do not import the entire assembly with finer resolution, it will slow down
the solution considerably

3) Check for geometry errors

4) Make sure parts are classified correctly (bolts, nuts, springs etc.)

RMB Assembly > Show

140
5) Create welded connections, if applicable

• Connections in SimSolid should represent connections of the parts in the

field

6) Create auto-connections using normal resolution

• Use small tolerance

• Identify and connect any free parts
• Make sure the structure is not over-constrained
• Delete any redundant connections

141
7) Identify connections with small # of points

• Edit those connections to have higher resolution

Select the connection of interest (click on the connection in the table and use the
zoom option; the selected connection will also be highlighted in the Project tree →
Connections.

In the Project tree → Connections, RMB on the connection of interest, then Edit

Which opens the Add/Edit connections panel.

142
8) Review parts with small relative volume

• Verify that they have enough connection points (see previous check)

143
Solving
Let’s continue with the analysis.

SimSolid 2019 supports the following analysis methods:

o Modal
o Linear Statics
o Nonlinear Statics
o Frequency Response
o Linear Transient
o Random Response
o Thermal
o Thermal-Stress
o Inertia Relief
o Bolt Pretension

(Note: we discuss the analysis methods in bold in this book)

Specify Solution Setting

These are the solution settings that are used by default in every session.

144
SimSolid employs a proprietary adaptive technology to automatically refine the
solution in the areas where it is necessary to achieve the highest accuracy.

Multiple solution passes are performed and with each pass, accuracy measures are
created, and equations are enriched locally as required.

Note: The default number of passes is 3 which is what we recommend for global
modes, load paths and stiffnesses. You increase it only when you need more
accurate stresses.

However, it is recommended not to use more than 6 adaptive passes as it can create
noise around the connections.

All that needs to be specified by the user are the maximum number of solutions
passes along with a small set of optional settings.

Note: Project solution settings can be applied globally to the entire model or locally
to a group of parts.

Adapt to Features

Uses special logic that has more aggressive adaptivity for stress gradient areas at
local features. It applies only to structural linear and nonlinear statics. This is not
used in modal or thermal analyses.

Adapt to Thin Solids

Provides special functions for a more accurate representation in thin curved solid
sections. A best practice is to use this locally on a part by part basis.

Refinement Level

Increases the refinement level locally for a group of parts. Three levels are possible –
standard, increased and high.

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Local Project Solution Settings

To define local solution settings, the following steps are required:

o Create a part group by selecting the New button in the dialog.

o Select one or more parts from either the graphics window or Project tree to
add them to the group.
o Specify any desired local settings and
pick the Apply button.

Additional notes

When a group name is selected on the dialog

the current group settings will be shown and
the parts that belong to that group will be
highlighted in the graphics window.

The Group label indicates the number of parts

in the group and the relative volume of the
group as compared to the entire assembly. Use the “relative volume” as a guide
when selected local refinement settings.

To remove a single part group, select the group and then pick the “Delete button”.
To remove all local group refinements, select the Reset all button. To re-set factory
solution settings pick Factory reset button.

The local settings are always more aggressive on the given set of parts because the
scale is smaller. This facilitates the ability to do Global-local analysis and to focus the
adaptive refinement on areas of interest.

Note: To use the most detailed solution scale, create a part group containing a single
part.

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Recommended Way To Use Solution Settings
o Find the overall system load path: use the default Global solution settings
o Considerations for overall stress studies: To refine stresses over the entire
model, select the “Adapt to features” checkbox solution setting and rerun
the model. Uses special logic that has more aggressive adaptivity for stress
gradient areas at local features. Applies only to structural linear and
nonlinear statics. This is not used in modal or thermal analyses.
o Examine overall solution convergence: To examine solution convergence
over the entire model, increase the number of adaptive passes and rerun
the model. It is recommended not to use more than 6 adaptive passes as it
can create noise around the connections.
o Considerations for local stress studies: Use local part groups. Remember,
part group settings are done at the part group local scale (see video below)
o Considerations for thin curved solids: For parts that are thin and curved, the
“Adapt to thin solids” checkbox should be activated. This is best done on a
part by part basis using local part groups. Adapt to Thin solids feature is
effective in Modal and Thermal analyses

Additional very valuable information about Solution Settings (2:50 minutes) is

provided in the next video

https://youtu.be/tcyEKJHsCl4

147
Modal Analysis
Modal analysis evaluates the natural frequencies and corresponding modes of
vibration of your model. The “Number of modes” field (see image below) is used to
request the number of natural (flexible) modes to compute.

The natural frequencies are numbered in the ascending order, with the 1st frequency
being the lowest, also called the fundamental frequency of your model. Therefore,
requesting for example 5 modes will evaluate the 1st, or fundamental, frequency, as
well as the next higher 4 frequencies.

Note: Rigid body modes are the motion of your model, or a part of it, that does not
induce strain. Rigid body modes are characteristic of unconstrained or under-
constrained models. Rigid body modes are indicated by 0 value frequencies. For
unconstrained models, there are 6 rigid body modes. Rigid body modes are detected
automatically.

To run a modal analysis, we need to follow the following steps:

Most of the working steps depicted have been discussed before in some detail.

At his point we are “jumping” right into step 3 “Create Modal Analysis & Run”

After you hit the “Modal analysis” icon you will be asked
about the number of modes of interest

148
If you are looking at a free-free modal analysis, you are ready to go:

Click the Solve icon to start the analysis

In case you have to pin/fix/constrain the structure, make use of the following
options (as discussed earlier).

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Exercise – Modal Analysis of a Bridge
File Bridge.ssg

Required working steps:

o Import geometry, create

connections
o Apply material property (steel)
o Set and run Modal Analysis
o Examine frequencies and mode
shapes

Import

While importing the ssg file the Automatic connections

window will pop up. Here we are using the
automatically determined vales for Gap and
Penetration.

Note: The Unit System is SI as indicated in the Project

tree.

To cross-check the settings

150
Connections

Are the different parts connected?

To check / visualize connections you may use the “Review regular connections”
options

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Material

Standard steel has to be applied to the entire structure.

Do you recall how to check the material properties of steel (its values)?

Do you know how to visualize which material is assigned to the structure?

Answers to the questions from above can be found in many different ways. For
instance:

Assembly → RMB → Show Materials / Show Parts without material

(see below)

To visualize parts without material properties:

this should prompt

152
Define Analysis Type

We are interested in the first three eigenmodes

Analysis

To run the analysis, click on

Postprocessing

Depending on the settings (you may change gap, penetration and number of
adaptive solutions settings) we do see the following results:

153
The seventh eigen-mode (mode 1-6 are zero) is shown in the video below:

https://altair-2.wistia.com/medias/7oojg2cpvd

154
Exercise – Modal Analysis on a Crankshaft
File: Crankshaft.step

Required working steps:

o Import geometry
o Apply material property (steel)
o Set and run Modal Analysis (interested in the first three modes)
o Examine frequencies and mode shape

Note that after import of the step file, only one part (named Crankshaft, Steel) is
listed under Assembly.

155
For your reference, the first eigenfrequency should be at 415 Hz. The respective
mode (deformed shape is activated) is shown below:

This project is nicely described in detail in the video below:

https://youtu.be/7QonJav-sHE

156
Linear Static Analysis
To run a linear static analysis, we need to follow the following steps:

To define a static analysis either use the Analysis → Structural → Structural linear
option or the main toolbar

Further above we introduced you to “Contacts” and “Boundary Conditions”. We

therefore skip these two activities here.

Once the analysis setup is complete, select the Design study in

the Project tree and activate the Run icon

The “Solution info” provides a useful summary regarding the analysis run

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Essential Analysis Steps

1. Run linear static analysis

o Identify local deformations, thin curved solids, parts of interest for
stresses
2. Create local groups for identified parts and organize them based on part
scale
o Apply relevant solution settings (refinement level, adapt to features,
adapt to thin solids)
3. Increase contact resolution
o Applicable only for interfaces where stresses are important
4. Increase the number of adaptive solutions to 4-5-6, until convergence is
achieved

158
Exercise – Linear Analysis of a Pullup Bar
File: Pullup_bar.step

Required working steps

1. Import geometry, create connections

2. Apply material property (steel)

3. Set and run structural linear analysis

4. Compare results and create bookmarks

5. Change Project solution settings

6. Run again the analyses and compare results

While importing the file, connections are automatically created (we use the values
determined by SimSolid).

Nevertheless, after import is completed, we check for disconnected connected parts

Note, that connections are of type bonded and

sliding

159
Applying the material (here steel) should be straight forward

We define the analysis type and boundary conditions next:

Immovable supports/constraints applied to the wall plate

Create -750 N load in z direction on (side) handle faces

160
Copy Structural 1 to Structural 2

and move the load from above to the front

handle faces, i.e. select the faces of the front
handle, delete the loads on the (side) handle
faces from before, and click OK

Optionally, you may want to rename the Load/Displ. 1 to Load/Displ. 2

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Run the analysis

Note: to run the analysis for Structural 1 and 2 select Design study 1, Baseline (the
run analysis icon then prompts: Run all analysis.

Moreover, we are using the Default solution settings, which uses 3 as the number of
adaptive solution passes (check Project solution settings)

The results of Structural 1 and Structural 2 can be best compared by using

“Bookmarks”

Display the displacements of Structural 1, then click on the “snap bookmark” icon

The current view will be saved as a bookmark (we use the default name “bookmark
1”)

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 Run 1 – Structural 1 (adaptive solution 3)

To display the displacements of Structural 2, active the Result of Structural 2. The

current view will be automatically updated.

Run 2 – Structural 2 (adaptive solution 3)

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Change Project Solution Settings

We change the default value of “3” to “5”: right click on Project solution settings
from Project tree; click on Edit and change the Max number of adaptive solutions
from 3 to 5 to all parts of assembly (Global settings). Then click on Apply

Note that “Result” turned in RED in the Project tree (indicating that the current
results are based on different solution settings). To apply the new settings, we need
to run both analyses again i.e., click on Run all analyses.

Increasing the number of adaptive solutions increases the total runtime and the
maximum number of equations.

164
Task - Study the effects of different analysis settings

o Re-run the analyses (both load cases) with the new

“adaptive solutions 5”.
o Activate the settings:
• Adapt to features and Adapt to thin solids

Increasing the adaptive solution helps to get smoother contour and better stress
result – but in the costs of higher runtimes.

165
Exercise - Linear Analysis on a Grapple
File: Grapple.step

Required working steps:

1. Import geometry, create connections

2. Apply material property
3. Set and run structural linear Analysis
4. Analyse results and create bookmarks
5. Change Project solution settings
6. Run again the analyses

Importing the file should report the info that “part overlap were found”. Simply
confirm with OK.

Of course, you should review the parts which overlap to

understand whether this happens in critical areas of the
structure.

If you have to fix these overlaps you need to go back to

your source geometry system.

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After import is completed check for disconnected parts.

Which will prompt the info

This will result in bonding and sliding contacts.

Recheck for disconnected parts again

Next, assign the same material (steel) to all parts.

Create a linear structural analysis

167
Apply to immovable constraint to the faces highlighted in the image below

Apply a force of -1000 N in x direction on Grapple29_1 as shown below.

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Eventually, run the analysis.

With “Maximum number of adaptive solution solutions is 3” we see

Maximum Displacement Contour Plot

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Example (video) - Analysis of a Complex Truss Assembly
Model is of a 4-section truss made up of hollow tubes, solid bar cross bracing,
welded couplings and bolted connections between each truss section. It consists of
549 parts.

https://youtu.be/ZFDbL3YmeRc

170
Non-Linear Analysis
Some principles first:

When does a problem become non-linear?

o Non-linearity is defined by the inability of linear relationships to accurately

model behavior.

Do all physical structures exhibit non-linear behavior?

o The response of most structures’ changes in stiffness as the structure

deforms.
o Often, the response of the structure can be approximated using linear
behavior if its displacements are small.

What are the three most common types of structural non-linearity?

o Material
o Geometric
o Boundary/Contact

Let’s have a closer look at Material Non-Linearity next.

Material Non-Linearity
is used to model dependence of stress state on the
existing strain state

Different types of material non-linearity include:

o Plasticity beyond yield

o Nonlinear elasticity (Hyperelastic,
Viscoelastic etc.) – SimSolid does not
simulate this.
o Cracking, Necking, etc – SimSolid does not simulate this.

171
To include material non-linearity in your analysis, it must be defined/activated in the
Structural analysis settings.

Note: Review the respective Chapter “Non-Linear Material Properties” further

above.

How to do a Material Non-Linear Analysis

All that is required is a material definition that includes a complete stress-strain
curve. Open the Material Database and look for materials with an associated stress-

vs-strain curve.

172
Results Evaluation (Non-linear Material)
Once the analysis is complete, you can display result plots the usual way, but with
one substantial difference:

Elastic-plastic response under full load – Defines the structural response after all
non-linear iterations are complete. See Point #1 on the stress-strain graph below.

Elastic under full load – Defines the response as if the material was linear at the
elastic load limit (Point #2).

After unloading – Defines the residual stresses, strains, and deformations once all
loads have been removed (Point #3).

173
Exercise – Non-Linear Material Analysis
File: Grapple_Nonlinear.ssp

Stress_strain_curve.csv

Required working steps:

o Assign Non-Linear Material properties

o Update/increase load from 1000 N to 40000 N

Review Structural 1

o Solution settings (adaptive solutions 3)

o Contacts: Bonded & Sliding (225 connections)
o Material: Steel
o Constraints (immovable) and loads are assigned

Change the total load along axis X from -1000 N to -40000 N

Note: The Result field in the Project tree will appear RED.
This is because you changed the load value and so SimSolid remembers you that
results need to be updated

Next steps:

Copy Design study 1 to Design study 2 (as we want to have

both in the model: linear elastic and non-linear elastic
material.

Change structural analysis settings in “Design study 2” to

“Material non-linear”

174
Now, add a new non-linear material to the existing material database:

In the “Edit Material database” window,

select “Sample non-linear materials”, then
RMB to “Add material”

175
Import the given csv file: Stress_strain_curve.csv

The newly added

material is named
Material 1. We still
need to add
information about
Poisson’s ration,
Density etc. as
shown in the image below. Once completed click Save material and then click OK.

176
We now can assign the new material (named Material 1) to the Assembly.

Time to run the analyses (linear and non-linear) and to review results.

Displacements

Linear material

177
 Non-linear (Elasto-plastic, full load)

Elastic, full load

Elastic, full load results (nonlinear material) should obtain the same results of linear
analysis (Design study 1), since you are using the same material in the elastic range
and, in particular, the same Elasticity modulus.

178
 After unloading (nonlinear material)

Recall its definition: Defines the residual stresses, strains, and deformations once all
loads have been removed

Von Mises Stress

Next, plot the von Mises stress for both analyses -linear and nonlinear. You will see,
that the stress with linear elastic material is much higher than in case of elastic-
plastic material. With linear elastic material there is no limiting yield stress; the
stress curve continues the Youngs Modulus until equilibrium is reached.

179
Geometric Non-Linearity
Geometric non-linearity is characterized by:

o Large displacement and large deformation

o Large rotation
o Buckling, bifurcation and collapse of the structure

(i.e. update of stiffness as the structure deforms)

Something to remember:

o Changes in geometry as the structure deforms are considered when

iteratively solving the strain-displacement and equilibrium equations.
o Follower loads can be optionally
defined.
o Typical applications include
slender structures, sheet metal
and stability analysis of all types.
o Results are processed in the usual
manner.

One additional consideration for

geometric non-linear analyses is to
examine deformations in true scale. To
do this, show a deformed shape plot in
the normal manner, then select the
Change max deformation button.

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Boundary Non-Linearity
This non-linearity stems from changes in a
load or constraint in response to
deformation or displacement in the
structure:

o Contact problems.
o Follower forces (e.g., pressure load).

Structural non-linearity “includes” different problems:

1. Non-uniqueness
o For an applied load P there may be no solution, one solution, or
many displacement solutions u
2. Non-scalable
o If an applied load P causes displacement u, then an applied load x
times P may not cause displacement x times u.
3. No superposition
o If an applied load P causes displacement u and load F causes
displacement d, then P+F may not cause displacement u+d.

Also, nonlinear solutions may exhibit history-dependent behavior, depending on the

type of problem. Consider the snap through behavior of a shallow curved plate for
an applied load P at the middle.

In a non-linear analysis, the unique solution of u at any point depends upon the load
history of P up to that point.

181
To activate separating contact, you need to activate the “separating contact” option
in the Structural analysis settings

The respective contact conditions can then be specified by selecting the connection
of interest, RMB

In the following video we show you how to set-up and run a geometric non-linear
analysis

https://youtu.be/xrWhyn9eeTw

182
Learn next how to carry out an analysis with non-linear separating contact

https://youtu.be/Mq4aAEPsJ3A

183
Exercise – Contact Analysis
File: Hanger_beam.ssp

Objectives: Assembly analysis

Non-linear separating contact

Bolt tensioning

Required working steps:

• Review model
• Structural linear analysis
• Non-linear analysis with separating contact
• Bolt/nut pretension analysis (with separating contact)

1. Review Model

During import of the geometry, define gap & penetration to be 2

mm. Also use “increased resolution” (better for looking at contact
surface plots). This will create/define 161 connections (bonded
and sliding).

Assembly info

184
Loads/Forces

Immovable support to be applied on both sides of the structure (also on the hidden
opposing faces)

185
Linear elastic material “Steel”

Assign standard material of type steel.

Run static analysis with solution adaption 4; no special adaption (features/thin solids
required)

Maximum displacement 0.92 mm

2. Structural 2: Non-linear analysis

To define a non-linear run (separating contact), copy “Structural 1” to “Structural 2”.

The analysis settings of Structural 2 need to be changed to “Separating contact”.

186
To change the contact definition of individual connections (we want to introduce
“contact with separation” RMB in the model area

187
then select Connection 125/126 (highlighted in dark red) and change contact
conditions from Bonded to Separating with Friction coefficient of 0.1.

Eventually, run the analyses and compare results

Linear analysis

(displacements)

188
Non-linear analysis
with separating
contact.
Deformation is
scaled/exaggerated

Von Mises Stress -linear

analysis (stress is in the
beam)

189
Non-linear analysis with separating contact – stress is in the bolts (as the beam is no
longer bonded)

To better understand what is happening in the separating area we employ the

“Contact response” functionality

190
Select the connections of interest, define the response type (here opening), and
chose an appropriate point size (colored values, not contour plot)

The response type to look at may be “Opening, Normal traction, Tangent traction
magnitude, Slippage”

191
 3. Bolt/Nut Tightening

Copy Structural 2 to Structural 3, then add the nut tightening load.

Axial force is 5000 N, thread pitch 1 mm

Now, run the analysis and see what the effects of the nut tightening

192
Displacement plot

Stress plot

Note that the stress is now more evenly distributed between all 4 bolts

193
General Workflow
1. Run linear static analysis
• Identify local deformations, thin curved solids, parts of interest for
stresses
2. Create local groups for identified parts and organize them based on part
scale
• Apply relevant solution settings (refinement level, adapt to features,
adapt to thin solids)
3. Increase contact resolution
• Applicable only for interfaces where stresses are important
4. Increase the number of adaptive solutions to 4-5-6
• Until convergence is achieved
5. Perform nonlinear analysis after achieving accurate linear solution

It is recommended not to use more than 6 adaptive passes as it can create noise
around the connections

Note:

o All the solutions run in SimSolid are independent of each other (Multi-step
nonlinear analysis is currently under development).
o SimSolid does support nonlinear contacts that can open and close. It
currently only supports small sliding; large sliding is not yet supported.
o It is possible to combine two different non-linear structural effects:
▪ Separating/closing contact with Material non-linear.
▪ Material non-linear with Geometric non-linear.

It is NOT possible to combine Geometric non-linear with Separating/closing contact.

194
Thermal Analysis
Some definitions upfront.

Heat transfer

Heat transfer is the physical act of thermal energy being exchanged between two
systems by dissipating heat.

Temperature and the flow of heat are the basic principles of heat transfer. The
amount of thermal energy available is determined by the temperature, and the heat
flow represents movement of thermal energy.

Heat transfer occurs by:

Some definitions and basic

▪ Conduction
o Conduction transfers heat via direct molecular collision. An area of
greater kinetic energy will transfer thermal energy to an area with lower
kinetic energy. Higher-speed particles will collide with slower speed
particles. The slower-speed particles will increase in kinetic energy as a
result. Conduction is the most common form of heat transfer and occurs
via physical contact. Examples would be to place your hand against a
window or place metal into an open flame.
▪ Convection
o When a fluid, such as air or a liquid, is heated and then travels away
from the source, it carries the thermal energy along. This type of heat
transfer is called convection. The fluid above a hot surface expands,
becomes less dense, and rises. At the molecular level, the molecules
expand upon introduction of thermal energy. As temperature of the
given fluid mass increases, the volume of the fluid must increase by
same factor. This effect on the fluid causes displacement. As the
immediate hot air rises, it pushes denser, colder air down. This series of
events represents how convection currents are formed.

195
o Radiation (SimSolid does not simulate this)
o Thermal radiation generates from the emission of electromagnetic
waves. These waves carry the energy away from the emitting object.
Radiation occurs through a vacuum or any transparent medium (either
solid or fluid). All materials radiate thermal energy based on their
temperature. The hotter an object, the more it will radiate. The sun is a
clear example of heat radiation that transfers heat across the solar
system. At normal room temperatures, objects radiate as infrared
waves. The temperature of the object affects the wavelength and
frequency of the radiated waves. As temperature increases, the
wavelengths within the spectra of the emitted radiation decrease and
emit shorter wavelengths with higher-frequency radiation.

Time Dependence

o Steady state – Temperature is assumed to be constant in time.

o Transient – Temperature will vary with time (SimSolid does not simulate
this).

Temperature – Boundary

Specifies a fixed temperature at a face, edge,

vertex or spot.

SimSolid then determines the temperature at

every location of your model for which you have
not prescribed a temperature.

196
Heat Flux - Boundary Condition

Heat flux is the rate of heat energy transfer

through a given surface per unit time, and is
applied to: face or spot

Heat rate is Joule/second = W

Heat flux is W/m2

Volumetric Heat – Boundary Condition

Volumetric heat loads simulate internal heat

generation (heat source) and internal heat
absorption (heat sink) in volumes. A positive
volume heat value indicates a heat source, and a
negative volume heat value indicates a heat sink.

Volumetric heat is applied to: part

Specified as: W/m3

Convection – Boundary condition

The convection coefficient defines the rate of heat transfer between the bulk fluid
(liquid or gas, buoyant or moving) and a surface of your model.

197
The convective coefficient is equal to the heat rate
per unit area per unit temperature difference
between the model surface and the bulk fluid.

Ambient temperature value specifies the

temperature of the bulk fluid, which is assumed to
remain constant during the analysis.

Convection is applied to: face or spot

Specified as: W/(m^2*K)

Typical Convection Values

198
Thermal Contact Conditions

Optionally, thermal specific contact conditions can be applied between parts in the
assembly.

Two values are possible:

o No thermal resistance - default condition. Indicates full heat transfer will

occur through the part connection.
o Insulated - Insulated means the opposite. No heat transfer will occur.

Thermal Stress

In SimSolid, thermal analysis results can be used in a subsequent structural static

analysis as thermal loads. Thermal loads are then used to simulate deformations and
stresses induced by the temperature changes in your model.

199
The following types of temperature input can be specified:

o Uniform temperature field – a single

temperature is assumed to be
uniform over the entire model.
o Part based temperature field –
temperatures are applied to
individual parts.
o Thermal analysis result field – the
temperatures are imported from an
existing thermal analysis.

Note that both temperature inputs are

interpreted as a temperature change, not as an absolute temperature. For example,
if a +10 degree uniform temperature is applied, it means that the temperature in the
model has increased by 10 degrees over the course of loading. Zero temperature
load means that the temperature has not changed, etc.

Only one thermal load can be applied to a model. Once applied, the Thermal load
can be edited or deleted through the action menu on the Thermal Load item in the
Project Tree.

200
Exercise – Thermal Analysis on a Turbine
File: Turbine.ssp

Required working steps:

o Review structure (measure distance,

connections, …)
o Apply material property (steel)
o Set thermal analysis
o Analysis and post-processing
o Set and run structural linear analysis

Review structure

Clip assembly with a plane “Distance” 110 mm

Solution settings

201
Connect the groups

Apply material (Steel) – You shouldn’t need any help with that by now.

Set thermal analysis

Create a new thermal analysis

o Click on to prescribe temperature.

o Flag “Add tangent faces” (see image below) and select a point inside the
tube as highlighted in the squared box.

202
 o Set 800 C as temperature.

Note: The “add tangent faces” option is not working in SimSolid 2019.2. Hence, you
need to select the interior faces manually. Tipp: Hide parts which are not needed (in
the Project tree) and make use of the clipping plane option (to select the faces in the
interior).

203
Next steps:

o Click on to apply convection conditions at surface.

o Flag “Add tangent faces” and select a point inside the tube as highlighted in
the circular box (see below)
o Set the Convection conditions as shown in the picture, i.e. Ambient
temperature to 30 C and Convective heat transfer coefficient to 200
W/(m^2*K).

o Click on to apply convection conditions at surface.

o Select the orange components as shown in the image below (Hint: you
should hide a part of your model to better see the components you have to
select).

204
 o Set the Convection conditions as shown, i.e. Ambient temperature to 120 C
and Convective heat transfer coefficient to 1000 W/(m^2*K).

Run the analysis and post-process results

Now we are applying the thermal load to the structure

Create a new Structural Linear Analysis

205
Create Immovable supports as shown in the picture on the left

Create Thermal load coming from the Thermal analysis carried out before.

Run the analysis and plot displacements and stresses

206
207
Example (video) - Thermal Analysis

In this video (3:11 minutes) we show how to do a steady state thermal analysis using
SimSolid Cloud.

https://youtu.be/13I6O1pt_KI

Solution Guidelines
To summarize the preceding chapter, keep these solution guidelines in mind:

1. Run linear static analysis

• Identify local deformations, thin curved solids, parts of interest for stresses

2) Create local groups for identified parts and organize them based on part scale

• Group parts with similar scale

• Apply relevant solution settings (refinement level, adapt to features, adapt
to thin solids)

208
 • Adapt to features: Groups where accurate stresses are required
• Adapt to thin solids: Groups where there are thin curved solids
• High refinement level: Global-local analysis and groups with local
deformations

3) Increase contact resolution (if applicable)

• Increase resolution of contact interfaces where stresses are important/high

• Do not always use higher resolution on the entire assembly, it will negatively
affect the performance of the solution

(for more details, see the paragraph “Modeling Guidelines) further above.

4) Increase the number of adaptive solutions to 4-5-6 until convergence is

achieved

• Do not go beyond 6 adaptive passes

• Higher number of passes cause chatter around contact connections

(Project tee→ Project Solution settings → RMB → Edit)

209
5) Perform nonlinear analysis only after achieving accurate linear solution

Postprocessing
Once the analysis is completed it is time to review the structures’ behavior.

Depending on the type of analysis and structure you may look at:

o Contours and Animations

o Displacements, Stresses/Strains
o Frequencies and Mode Shapes
o XY Plots
o Modal Participation Factors
o Forces: Reaction, Contact, Bolts and Welds
o Min/Max Labels
o Safety Factors

Note: Make sure the magnitude of the displayed results is meaningful, e.g. stresses
in the order of 104 MPa in a linear analysis should make you cautious.

https://youtu.be/fjMlFF9v034?t=4

210
Visualization Options
Various visualization options such as result plot, result graph, reaction/contact force
and others (see below) are available:

211
Contour Plots
The “Result plot” dialog allows you to
access the following data:

You can adjust the image display

attributes in many ways:

o Editing the color legend

range
o Changing the number of
colors used to display the
result
o Changing result units
o Changing the legend upper and lower bounds
o Displaying the model with or without deformation, as well as adjusting
the deformation scale factor
o Animation deformation or mode
shapes
o Displaying and positioning the
Min and Max value labels

Special Functions

Show Max/Min labels – Displays the Max and

Min labels on the model. The labels remain
fixed during model rotation but may be
selected and dragged to reposition them.

Hide controls – Selecting the Hide controls

button leaves only the legend visible in the

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graphics region. The legend may be selected and dragged to reposition it. Click on
the legend to bring back the control buttons.

Legend number formatting – Legend numbers can be formatting using one of three
methods. These formats are set in the output Units dialog found at the top of the
Project tree. Double click the Units branch to open the dialog.

o Scientific – example: 1.2345e+3

o Engineering – example: 1234
o Concise Mix – this will attempt to use Engineering format but switch to
Scientific when the scale is too small.

Fast result switching – While the results dialog is active, any analysis workbench may
be selected. When a similar workbench is selected (for example Structure 1 to
Structure 2), the currently display result will remain. When a dissimilar workbench is
selected (for example Structure 1 to Modal 1) the primary result entity will be
displayed.

Legend Min/Max bounds can be locked, using the lock button. When locked, the
bounds remain fixed when switching between identical results entities only. Fast
results switching between different result entities (for example, deformation to
stress) will deactivate the lock and reset the bounds.

Fast results switching can be done when the plot controls buttons are either hidden
or displayed.

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The above content is shown in series of short videos below (no audio)

“General” post-processing capabilities

https://altair-2.wistia.com/medias/nph7rtz5ac

Stresses and displacements

https://altair-2.wistia.com/medias/0l50s191cp

214
 XY – Plots

https://altair-2.wistia.com/medias/qnd7p9ya2v

Postprocessing reaction forces, contacts, bolds and welds

https://altair-2.wistia.com/medias/cf382eatpl

215
 Safety factors

https://altair-2.wistia.com/medias/rhk34cjai3

216
What Happens in the Background

• Create response mesh

o Used to map result functions to design
geometry
o Can be redefined on-the-fly (see “refine
result plot on a face” below)
• Evaluate quantities of interest to contour plot
o Values determined at the nodes of the
response mesh
o Very fast- don on the fly, the nodal values are
not saved.
• Display reactions
o At supports
o At connections
o Part resultants
• Fast re-analysis
o SimSolid remembers response mesh and incremental analytical
functions
o Re-analysis typically processes faster
• Efficient coupled analysis
o Results of one analysis are directly used in analytical form in other
analysis
o Thermal-stress, nonlinear analysis, dynamics

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Refine Result Plot on a Face
SimSolid allows to apply “Result Refinement” (i.e. changing the response mesh)
during postprocessing

A RMB click on the area/face of interest opens up the

following dialog

Note: Refine result plot can be applied multiple times,

however, there is no UNDO.

Below please see an example on how result refinement is changing not only the
contour but also the respective values:

Von Mises Stress (without result refinement, default)

218
 Von Mises Stress (with result refinement)

Note: SimSolid calculates full 3D result functions. Currently, SimSolid result functions
are evaluated on part surfaces by the means of a response surface mesh. Continuum
results along the cutting planes will be supported in the future.

219
How To Create A SimSolid PowerPoint Presentation
This paragraph is based on a Blog post by Ken Welch (May 20, 2016)

https://blog.altair.com/easy-way-to-create-a-simsolid-powerpoint-presentation/

Many times, a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation is a useful medium to

communicate simulation results. Here is a quick tip on how to easily transfer
Bookmark gallery images into PowerPoint.

First create your Gallery bookmarks. Note that you can name each bookmark and
even add an onscreen caption. Bookmark names will be used as the file name when
the images are saved. Captions are multi-line text that can be added to any area of
the graphics window. They are a great way to comment on a relevant result.

Be sure the gallery thumbnail has the latest graphics information by selecting the
Update item in the thumbnail RMB menu. Remember this will save the entire Altair
SimSolid graphics area including any overlaid windows. That means that Info dialogs
(Assembly, Result, etc) can also be saved in the bookmark image.

220
Now simply select “Save as files” to save the image files into a directory on your

local machine.

OK now here is the tip – “to get these images quickly into PowerPoint use the Insert
Photo Album function“. While these are not pictures of your dog or your latest
family vacation, the Photo Album is still a quick way to load multiple image files.

Photo Album gives you several options to load and distribute your gallery images
inside of PowerPoint. Here we use “fit to slide” with captions below all pictures.

221
Notice that, in this context, the captions are the SimSolid image gallery names. Be
sure to select a Theme template and select Create.

That’s all there is to it. Now you can add comments as you wish, and you are ready
to present your SimSolid results.

222
Design Studies with Multi-CAD Assemblies
With all the different things you have learned about SimSolid so far, you certainly
will like the next topic: Design Studies with multi-CAD assemblies.

Design Studies allow you to quickly evaluate and compare the structural
performance from different geometric configurations. A single SimSolid Project file
can contain multiple Design Studies each with their own unique set of geometry and
analyses.

Every time geometry is imported, it is placed into a new design study and SimSolid
will attempt to reapply existing material property, connection, and analysis
definition data. The source for this data will be the BASELINE design study.

The first design study defaults to the BASELINE, but this can be changed at any time
by selecting the RMB menu and clicking “Set as baseline” on any design study root
node in the Project tree.

Items that cannot be reapplied will be marked in red, all red entities must be
resolved before a new analysis can be started.

For boundary conditions, double-click and reselect the location (face, edge, spot,
etc.)

223
How to carry out a design study is explained in the video below.

https://altair-2.wistia.com/medias/gsyyffcyhf

Now, let’s set-up a design study ourselves.

File: Pullup_bar.ssp

Pullup_bar.step

Required working steps:

o Create, complete and run 2nd Design Study (modified geometry)

o Change solution settings

224
 results based on “adaptive solutions 3”

Next, we are importing a modified geometry of the pullup bar

During CAD import you may see

Note:

• Every time geometry is imported, it is placed into a

new design study and SimSolid will attempt to reapply
existing BASELINE material property, connection and
analysis definition data.

• Items that cannot be reapplied will be marked in RED.

• All red entities must be resolved before a new analysis can be started.

• For contact conditions, SimSolid

will bond automatically. Review
to make sure this is what you
want. Either, RMB select then
pick Accept contact condition(s)
in red or double-click to Edit.

225
 • For boundary conditions, double-click and reselect the location (face, edge,
spot, etc.).

Make sure the material property (steel) is assigned to the entire structure

Switch between results of Study 1 and 2 to compare results (related to the modified
geometry).

Task: change the analyses settings for both studies (adaptive solution and “adapt to
features/thin solids).

226
Capstone Projects

The “Capstone Projects” require some understanding on how to efficiently employ

SimSolid. The project tasks are summarized, however, the working steps are not
explained any more.

Note: These projects are “borrowed” from the SimSolid Verification Manual.

Plate with Hole

Due to symmetry, only 1/4 section was analyzed as shown.

o Units are SI.

o L= 100 mm, H=50 mm, R=20 mm
o Elastic Modulus=2.1e+11 Pa, Poisson's Ratio=0.3
o
Thickness=1 mm, F=100 N/mm2

227
Reference Solution

Results

Sliding constraints applied to left, back and bottom faces.

Load of 5000N applied to right face (100N/mm2 x 50mm x 1mm)

Max. Stress (MPa)

Theory (2D solid model) 372.70
SimSolid (3D solid model) 374.73
% Difference (SimSolid/Theory) 0.54 %

228
Straight Cantilever Beam
A straight cantilever beam

is subjected to four different loads at the free end

a) extension
b) in-plane shear
c) out-of-plane shear
d) twisting

o Units are IPS.

o Loads are uniformly distributed along face of the beam or along edges
o Materials properties: Modulus of elasticity E = 1e+7 psi, Poisson’s ratio ν=0.3

Objective: Find tip displacements in direction of loads

(Reference: “A proposed standard set of problems to Test Finite Element Accuracy”, by R.H.
MacNeal and R.L. Harder, Finite Elements in Analysis and Design I, 1985, pp. 3-20.)

229
Results

Axial Loading In-Plane Shear

(+x direction) (+y direction)

Tip displacement in direction of load (in)

Theory (Beam model) 3.0e-05 1.081e-01

SimSolid (3D solid model) 3.0231e-05 1.0891e-01
% Difference
0.77 % 0.75 %
(SimSolid/Theory)

Out of Plane Shear Twisting*

(+z direction) (+z direction)

Tip displacement in direction of load (in)

Theory (Beam model) 4.3210e-01 3.4080e-03

SimSolid (3D solid model) 4.3501e-01 3.4519e-03
% Difference
0.67 % 1.29 %
(SimSolid/Theory)

*Twist load was 1 in-lbf X-moment applied as remote load at the end of the beam

230
Normal Mode Cantilever Beam
Normal mode dynamic analysis of a cantilevered beam. Left end fully constrained,
back face has slider constraint to remove 3rd dimension.

o Units are SI.

o Material properties: Modulus of elasticity E=2e11 N/m2 , Poisson’s ratio ν=0.3,
mass density  = 8000 kg/m3.

Mode 1 Mode 2 - Mode 3 - Mode 4 - Mode 5 - Mode 6 -

Hz Hz Hz Hz Hz Hz
Reference 1.001 6.327 17.720 34.720 57.390 85.730

SimSolid 1.010 6.327 17.695 34.618 57.103 85.077

% Diff 0.93% 0.00% -0.14% -0.29% -0.50% -0.76%

Reference

NAFEMS Finite Element Methods & Standards, Abbassian, F., Dawswell, D. J., and Knowles,
N. C. Selected Benchmarks for Natural Frequency Analysis Test No. 71. Glasgow: NAFEMS,
Nov., 1987.

231
Thermal Analysis Cooling Fin
A cooling fin 1x1x8 inch is surrounded by fluid with one end maintained at
temperature

T=100 F, and the other end insulated

Objective: Find the temperature at the insulated end

Ambient temperature Ta = 0. Material properties: thermal conductivity k = 25

BTU/(hr-ft-F), thermal convection coefficient h = 1BTU/(hr-ft2-F)

Mean Temperature at Thermal Flux through

Insulated End, [F] the Heated End,
[BTU/(hr*in2)]
Theory (1D model) 68.592 17.5
SimSolid (solid model) 68.43 18.22
Ratio SimSolid/Theory 0.998 1.04

Reference

Kreith, F. Principles of Heat Transfer. 2nd ed. P.A.: International Textbook Co., 1959,
pg. 48

232
Thermal Analysis Table Frame
Objective: Find temperature at points A, B, C and D of the assembly of 8 tubes.

o Units are SI.

o Material properties: AISI 304 steel used.
o Dimensions: Hollow tubular frame, L=2.25m, H=1.5m, D=1.5m

Location Reference SimSolid DIFF

Solution
A 110.2 112.0 1.6%
B 182.0 180.8 -0.6%
C 107.6 109.1 1.4%
D 143.0 143.0 0.%

Reference

LM-TH-1 Learning Module 1, Thermal Analysis, Dr. Jack Xin, Dr. Liang-Wu Cai,
www.femlearning.org, 2010.

233
Thermally Loaded Support Structure

A support structure of two copper bars, steel bar, and a rigid beam is subjected to a load and
a temperature rise after assembly

Objective: Find stresses in the bars.

o Steel bar material properties: Modulus of elasticity

30.e+6 psi, coefficient of thermal expansion 70.e-7
in/in-F, copper bar correspondingly 16.e+6 psi and
92.e-7 in/in-F.
o Total load applied to the rigid beam is 4000 lbf,
temperature change 10 F.
o Bars have cross-sectional area 0.1 inch2 and length
20 inch.

Structure components are simulated by solids. Dimensions of the support bars are
20x0.5x0.2 inch, rigid beam – 12x1x1 inch. The rods are equally spaced at a distance of 5
inch. Rigid beam is simulated as a rigid body.

Reference

S.Timoshenko, Strength of Material, Part 1, Elementary Theory and Problems, 3 rd Edition, D.

Van Nostrand Co., Inc., New York, NY, 1955, pg. 30, problem 9

234
Results

Distribution of max principal stress in the structure is shown in Fig. vtl01b

Stress in steel, [psi] Stress in copper,

[psi]

Theory (1D model) 19695. 10152.

SimSolid (solid 19697. 10152.

model)

Ratio 0.999 1.
SimSolid/Theory

235
Lateral Buckling of a Right-Angle Frame

Objective: Perform analysis of buckling and post-buckling of a thin-walled frame-like

structure in the shape of right angle.

o One end of the structure is clamped, and a conservative load in X-directions

is applied to the other end.
o Material properties: elasticity modulus 7.124e+10 pa, Poisson's ratio 0.31.

Reference

R.Kouhia, On Kinematical Relations of Spatial Framed Structures, J. Computers & Structures,

Vol. 40, No.5, 1991, pp. 1185-1191

Results

Structure is simulated as a solid.

Reference critical load found from 1D beam bending model of the structure is P = 0.820035
N.

236
Negligible perturbation load of Pz = P*1.e-4 = 8.2e-5 N is applied in lateral Z-direction at the
loaded end of the structure in order to cause a very small initial deflection of the structure
from the flat. The main load was gradually increased from 0 to 1.6*P.

The graph shows maximum deflections vs. applied load.

The load-lateral deflection curve is in a good agreement with the results reported in the
reference. Transversal post-buckling behavior at first is associated with a very small
transversal stiffness, but then the load carrying capacity increases (load-displacement curve
flattens). In-plane behavior is almost monotonic, no capacity increase occurs in the range of
load change.

3D solution predicts the critical load approximately 10% lower than 1D beam model solution.
The images below show Von Mises stress distribution which is substantially different from
the one assumed in the beam bending model.

237
Deformed shape and Von Mises stress plot at load 1.1 N (front view to the left and
top view to the right)

Below: Deformed shape and Von Mises stress plot at load

238
Appendix: Altair SimSolid™
Technology Overview
Abstract
Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) are intrinsic
parts of modern engineering. CAE simulation tools are extremely important because
they allow for performance validation and optimization of a product design before
the product is physically created. Today this is typically done using software based
on Finite Element Analysis (FEA).

The weak link in traditional FEA is the need to create an accurate and efficient finite
element mesh. The meshing process would typically fail if done on original geometry
or produces excessive number of elements which would often make FEA impractical.
In case of assemblies, incompatible meshes on adjacent parts make handling part
connections extremely difficult. In practice, geometry model simplification is a must
for a successful FEA. But the simplification is a non-trivial step which requires a
highly skilled specialist in both FEA and CAD technologies.

SimSolid is intended to drastically streamline simulation process and increase

engineering productivity by replacing the underlying FEA technology, rather than
through improvements to user interface. New technology eliminates the most
failure-prone and skills/labor consuming stages of analysis process.

This whitepaper was written to provide users of SimSolid simulation software with
basic understanding of how the technology works. Technological foundations of
SimSolid are discussed with respect to mathematical background, computer
implementation, and positioning among other numerical methods.

239
Product Summary
SimSolid is a simulation software application which performs statics, dynamics and
thermal, analyses of structural systems. SimSolid always uses fully featured, not
simplified, solid geometry models in the analysis and does not use a mesh.

The SimSolid computational engine is based on breakthrough extensions to the

theory of external approximations. External approximations are a generalization of
Finite Element Method (FEM) in terms that:

• absolutely arbitrary geometrical shapes can be used as “finite elements”

• basis functions which approximate field of interest in the “element” can be of
arbitrary class and are independent of the “element” shape, alternatively to
strictly structured polynomials used in conventional FEA

SimSolid controls solution accuracy using multi-pass adaptive analysis. Adaptivity

can be defined on a global or part local basis and adaptivity is always active. SimSolid
provides smart connections for bolts and welds to make assembly modeling easier
and more robust. The SimSolid methodology is fast and efficient. It provides superior
performance metrics for computational time and memory footprint that allow very
large and/or complex assemblies to be solved quickly on desktop class PC’s.

Altair SimSolid™ Theoretical Background

In the following we will discuss the theoretical background of SimSolid and its
software implementation workflow then compare it to methods used in traditional
FEA.

Overview of initial research

Ritz-Galerkin method invented at the beginning of 20th century for approximate
solution of boundary value problems assumed that functions that approximate the
solution are analytical functions defined on the whole domain of interest. In

240
practical applications these functions were either trigonometric or polynomials
which were infinitely smooth, i.e. they had infinite number of derivatives. There
were two main problems with such functions.

First, it was difficult or impossible to construct such functions that a priori meet
essential boundary conditions on boundary of arbitrary domains (in structural
analysis the conditions appear as displacement constraints).

Second, the equation system built on such functions was ill-conditioned and
numerically unstable which did not allow solving real life problems with enough
accuracy.

Finite Element Method (FEM) appeared in 1950s was just a different

implementation of the classic Ritz-Galerkin approach, but it succeeded in solving of
both – constraints and numerical instability issues because it consistently used
functions with local supports called finite elements.

Though locally the basis functions of finite elements were infinitely differentiable
standard polynomials, global basis functions assembled from local polynomials were
not smooth at all – even their first derivatives were discontinuous. FEM success
proved that requirements to continuity of the approximation functions should be
met only to a certain degree - just enough to provide finite energy when they are
substituted into energy functional of a boundary value problem. The spaces of such
functions were introduced and investigated by Sobolev in 1930s.

The next step in the relaxation of continuity requirements to approximation

functions was the introduction of the concept of external approximations [1]. The
name “external” was used in the following context. When approximation functions
belong to Sobolev space of functions with finite energy the approximation is called
“internal” which means that while the approximation is refined and the solution is
converging to the exact solution, the approximation functions are always inside the
Sobolev space. Alternatively, in external approximations the approximation
functions do not belong to Sobolev spaces at every refinement step (they have
infinite energy), but in the limit, when number of degrees of freedom tends to

241
infinity, the limit function must belong to the corresponded Sobolev space, i.e. it
must recover the necessary smoothness properties. The abstract theory of external
approximations was developed in work [2].

The technological foundations of SimSolid have been published in work [3]. In this
work the abstract theory of external approximations developed in [2] was applied to
a case of approximations by finite elements under the assumptions that the
elements are of absolutely arbitrary shape. In result the necessary and enough
condition of external approximations by finite elements has been established and
convergence theorems proved. It was also shown that the theorems were
constructive, i.e. they not only defined hallmarks of external approximations, but
also provided a mechanism to build them.

Theoretical Background
An abstract boundary value problem is formulated as follows.

Find a function U which fulfils equations

AU = f inside a domain Ω (1)

LU = g at the domain boundary (2)

Where A and L are differential operators.

Some boundary value problems can be equally formulated in variational form as:
find a function U which provides a functional F(U) a minimum value, where the
functional F(U) is usually an energy functional.

In 1908 W.Ritz proposed a method of finding an approximate solution of a boundary

value problem by approximating it with a linear combination of some basis functions

Uh = ∑ aipi, i= 1,2, …..n (3)

Where ai are unknown factors, pi are basis approximation functions.

Factors ai are found to provide minimum value of the energy functional

242
 F(∑ aipi) = min (4)

If a boundary value problem is linear, then minimization problem (4) can be reduced
to a linear algebraic equation system with respect to factors ai

K a= B (5)

here K is a symmetric matrix, a is a vector of unknown factors, B is a right hand side

of the system.

In FEM matrix K is called a stiffness matrix, vector B is called a load vector, and
factors ai are called degrees of freedom.

In 1915 Galerkin proposed another approximate method of solving boundary value

problem (1)-(2). According to Galerkin method unknown solution U is approximated
as

Un = U0 + ∑ aipi (6)

Where U0 is some function which fulfills nonhomogeneous boundary conditions (2),

pi are analytical approximation functions which fulfill homogeneous boundary
conditions, ai are unknown factors.

Substitution of (6) into (1) results in residual

R = AU0 + ∑ ai Api – f (7)

Unknown factors ai are found from the equation system

∫Ω Rpi dΩ = 0 (8)

If a boundary value problem is linear, then system (8) is a system of linear algebraic
equations.

Galerkin method does not use a variational formulation of a boundary value

problem, so its applicability is much wider.

243
Ritz and Galerkin methods proved to be effective means of solving problems in
engineering and science. At the same time mathematical justification of the
methods faced significant difficulties which were solved with the introduction of
functional analysis as a mathematical discipline.

Modern theory of Ritz-Galerkin method is based on the concept of weak solution of

a boundary value problem. Weak formulation of a boundary value problem consists
in finding a function uϵV from corresponding Sobolev space which fulfils an abstract
variational equation

a(u,v) = f(v) for any function v ϵ V (9)

here V is some subspace of Sobolev space, a(u,v) is generally an

unsymmetrical bilinear form, which is continuous on the space product VxV, f(v) is
some linear form on V.

In structural analysis Sobolev space is a space of functions with finite strain energy.

In Ritz-Galerkin method space V is approximated with some finite-dimensional space

Xh, and approximate solution is found in form (3)

where functions pi belong to the space Xh. Therefore, the discretized formulation of
a boundary value problem is:

Find a function Uh ϵ Xh which fulfills the equation

a(Uh,Vh) = f(Vh) for any function Vh ϵ Xh (10).

Substitution of (3) into (10) results in linear algebraic equation system from which
unknown factors ai are found

In classic Ritz-Galerkin method Xh is a space of analytical functions defined on the

whole domain Ω, factors ai have no physical meaning. In conventional Finite Element
Method Xh is a space of piecewise polynomials and factors ai are values of function
Uh in nodes of finite elements. In structural analysis they are displacements of the
nodes.

244
Many modifications of Ritz-Galerkin methods have been invented. They differ by
variational equations (9) and by classes of basis functions (3) used to approximate
the solution. The same boundary value problem can have several equivalent
formulations (9) which differ by spaces V.

External Approximations by Finite Elements

As it was already mentioned, internal finite element approximations are built on
functions that belong to a corresponded Sobolev space. These functions must meet
certain continuity conditions on inter-element boundaries. For instance, when 2D or
3D theory of elasticity problems are under consideration, the function needs to be
continuous between finite elements. For plate bending problems not only functions,
but their first derivatives must be continuous as well.

The continuity conditions are quite restrictive. They can be met only for very simple
shapes of finite elements with standard interpolation polynomials as basis functions
of finite elements. The polynomials are associated with element nodes. To provide
inter- element compatibility the same interpolation functions are used to represent
finite element shape. In case of curved boundaries mapping onto a canonical
element is used to provide the compatibility. Geometry of finite elements and their
approximation functions are tightly coupled.

In order to improve approximation qualities of finite elements researchers invented

incompatible finite elements. The elements appear when interpolation basis
functions of elements of standard shape are enriched by some other polynomials.
The additional functions create discontinuity across inter-element boundaries, but
incompatible finite elements often provided much better accuracy than the
compatible ones. The problem was in difficulties of mathematical proof of
convergence and in inconsistency of results.

A comprehensive theory of external approximations by finite elements was

developed in work [3]. In the theory the word “finite element” was used to
designate an arbitrary shaped sub-domain of the domain Ω, so the definition of

245
finite elements was not restricted anymore to canonic shapes or other shapes
obtained from canonic by mapping. The whole domain Ω could be considered as one
finite element, and therefore, in case of assemblies a part of an assembly could be
one “finite element” in FEM terminology. Another assumption was that
approximation functions inside finite element could be arbitrary - not necessarily
polynomials. The only requirement was that the functions belong to the
corresponded Sobolev space, so they need to be sufficiently smooth inside element.

The task was to find conditions under which the approximations built according to
the assumptions above would be external approximations, i.e. they would converge
to the exact solution of a boundary value problem from “outside” of a Sobolev
space. Necessary and enough condition which provides the external approximations
was found. The condition happened to be constructive – its formulation also implied
the way of building finite elements that meet the condition. Convergence theorems
and error estimates also have been proved.

It was shown that the necessary and sufficient condition for a finite element
approximation to be external is:

<δ,γU> =0 (11)

Here <,> is duality pairing in certain functional spaces of defined on inter-element

boundaries, δ and γ are some operators, and U are approximation functions defined
inside element.

As one can see, condition (11) does not relate neither to a Boundary Value Problem
(BVP) formulation, nor to a method the BVP is solved (Galerkin, Ritz, Trefftz, etc.). It
imposes constraints on basis functions of finite elements which just guarantee that
the limit approximation function will belong to a corresponding Sobolev space, so it
will possess necessary smoothness properties.

Therefore, even before the solution method is chosen (Galerkin, Ritz, etc.), one may
construct finite element spaces that possess important properties. These properties
can be just “good to have”, as, for instance, when solving elasticity problems, it is
not required to use functions that fulfill equilibrium in volume, but it might be useful

246
because the use of such functions increases accuracy and reduces number of DOF.
Other properties can be crucial, for instance, only divergence-free functions can
provide unconditionally stable solutions for incompressible materials.

Condition (11) can be extended by continuity from duality pairing into inner product
in other spaces of functions:

(g,γU) = 0 (12)

Here g are functions defined on inter-element boundaries, they are called boundary
functions. Boundary functions are functions of surface parameters and they
generate boundary DOF that are integrals of products of boundary functions onto
finite element basis functions over finite element boundary:

∫ɣ gk γU dɣ k = 1,2,… N (13)

Here ɣ is boundary of finite element, gi are functions defined on boundary of finite

element, U is a function to be approximated on the element (for instance,
displacements in structural analysis).

For comparison, degree of freedom in FEM is value of the function U in the node (i)
of finite element:

U (xi, yi, zi) (14)

Functions gi in the expression (13) are basis functions from finite-dimensional space
Gh of functions defined on element’s boundary. They can be arbitrary, the only
requirement – spaces Gh must be dense in the space of boundary functions, i.e. they
must be able to converge in the space of boundary functions. The latter is easily
fulfilled in case gi are polynomials or piecewise polynomials defined on element’s
boundary.

Functionals (13) are called boundary degrees of freedom. They do not have physical
meaning and they make approximation functions from space of finite elements
compatible in limit when number of boundary DOF tend to infinity. Boundary DOF
are responsible for meeting inter- element continuity conditions and essential

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boundary conditions. In adaptive solution the number of the boundary DOF is
managed automatically to meet the convergence criteria.

Boundary DOF (13) are not the only DOF produced when external approximations
are built. Other DOF are called internal DOF because they are associated with finite
element volume. Internal DOF are defined automatically when the approximation of
the solution within a finite element is being built. Final approximation of a function
U on the element looks as follows:

Uh = ∑ ai(U) pi + ∑(∫ɣ gk γU dɣ) pk (15)

Here ai are internal DOF of the element (some factors), pi are basis functions of the
internal DOF,

∫ɣ gi γU dɣ are boundary DOF, pk are basis functions of the boundary DOF.

Basis functions pi and pk constitute a finite-dimensional space P of approximation

functions of a finite element. It was proved that for convergence the space P must be
complete, for instance, in case of polynomial space it should contain all polynomials
up to a certain degree assigned to an adaptive iteration.

Basis functions of a finite element are not pre-defined because the element has an
arbitrary shape. They are built on-the-fly during a solution run. What is pre-defined
at an adaptive pass is the whole space P of approximation functions of the element.
The algorithm of building basis functions of an element at an adaptive pass works as
follows:

• A set of boundary functions gk is defined

• A complete space P of approximation functions of the element is defined by
choosing a complete set of generic basis functions. In case of polynomial
spaces, a complete space of polynomials of a certain degree is specified. For
instance, generic second-degree polynomials for 3D problems are:

{1, x, y, z, x2, xy, y2, xz, z2, yz}

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 • Generic basis functions are generated automatically on-the-fly for every sub-
domain during solution when stiffness matrix of a sub- domain is evaluated
• Basis functions pi and pk are found automatically by solving a certain system
of linear algebraic equations

After basis functions of element have been found, element’s stiffness matrix and
load vector are evaluated the same way as it is done in conventional FEM by
integrating energy over the element volume and loads over the element boundary.

Geometry-Functions Decoupling
Geometry-functions decoupling is the core feature of the SimSolid technology. As
one can see from the above, the basis functions of an arbitrary element are built
from generic basis functions “on-the-fly” during solution. Neither element geometry
representation is used in building the generic functions, nor the functions dictate the
shape of the element. The only requirement to the space P of approximation
functions of an element is that P must be a subspace of a corresponded Sobolev
space associated with the formulation of boundary value problems.

Therefore, any combination of generic basis functions is allowable provided they are
linearly independent.

The geometry-functions decoupling proved to be the key feature which provides

better performance, better accuracy, robustness, less computer resources, less
modeling errors. The following substantial benefits can be realized when finding an
accurate solution for a specific problem, or managing adaptive solutions:

1. It is possible to build special approximations that make approximate

solutions of boundary value problems unconditionally stable. For instance,
when parts made of incompressible materials are simulated, SimSolid uses
divergence-free functions which exactly meet the incompressibility
condition. Here is an example of some generic divergence-free 3D functions
of degree 3 (here u,v,w are displacement components):

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 Function 1: u = -xz2 v = yz2 w=0

Function 2: u = -3xz2 v=0 w = z3

Function 3: u = -2xyz v = y2z w=0

Function 4: u = -2xyz v=0 w = yz2

Function 5: u = -xy2 v=0 w = y 2z

2. Neighbor parts may have approximation functions of different classes. For

instance, in case an assembly contains parts made of compressible and
incompressible materials (rubber insertions, or cavities with liquid) the
approximation functions for incompressible material are built as special
divergence-free functions. On neighbor parts with compressible material
regular functions like standard polynomials are used
3. It is always possible to use basis functions that a priori fulfill governing
equations of boundary value problems which provides better accuracy and
reduces number of DOF. For instance, thermo- elastic problems are solved
using a complete polynomial solution of the corresponded governing
equations:

(16)

here (u,v, w) are displacement components,

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 is a coefficient of thermal expansion; E is elasticity modulus,  is Poisson’s ratio, T
is temperature field.

Equation system (16) is non-homogeneous. For instance, when E = 1,  = 0.25,  = 1

and temperature field is described by a monomial T = axm yn z p the solution of the non-

homogeneous problem for a=1, m=0, n=2, p=3 is:

u=0, v=0.1667yz5

w=0.4167y2z4 – 0.02778z6 (17)

Here is an example of a polynomial solution of the homogeneous equations (14):

u = 20x4z – 20x2z3

v = 20x3yz – 20xyz3

w = 8x5 – 60x3z2 (18)

When solving a thermo-elastic problems polynomial approximation of temperature

T are imported from thermal analysis, functions of type (17) are generated for every
element, and generic functions of type (18) are used to build basis functions of
elements.

For heat transfer problems harmonic polynomials are used as basis functions which
precisely fulfill corresponded equation of heat transfer. Here are some generic
harmonic functions of degree 3:

Function 1: x3 - 3xz2

Function 2: x2y - yz2

Function 3: xy2 - xz2

Function 4: y3 - 3yz2

Function 5: 3x2z - z3

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4. The approximations are always built in physical coordinate space without
mapping onto a canonic shape. Therefore, properties of generic basis
functions are preserved throughout solution which eliminates a substantial
source of approximation errors
5. A complete set of basis functions is always used to approximate solution on
a sub-domain. Completeness means that no functions are missing from a
space of a certain degree. For instance, if solution is approximated with
harmonic polynomials of degree 5, then all harmonic generic polynomials of
degree 5 are included into the approximation space of a sub-domain. This
provides high accuracy, ease of building p-adaptive solutions globally and
locally, and ease of implementation of new types of problem- specific basis
functions
6. Geometry-functions decoupling allows effectively handle assemblies of parts
with incomparable geometries in terms of size and shape (multi-scale
assemblies)
7. Local effects like concentrated forces, cracks, stress concentration, etc., can
be easily simulated by enriching approximation space of sub-domains with
special functions that possess corresponded asymptotic associated with the
feature

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Altair SimSolid™ Software Implementation
The SimSolid software implementation workflow is summarized in the following:

Step 1. Process geometry. Raw part geometry is imported using either a direct CAD
process, as in Onshape, or from a standard STL file. In either case the geometry is
processed and stored internally in an efficient faceted form.

SimSolid will create faces and volumes, insure the volumes are water-tight and
identify special part geometry such as bolts, nuts and washers that can be used for
pre-loading.

Step 2. Create part connections. Contact interfaces between parts of assembly are
found automatically. Bonded and sliding contact is supported initially. More general
non-linear contact is a possible extension.

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Step 3. Analysis parameter specification. An analysis type (static, modal, thermal) is
selected and boundary conditions/ materials are applied to the model. At this point,
the model is ready to analyze. No mesh creation steps are required by the user.

Step 4. Adaptive solution is performed. SimSolid employs a proprietary adaptive

technology to automatically refine the solution in the areas where it is necessary to
achieve the highest accuracy. The maximum number of adaptive iterations is set on
either a global or local (part) basis. Adaptivity is always active in the solver methods.

Step 5. Response mesh is built over the geometry. Response mesh is used to display
result plots only and can be refined “on-the-fly”.

Step 6. Evaluate quantities of interest. Quantities of interest are evaluated in nodes

of the response mesh and displayed. The evaluation is done “on-the-fly” when a
post-processor window is launched. The nodal values are not saved, instead the
analytical approximants of the field of interest are stored which provides significant
savings in memory and disk space in particular for non-linear and dynamic response
analyses. It also allows for effective coupled analyses when results of one analysis
are directly used in analytical form in other
analyses.

Step 7. Re-analysis is fast. SimSolid remembers

the output response mesh. Additional load analysis

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types or load cases can be done quickly. Unique to SimSolid is the ability to
incrementally increase the solution detail on a part or region basis. Simply select the
part, right click and select part solution settings, then click the "Regenerate Project"
button.

References
[1] Ce’a Approximation Variationelle des problems aux limites. Ann. Inst. Fourier,
1964, Vol. 14, pp. 345-444

[2] Aubin, Jean-Pierre. Approximation of elliptic boundary value problems. Wiley-

Interscience, 1972

[3] Apanovitch, V. The method of external finite element approximations. Minsk,

1991, ISBN 5-339-00597-6

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