...
| Info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NOTE: Slight displacement discontinuity should be expected along any edge constraint. This discontinuity is sufficiently small relative to other deformations.
|
| Info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NOTE: When an edge constraint is assigned to a series of joints, and some of those joints fall within the auto-merge tolerance of the end nodes, a rigid-body constraint is applied to avoid ill-conditioning within the stiffness matrix. This may cause coupling within the constraint, leading to unintended behavior.
|
Example
An example edge constraint is shown in Figure 1:
Figure 1 - Edge constraint along shell element
Here, two edge constraints are applied at each end of a shell object which simulates the span of a bridge deck. Each of the four edge constraints has a master joint at either end, and a dependent joint at the intermediate-column intersection. If the joints circled in Figure 1 are numbered, from left to right, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, then joint 2 is governed by masters 1 and 3, and joint 4 is governed by masters 3 and 5. Given this edge-constraint condition, each dependent-joint displacement is then interpolated from the displacement of the two master joints.
...
- Divide the two shells along the intermediate columns to create four shell objects.
- Use edge constraints to transition the mesh further inside the domain.
- Disconnect the top of each column from the shells, producing eight joints.
- Select these eight joints and assign them to a single weld constraint.