Tips from FEMAP online help

Tip: You can use the difference in the maximum and average results to make a quick estimate of the
fidelity of the model. If there is a large difference between these two contours, especially at
locations that don't have sharp corners or breaks in the model, then your model may require a finer
mesh

Notice: The key item in the diagnostics is the quality of surface triangles going into the tetrahedral
mesher. Most of the triangles (~ 98%) have minimum angles between 60 and 25 degrees. The high
quality surface mesh leads to high quality tetrahedral elements in the solid mesh.

Tip: Although the geometry passed the checker, you still may not be able to mesh it. Often, you will
not be able to tell if a piece of geometry can be meshed without first trying to mesh it. With
experience, you will learn what can be meshed and what needs to be modified.
Before you mesh, try to visualize the size of the element and how the geometry could be
constructed with it. If you can't see how your geometry could be made from the elements, chances
are the mesher won't be able to, either.

Geometry, Midsurface, Automatic

Select All
OK
Click the Measure Distance icon button or press Ctrl-D on the keyboard. Doing either will open
FEMAP's distance measuring tool.
Notice: The Measure Distance icon button or Ctrl-D command lets you determine distance for the
target thickness.
The software uses this value to determine which surfaces to place a midsurface between. The target
thickness should be slightly larger than the largest distance between the planes on the solids that
you want midsurfaced. If the target thickness is too low, the midsurfaces will not be created. If the
target thickness is too high, some midsurfaces will be created between the wrong surfaces.

"OK to Consolidate Properties by Thickness?" question box:

No
Notice: Each surface now has a Plate property and a material assigned to it. Clicking Yes would
have minimized the number of new properties created based on similar thickness
Tip: If midsurfaces are created manually using commands such as Geometry, Surface, Offset or
Geometry, Surface, Extrude, the surfaces do not have mesh attributes. You must manually assign
mesh attributes by creating or assigning existing properties using the correct thickness.

Notice: A great way to determine the Initial Gap value for a gap of undetermined distance is to use
the "Distance Measurement Tool" in FEMAP. This can be accessed by highlighting the Initial Gap
field (or any other dialog box field which requires a distance) and pressing Ctrl-D on the keyboard.
This will bring up a "point-to-point" measuring tool prompting the user to choose a start point,
clicking OK, then prompting for an end point and clicking OK. This is a very helpful FEMAP tool.

In NX Nastran, the degree of freedom in the direction of an Enforced Displacement must be

constrained.

Understanding the Isotropic Material Constants

An isotropic material is fully described by only two material constants. These two constants may
be any combination of E, G, and n. When you enter only two constants, the software computes
the third constant using the following equation:
E Youngs modulus
7-4 Users Guide
Material Properties
n Poissons ratio
G shear modulus
Note:
For line elements, E is the modulus of elasticity, and G is the shear modulus for torsion and
transverse shear if it is present in the element.
For plate and solid elements, E, G, and n are used to develop a material matrix for the
element.
If you enter all three constants and they dont satisfy this relationship, the software prints a
warning message indicating that the isotropic relationship has been violated. Because of this, we
recommend that you input only two of the three constants on the MAT1 bulk data entry.

Basic nonlinear analysis

NX Nastran Basic enables you to analyze models with geometric nonlinearities; that is, large
deformations or with material nonlinearities. Point-to-point contact nonlinearity can also be
simulated.
This basic nonlinear capability allows users to evaluate whether the small displacement and linear
material assumptions used in linear analysis are accurate.
Geometric nonlinear behavior:
Large deformations
Large strain for hyperelastic material
Snap-through analysis (post-buckling)
Material nonlinear behavior
Plasticity
Hyperelasticity
Thermoelasticity
Viscoelasticity (creep)
Automated solution methods statics:
Load control method
Displacement control method
Adaptive load increment
Other features
Static and transient solutions
Restart analysis
Identical element types in linear and nonlinear analysis
Point-to-point contact with gap elements

Laminate Element Properties

Properties of this type are different than those for any other type of element. In this case, the normal
material reference (at the top of the dialog box), is not used. It is unavailable in this dialog box.
Rather, you must choose a pre-described Layup for your laminate property.
Laminate Definition
Layup
A Layup has information containing the material, physical thickness, and orientation angle for each
"ply" in the laminate, as well as any "Global Ply" information. If a Layup does not exist in your
model, you can create a new Layup by clicking the "Layup" icon button next to the Layup drop
down menu.

Offset Bottom Surface

Specifies a distance from the reference plane to the "bottom" surface of the
laminate. If the check box for this option is NOT checked, the default value will
be -0.5 * the overall thickness of the specified Layup. If the check box is
checked and the value is 0, FEMAP will align the bottom surface of the laminate
with the reference plane.

Introduction to Modeling Guidelines

the quality of your results depends directly upon the quality of your model
the more common errors that a beginning analyst makes is to simply simulate the geometry rather
than to simulate both the geometry and the physical behavior of the real structure
It is good practice to simulate and validate a new capability or a feature that you havent used
before with a small prototype model before applying this feature to your production model
Choosing the Right Element
The criteria for the selecting an element may include
its capabilities (for example, whether it supports anisotropic material
properties),
its cost (in general, the more DOF an element has, the more expensive it is),
and/or its accuracy.
For example,
in the model of a space frame, you may choose to use
CROD elements if end moments are unimportant
or to use CBAR elements if end moments are important.

You may choose to use CBEAM elements with warping if the members have open cross
sections and torsional stresses are estimated to be significant
You may even choose to represent the members with assemblies of plate or solid
elements
The choice of which type and number of elements to use depends primarily on your
assessment of the effects that are important to represent in your model and on the
cost and accuracy you are willing to accept
understanding the load path is crucial in the selection of the appropriate element

Zero-dimensional Elements
When you use CELASi elements to represent concentrated springs between two
components of translation:
the directions of the two components must be coaxial.
Even small deviations in direction can induce a significant moment to your model
that does not exist in your physical structure.
the locations of the two end points should be coincident to avoid this type of
problem.
If the two end points arent coincident, consider using a CROD or CBUSH element instead.

One-dimensional Elements
If only an axial and/or torsion load is to be transmitted in an element, then the CROD is the
easiest element to use.
A CBAR is easier to use than a CBEAM element. The I1 and/or I2 values can be set to
zero.
Use the CBEAM element instead of the CBAR element if any of the following features is
important:
The cross-sectional properties are tapered.
The neutral axis and shear center do not coincide.
The effect of cross-sectional warping on torsional stiffness is critical.
The difference in the mass center of gravity and the shear center is significant.
The formulation for the CBEAM element is based on a flexibility approach; the element stiffness
matrix is generated by inverting the flexibility matrix. For this reason, I1 and I2 must not be zero for
the CBEAM element

Two-dimensional Elements
In general, quadrilateral elements (CQUAD4 and CQUAD8) are preferred over the
triangular elements (CTRIA3 and CTRIA6).
The CTRIA3 element is a constant strain element. It is excessively stiff, and when used
alone, it is generally less accurate than the CQUAD4 element, particularly for membrane
strain.
Whenever feasible, you should use the CQUAD4 element instead of the CTRIA3 element.
CTRIA3 should only be used when necessary for geometric or topological reasons, for
example, mesh transition between regions of quadrilateral elements with different meshes
or near the polar axis of a spherical shell.

Additionally, you should avoid using CTRIA3s in locations where the membrane stresses
are changing rapidly, for example, in the web of an I-beam. Since CTRIA3 has constant
membrane stresses, a large number of them may be needed to obtain acceptable accuracy.
It is better to use quadrilateral elements or CTRIA6 elements, if possible.

Dont use plate or shell elements (CQUADi, CTRIAi) in stiffened shell structures with very
thin panels that can buckle. You should use shear panels (CSHEAR) in this case or in any
situation where direct stresses cannot be supported, such as in a very thin curved panel.

Avoid highly skewed elements (see Figure 14-1). The angle a should be as close to 90
degrees as possible.

Figure 14-1. Highly Skewed Element

For the CTRIA3 element, the skew test is based upon the three vertex angles.
 Aspect ratio is defined as l/ w (length/width). Very high aspect ratio (see Figure 14-2) should
also be avoided, although it is no longer true that accuracy degrades rapidly with aspect
ratios as it once did with some of the obsolete elements.

Figure 14-2. Element with High Aspect Ratio

Warping is a measure of the amount the element deviates from being planar (see Figure
14-3).
Element warping should be minimized.
Figure 14-3. Highly Warped Element
For the CQUAD8 elements, if midside nodes are present, they should be located within the
middle
third of the edge. If a midside node is located at one-fourth the distance of the edge as
measured
from either corner node on the edge, the internal strain field becomes singular at the
corners of
the element. For best results, the midside node should be located as close to the center of
the
edge as possible. If you want to use midside nodes, you should include all of them. A
CQUAD8
element with midside nodes deleted is excessively stiff and inferior to a CQUAD4 element.