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If there is no gap between the bearings and the contact surface, a nonlinear static analysis may be used to generate results. However, if a gap is present, the model will be initially unstable, and a nonlinear static solution will not work. As an alternative, load may be applied using a direct-integration time-history analysis. Here, a nonlinear load case may be defined for application of the assembly self-weight, then any additional combination of loads may be set to continue from the end of this nonlinear analysis.

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