User

NX Nastran User’s Guide
Proprietary & Restricted Rights Notice
© 2007 UGS Corp. All Rights Reserved. This software and related documentation are proprietary
to UGS Corp.
NASTRAN is a registered trademark of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NX
Nastran is an enhanced proprietary version developed and maintained by UGS Corp.
MSC is a registered trademark of MSC.Software Corporation. MSC.Nastran and MSC.Patran
are trademarks of MSC.Software Corporation.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
2 NX Nastran User’s Guide

Contents
Overview of NX Nastran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

General Overview of NX Nastran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1- 2
Overview of the NX Nastran Analysis Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1- 3
Structure and Syntax for Input Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

Overview of Specifying Input Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2- 2
General Input File Syntax Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2- 2
Understanding NX Nastran Input Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2- 5
Specifying Continuations for Bulk Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2- 7
Replicating Bulk Data Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
Inserting External Files with INCLUDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Including Comments in the Input File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Understanding the Input Data File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1

Overview of the NX Nastran Input File Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3- 2
The NASTRAN Statement (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3- 4
File Management Section (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3- 5
Executive Control Section (Required) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3- 5
Case Control Section (Required) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3- 9
Bulk Data Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-16
Using Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-18
NX Nastran Output Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1

Overview of the NX Nastran Output Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4- 2
Understanding the .f06 File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4- 3
Understanding the .f04 File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Understanding the .log File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-20
Understanding the .plt and .pch Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-20
Understanding the .DBALL and .MASTER Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-20
Understanding the .xdb and .op2 Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-21
Defining Grid Points and Scalar Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1

Overview of Grid Points and Scalar Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5- 2
Defining Grid Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5- 2
Specifying Grid Point Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5- 8
Understanding Scalar Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5- 9
Understanding Coordinate Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1

Overview of Coordinate Systems in NX Nastran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6- 2
Understanding the Basic Coordinate System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6- 2
Defining a Local Coordinate System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6- 4
Understanding the Element and Material Coordinate System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-17
Other Special Coordinate System Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-18
NX Nastran User’s Guide 3

Contents
Material Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7- 2
Isotropic Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7- 2
Orthotropic Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7- 7
Anisotropic Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-14
Material Properties for Heat Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-26
Material Properties for Fluid Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-28
Material Properties for Nonlinear Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-29
Applied Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1

Overview of Load Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8- 2
Defining and Combining Subcases for Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8- 2
Defining Static Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8- 7
Point Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8- 8
Distributed Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-14
Inertia Loads (Acceleration Loads) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-28
Thermal Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-37
Enforced Element Deformation Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-44
Loads Due to Enforced Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-49
Frequency-dependent Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-52
Time-dependent Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-53
Using Static Loading Data in Dynamic Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-55
Defining Loads for Cyclic Symmetry Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-55
Combining Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-56
Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1
Introduction to Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9- 2
Single-point Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9- 2
Automatically Applying Single-point Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9- 7
Enforced Displacements at Grid Points (SPCD, SPC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-11
Multipoint Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-14
Rigid Body Supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-19
Surface-to-Surface Gluing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-20
Linear Contact Using Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Understanding Sets and Matrix Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1

Overview of Sets and Matrix Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10- 2
Understanding the Global Displacement Set and General Solution Process . . . . . . . . . . 10- 2
Static Condensation (Guyan Reduction) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10- 5
Sets for Dynamic Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-13
Sets for Aerodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-14
Output Selection Via Set Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-14
Direct Matrix Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1

Overview of Direct Matrix Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11- 2
Using DMIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11- 3
DMIG Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11- 6
Element Data Recovery Resolved at Grid Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1

Introduction to Element Data Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12- 2
Stress Recovery at Grid Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12- 3

Contents
Mesh Stress Discontinuities at Grid Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13
Solution Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1
Understanding Solution Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13- 2

Data Processing and Matrix Operations by Functional Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13- 6
Summary of Solution Sequence Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-46
Modeling Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1

Introduction to Modeling Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14- 2
Choosing the Right Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14- 2
Determining Mesh Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14- 7
Creating Mesh Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15
Reviewing Grid Point Stresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-40
Defining Consistent Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-42
Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-45
Model Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-1
Introduction to Model Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15- 2

Preprocessor Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15- 2
Strain Energy Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-10
Diagnostic Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-15
Stress Error Estimators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-44
Postprocessor Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-54
Restarts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-1
Introduction to Restarts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16- 2

Types of Restarts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16- 3
Read-write Restarts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16- 4
Read-only Restarts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-11
Mini-database Restarts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-11
Determining the Version for a Restart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-12
Database Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-1
Introduction to Database Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17- 2

Understanding DBsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17- 3
Delivery Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17- 5
Deleting DBsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17- 5
Database Autoassignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17- 6
Database Project and Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17- 6
Migrating Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17- 7
Database Archival, Compression, and Transfer . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17- 7
Using the File Management Section with Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-10
Guidelines for Large Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-17
Inertia Relief in Linear Static Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-1
Introduction to Inertia Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18- 2

Description of Inertia Relief Using PARAM,INREL,-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18- 2
Implementation of Inertia Relief Using PARAM,INREL,-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18- 3
Automatic Inertia Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-15

Contents
Surface Contact for SOL 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 19- 2
Understanding Contact Regions - BSURF, BCPROP, BSURFS . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 19- 3
Understanding Contact Region Parameters - BCRPARA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 19- 4
Understanding Contact Pairs - BCTSET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 19- 5
Understanding Source Regions and Target Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 19- 5
Understanding the Contact Control Parameters Used in SOL 101 - BCTPARM . . . . . . . 19- 6
Tips for Setting PENN and PENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 19- 8
Including CGAP Elements in a Contact Solution - System Cell OLDGAPS . . . .. . . . . . . 19- 8
The Algorithm Used in SOL 101 Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 19- 9
Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-1
Overview of Plotting in NX Nastran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20- 2
Superelement Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20- 3
Post Processors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20- 7
Linear Buckling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-1

Introduction to Linear Buckling . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21- 2
Finite Element Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21- 2
Eigenvalue Extraction Methods . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21- 8
Linear Buckling Assumptions and Limitations ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-11
Buckling Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-12
Laminates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-1
Overview of Laminated Composite Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22- 2
Understanding Classical Lamination Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22- 7
Understanding Laminate Failure Indices and Strength Ratios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-22
Calculating Interlaminar Shear Stress and Strains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-29
Examples: Defining Laminate Material Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-29
Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-1

Overview of Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23- 2
Performing a Coupled Fluid-Structural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23- 2
Acoustic Cavity Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-16
Cyclic Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-1

Understanding Cyclic Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24- 2
Understanding Types of Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24- 4
Cyclic Symmetry Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24- 7
Using Cyclic Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-40
Performing Axisymmetric Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-54
p-Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-1
Introduction to p-Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25- 2
p-Version Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25- 3
p-Element Loads and Constraints . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25- 5
Line and Pressure Loads in p-Element Analysis ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25- 5
Defining p-Element Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25- 5
p-Version Adaptivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25- 7
Data Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25- 8

Contents
p-Element Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-10

Square Plate with a Circular Hole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-10
Spherical Structure Under Internal Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-15
Motor Blade – Normal Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-20
Torsion of Elliptical Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-22
Circular Solid Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-34
Clamped Rhombic Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-46
Helix Modeled with CBEAM p-Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-48
Plate with Stiffener . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-50
Solid p-Elements in Linear Dynamic Solution Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-53
p-Element Thermal Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-55

Chapter
1 Overview of NX Nastran
• General Overview of NX Nastran
• Overview of the NX Nastran Analysis Process
NX Nastran User’s Guide 1-1

Chapter 1 Overview of NX Nastran
1.1 General Overview of NX Nastran

NX Nastran is a general purpose finite element analysis computer program that lets you solve
a wide range of engineering problems. NX Nastran is written primarily in FORTRAN and
is optimized to run efficiently and provide identical results on a wide variety of computers
and operating systems.
General Capabilities
NX Nastran contains the following analysis capabilities:
• Linear statics (including inertia relief)
• Normal modes and buckling
• Heat transfer (steady-state and transient)
• Transient response
• Frequency response
• Response spectrum and random response
• Geometric and material nonlinear static and transient response
• Design optimization and sensitivity (including dynamic and shape optimization)
• Composite materials
• Acoustic response
• Aeroelasticity
• Superelements
• Complex eigenanalysis
• Axisymmetric analysis
• Cyclic symmetry
• p-elements
Modular Structure and DMAP

The NX Nastran software is composed of a large number of building blocks called modules. Each
module is a collection of FORTRAN subroutines which is designed to perform a specific task,
such as processing model geometry, assembling matrices, applying constraints, solving matrix
problems, and calculating output quantities.
Within NX Nastran, the modules are controlled by an internal language called the Direct
Matrix Abstraction Program (DMAP), which is a high-level programming language with its own
compiler and grammatical rules. A DMAP statement is like a subroutine call statement within
FORTRAN, with both input and output information.
1-2 NX Nastran User’s Guide

Overview of NX Nastran
Pre-defined Solution Sequences

Each type of analysis available in NX Nastran is called a “solution sequence.” Each solution
sequence is a pre-defined collection of hundreds or thousands of DMAP commands. Once you
select a solution sequence, its particular set of DMAP commands sends instructions to the
modules that are needed to perform the requested solution.
NX Nastran also includes DMAP (Direct Matrix Abstraction Programming), a high-level
programming language that allows you to build custom solution sequences or modify existing
ones.
Using DMAP for Programmability

Although NX Nastran contains a number of pre-defined solutions, you can use special DMAP
“alters” to either modify existing solution sequences or create new ones.
See also
• NX Nastran DMAP Programmer’s Guide
1.2 Overview of the NX Nastran Analysis Process

To solve a finite element model in NX Nastran, you must:
• Create the input file
• Use the nastran command to submit the input file for batch processing
• Examine your results
Creating the Input File

To perform an analysis with NX Nastran, you must generate an input file that contains model
data (information about the finite element model, including geometry, elements, materials, and
loads) as well as analysis data (information about the type of analysis you want to perform, such
as the analysis type and the type of data you want output).
In NX Nastran, the input file is an ASCII text file that you can create:
• Automatically using a preprocessor, such as I-DEAS MasterFEM
• Manually using a text editor
Input File Sections

An NX Nastran input file contains the following five separate sections:
• NASTRAN statement
• File Management statement (FMS)
• Executive Control statement
• Case Control command

Chapter 1 Overview of NX Nastran
• Bulk Data entry
Documentation for NX Nastran Input Options

Each section in the NX Nastran input file is described in more detail later in this guide.
Comprehensive documentation for each File Management and Executive Control statement, Case
Control command, and Bulk Data entry is located in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide.
Input File Naming

In general, Nastran input files are given a .dat extension. However, NX Nastran tries to process
any file you submit, regardless of its file extensions. Other common NX Nastran input file
extensions include .bdf or .blk.
Submitting the Input File for Analysis

Once you’ve created the input file, you submit the file for execution as a batch process in NX
Nastran. Because NX Nastran is not an interactive program, once you submit the input file, you
will not have any additional interaction with the software until the job completes, unless you
need to terminate the job.
To execute NX Nastran, you typically use the nastran system command (in some cases, your
system administrator may assign a different name to the command) followed by the name of
the input file. For example:
NASTRAN MODEL1A
The nastran command also allows you to specify certain keywords for controlling the job
execution. The format of the nastran command is:
nastran keyword1 = value1 keyword2 = value2 ...
See also
• “Using the nastran Command,” in the NX Nastran Installation and Operations Guide
• “nastran Command and NASTRAN Statement,” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Reviewing the Results

When NX Nastran completes the analysis, you can review your results. NX Nastran
automatically creates a number of different types of files, which are summarized in the following
table:
File type Description

.DBALL Contains permanent data for database runs for restart analyses
Contains database file information and a module execution summary,
.f04 such as the start and stop time for each module as well as the size of the
database file (if any)
Contains the results of your analysis, such as displacements and stresses,
.f06
as well as any diagnostic messages
.LOG Contains system information and any system level error messages
.MASTER Contains permanent data for database runs for restart analyses

Overview of NX Nastran
In addition to these automatically generated files, you can manually request that NX Nastran
create the following files:
File type Description

.pch Punch file
.plt Plot file
.op2 Output2 file
.xdb XDB file
NX Nastran provides for direct support of interfaces to other products, such as NX Nastran
Access and I-DEAS Master FEM.
For MSC.Patran, the support is provided through the DBC module, which creates a “graphics”
database. The interface to the DBC module is described in “POST,” in the NX Nastran Quick
Reference Guide.
The graphics database created by the DBC module can also be read by the NX Nastran Access
library of object routines. This object library can be linked with a user-created program that
extracts data from the database. This is an indirect method for outside vendors to obtain NX
Nastran model and results information. See the NX Nastran Access Reference Manual for more
information.
Communication with other software packages, such as I-DEAS Master FEM, is through the NX
Nastran OUTPUT2 module, which creates a FORTRAN readable file that is converted by these
outside programs to their own particular data formats. The user interface and the supported
data for these outside programs are described in “POST,” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference
Guide (-1, -2, -4, and -5).

Chapter
2 Structure and Syntax for

Input Data
• Overview of Specifying Input Data
• General Input File Syntax Rules
• Understanding NX Nastran Input Records
• Specifying Continuations for Bulk Data
• Replicating Bulk Data Entries
• Inserting External Files with INCLUDE
• Including Comments in the Input File

Chapter 2 Structure and Syntax for Input Data
2.1 Overview of Specifying Input Data

In NX Nastran, you submit all your data to the solver through the input file, which is sometimes
referred to an input “deck.” In most cases, you will automatically generate your NX Nastran
input file by exporting an existing finite element model from a graphical pre-processing program.
However, because you may need to manually edit the contents of that input file, it is important
that you understand the rules and conventions of entering data into an NX Nastran input file.
This chapter describes:
• The general syntax rules for input data in NX Nastran
• NX Nastran input records, including the different input data formats (free field, small field,
and large field)
• How to use the INCLUDE option to include external files in your NX Nastran input file
• How to add comments to your NX Nastran input file
The NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide describes the input requirements and default values
for all NX Nastran data file input.
2.2 General Input File Syntax Rules

The following sections provide the general rules and conventions for inputting data in NX
Nastran.
Understanding Types of Input Data

In Nastran, you can input integer or real numbers, as well as character data.
• Integer numbers cannot contain a decimal point.
• Real numbers, including zero, must contain a decimal point.

You can enter real numbers in a variety of formats. For example, the following are all
acceptable versions of the real number, seven:
7.0 .7E1 0.7+1

.70+1 7.E+0 70.-1
• Character data (sometimes called literal, or BCD—binary coded decimal data) can be
alphanumeric, but it must always begin with an alpha character and contain eight or fewer
total characters.
Importantly, the different types of data are not interchangeable. If a particular field requires an
integer and you enter a real number instead, NX Nastran issues an error message.
Using Consistent Unit Systems

In NX Nastran, you must always use a consistent set of units when you develop your finite
element model in the input file. The actual unit system you use doesn’t matter. However, the
unit system must agree with itself. Table 2-1 shows examples of consistent unit systems:

Structure and Syntax for Input Data
Table 2-1. Consistent Systems of Units

Quantity input English SI
Input
Grid point geometry inch meter
Elastic modulus lbf/inch2 Newton/meter2
Applied moment inch-lbf Newton-meter
Applied force lbf Newton
Mass lbf-sec2/inch Kilogram
Time second second
Output
Displacements inch meter
Stresses lbf/inch2 Newton/meter2
NX Nastran cannot detect inconsistent units within your input file. Consequently, if your model
contains inconsistent units, the software will not generate any user warning messages. It simply
produces incorrect answers.

Specifying Valid Input File Characters

Table 2-2 lists the valid characters for NX Nastran.
Table 2-2. ASCII Subset for NX Nastran

Character ASCII (HEX) Character ASCII (HEX)
HT (Horizontal @ 40
09
Tabulation) A 41
B 42
SP (Space “blank”) 20
C 43
! 21 D 44
" 22 E 45
# 23 F 46
$ 24 G 47
% 25 H 48
& 26 I 49
‘ 27 J 4A
( 28 K 4B
) 29 L 4C
* 2A M 4D
+ 2B N 4E
’ 2C O 4F
- 2D P 50
. 2E Q 51
/ 2F R 52
0 30 S 53
1 31 T 54
2 32 U 55
3 33 V 56
4 34 W 57
5 35 X 58
6 36 Y 59
7 37 Z 5A
8 38 [ 5B
9 39 \ 5C
: 3A ] 5D
; 3B ^ 5E
< 3C - 5F
= 3D
> 3E
? 3F

2.3 Understanding NX Nastran Input Records

In NX Nastran, you input data records which are 80 characters (or columns) in length on each
line. Those records are then divided into fields. How those records are divided into fields depends
upon depending upon the data format type.
There are two basic categories of input data formats in NX Nastran:
• “Free” format data, in which the data fields are simply separated by commas. This type of
data is known as free field data.
• “Fixed” format data, in which your data must be aligned in columns of specific width.
There are two subcategories of fixed format data that differ based on the size of the fixed
column width:
– Small field format, in which a single line of data is divided into 10 fields that can contain
eight characters each.
– Large field format, in which a single line of input is expanded into two lines The first and
last fields on each line are eight columns wide, while the intermediate fields are sixteen
columns wide. The large field format is useful when you need greater numerical accuracy.
Which type of format data you use depends upon the section of the input file that you are
working with.
• You must use the free field format for the NASTRAN statement and the File Management,
Executive Control, and Case Control sections.
• You can use the free field, small field, or large field formats with the Bulk Data section.
The rules for entering free field, small field, and large field format data are described in more
detail below.
Understanding Free Field Format

In free field format, you separate data fields by commas.
Free Field Format Rules

• You must begin free field data entries in column 1.
• You can use commas to skip fields.

– To skip one field, use two commas in succession.
– To skip two fields, use three commas in succession (and so on).
• Integer or character data is limited to eight characters. If you include an integer or character
longer than eight characters, NX Nastran issues a fatal error.
• With free field format data, NX Nastran rounds real numbers with more than eight
characters. Therefore, you may lose some precision. For example, an entry of 1.2345678+2
becomes 123.4568. If you need more significant digits, use the large field format.
• Free field data cannot contain embedded blanks. An example of a free field embedded blank
is shown below:

• You use a dollar sign ($) to terminate the free field entry. You can follow the dollar sign
with comments.
Free Field Format Example

The following example shows the GRID Bulk Data entry in free field format:
Understanding Small Field Format

With the small field format, the software separates an 80–column line of Bulk Data entry into 10
equal fields of eight characters each:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
<-8 Char-> <-8 Char-> <-8 Char-> <-8 Char-> <-8 Char-> <-8 Char-> <-8 Char-> <-8 Char-> <-8 Char-> <-8 Char->
Small Field Format Rules

• Fields 1 and 10 must be left justified.
• Fields 2 through 9 do not need to be either right- or left-justified. However, aligning the data
fields is a good practice.
• You can’t include any embedded blanks in small field format input data. An example of a
small field embedded blank is shown below:
Small Field Format Example

The following example shows the GRID entry in small field format:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
GRID 2 1.0 -2.0 3.0 136

Understanding Large Field Format

A high degree of numerical accuracy is required in some NX Nastran applications. You can use
large field format when small field format doesn’t provide enough significant digits. For example,
you can use large field format when you need to input integers larger than eight characters, or
you need to enter real numbers with more significant digits than you can fit in an eight-character
field.
Note: A minus sign, decimal point, and the “E” in scientific notation count as characters.
Large Field Format Rules

Large field format requires (at least) two lines for each entry:
• The first and last field of each line contains eight columns.
• The fields in between contain 16 columns.
Large field entries are denoted by an asterisk (*). The asterisk must:
• Immediately follow the character string in field 1A of the first line of the entry
• Immediately precede the character string in field 1B of the second line of the entry
Large Field Format Example

The following is an example of the GRID Bulk Data entry in large field format:
First Line: (Left half of single field)
Second Line: (Right half of single field)
2.4 Specifying Continuations for Bulk Data

Some Bulk Data entries require more than eight fields (72 columns) of data. In those cases, you
need to specify a continuation to continue the remainder of the data on one or more subsequent
lines. To do this, you follow the parent entry (the first line) with one or more continuation entries
on subsequent lines.
There are two ways to specify a continuation:

• Manually
• Automatically
Note: If you’re using the large field format, you must manually specify a continuation. Automatic
continuation generation is not available for large field format data.
Manually Specifying a Continuation with Identifiers

You can manually specify a continuation by using a continuation identifier. A continuation
identifier is a special character (+ or *) that indicates that the data continues on another line.
Once you’ve specified the continuation identifier, you then follow the parent entry (the first line)
with one or more continuation entries on subsequent lines.
Rules for Manually Specifying a Continuation

• You must use a + or * in column 1, field 1 of a continuation entry (small field only?).
• The alphanumeric character strings you use as the continuation identifiers cannot contain
the symbols *, =, or $.
Note: The + symbol used in column 1 of field 10 is for clarity.
• Field 10 contains the continuation identifier that must be unique with respect to all other
continuation identifiers.
• NX Nastran always ignores column 1 of field 10. It is not considered to be part of the
identifier.
• The remaining contents in columns 2-8, field 1 of a continuation entry must be identical to the
entry in field 10 (columns 2-8) of either the parent entry or the preceding continuation entry.
• You can use small and large field continuation entries together to define a single data item
entry.
Manual Continuation Example

For example, consider the following PBAR simple beam property entry:
Standard PBAR Entry

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PBAR PID MID A I1 I2 J NSM
C1 C2 D1 D2 El E2 F1 F2
K1 K2 I12
Continuation Example
PBAR 39 6 2.9 1.86 2.92 .48 +PB1
+PB1 0. 0. 0. 1. 1. 1. 1. 0. +PB2
+PB2 .86 .86
In this example:

• +PB1 in field 10 of the parent entry is an arbitrary (and unique) user-defined pointer to field
1 of the second line of the entry.
• +PB2 in field 10 of the second line points to the third line.
Automatically Specifying a Continuation

You can also have NX Nastran automatically generate continuation fields if:
• Your bulk data is in sorted order (the continuation lines must follow the parent line)
• You are using the small field format; automatic continuation is not available with large
field format data.
In general, you should use the automatic continuation method when possible as it allows you to
avoid the inconvenience of using the continuation identifiers.
To have NX Nastran automatically generate continuations:
• Leave both field 10 of the parent entry and field 1 of the continuation line blank.
• Place the continuation line directly following the parent entry.

The blank field indicates that it is a small-field continuation of the previous line.
You can mix small-field and large-field format continuations. However, it is generally not
recommended because it becomes difficult to discern the locations of the fields.
Rules for Automatically Generating Continuations

To have NX Nastran automatically generate a continuation:
• The continuation line(s) must immediately follow the parent Bulk Data entry.
• You must leave fields 1 and 10 of the continuation line (or lines) blank.
• Your bulk data must be in sorted order.
Note: Setting SYSTEM CELL 357 to 1 tells NX Nastran to ignore the continuation field. This
eliminates the concern of duplicate continuation identifiers.
Automatic Continuation Example

This process is illustrated in the following example:
CHEXA, 1, 10, 3, 5, 7, 1, 15, 17,

, 19, 13, 4, 6, 8, 2, 10, 11,
, 12, 9, 16, 18, 20, 14
Input (.DAT) file
GEAR TOOTH EXAMPLE JULY 10, 2003 NX NASTRAN 07/10/2003 PAGE 3

S O R T E D B U L K D A T A E C H O
ENTRY
COUNT . 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. 4 .. 5 .. 6 .. 7 .. 8 .. 9 .. 10 .
1- CHEXA 1 10 3 5 7 1 15 17 +000001
2- ++00000119 13 4 6 8 2 10 11 +000002
3- ++00000212 9 16 18 20 14 +000003
Output (.f06) file

Note that column 1 of field 10 contains a + symbol. Since NX Nastran ignores this column, the
choice of the + is arbitrary. However, using the + symbol improves readability and serves as a
reminder for the format of the continuation line.
2.5 Replicating Bulk Data Entries

To avoid having to input each bulk data entry individually, you can replicate the repetitive fields
from a single entry definition. You can use replication with bulk data that is in small field, large
field, and free field format.
• To replicate selected fields from the preceding entry, use the symbol =.
• To replicate all the remaining entries from the preceding entry, use the symbol ==.
• To generate an incremented value from the previous entry, use *x or *(x), where x is the value
of the increment. “x” should be a real number for real fields or an integer for integer fields.
• To repeatedly replicate a field, use =n or =(n), where n is the number of images to be

generated using the values of the increments on the preceding entry.
Replicating Continuation Entries

If you are manually creating continuation entries, you can replicate the continuation fields (fields
one and ten) using the following conventions:
• You can use only letters of the alphabet and integers. They are coded into a base 36 number.
That is, the sequence of numbers is 0,1, 2, ..., 8, 9, A, B, ...
• The software increments the continuation field by +1 regardless of the value you specify.
• The software does not increment the first character in fields 1 or 10.
• The software will not ever increase the number of characters in an incremented field. For
example, if the first field is “0", the thirty-seventh field will also be “0", resulting in an illegal
entry. A method to solve this problem is to start with a first field of “00". This provides
thirty-six squared unique fields.
• At least one field in fields 2 through 8 of continuation entries must contain data.
Replication with MSGMESH

Replication is a limited data generation capability. You can use replication with bulk data that is
either fixed (large or small field) or free field format.
• The MSGMESH capability includes the capabilities described here, plus the following
capabilities as long as NASTRAN MESH is specified in the File Management Section.
– Continuation entry fields may be incremented or decremented.
– Repeated replication is indicated by coding =(n) in field 1, where n is number of entry

images to be generated using the values of increments from the current or preceding
replication entry.
Entered entries:
GRID,101 ,17,1 .0,10.5,,17,3456

=(4), *(1),=,*(0.2),==$
Generated entries:
GRID 101 17 1.0 10.5 17 3456
GRID 102 17 1.2 10.5 17 3456
GRID 103 17 1.4 10.5 17 3456
GRID 104 17 1.6 10.5 17 3456
GRID 105 17 1.8 10.5 17 3456
– A blank in field 1 indicates immediate continuation entry replication. The default

continuation entry increment is 1. Example:
BSET1,123,1,2,3,4,5,6,7
,,*7,*7,*7,*7,*7,*7,*7
=(3)
Generated entries:
BSET1 123 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 +00001
++00001 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 +00002
++00002 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 +00003
++00003 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 +00004
++00004 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 +00005
– A “=(D)” in field 1 indicates delayed continuation entry replication. A maximum of nine

entries may be replicated as a group. The default continuation entry increment is 10.
Example:
Entered entries:
CTRIA3,10,1,1,10,11/+C1
=(D),*(1),=,=,*(1),*(1)/*(20)
+C1,,,2.0,1.0,1.0
=(2),==
Generated entries:
CTRIA3 10 1 1 10 11 +C1
+C1 2.0 1.0 1.0
CTRIA3 11 1 1 11 12 +C21
+C21 2.0 1.0 1.0
CTRIA3 12 1 1 12 13 +C41
+C41 2.0 1.0 1.0
– Parentheses are optional on replication entries and an equal sign may replace an asterisk.
The following is an example of the use of replication, automatic continuation field
generation, and the free field format:
GRID,101 ,17,1.0,10.5,,17,3456
=,*1,=,*0.2, *(0.1), == $ COMMENTS MAY APPEAR AFTER $
=3
EIGR,13,GIV,,30.
,MASS
CBAR,1 ,1 ,101 ,102,0.,0.,1.,,+0
=,*1,=,*1,*1====*1

+0,56
*1,=$
The above free-field entries generate the following Bulk Data in the 8-column format, as
seen in the SORTED BULK DATA ECHO:
Note: A “,” should always be used after the “*1” for the continuation increment even if
fixed field format is being used.
CBAR 1 1 101 102 0. 0. 1. +0

+0 56
CBAR 2 1 102 103 0. 0. 1. +1
+1 56
EIGR 13 GIV 30. +000001
++000001 MASS
GRID 101 17 1.0 10.5 17 3456
GRID 102 17 1.2 10.6 17 3456
GRID 103 17 1.4 10.7 17 3456
GRID 104 17 1.6 10.8 17 3456
GRID 105 17 1.8 10.9 17 3456
The automatically generated continuation entries start with the number 1, are incremented by
1, and are padded with zeros and plus signs as shown above. If this feature is used, it is the
user’s responsibility not to enter continuation entries that also use this convention. In particular,
data generated on another run and then written to the PUNCH file with the ECHO=PUNCH,
will cause problems when introduced into other data with blank continuation fields.
2.6 Inserting External Files with INCLUDE

You can use the INCLUDE statement to insert external files into your NX Nastran input file.
You can specify INCLUDE in any part of the input file as long as the data referenced by the
INCLUDE statement is appropriate for that section of the input file. This allows you to avoid
repetitious input in the different sections of the input file.
Using INCLUDE in Different Input File Sections

You can use INCLUDE in a variety of ways in the different sections of your input file.
• In the File Management section, you can use the INCLUDE statement to assign multiple
database files with one statement.
• In the Executive section, you can use the INCLUDE statement to include alters to a solution
sequence.
• In the Case Control section, the INCLUDE file can be useful if you want to use the same
subcase structure and/or the same output requests for different models.
• In the Bulk Data section, the INCLUDE statement is very useful for working with
superelement data. You can use it to place each superelement of a superelement model in
a different physical file. You can then share the files with other users and analyze them

separately. Since superelement models are usually very large and complex, using the
INCLUDE statement can greatly reduce the complexity of the input file.
INCLUDE Statement Limitations

• Although you can nest INCLUDE statements within the external file, the nested depth
level must not be greater than 10.
• The INCLUDE statement plus the filename must be less than 72 characters.
• You cannot use continuations with the INCLUDE statement.
Example: Using the INCLUDE Statement
Below is an example of the use of the INCLUDE statement. Note that the syntax for the
filenames is machine dependent. The format of lowercase filenames within single quotes works
on all computer operating systems that support NX Nastran.
INCLUDE ’nastran.dat’
INCLUDE ’database.dat’
SOL 101
INCLUDE ’sol101.alter’
CEND
TITLE = Complete Model
SUBTITLE = Three load cases
INCLUDE ’output.dat’
SUBCASE 1
LOAD = 10
BEGIN BULK
INCLUDE ’se0.dat’
ENDDATA
Each of the INCLUDE files in the example contains different information. For this example,
“nastran.dat” contains NASTRAN system cells, “database.dat” contains FMS statements,
“sol101.alter” contains a DMAP Alter for SOL 101, “output.dat” contains Case Control
commands, and “se*.dat” contains modeling information for superelements 0, 10, and 20.
See also
• “INCLUDE,” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
2.7 Including Comments in the Input File

You can insert comments in any part input file to help organize your input data. Comment
entries begin with a dollar ($) sign in column one followed by any characters out to column 80.
Comments appear only in the unsorted echo of the input file listing.

Chapter
3 Understanding the Input

Data File
• Overview of the NX Nastran Input File Sections
• The NASTRAN Statement (Optional)
• File Management Section (Optional)
• Executive Control Section (Required)
• Case Control Section (Required)
• Bulk Data Section
• Using Parameters

Chapter 3 Understanding the Input Data File
3.1 Overview of the NX Nastran Input File Sections

The input file is comprised of five distinct sections and three required one-line delimiter which
must follow the sequence shown in Figure 3-1. These delimiters and sections are described below.
Note: If any of the required delimiters are missing from your input file, NX Nastran issues a
fatal error message when you submit your job.
Figure 3-1. NX Nastran Input File Structure
Example: Using NX Nastran Input Files to Model a Truss

Throughout this chapter, a simple truss structure, shown in Figure 3-2, is used to illustrate
different aspects of input files.

Understanding the Input Data File
Figure 3-2. Truss Example

The truss model consists of four grid points that represent the joints of the structure. The
locations of these grid points are given in the default coordinate system for NX Nastran, which is
known as the “basic coordinate system.” In this example, the origin is located at grid point 1.
The truss structure consists of five members, each with a cross-sectional area (A) of 4 in2 and a
polar moment of inertia (J) of 1.27 in4. The material is steel with a Young’s modulus E of 30
× 106 psi and a Poisson’s ratio of 0.3. All the connections between the members are pin joints
(i.e., they can transmit forces but not moments). The goal of the analysis is to determine the
displacement of the grid points and the stresses and forces within the members.
Although the dimensions given in Figure 3-2 are in feet, the dimensions used for the grid
point locations in the input file (Listing 3-1) are in inches. For consistency, the units for the
cross-sectional area, torsional stiffness, and Young’s modulus in the input file are also provided
in inches.
Note: You must always ensure that you enter data in a consistent system of units.
Listing 3-1 shows the input file for the truss structure. Although this input file represents a
fairly simple structure, it is typical of all NX Nastran input files.
$ FILENAME - TRUSS1.DAT
$
ID LINEAR,TRUSS1 Executive Control
SOL 101 section
TIME 2
CEND
TITLE = LINEAR STATICS USER’S SAMPLE INPUT FILE
SUBTITLE = TRUSS STRUCTURE
LABEL = POINT LOAD AT GRID POINT 4
LOAD = 10
SPC = 11 Case Control section
DISPLACEMENT = ALL
ELFORCE = ALL
ELSTRESS = ALL

BEGIN BULK
$
$ THE GRID POINTS LOCATIONS
$ DESCRIBE THE GEOMETRY
$
GRID 1 0. 0. 0. 3456
GRID 2 0. 120. 0. 3456
GRID 3 600. 120. 0. 3456
GRID 4 600. 0. 0. 3456
$
$ MEMBERS ARE MODELED USING
$ ROD ELEMENTS
$
CROD 1 21 2 3
CROD 2 21 2 4
CROD 3 21 1 3
CROD 4 21 1 4
CROD 5 21 3 4 Bulk Data section
$
$ PROPERTIES OF ROD ELEMENTS
$
PROD 21 22 4. 1.27
$
$ MATERIAL PROPERTIES
$
MAT1 22 30.E6 .3
$
$ POINT LOAD
$
FORCE 10 4 1000. 0. -1. 0.
$
SPC1 11 123456 1 2
$
ENDDATA
Listing 3-1. Truss Example Input File
3.2 The NASTRAN Statement (Optional)

The NASTRAN statement lets you modify the default values for certain operational parameters
(also called system cells) at runtime to control internal solution processing or provide specific
diagnostics. For example, you can use the NASTRAN statement to control aspects of working
memory, datablock size, and datablock parameters.
• You can include more than one NASTRAN statement in a single input file.
• You can combine the NASTRAN statement with the File Management section.
• You can specify the NASTRAN statement in the Runtime Configuration (RC) files at the
system, user, and job level.
See also
• “Using the NASTRAN Statement” in the NX Nastran Installation and Operations Guide
• “nastran Command and NASTRAN Statement” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “BUFFSIZE” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide

3.3 File Management Section (Optional)

The File Management section (FMS) of the input file is optional and typically follows the
NASTRAN statement(s). It ends with the specification of an Executive Control statement. For
example, the File Management section lets you:
• Assign files
• Attach or initialize the NX Nastran database sets (DBsets) and FORTRAN files
• Perform restart analyses
The initialization of a database includes specification of its maximum size, member names,
and physical filenames. The initialization of a FORTRAN file includes the specification of its
filename, FORTRAN unit numbers, and FORTRAN attributes.
The File Management section is commonly used in input files for larger analysis problems. For
many NX Nastran problems, no File Management statements are required because a default File
Management section is executed by the software at the beginning of every run. For example,
since the truss model shown in Listing 3-1 is small and the desired analysis is not a restart, a
File Management section isn’t included in the input file.
See also
• “File Management Statements” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “Database Concepts” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
• “Restarts” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
3.4 Executive Control Section (Required)

The Executive Control section is the first required section in the NX Nastran input file and
provides the overall control for the solution. For example, statements in the Executive Control
section let you:
• Specify an optional ID statement to identify the job
• Select the type of analysis (solution sequence) you want to perform
• Specify an optional TIME statement to set limits on the maximum allowable CPU time
for the run
• Request various diagnostics
• Include complete DMAP sequences, if you want to use DMAP in the analysis
For example, the Executive Control section for the truss example (Listing 3-1) identifies the job,
requests the static Structured Solution Sequence 101, and sets the maximum time limit for the
job to two minutes.
For the truss example, the Executive Control section specifies static solution SOL 101 and a TIME
statement that specifies a maximum of 2 CPU minutes for the run. The end of the Executive
section is denoted by the CEND statement. The ID statement is an optional statement to help
document your input file. If used, it can be located anywhere in the Executive Control section.

See also
• “Executive Control Statements” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Executive Control Format

The format of the Executive Control statements is free-field format between columns 1 and 72.
The statements may begin in any column (except for comments). The operands—that is, the
input data following the name—are separated from the name using a comma and/or one or
more blanks. If more than one operand is needed, they are also separated by a comma and/or
one or more blanks.
You must use the CEND delimiter to mark the end of the Executive Control section.
Order Dependence for Certain DMAP-related Statements

Most statements within the Executive Control section are order independent. However, the
following statements, all related to the use of DMAP, are order dependent:
• COMPILE
• COMPILER
• ALTER
• ENDALTER
• LINK
Notably:
• The LINK statement must appear after all COMPILE statements.
• The COMPILER statement (or equivalent DIAGs) must appear before all COMPILE
statements. This statement sets the default print control for subsequent COMPILE
statements.
Commonly Used Executive Control Statements

Some commonly used Executive Control statements are:
• ID
• SOL
• ECHOON and ECHOOFF
• TIME
• DIAG
• CEND
The ID Statement (Optional)

You can use the ID statement to identify your job. Its format is:

ID i1, i2
where i1 and i2 are character strings. i1 may be one to eight characters in length. i2 may be of
any length. The first character of each string must be alphabetic.
You can use only one ID statement, although you can specify it anywhere in the Executive
Control section The format of the ID statement is the keyword “ID” followed by a delimiter and a
comment. The comment may be any ASCII characters. For example:
ID THIS IS RUN 2
See also
• “ID” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
The SOL Statement (Required)

The SOL statement specifies the type of analysis (solution sequence) you want to perform.
The format of the SOL statement is:
SOL n
where n is a positive integer identifying the solution type or the character name of the solution
procedure.
See also
• “Understanding Solution Sequences” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
• “SOL” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “SOL 601,N or SOL 701” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
ECHO Statement (Optional)

The ECHO statement lets you control whether the software prints (“echoes”) the Executive
Control section to the output file. ECHOON is the default.
• Use ECHOON (default) to print the section to the output file.
• Use ECHOOFF to prevent the software from printing the section to the output file.
In general, using ECHOOFF hinders the usability of your output file, especially if you need to
review the output file several months after your original analysis. However, the ECHOOFF
statement can be useful for security. For example, you can use ECHOOFF, to prevent NX
Nastran from printing proprietary portions of the Executive Control section (such as user-written
DMAP) to the output file.
You can use multiple ECHOON and ECHOOFF statements in an single input file.
See also
• “ECHO” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Time Statement (Optional)

The TIME statement allows you to set the maximum CPU time and I/O time for the job before
NX Nastran terminates the run. Its format is

TIME t1, t2
where:
• t1 is the maximum allowed execution time in CPU minutes (real or integer; default = one
minute, which is adequate only for very small jobs).
• t2 is the maximum allowable I/O time in seconds (default is infinity).
Importantly, the time limits you can set with the TIME statement are different from the
system time limit imposed by your system administrator. In general, you should use the TIME
statement to set the NX Nastran time limit to a value less than the system time limit. If your job
exceeds the system time limit during execution, the system aborts the job, which may corrupt the
database. Once the database is corrupted, it is difficult, if not impossible, to restart the job.
However if the required execution time exceeds the time specified on the NX Nastran TIME
statement, NX Nastran cleanly terminates the job. This allows you to restart the job later. Also,
NX Nastran estimates the CPU time required to perform certain operations during execution.
If the time remaining is not sufficient to complete a particular operation, the job terminates
without wasting any additional computer resources.
See also
• “TIME” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
DIAG Statement (Optional)
You can use the DIAG statement to request a variety of additional diagnostic information or
output and/or to modify the solution.
See also
• “DIAG” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “Other Optional Diagnostic Information” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
The CEND Statement (Required)
The CEND statement is a required statement that designates the end of the Executive Control
section (and the beginning of the Case Control section). Its format is simply:
CEND
For example:
ID SIMPLE,MODEL
SOL 101
TIME 5
CEND
See also
• “CEND” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

3.5 Case Control Section (Required)

The Case Control section contains commands. It always follows the Executive Control section
and precedes the Bulk Data section. You use the Case Control section to:
• Define/select analysis subcases (multiple loadings in a single job execution)
• Define SETS to specify and control the type of analysis output produced (e.g., forces, stresses,
and displacements)
• Select output requests for printing, punching and plotting
• Define titles, subtitles and labels for documenting the analysis
For the truss example, a title, subtitle, and label are defined. These labels are printed on each
page of the .f06 output file. The LOAD = 10 command instructs NX Nastran to apply the loading
defined by the FORCE entry with an ID of 10 in the Bulk Data section. The SPC = 11 command
instructs NX Nastran to apply the constraints defined by the SPC1 entry with an ID of 11 in
the Bulk Data section. Printed displacements for all the grid points and the forces and stresses
within each member are requested with the DISPLACEMENT = ALL, FORCE = ALL, and
STRESS = ALL commands. By default, these output requests are printed to the .f06 output file.
See also
• “Case Control Commands” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide.
Case Control Format

The Case Control section must end with the BEGIN BULK delimiter.
Defining SUBCASES for Loading
The SUBCASE case control commands lets you define subcases within your analysis. Subcases
let you perform an analysis with different combinations of loads and boundary conditions
within a single run.
To denote a subcase, you use the SUBCASE command together with an ID operand that
identifies the subcase number, such as:
SUBCASE i
where i is an integer identifier for the subcase.

Note: You can also use the MASTER Case Control command to define a master subcase. A
MASTER subcase applies to all of the subcases that follow until you define a new MASTER
subcase.
See also
• “SUBCASE” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “MASTER” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Defining Output
By default, NX Nastran doesn’t output any results. With NX Nastran, you must use Case
Control commands to explicitly request the results you want. NX Nastran output is requested in
the Case Control Section.
Echoing Bulk Data in the Output
An NX Nastran model resides in a .DAT text file. The .DAT file is submitted to NX Nastran
and an .f06 results file is produced.
The following Case Control command produces sorted and unsorted model file listings, called
echoes, at the beginning of the .f06 file:
ECHO=BOTH
The unsorted input file is an exact copy of the Executive Control, Case Control, and Bulk Data
Sections of the input (.DAT) file, including comment ($) entries. The sorted input file is a listing
of the Bulk Data Section with entries rearranged in alphabetical order and with comments
removed. In addition, the sorted Bulk Data is expanded to ten fields, each eight columns wide.
Therefore, if the .DAT file is entered in free field format, it appears in small field format in the
sorted Bulk Data listing. This small field format listing is especially helpful when reviewing the
model’s Bulk Data Section.
Examples of unsorted and sorted input listings are shown in Listing 3-2 and Listing 3-3.

JULY 10, 2003 NX NASTRAN 7/10/2003 PAGE 1

N A S T R A N E X E C U T I V E C O N T R O L D E C K E C H O
ID MPM,EXAMPLE1
SOL 101
TIME 100
CEND
SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM JULY 10, 2003 NX.NASTRAN 07/10/2003 PAGE 2
WITH CONCENTRATED FORCE
C A S E C O N T R O L D E C K E C H O
CARD
COUNT
1 ECHO=BOTH
2 DISP=ALL
3 STRESS=ALL
4 FORCE=ALL
5 SPCF=ALL
6 SPC=100
7 LOAD=10
8 TITLE=SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM
9 SUBTITLE=WITH CONCENTRATED FORCE
10 $
11 BEGIN BULK
SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM JULY 10, 2001 NX NASTRAN 7/10/2003 PAGE 3
I N P U T B U L K D A T A D E C K E C H O
. 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. 4 .. 5 .. 6 .. 7 .. 8 .. 9 .. 10 .
$ DEFINE GRID POINTS
GRID,1,,0.,0.,0.
GRID,2,,10.,0.,0.
GRID,3,,20.,0.,0.
GRID,4,,30.,0.,0.
$
$ DEFINE CBAR ELEMENTS
CBAR,1,101,1,2,0.,1.,0.
CBAR,2,101,2,3,0.,1.,0.
CBAR,3,101,3,4,0.,1.,0.
$
$ DEFINE CBAR ELEMENT CROSS SECTIONAL PROPERTIES
PBAR,101,201,2.,.667,.1667,.458,,,+PB1
+PB1,1.,.5,-1.,.5
$
$ DEFINE MATERIAL PROPERTIES
MAT1,201,30.E6,,.3
$
$ DEFINE SPC CONSTRAINT SET
SPC1,100,12345,1
SPC1,100,12345,4
$
$ DEFINE CONCENTRATED FORCE
FORCE,10,3,,-100.,0.,1.,0.
$
ENDDATA
INPUT BULK DATA CARD COUNT = 26
Listing 3-2. Unsorted Listings

CARD
COUNT . 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. 4 .. 5 .. 6 .. 7 .. 8 .. 9 .. 10 .
1- CBAR 1 101 1 2 0. 1. 0.
2- CBAR 2 101 2 3 0. 1. 0.
3- CBAR 3 101 3 4 0. 1. 0.
4- FORCE 10 3 -100. 0. 1. 0.
5- GRID 1 0. 0. 0.
6- GRID 2 10. 0. 0.
7- GRID 3 20. 0. 0.
8- GRID 4 30. 0. 0.
9- MAT1 201 30.E6 .3
10- PBAR 101 201 2. .667 .1667 .458 +PB1
11- +PB1 1. .5 -1. .5
12- SPC1 100 12345 1
13- SPC1 100 12345 4
ENDDATA
TOTAL COUNT= 14
Listing 3-3. Sorted Listing

Other options for the ECHO command include:
ECHO = SORT Prints only sorted Bulk Data (this is the default)
ECHO = UNSORT Prints only unsorted Bulk Data

ECHO = NONE Turns off the Bulk Data listing

ECHO = PUNCH Prints a sorted echo of the Bulk Data to a separate file
While learning to use NX Nastran by using small models, you should set ECHO to BOTH.
The resulting listings in the .f06 file does not occupy very much space and having the model
information available can be useful. However, when the models become very large it may be best
to use ECHO = PUNCH or even ECHO = NONE.
Printing Bulk Data Using the ECHO Case Control Command

You can use the ECHO Case Control command to control how the Bulk Data section is printed to
the output file. For example, you can use ECHO to specify whether you want NX Nastran to
print the Bulk Data in sorted or unsorted format. For example, to echo the Bulk Data in the
unsorted form, you use the following ECHO command:
ECHO = UNSORT
The output requests, such as DISPLACEMENT, FORCE, STRESS (and so on), are needed
whenever data recovery quantities are to be computed, even if they are not printed. Such is the
case when you use a postprocessor to view the results. Typical output requests are as follows:
SET 1 = 5, 6, 7
SET 3 = 1, 5, 9
STRESS = ALL
DISP(PLOT) = 1 $ WHERE 1 IS THE ID OF A SET OF GRID POINTS
ELFORCE(PUNCH) = 3 $ WHERE 3 IS THE ID OF SET OF ELEMENTS
See also
• “ECHO” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Types of Output
There are two main types of output that you can request in NX Nastran:
• Grid point output
• Element output
In a small or medium-sized model, it may be best to simply request output for all grid points or
elements. However, in a large model, you may want to be more selective.
Grid Point Output (DISP, SPCF, OLOAD, GPFORCE)

Requests for output quantities that occur at grid points include the following (n is a SET ID, and
ALL requests that all quantities be printed):
DISP
Requests displacements for grid points. In general, you should use
DISP=ALL as displacement output takes up very little space.
Requests forces of single point constraint (SPCFORCES). In general, you
SPCFORCE should use SPCF = ALL so you can examine reaction forces during the
model validation process.
OLOAD Requests the set of applied loads in static analysis.

Generates a table containing a grid point force balance at the selected

grid points. This is useful for determining load paths, contributions of
GPFORCE applied loads to element response, and the effects of initial thermal strain.
Contributors to the grid point force balance table include applied loads,
SPC forces, and element elastic forces.
Element Output (STRESS, FORCE, STRAIN, ESE)

Requests for element-based output quantities include the following:
STRESS Requests element stresses for a set of structural elements
FORCE
Requests element forces to be calculated for a set of structural
elements
STRAIN Requests the strains for a set of plate elements
ESE Requests the strain energy for a set of elements
CQUAD4 stresses, strains, and forces are available at corner grid points, with output at the
element center the default. CQUAD4 center and corner output is obtained using the STRESS,
STRAIN, and FORCE Case Control commands as follows:
STRESS(CORNER) = {ALL or n}
STRAIN(CORNER) = {ALL or n}
FORCE(CORNER) = {ALL or n}
Where { } indicates that a choice of ALL or n is mandatory, but the braces are not included.
Only one type of element output (center or corner) is supported per run..
Selecting the Destination File for the Output

For each type of results you request, you can specify where you want NX Nastran to print the
results.
• The PRINT option provides printed results in the .f06 output file. It is the default option
for most result types.
• The PUNCH option prints the results in the ASCII format .pch file using a “punch” format
(80 column width per line). Writing results to the .pch file is useful if you want to export your
results to other programs.
• The PLOT option instructs NX Nastran to calculate the requested results, but not print
them. In general, you use this option when you want to view the results as plots or examine
them with a post processing program. This option is also useful when you’re working with
large models where the quantity of printed output would be excessive but you still need NX
Nastran to recover the specified data for post processing.
Formatting Printed Output

You can include up to three title lines per page of NX Nastran output with the TITLE,
SUBTITLE, and LABEL Case Control commands. You can use any character string. Titles are
optional but highly recommended as they can help you distinguish between your jobs.

Example
These Case Control commands
TITLE=SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM
SUBTITLE=WITH CONCENTRATED FORCE
LABEL=NX NASTRAN USER’S GUIDE
produce the following headings on each page of output:

NX NASTRAN GETTING STARTED USER’S GUIDE
D I S P L A C E M E N T V E C T O R
POINT ID. TYPE T1 T2 T3 R1 R2 R3
1 G 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -2.221112E-04
2 G 0.0 -1.943473E-03 0.0 0.0 0.0 -1.388195E-04
3 G 0.0 -2.221112E-03 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.110556E-04
4 G 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.776390E-04
Using the SET Command to Limit Output

In many cases, particularly in larger models, you may want to limit the output to a particular
set of grid points or elements. In NX Nastran, you can use the SET Case Control command to
identify a group of grid points and/or elements as a specific set ID.
For example, suppose you want to output all of the grid point displacements for Subcase 1 and
the grid point displacements for grid points 3 and 4 for Subcase 2. In addition, you want the
element force output for element 3 for Subcase 1 and elements 3 and 4 for Subcase 2. A Case
Control section that meets these requirements is shown in Listing 3-4.

$
$
ID LINEAR,TRUSS3
SOL 101
TIME 2
CEND
TITLE = SET EXAMPLE
LOAD = 10
SPC = 11
DISPLACEMENT = ALL
SET 1 = 3,4
SET 2 = 3
$
SUBCASE 1
LABEL = POINT LOAD AT GRID POINT 4 LOAD = 10
ELFORCE = 2
$
SUBCASE 2
LOAD = 11
DISPLACEMENT =1
ELFORCE = 1
BEGIN BULK
Listing 3-4. Controlling Output with Set Commands

A Case Control set is a collection of grid point IDs or element IDs for use in output requests.
Case Control sets are used to obtain output for a selected portion of the model. Case Control sets
are defined with the SET command according to the following formats:
SET n = ALL
SET n = i1,i2,i3, ..., i12 THRU i28, i35, ..
where n is the set identification number and i1, i2, i3, etc., are entity identification numbers, e.g.
grid point numbers.
Example
Consider the Case Control Section shown below:
CEND
TITLE=OUTPUT SELECTION EXAMPLE
SUBTITLE=ILLUSTRATES USE OF SETS
LOAD=15
SET 1=3,4,7,9,11
SET 5=2,9,15 THRU 21,23
DISP=1
FORCE=1
STRESS=5
BEGIN BULK
DISP is a grid point output quantity, so displacements for grid points 3, 4, 7, 9, and 11 will be
printed. FORCE is an element output quantity, so forces for elements 3, 4, 7, 9, and 11 will be
printed. Note that grid quantities and element quantities can share the same set, since a set is
simply a list of numbers. STRESS is an element quantity, so the stresses in elements 2, 9, 15
through 21 (inclusive), and 23 will be calculated and printed.

3.6 Bulk Data Section

The Bulk Data section always follows the Case Control section and begins with the BEGIN
BULK delimiter. In NX Nastran, Bulk Data entries contain all the information necessary to
define the finite element model, such as:
• Geometry
• Coordinate systems
• Finite elements
• Element properties
• Loads
• Boundary conditions
• Material properties
The Bulk Data section generally constitutes the majority of the content of the input file. The
order of Bulk Data entries is not critical (continuations without continuation identifiers are an
exception to this rule and are discussed later).
Field 10 of the Bulk Data entry is used for two purposes. If the Bulk Data entry does not have a
continuation line, field 10 may be used as an optional comment field. If the Bulk Data entry has
a continuation line, field 10 is used for the continuation identifier. The continuation identifier
must be unique with respect to all the other identifiers in your Bulk Data Section.
If you leave a data field blank, the software uses the appropriate default. Any applicable
defaults for a particular field are listed in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide. There are
certain situations that allow either an integer or a real number in a data field. However, in
these situations, whether you specify an integer or a real number in a data field can affect
the problem’s solution.
Consider the definition for grid point 2 of the truss model shown in Figure 3-3. The name of the
entry is GRID, which begins in column 1 of field 1. The grid point ID (2 in this case) must be
an integer (no decimal point) greater than 0. Fields 3 and 7 represent coordinate system IDs
and also must be integers. Since these fields are blank, the default of 0 is used. Fields 4, 5, and
6 represent the physical location of the grid point, and they must be entered as real numbers.
Optional fields are field 8, which is used to define permanently constrained degrees of freedom,
and field 9, the superelement ID field. If they are used, only integers are acceptable. Since the
GRID entry does not have a continuation line, field 10 may be used as a comment, if desired.
Figure 3-3. A Bulk Data Example: the GRID Entry
See also
• “Bulk Data Entries” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Bulk Data Section Format Rules

You must begin the Bulk Data section with the BEGIN BULK delimiter. The last entry must
be the ENDDATA delimiter. The BEGIN BULK entry is in free field format. The ENDDATA
delimiter must begin in Column 1 or Column 2. The ENDDATA delimiter also signifies the
end of the NX Nastran input file.
Note: You must include both BEGIN BULK and ENDDATA in your input file, even if you are not
introducing any new Bulk Data is being introduced into the problem or if all of the Bulk Data is
coming from an alternate source, such as user-generated input.
NX Nastran Bulk Data contains 10 fields per input data entry:
• The first field contains the character name of the Bulk Data item, such as GRID, CBAR,
MAT1.
• The second through ninth fields contain data input information for the Bulk Data entry.
• The tenth field never contains data. It is reserved for entry continuation information, if
applicable.
Sorting Bulk Data

You can enter Bulk Data entries in any order since NX Nastran automatically sorts them (using
the XSORT module) prior to the execution of the Input File Processor (IFP) module.
However, for very large problems, this sorting process can be CPU intensive. If you anticipate
submitting the same input file multiple times, you should use the ECHO=PUNCH Case Control
command to generate a sorted Bulk Data file in the first analysis. Then, you can use the sorted
Bulk Data input for subsequent analyses.
Note: Alternatively, the sorted Bulk Data is stored on the database and is available using the
Restart feature.
See also
• “XSORT” in the NX Nastran DMAP Programmer’s Guide
• “IFP” in the NX Nastran DMAP Programmer’s Guide
Storing Bulk Data in the Database for Restarts

To minimize the handling of a large number of entries, NX Nastran solution sequences let you
store the Bulk Data in the database. That way, you can easily modify it on subsequent runs.
For any initial analysis (also referred to as a “cold start”), you must submit the entire Bulk Data
section of the input file. For subsequent analyses, if you save the database from any previous
run, the Bulk Data exists in the database in sorted form where you can modify it and reuse it
in a restart analysis.
When you perform a restart, the software adds the Bulk Data entries contained in the input file to
the Bulk Data stored in the database. You can use a ”/” entry to remove entries from the database.
See also

Understanding the Relationship Between Bulk Data Entries and Case Control
Commands
Most of the entries in the Bulk Data section do not need to be called out by a Case Control
command to be included in the model. However, for loads and constraints, the Bulk Data and
Case Control sections of the input file are carefully interrelated.
• In the Bulk Data section, you specify actual load and constraint entries.
• In the Case Control section, you specify which of the load and constraint entries you defined
in the Bulk Data section to use in a given analysis.
In other words, NX Nastran includes only the load and constraint entries you define in the Bulk
Data section if they are specified in the Case Control section. Therefore, you can have load and
constraint entries in the Bulk Data section that are not specified in the Case Control. However,
those entries will not be used during the analysis.
3.7 Using Parameters

Each NX Nastran solution sequence is designed with a specific set of default values and solution
paths. In the majority of the cases, the default values are the ones best suited for your model.
There are occasions, however, when you may want to deviate from the default values. Several
methods are available in NX Nastran to perform this task: DMAP (Direct Matrix Abstraction
Program) modules, NASTRAN statements, and parameters.
Using parameters is the most straightforward method to change defaults in NX Nastran.
Depending on the parameter, you can specify it either as a PARAM Bulk Data entry and/or a
PARAM Case Control command. The format of each is as follows:
PARAM,xname,xvalue
where xname and xvalue are the name and value of the PARAMeter, respectively.
PARAM,WTMASS,0.00259
For example, with PARAM,WTMASS, the software multiplies the terms of the structural mass
matrix by the value of this parameter.
In NX Nastran, parameters are used extensively in the solution sequences for input of scalar
values and for requesting special features. You can specify values for parameters using either
the PARAM Bulk Data entry or the PARAM Case Control command.
See also
• “PARAM” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide (for the PARAM Case Control command)
• “PARAM” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide (for the PARAM bulk data entry)
• “Parameters” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide (for a complete description of all
parameters)
• NX Nastran DMAP Programmer’s Guide (for a description of the manner in which NX

Nastran processes parameters)

Parameters in the Superelement Solution Sequences

The specification of PARAMeters differs between the rigid formats and the superelement
solutions sequences. These differences require different user action in placing the PARAM
entries in the NX Nastran section, and in changing PARAMeter values on restarts.
The program module reads the Case Control section for PARAM entries. If PARAM entries exist,
the VPS table is updated with the values found in the Case Control section. The PARAM values
are updated at the beginning of the generation, assembly, reduction, and the data recovery loops
of the superelement solution sequences. This allows the values of some user-supplied parameters
to change for each superelement during the course of one run.
In the nonlinear solution sequences the PARAM values are updated at the beginning of the
iteration loop. This allows the values of some user-set parameters to vary between subcases.
These parameters may appear in either the Case Control and/or Bulk Data section. Other
PARAMeters must appear in the Bulk Data section. If they appear in the Case Control section,
they will not cause a preface error, but will be ignored. Other parameters may be reset to
default values during the course of the run. This type should be set only in the subcase of the
Case Control section.
The PARAM Case Control command is treated in the same manner as constraint and output
commands. Parameters set above the subcase level are effective in every subcase. If there is also
a parameter value set in the subcase, it takes precedence. Only one value of a parameter may be
current at any time during the execution of the run. These rules imply an order of precedence if
several forms are used in the same run. The rules are illustrated in the following example.
A partial subcase structure is listed on the following page. The subcases are listed in ascending
superelement number order. PARAM, GRDPNT is varied between them.
See also
• The NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide (for parameter applicability)
Subcase Structure, Sorted by SElD

SUBCASE 1
SUPER = 1
...
SUBCASE 2
SUPER = 2
PARAM,GRDPNT,100
...
SUBCASE 3
SUPER = 3
PARAM,GRDPNT,200
...
SUBCASE 4
SUPER = 4
...
SUBCASE 100 $ RESIDUAL STRUCTURE
PARAM,GRDPNT,-1
...
BEGIN BULK
PARAM,GRDPNT,0
Processing order Value of GRDPNT

SEID
1 0
2 100

Processing order Value of GRDPNT

3 200
4 0
0 –1
The Bulk Data entries are processed at the beginning of the run. Any PARAM entries in the Bulk
Data section set the value of that parameter until it is changed by a Case Control command.
• Superelement 1 is processed first. Since it has no PARAM,GRDPNT entry the value of 0,
as set by the Bulk Data entry PARAM,GRDPNT,0 is used.
• The value for superelement 2 is set at 100 by a Case Control command.
• Superelement 4 is processed next. Its subcase contains no PARAM entry, so that the value of
the parameter that remains is set by the bulk data.
• The values for superelement 3 and the residual structure are set by Case Control commands.
An alternate method of parameter specification is to set the value most used above the subcase
level, and exceptional values within the subcase. For example, if PARAM,GRDPNT,0 were
placed above the subcase level and the values of 100, 200, and -1 placed in subcases 2, 3 and
100, respectively, the value used in each superelement will be the same as described above,
regardless of processing order.
For the unstructured solution sequences, NX Nastran does not store the VPS table in the
database. Therefore, it is not recovered on restarts. Therefore, parameters set by the user must
be in the NX Nastran section if the default values are not wanted.

Chapter
4 NX Nastran Output Files
• Overview of the NX Nastran Output Files
• Understanding the .f06 File
• Understanding the .f04 File
• Understanding the .log File
• Understanding the .plt and .pch Files
• Understanding the .DBALL and .MASTER Files
• Understanding the .xdb and .op2 Files

Chapter 4 NX Nastran Output Files
4.1 Overview of the NX Nastran Output Files

When you submit an input file to NX Nastran for execution, the software generates a number of
different output files. Some files are generated automatically, while other files are generated
only by specific requests you make in the input file or on the command line when you submit the
job.The following table shows the different types of NX Nastran output files.
Table 4-1. Types of Files Output by NX Nastran
File File
How Created Brief Description
Extension Format
Main output file with printed output, such as
.f06 ASCII automatically
displacements and stresses.
Provides history of assigned files, disk space
.f04 ASCII automatically
usage, and modules used during the analysis.
Gives a summary of the command line options
.log ASCII automatically
used and the execution links
A database containing the input file, assembled
matrices, and solutions. Used also for
.DBALL binary automatically
restarting the run for additional analysis or
output.
Contains the master directory of the files used
.MASTER binary automatically by the run and the physical location of those
files on your system. Needed for a restart.
Contains the plot information requested by the
.plt binary by request
plotter commands specified in input file.
Contains the punch output as requested in the
.pch ASCII by request
input file.
.op2 binary by request Graphics database file used for postprocessing.
.xdb binary by request Graphics database file used for postprocessing.
In addition to the files listed above, the software also generates several temporary (scratch) files
during the analysis which are automatically deleted when the solve completes.
Note: By default, the software writes the .f06, .f04, and .log files separately. However, you can
use the “append” keyword (append=yes) on the command line when you run your job to have the
software combine them into a single file with a .out extension.
The following sections describe the different output file types in more detail.
See also
• “Automatic Deletion of Scratch Data Blocks” in the NX Nastran DMAP Programmer’s Guide
• “Append” in the NX Nastran Installation and Operations Guide

NX Nastran Output Files
4.2 Understanding the .f06 File

The output file that you will use most frequently is the .f06 file. The software writes this file to
FORTRAN unit 6. The .f06 file contains all the requested results from your analysis, such as the
displacements, stresses, and element forces, as well as any diagnostic messages. The information
in the .f06 file is critical for model checkout and debugging.
The output from data recovery and plot modules is all optional and its selection is controlled by
commands in the Case Control section.
Although most of the solution sequence output is optional and requested in the Case Control
Section, some of the printer output is automatic or under control of DIAG statements in the
Executive Control Section.
See also
• “Flushing .f04 and .f06 Output to Disk (UNIX)” in the NX Nastran Installation and
Operations Guide
Controlling Printed Output

In NX Nastran, there are two different formats in which the software prints results: SORT1
and SORT2.
Understanding the SORT1 Format

With the SORT1 format, the software presents the analysis outputs as a tabular listing of the
selected output for each grid point in each individual subcase. With SORT1, the software
prints the output for each loading condition on any page. This is the default for static analysis,
frequency response, steady state heat transfer, real and complex eigenvalue analysis, flutter
analysis, and buckling analysis.
If you select SORT1 in a transient solution for one or more of the commands listed below, then
the software outputs all remaining commands in the input file in SORT1 format:
ACCE, DISP, ENTH, FORC, HDOT, MPCF, OLOA, SPCF, STRA, STRE, VELO
Understanding the SORT2 Format

With the SORT2 format, the software presents the analysis output as a tabular listing of the
subcases for each selected output option. With SORT2, the software prints the output for
each grid point or element on a new page. Consequently, the SORT2 option can produce a
large number of output pages. Therefore, SORT2 should generally be used only when you’re
performing dynamic solutions.
The SORT2 format is the default output format in transient response analysis (structural and
heat transfer). The SORT2 option isn’t available when you’re performing real eigenvalue
(including buckling) analyses, complex eigenvalue analyses, or flutter analyses.
If you select SORT2 in a frequency response solution for one or more of commands listed below,
then the software outputs all remaining commands in the input file in SORT2 format:
ACCE, DISP, FORC, MPCF, OLOA, SPCF, STRA, STRE, VELO
Controlling General Output Options

The printer output is designed for 132 characters per line, with the lines per page controlled by
the LINE command in the Case Control Section. The default is LINE = 50 for 11-inch paper.

Optional titles are printed at the top of each page from information in the Case Control Section.
You can define these titles at the subcase level. All pages of the output are automatically dated
and numbered.
A few printer output items are under the control of PARAM Bulk Data entries.
The following output is either automatically or optionally provided during execution:
• NX Nastran title page – automatic
• File Management Section echo – automatic if statements are present
• Executive Control Section echo – automatic
• Case Control Section echo – automatic
• Unsorted Bulk Data Section echo – optional, selected in the Case Control Section
• Sorted Bulk Data Section echo – automatic, unless suppressed in the Case Control Section
By default, the output file contains an echo (listing) of the input file with the Bulk Data sorted
alphabetically as shown in Figure 4-1.

Figure 4-1. truss1.f06 Output File (Continued)

Figure 4-1. truss1.f06 Output File
See also
• “Parameters” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Understanding the General Analysis Output
OLOAD Resultant
After the input file echo, the software prints the “OLOAD RESULTANT.” This shows the
resultant of the loads about the origin of the basic coordinate system in this case.
User Information Message 5293

Next is the USER INFORMATION MESSAGE (UIM) 5293 which shows the epsilon and external
work for the run. The epsilon is a measure of the numeric conditioning of the model, while the
external work is the work due to the applied loads. Both of these values are useful for model
checkout.
In the truss example, output is requested for displacements, element forces, and element
stresses. The displacement request is the only grid point output. Element forces and stresses
are element output.
The last summary is the maximum of the applied loads.
After the summaries, the displacement for all of the grid points, the element forces, and the
element stresses is printed as requested in the Case Control Section.
For static analysis of the truss model, just one applied load is used. You can, however, specify
multiple loading conditions to be analyzed in a single input file if desired. If you do specify
multiple loading conditions, the OLOAD RESULTANT and EXTERNAL WORK are shown for
each selected loading conditions. The external work is calculated as 1/2 {Pl} T [Ul]. In the case

of enforced displacement, the equivalent load is calculated as the constraint force required to
impose the enforced displacement. The external work printout in this case is meaningless.
See also
• “Model Verification” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
Accuracy Diagnostic Information for Global Iterative Solver

When you’re using NX Nastran’s global iterative solver, the .f06 file also contains important
accuracy diagnostic information.
See also
• “Accuracy Diagnostics” in the NX Nastran Numerical Methods User’s Guide
Grid Point Singularity Table

If singularities remain in the stiffness matrix at the grid point level, the software automatically
outputs a Grid Point Singularity Table (GPST) after the Grid Point Singularity Processor
(GPSP) executes. The table lists singular degrees-of-freedom in the global coordinate system.
You can have the software automatically constrain singular degrees-of-freedom using the
PARAM,AUTOSPC,YES option.
Note: You can print any of the matrices or tables that are prepared by the functional modules
using selected utility modules described in the NX Nastran DMAP Programmer’s Guide. These
utility modules can be scheduled at any point in a solution sequence by using the alter feature.
In general, they should be scheduled immediately after the functional module that generates
the table or matrix to be printed. However, you should check the calling sequence for the utility
module, in order to be certain that all required inputs have been generated prior to this point.
See also
• “Constraint and Mechanism Problem Identification in SubDMAP SEKR” in the NX Nastran
User’s Guide
• “Understanding the Grid Point Singularity Table” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
• “AUTOSPC” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Understanding Analysis Type Specific Output

The following descriptions relate to automatic output that is associated with particular types of
solution sequences.
Detailed information on the force and stress output available for each element type is given in
the NX Nastran Element Library.
Real Eigenvalue Analysis

Each eigenvalue is identified with a mode number determined by sorting the eigenvalues by
their magnitude. The following summary is also automatically printed for all methods:
• Mode number
• Extraction order (this is irrelevant under the Lanczos method)

• Eigenvalue
• Frequency (radians)
• Frequency (Hz)
• Generalized mass
• Generalized stiffness
Note: For all methods except the Inverse Power Method, if the orthogonality criterion fails, then
the software issues User Warning Message 3034.
Lanczos Method Additional Summary Content

• Block size used
• Number of decompositions
• Number of roots found
• Number of (block) solves required
• One of the following termination messages:

– Required number of eigenvalues found
– Not all the roots found within the range
– All eigenvalues found within the range
– Insufficient time to find more eigenvalues
Inverse Power Method Additional Summary Content

• Number of eigenvalues extracted
• Number of starting points used
• Number of starting point moves
• Number of triangular decompositions
• Number of vector iterations
• The reason for termination is indicated by one of the following numbers:
Reason
Description
Number
Two consecutive singularities encountered while performing triangular
1
decomposition
2 Four shift points while tracking a single root
3 All eigenvalues found in the frequency range specified

Reason
Description
Number
Three times the number of roots estimated in the frequency range have
4
been extracted
5 All eigenvalues that exist in the problem have been found
6 The number of roots desired have been found
One or more eigenvalues have been found outside the frequency range
7
specified
8 Insufficient time to find another root
9 Unable to converge
• Largest off-diagonal modal mass term identified by mode pair
• Number of off-diagonal mass terms failing orthogonality criterion
Complex Eigenvalue Analysis

Each complex eigenvalue is identified with a root number determined by sorting the complex
eigenvalues by magnitude. The following summary of the complex eigenvalues extracted is
automatically printed for all methods:
• Root number
• Extraction order (this is irrelevant under the Lanczos method)
• Real and imaginary parts of the eigenvalue
• The coefficients f (frequency) and g (damping coefficient) in the following representation of

the eigenvalue (p = α + iω):
Equation 4-1.
Therefore,
Equation 4-2.
Equation 4-3.

Complex Lanczos Method

If you use the complex Lanczos method, the software also issues User Information Messages
5444, 5445, and 5453.
Determinant Method
If you use the Determinant method, the software also prints:
• Number of passes through starting points.
• Number of criteria changes
• Number of starting point moves
• Number of failures to iterate to a root
• Number of predictions outside region
• The reason for termination is indicated by one of the following integers:
Reason
Description
Number
2 All predictions for eigenvalues are outside the regions specified
4 Matrix is singular at the first three starting points
• swept determinant functions for each starting point
Inverse Power Method

The following summary is automatically printed for each region specified when the Inverse
Power method is used:
• Number of starting points used
• Number of starting point or shift point moves
• Number of vector iterations
• The reason for termination is indicated by one of the following integers:

Reason
Description
Number
Two consecutive singularities encountered while performing triangular
1
decomposition
2 Four starting point moves while tracking a single root
3 All eigenvalues found in the region specified
4 Three times the number of roots estimated in the region have been extracted
5 All eigenvalues that exist in the problem have been found
7 One or more eigenvalues have been found outside the region specified
9 Unable to converge
Superelement Analysis
• Superelement mapping information that lists the membership of grid points and elements
in the superelements, the order in which the superelements will be processed, and timing
and space estimates for each superelement
• A page header that identifies the superelement for which the printed information on the
page pertains
• Matrices wherein mechanisms are identified
• Resultants of external loads
• Maximum applied loads
• Maximum displacements
• Maximum SPC forces
For SOL 101, if PARAM,INREL,-1 or PARAM,INREL,-2, the following data is printed

automatically:
INTERMEDIATE MATRIX...QRR
This is the rigid body mass matrix of the total structure, including superelements. It is presented
as a 6 × 6 matrix, measured at the reference grid point, in its global coordinates. Masses on
scalar points are ignored.
INTERMEDIATE MATRIX...QRL
This is the resultant of the applied loads, measured at the reference point. There is one column
for each loading condition.
INTERMEDIATE MATRIX...URACCEL
This is the user-supplied rigid body acceleration, input on the DMIG,UACCEL entry. This output
does not appear if the entry is not present.

INTERMEDIATE MATRIX...URA
This is the rigid body acceleration matrix, computed from the applied loads.
4.3 Understanding the .f04 File

The .f04 file contains information that helps you monitor and tune the performance of your
analysis job. For example, the .f04 file contains:
• A summary of physical file information that describes the files used for DBsets
• A map showing memory allocation
• A “day log” that provides a DMAP execution summary
• A listing of memory and disk usage statistics
• A listing of database usage statistics that summarizes the I/O activity for the DBsets
• A summary of physical file I/O activity for each database file
• Module execution and statistical information
• Other optional diagnostic information as requested by the DIAG executive control command
in the input file
If you’re performing an analysis using NX Nastran’s global iterative solver, the .f04 file also
contains important performance diagnostic information about the solver.
The software writes the .f04 file to FORTRAN unit 4.
See also
• “Flushing .f04 and .f06 Output to Disk (UNIX)” in the NX Nastran Installation and
Operations Guide
• “Performance Diagnostics” in the NX Nastran Numerical Methods User’s Guide
General Information
The .f04 file begins with a section that lists general information about the run.
• DAY TIME indicates the time of day as the run progresses.
• ELAPSED indicates the number of elapsed “wall clock” minutes:seconds at the beginning
on the job. This number may vary greatly depending on the system load in a time-sharing
environment.
• I/O SEC is an internally generated measure of I/O. This measure is a count of the number
of BUFFSIZE blocks transferred, divided by the value of SYSTEM(84) (the estimated rate
of number of blocks moved per second). This number doesn’t include I/O for loading the
executable file or I/O for FORTRAN files.
• DEL I/O is the I/O seconds spent in the previous DMAP statement.

• CPU SEC shows the number of CPU seconds that had elapsed when this line was printed.
In general, you should examine the above entries and look for large jumps in the CPU SEC
number. For example, the cost for “formatting” the output (modules SDR2 and OFP) may be
greater than the cost of generating the numbers. In such situations, simple techniques such
as reducing output requests may save more time than other more well-known techniques
such as sequencing, OMITs, better matrix methods, etc. In short, you should be aware of
the expensive operations on each large run.
• DEL CPU is the CPU time spent in the previous DMAP statement.
Summary of Physical File Information

This summary table describes the physical files used for the DBSets. A sample of this table,
located near the top of the .f04 file, is shown below.
S U M M A R Y O F P H Y S I C A L F I L E I N F O R M A T I O N
ASSIGNED PHYSICAL FILE NAME RECL (BYTES) MODE FLAGS
------------------------------------------------------------ ------------ ---- -----
/tmp/65872_57.SCRATCH 8192 R/W L
/tmp/65872_57.OBJSCR 8192 R/W L
/tmp/65872_57.MASTER 8192 R/W L
/tmp/65872_57.DBALL 8192 R/W L
/tmp/65872_57.DBALL2 8192 R/W L
/tmp/65872_57.SCR300 8192 R/W L
/nxn
r
/aix/SSS.MASTERA 8192 R/O L
/nxn
r
/aix/SSS.MSCOBJ 8192 R/O L
FLAG VALUES ARE --
F FFIO INTERFACE USED TO PROCESS FILE
H HPIO INTERFACE USED TO PROCESS FILE
L FILE HAS BEEN LOCKED
M FILE MAPPING USED TO PROCESS FILE
R FILE BEING ACCESSED IN ’RAW’ MODE
** PHYSICAL FILES LARGER THAN 2GB FILES ARE NOT SUPPORTED ON THIS PLATFORM
In this summary:
• ASSIGNED PHYSICAL FILENAME is the physical FILENAME with any symbols
translated.
• RECL is the record length in bytes.
• MODE is the file access mode.
• R/W is read-write mode.
• R/O is read-only mode.
• The FLAGS column contains various letters depending on the capabilities of the platform
and user requests. The text below the table indicates possible flag values for your specific
platform.
• BUFFSIZE lists the buffer size of each DBset. This buffer size may be defined by the INIT
command for each DBset (File Management Statement).

• CLUSTER SIZE lists the unit of allocation for GINO and executive blocks. This unit may
be defined on the INIT command.
• The TIME STAMP column lists the time the file was created. The format is
YYMMDDHHMMSS.
In this example, an INIT statement was used to create the DBALL DBSet with two files using
the logical names DBALL and DBALL2.
Below the summary is a message that indicates whether large files are available on the platform
on which you’re running.
Memory Allocation Map

The next section of the file is a map of memory allocation.
** MASTER DIRECTORIES ARE LOADED IN MEMORY.
USER OPENCORE (HICORE) = 3804612 WORDS
EXECUTIVE SYSTEM WORK AREA = 78605 WORDS
MASTER(RAM) = 30000 WORDS
SCRATCH(MEM) AREA = 204900 WORDS ( 100 BUFFERS)
BUFFER POOL AREA (GINO/EXEC) = 76183 WORDS ( 37 BUFFERS)
TOTAL NX NASTRAN MEMORY LIMIT = 4194300 WORDS
In this memory map:

• USER OPENCORE is the amount of memory available to the module for computation
purposes.
• EXECUTIVE SYSTEM WORK AREA is the space reserved for the executive system.
• MASTER(RAM) is the space reserved to cache datablocks from the MASTER DBSet.
• SCRATCH(MEM) AREA is the space reserved to cache datablocks from the SCRATCH
and SCR300 DBSets.
• BUFFER POOL AREA is the space reserved for the buffer pool.
• TOTAL NX Nastran MEMORY LIMIT is the total space allocated to NX Nastran’s open
core using the “memory” keyword.
See also
• “Managing Memory” in the NX Nastran Installation and Operations Guide
Day Log
The Day Log portion of the .f04 is a DMAP execution summary. This log, in table format,
contains the vast majority of the information in the .f04. The beginning an example Day Log
is shown below:
DAY TIME ELAPSED I/O MB DEL_MB CPU SEC DEL_CPU SUB_DMAP/DMAP_MODULE MESSAGES
10:32:16 0:16 13.6 .3 .8 .0 SESTATIC 20 IFPL BEGN

10:32:16 0:16 13.7 .1 .8 .0 IFPL 29 IFP1 BEGN
10:32:16 0:16 13.7 .0 .8 .0 IFPL 39 XSORT BEGN
In the Day Log:

• DAY TIME is the time of day of the entry.
• ELAPSED is the elapsed time since the start of the job.
• I/O MB is the megabytes of I/O to the databases since the start of the job
• DEL_MB is the delta I/O since the previous entry.
• CPU SEC is the total CPU seconds since the start of the job.
• DEL_CPU is the delta CPU since the previous entry.
• SUB_DMAP/DMAP_MODULE” indicates the DMAP statement being executed.
• MESSAGES are any messages issued by the module.
• BEGN and END indicate the start and end of the module or subDMAP.
The number that precedes the module name on lines that terminate with BEGN or END is
the DMAP statement number. This number corresponds to the statement number in the
DMAP listing for the solution sequence being used. The DMAP sequence listing will be
printed as a part of the output if you include either DIAG 14 or COMPILER LIST in the
Executive Control section of your input file.
Understanding the I/O MB Column

• The software computes the “I/O MB” value by multiplying SYSTEM(85), which is
incremented by one for each GINO I/O, by BUFFSIZE. This value loses accuracy if the
DBSets don’t have the same BUFFSIZE.
• If SYSTEM(84) is set to 0, the “I/O MB” column will be the number of GINO I/Os.
• The software scales the “I/O MB” column by gigabytes. It appends a “G” after each number if
the value is greater than or equal to 100 000.
User Information Messages 4157 and 6439

The UIM 4157 text provides decomposition estimates when the preface of the decomposition
module completes. The format of this message varies slightly depending on whether you selected
either sparse or parallel methods.
This counterpart to UIM 4157 is UIM 6439, which provides actual information from the
completed decomposition process. These two messages are interspersed within the Day Log at
each decomposition.
The following is an example from a sparse decomposition:
*** USER INFORMATION MESSAGE 4157 (DFMSA) ---PARAMETERS FOR SPARSE DECOMPOSITION OF DATA BLOCK KLL (TYPE=RDP) FOLLOW
MATRIX SIZE = 64 ROWS NUMBER OF NONZEROES = 260 TERMS
NUMBER OF ZERO COLUMNS = 0 NUMBER OF ZERO DIAGONAL TERMS = 0
CPU TIME ESTIMATE = 0 SEC I/O TIME ESTIMATE = 0 SEC
MINIMUM MEMORY REQUIREMENT = 20 K WORDS MEMORY AVAILABLE = 3804 K WORDS
MEMORY REQR’D TO AVOID SPILL = 30 K WORDS
EST. INTEGER WORDS IN FACTOR = 1 K WORDS EST. NONZERO TERMS = 1 K TERMS
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM FRONT SIZE = 11 TERMS RANK OF UPDATE = 16
*** USER INFORMATION MESSAGE 6439 (DFMSA) ---ACTUAL MEMORY AND DISK SPACE REQUIREMENTS FOR SPARSE SYM. DECOMPOSITION
SPARSE DECOMP MEMORY USED = 30 K WORDS MAXIMUM FRONT SIZE = 11 TERMS
INTEGER WORDS IN FACTOR = 1 K WORDS NONZERO TERMS IN FACTOR = 1 K TERMS
SPARSE DECOMP SUGGESTED MEMORY = 30 K WORDS
In UIM 4157:

• MINIMUM MEMORY REQUIREMENT is an estimate of the open core memory that will
allow the decomposition to run, but with heavy spilling to disk.
• MEMORY REQR’D TO AVOID SPILL is the estimate of memory necessary for the
decomposition to run in “in core”, without spilling to disk.
Note: These two values represent memory requirement extremes. The amount of memory
necessary for optimal CPU performance is somewhere between the two.
• ESTIMATED MAXIMUM FRONT SIZE is a function of the model and affects the memory
estimates described above.
– MINIMUM MEMORY REQUIREMENT is a function of the front size.
– MEMORY REQR’D TO AVOID SPILL is a function of the square of the front size.
• NUMBER OF NONZEROES is the size of the input matrix, multiply this value by 8 to
estimate the size of the input file in bytes.
• The sum of EST. INTEGER WORDS IN FACTOR and EST. NONZERO TERMS is the size of
the output matrix.
Note: Multiply the integer value by 4 and the nonzero value by 8 to estimate the size of the
output file in bytes.
• RANK OF UPDATE is the number of rows that will be simultaneously updated during the
decomposition. You can set by either the “rank” keyword or SYSTEM(205).
Setting SYSTEM(69)=64 causes NX Nastran to terminate after printing UIM 4157.
This can be useful for determining a job’s memory and disk space requirements.
In UIM 6439:
• SPARSE DECOMP MEMORY USED states the actual memory used in the decomposition
process.
• SPARSE DECOMP SUGGESTED MEMORY is based on the execution of the module. Using
this value will result in optimal throughput performance.
Memory and Disk Usage Statistics

NX Nastran writes the memory and disk usage statistic tables after the job completes. These
tables indicate the maximum memory used by any sparse numerical module and the maximum
disk used by any module during the job. For example:
+---------- SPARSE SOLUTION MODULES -----------+ +------------- MAXIMUM DISK USAGE -------------+
HIWATER SUB_DMAP DMAP HIWATER SUB_DMAP DMAP
(WORDS) DAY_TIME NAME MODULE (MB) DAY_TIME NAME MODULE
517786 04:35:44 SEKRRS 18 DCMP 15.625 04:35:48 SESTATIC 186 EXIT
In the sparse solution modules table:

• HIWATER WORDS is the maximum amount of open core used by certain sparse numerical
modules.
• DAY_TIME is the time of day the module ran.
• SUB_DMAP NAME is the name of the SUBDmap.

• DMAP MODULE indicates the line number and module name that made the maximum
request.
In the maximum disk usage table:

• HIWATER (MB) is the maximum amount of disk space used by any module.
• DAY_TIME is the time of day the module ran.
• SUB_DMAP NAME is the name of the SUBDmap.
• DMAP MODULE indicates the line number and module name that made the maximum
request.
Database Usage Statistics

These statistics, provided in table format, summarize the I/O activity for the DBSets.
This statistical table contains two parallel tables:

• The LOGICAL DBSETS table lists each DBset
• The DBSET FILES tables lists the component files of the DBSet.
In these tables:
• DBSET is the name of the DBSet.
• ALLOCATED is the NX Nastran DBSet size limit in blocks.
• BLOCKSIZE is BUFFSIZE of the DBSet minus one.
• USED (BLOCKS) and USED % are the number of GINO and executive blocks used at the
end of the job as well as the percent of the DBSet actually used.
• FILE is the file’s logical name associated with the DBSet to the left.
• ALLOCATED is the number of blocks allocated by NX Nastran to the file.
• HIWATER (BLOCKS) and HIWATER (MB) are the maximum number of GINO and
executive blocks and actually used during the execution.
• I/O TRANSFERRED is the amount of I/O to the file. The last line of this column lists the
total I/O transferred.

In this example, the MASTER and OBJSCR DBSets are each composed of one file. The DBALL
DBSet is composed of two files, DBALL and DBALL2; and the SCRATCH DBSet has three
components, MEMFILE, SCRATCH, and SCR300.
You can use this database statistics table to determine whether the DBSets and files are
appropriately sized and to assess the amount of I/O activity associated with each file. You can
obtain the best elapsed time performance can be obtained if the files with the greatest activity
are on different physical devices (and better yet, separate I/O controllers or busses).
Summary of Physical File I/O Activity

This section of the .f04 file describes the physical file I/O for each database file.
*** SUMMARY OF PHYSICAL FILE I/O ACTIVITY ***
ASSIGNED PHYSICAL FILENAME RECL (BYTES) READ/WRITE COUNT MAP WSIZE (NUM) MAP COUNT
------------------------------------------------------- ----------- --------------- -----------
/tmp/65872_57.SCRATCH 8192 1 128KB ( 4) 1
/tmp/65872_57.OBJSCR 8192 378 128KB ( 4) 24
/tmp/65872_57.MASTER 8192 1247 128KB ( 4) 11
/tmp/65872_57.DBALL 8192 26 128KB ( 4) 1
/tmp/65872_57.SCR300 8192 1 128KB ( 4) 1
/nxnr/aix/SSS.MASTERA 8192 162 N/A N/A
/nxnr/aix/SSS.MSCOBJ 8192 202 N/A N/A
In this summary:
• ASSIGNED PHYSICAL FILENAME, RECL, and MAP WSIZE and NUM are repeated from
the “Summary of Physical FIle Information” table.
• READ/WRITE COUNT is the number of GINO reads and writes that were performed on
the file.
• MAP COUNT is the number of times the map window had to be remapped (these columns
are only present on systems supporting mapped I/O).
You can use this summary to tune I/O performance. For mapped I/O systems, if the map count
approaches the number of reads and writes, you should increase the map size and/or the number
of maps.
• Increasing the number of maps is suggested if a module simultaneously accesses more data
blocks or matrices in a file than there are windows.
• Increasing the size of the windows is suggested if a file contains very large data blocks or
matrices.
You can obtain the best elapsed time performance, with or without mapping, if the files with the
greatest activity are on different physical devices, and better yet, on separate I/O controllers
or busses.
Other Optional Diagnostic Information

The DIAG Executive Control command has a number of different options that you can use
to have NX Nastran print additional, diagnostic information to the .f04 file. Several of these
options are described in detail below.
See also
• “DIAG” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

DIAG 8
If you include DIAG 8 in the Executive Control section of your input file, the software prints
matrix trailers as the matrices are generated. Terms in the DIAG 8 output include:
• The number of GINO blocks in the matrix (BLOCKS);
• The average number of terms per string (STRL)
• The number of strings in a matrix data block (NBRSTR)
• The number of bank terms in a matrix data block on the average (BNDL)
• The number of banks in a matrix data block (NBRBND)
• The average first nonzero row position (ROWL)
• The average of full bank width (BNDAVG)
• The maximum full bank width of all columns of data blocks (BNDMAX)
• The number of null columns in a data block (NULCOL)
DIAG 13
If you include DIAG 13 in your input file, the software includes the message REAL CORE IS
xxxx throughout the day log. It shows the value of the NASTRAN keyword REAL. The message
only appears after module executions which use the value. The open core (i.e., working space) for
other modules is set via HICORE
DIAG 19
If you include DIAG 19 in your input file, the software prints data for MPYAD and FBS method
selection in the Execution Summary table at the top of the .f04 file.
DIAG 49
If you include DIAG 49, the software includes a detailed analysis of timing data (statistical
information on module expected/actual CPU item) at the end of the .f04 file in three separate
sections.
• The first section contains information about each module and submodule.
• The second section reports statistical information about the submodules (FBS, MPYAD,
and DCMP) grouped by specific methods. Instances where the CPU estimate doesn’t pass
the following criteria are output:
• The third section contains information about the modules listed in alphabetical order.

Comparing Different F04 Files with F04REPRT

The NX Nastran F04RERPT utility program contains a Perl script that allows you to summarize
and/or compare the contents of different .f04 files. This utility can be helpful if you want to
compare the relative performance of one or more jobs under various configurations.
See also
• “F04REPRT” in the NX Nastran Installation and Operations Guide
4.4 Understanding the .log File

The .log file contains system information, such as the name of the computer on which the
analysis was run. It also contains any system errors encountered during the analysis.
4.5 Understanding the .plt and .pch Files

The .plt file is a binary file that contains the plotting information generated by the NX Nastran
plotter. If the NX Nastran plotter is not used, run1.plt is deleted following the completion of
the run.
The .pch file (“punch file”) is an ASCII file that contains “punched” output. It is written to
FORTRAN unit 7. In the Case Control section, you can specify whether you want the software
to output specified results to the punch file.
4.6 Understanding the .DBALL and .MASTER Files

The .DBALL and .MASTER files are database files (DBsets) that NX Nastran generates
automatically during a solve. The files are generated in the scratch directory. These files are
necessary if you want to later perform a restart analysis.
• The .MASTER file is a directory of the database. It contains the names of all DBsets, DBset
members and their physical file names, and a directory of projects, versions, data blocks,
parameters, DMAP source and object files. It also contains the Nastran Data Definition
Language (NDDL) scheme used to describe the database. The default maximum size for
.MASTER is 5,000 blocks
• The .DBALL file contains all the DMAP data blocks you can save for reuse in a subsequent
run. In the solution sequences that don’t allow restarts, such as SOL 101, this file is empty.
The default size is for .DBALL is 250,000 blocks
Specifying Whether to Save .DBALL and .MASTER Files

The “scratch” option on the nastran command line allows you to specify whether you want the
software to save the files .DBALL and .MASTER files. By default, NX Nastran deletes the
files at the end of the run.
• If you specify “scratch=yes,” the software deletes the files.
• If you specify “scratch=no,” the software keeps the files.

• If you specify “scratch=mini,” the software retains a reduced size database that you can use
to perform data recovery restarts.
See also
• “scratch” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “Mini-Database Restarts” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
• “Understanding DBsets” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
Manually Deleting .DBALL and .MASTER Files

In some cases, you may need to manually delete the .DBALL and .MASTER files. For example:
• If your solve doesn’t complete successfully, NX Nastran may not automatically delete the
.DBALL and .MASTER files, even though you specified “scratch=yes.” In those cases, you
must delete the files manually before resubmitting your job.
• If you specified “scratch=no,” but you decide that you want to submit a .dat file a second time
as a cold start (you don’t use any restart commands), you must first delete the corresponding
.DBALL and .MASTER files before you resubmit the job.
4.7 Understanding the .xdb and .op2 Files

The .xdb and .op2 files are binary files that contain NX Nastran results for use with certain
types of postprocessors.
• The .xdb file is known as the “results database” file. It contains results that can be
postprocessed by certain postprocessors.
• The .op2 file is known as an “OUTPUT2” file. It is written to FORTRAN unit 12. Also, if an
.op2 file already exists for the run, it too should be deleted prior to resubmitting the run. It
contains results that can be postprocessed by certain postprocessors, such as NX MasterFEM
(formerly known as I-DEAS MasterFEM), NX Scenario, and MSC.Patran.
The setting for the PARAM,POST option in the Bulk Data section of the input file controls
whether NX Nastran creates an .xdb or op2 file. For example, to have the software create an .xdb
file for use with NX MasterFEM, you would specify PARAM,POST,-2. Additionally, the options
you specify for PARAM,POST control whether the file contains geometry.
Note: Before you perform a restart analysis, you should delete the .xdb and .op2 files (if any)
from your original run.
See also
• “POST” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Chapter
5 Defining Grid Points and

Scalar Points
• Overview of Grid Points and Scalar Points
• Defining Grid Points
• Specifying Grid Point Properties
• Understanding Scalar Points

Chapter 5 Defining Grid Points and Scalar Points
5.1 Overview of Grid Points and Scalar Points

Whenever you analyze a finite element model using NX Nastran, you must generate a set of
grid points (nodes). Those grid points, together with the elements, define the size and shape of
your model. The physical behavior of your finite element model is represented by the elements
connecting the grid points as well as the associated constraints and their coordinate system.
When you create a finite element model of a structure, you’re actually constructing a
mathematical model that represents your structure in matrix form. The unknowns in the matrix
equation are the displacements in the model. These displacements consist of:
• The six components for each of the grid points
• One component for each of the scalar points
In general, the displacements at the grid points and the scalar points are referred to as the
model’s degrees of freedom.
This chapter describes grid points, grid point properties, and scalar points. Detailed information
about coordinate systems is provided in the next chapter.
For many practical modeling situations, you may have several different output coordinate
systems in a model.
See also
• “Understanding Coordinate Systems” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
5.2 Defining Grid Points

Each grid point has six degrees of freedom (DOF): three translations and three rotations. The six
degrees of freedom are identified as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, as shown below.
Figure 5-1. DOF Nomenclature

Other commonly used terms for the components of displacement at a grid point are
DOF 1 = T1 = U1 = translation in direction 1

Defining Grid Points and Scalar Points
DOF 4 = T4 = θ4 = rotation in direction 4
When you define a location of the grid point in space using these components, you are inherently
defining the point relative to a coordinate system.
In NX Nastran, you use the GRID bulk data entry to define a grid point. GRID allows you to:
• Assign a unique ID to the grid point
• Specify the location of the grid point in space with respect to a reference coordinate system
• Assign permanent constraints to the grid point
• Define the directions of motions at the grid point
Format of the GRID Entry

The format of the grid point entry is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
GRID ID CP X1 X2 X3 CD PS SEID
Field Contents
lD Grid point identification number.
Identification number of coordinate system in which the location of the
CP
grid point is defined.
X1, X2, X3 Location of the grid point in coordinate system CP.
Identification number of coordinate system in which the displacements,
CD degrees of freedom, constraints, and solution vectors are defined at the
grid point.
PS Permanent single-point constraints associated with the grid point.
SEID Superelement identification number.
See also
• “GRID” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Specifying the Grid Point ID (Field 1)

Field 1 lets you assign an ID to the grid point. That ID must be unique with respect to all
other grid points and scalar points in your model. In NX Nastran, grid point IDs must begin at
1, however, they don’t have to be contiguous.
You will often find it helpful to assign groups of IDs to the different sections of your model. For
example, if you’re working on an automotive FE model, you may assign IDs in the range from
1 to 1000 for the grid points for the driver’s door and assign IDs in the range from 5001 to

6000 for the grid points for the hood. A clear and logical scheme for numbering grid points can
be very helpful on complex models.
Defining Grid Point Coordinate Systems (Fields 3 and 5)

In NX Nastran, each grid point refers to two coordinate systems, CP and CD:
• The CP system that you specify in field 3 is used to locate the grid point in space. This is
known as the “position” coordinate system. It defines the grid point’s location in space.
• The CD system that you specify in field 7 is used to establish the grid point’s displacement
(output) coordinate system. NX Nastran uses the CD system to measure to defines the
direction of displacements, constraints, and other grid point related quantities such as
reaction forces. It is also the system in which the software outputs the results.
NX Nastran has two main categories of coordinate system:

• The basic coordinate system (the default for the CP and CD fields)
• Local coordinate systems, which you define yourself. These can be rectangular, cylindrical, or
spherical
With the CP and CD fields, you can use either the basic coordinate system or a local coordinate
system.
Specifying the Location Coordinate System in the CP Field

To specify the coordinate system for the location of the grid point, enter the ID of that coordinate
system in the CP field (Field 3). If you leave the CP field blank, or enter a 0 in the CP field, the
software defines the grid point in the basic coordinate system.
Specifying the Output Coordinate System in the CD Field

To specify the coordinate system in which you want NX Nastran to generate and output the
results at grid points (displacements, grid point forces, etc.), enter the ID of the coordinate
system in the CD field (Field 7). For many practical modeling situations, you may have several
different output coordinate systems in a single model.
Although the CD field is referred to as the displacement coordinate system, it is much more than
just the coordinate system used to output the results. In fact, it has a much more fundamental
role in NX Nastran. The collection of all the output coordinate systems–that is, all the coordinate
systems defined on the CD field of all the grid points-constitutes the global coordinate system.
It is important to note that the global coordinate system is not necessarily a single coordinate
system but rather the collection of all of your CD coordinate systems. NX Nastran assembles the
global stiffness matrix in the global coordinate system.
See also
• “Comparing the Basic and Global Coordinate Systems” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
Understanding How the CP and CD Fields Work Together

Although you can have the CP and CD fields reference the same coordinate system, you can also
have them reference different coordinate systems. For example, you may want to specify a local
coordinate system to define the location of the grid point in the CP field, and then leave the CD
field blank or enter a 0 to output your results in the basic coordinate system. On the other hand,

if you need to output the displacement information in particular coordinate system, you enter
the ID of that local coordinate system in the CD field.
Defining the Directions of Displacement (Fields 4-6)
X1, X2, and X3 in fields 4-6 let you define the location of the grid point in the CP coordinate
system you specified in field 3.
In NX Nastran, each grid point has six degrees of freedom or “displacement components”: three
translational and three rotational. The degrees of freedom are denoted as u1, u2, u3, θ1, θ2, and
θ3, or as T1, T2, T3, R1, R2, and R3.
• T1, T2, and T3 are the three orthogonal components of translation parallel to the 1, 2, and 3
directions of the grid point’s displacement coordinate system, respectively.
• R1, R2, and R3 are the components of rotation in the same directions.
X1, X2, and X3 have the following meanings for different types of coordinate systems:
Type X1 X2 X3
Rectangular X Y Z
Cylindrical R θ (degrees) Z
Spherical R θ (degrees) φ (degrees)
The coordinate system you specify in the CD field determines the orientation of these
displacement components:
• If the system you specify in the CD field is rectangular, the displacement components are
parallel to the local system and are independent of the grid point location as indicated in
(a) below.
• If the system you specify in the CD field is cylindrical, the displacement components are in
the radial, tangential, and axial directions as indicated in (b) below.
• If the system you specify in the CD field is spherical, the displacement components are in the
radial, meridional, and azimuthal directions as indicated in (c) below.

Figure 5-2. Displacement Components

Specifying Permanent Single Point Constraints (Field 8)
You use field 8 (PS) of the GRID entry to specify permanent single point constraints to constrain
any or all the degrees of freedom associated with the grid point. In this field, you enter the
integers (1-6) that correspond to the degrees of freedom you want to constrain.
The constraints that you define in field 8 are considered permanent because you can’t change
them during the run. Any degrees of freedom you specify in the PS field are constrained
for all subcases. Constraints specified on the GRID entry are usually restricted to those
degrees-of-freedom that will not be elastically constrained and hence must be removed from the
model in order to avoid singularities in the stiffness matrix.
In many situations, you want to analyze your structure using more than one set of constraints.
For these situations, don’t specify the constraints on the GRID entry. Instead, specify the
constraints using an SPC bulk data entry (Single-Point Constraint). The only difference from
using the GRID entry is that constraints applied using an SPC entry must be selected through
the Case Control section. Therefore, you can apply different SPC entries for different subcases.
NX Nastran applies the constraints you define in field 8 in the output coordinate system (CD),
which you defined in field 7. This gives you greater flexibility for modeling a variety of joints
and boundary conditions.
Note: NX Nastran applies all constraints, whether you define them with an SPC bulk data entry
or using the PS field of the GRID entry, in the output coordinate system.
See also
• “SPC” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “Single-Point Constraints” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
Defining the Superelement ID (Field 9)
The SEID option in field 9 lets you define superelements within the bulk data section of your
input file.
See also
• “Superelement Definition” in the NX Nastran Superelement Users’s Guide
Understanding the GRDSET Entry

If many or all of the GRID entries in your model have the same values in the location coordinate
system (CP), displacement coordinate system (CD), single point constraint (PS) fields, or
superelement ID (SEID), you can use the GRDSET bulk data entry to avoid having to repeatedly
specify the same information. If you specify a value for any of these fields on the GRDSET
entry, the software then uses those values to replace corresponding blank fields on any GRID
entry in your model.
GRDSET is useful in the case of such problems as space trusses where you want to remove all
the rotational degrees-of-freedom. It is also helpful with plane structures where you want to
remove all out-of-plane or all in-plane motions.
Note: You can only include a single GRDSET entry in the bulk data section of your input file.

See also
• “GRDSET” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
5.3 Specifying Grid Point Properties

In NX Nastran, you specify some of the characteristics of the model as properties of grid points,
rather than as properties of elements.
Defining Mass, Damping, and Stiffness through Direct Input Matrices

You use direct input matrices to define mass, damping, and stiffness properties either in part or
entirely, as properties of grid points.
• You can use the DMIG bulk data entry define direct input matrices. You can associate these
matrices with components of geometric grid points, scalar points or extra points introduced
for dynamic analysis.
• You can use the TF bulk data entry define transfer functions that NX Nastran automatically
converts to direct matrix input.
• The DMIAX entry is an alternate form of direct matrix input that is used for hydroelastic
problems (see ).
See also
• “DMIG” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “TF” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “DMIAX” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “Overview of Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
Defining Mass through the Concentrated Mass Element

You can also use the concentrated mass element to input mass properties as properties of grid
points.
• You can use the CONM1 entry to define a 6 × 6 matrix of mass coefficients at a geometric
grid point in any selected coordinate system.
• You can use the CONM2 entry to define a concentrated mass at a geometric grid point
in terms of its mass, the three coordinates of its center of gravity, the three moments of
inertia about its center of gravity, and its three products of inertia, referred to any selected
coordinate system.
See also
• “CONM1” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “CONM2” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Defining Temperatures at Grid Points

You can define thermal fields by specifying the temperatures at grid points.
• You use TEMP bulk data entry to specify the temperature at grid points for use in connection
with thermal loading and temperature-dependent material properties.
• You use the TEMPD bulk data entry to specify a default temperature to avoid a large
number of duplicate entries on a TEMP entry when the temperature is uniform over a large
portion of the structure.
• You use the TEMPAX bulk data entry for conical shell problems.
See also
• “TEMP” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “TEMPD” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “TEMPAX” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Assigning a Singularity Normal to a Degree-of-Freedom

The SNORM Bulk Data entry and/or the PARAM,SNORM assigns the singularity normal of a
shell element to a degree-of-freedom. NX Nastran then uses the AUTOSPC capability to remove
this singularity.
See also
• “SNORM” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “Automatically Applying Single-Point Constraints” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
5.4 Understanding Scalar Points

In NX Nastran, a scalar point has only one degree of freedom. A scalar point is similar to a grid
point in the way that NX Nastran assembles it into the matrix equation. However, a scalar point
has no spatial orientation, so it does not require a coordinate system. It is simply an additional
degree of freedom that you can define in your model. Scalar points are useful for modeling with
scalar elements, multipoint constraints (MPCs), computing relative and average motions, and
defining the warping coefficients of a thin-walled beam.
Comparing Grid Points to Scalar Points

While you can use a grid point as a scalar point, a grid point requires more input and requires
you to constrain five of the six degrees of freedom. Consequently, using scalar points instead of a
grid point is more efficient, both computationally and in terms of the actual input required.
Defining Scalar Points

In NX Nastran, you define use the SPOINT bulk data entry to define a scalar point. You can
specify up to eight scalar points on a single SPOINT entry. You can also implicitly define
scalar points on a connection entry for a scalar element SPOINT entries are used primarily to

define scalar points appearing in constraint equations but to which no structural elements
are connected.
See also
• “SPOINT” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using Scalar Points as Extra Points for Dynamics

You can also introduce special scalar points, called “extra points,” for dynamic analyses. Extra
points are used in connection with transfer functions and other forms of direct matrix input used
in dynamic analyses and are defined on EPOINT entries.
See also
• “DMIGs, Extra Points, and Transfer Functions” in the NX Nastran Advanced Dynamic
Analysis User’s Guide
Scalar Point Output Format

Scalar point output is formatted differently in f06 files as compared to punch files. There are four
scalar points in the example below labeled 101, 102, 103 and 104 to demonstrate these formats.
Scalar point results from an *.f06 file:
D I S P L A C E M E N T V E C T O R
1 G 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2 G 0.0 0.0 1.228000E-04 0.0 -2.333333E-05 0.0
3 G 0.0 0.0 4.456000E-04 0.0 -4.000000E-05 0.0
40 G 0.0 0.0 9.017334E-04 0.0 -5.000000E-05 0.0
50 G 0.0 0.0 1.424533E-03 0.0 -5.333333E-05 0.0
100 G 1.024533E-03 1.870133E-03 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
101 S 1.024533E-03 1.870133E-03 1.024533E-03 1.870133E-03
In the f06 displacement results shown above, the “TYPE” column determines if the data is for a
grid point “G” or a scalar point “S”. Grid points have six degrees of freedom, whereas the scalar
points have only one. To reduce the f06 file, NX Nastran prints up to six scalar point outputs per
line. The ID at the beginning of a row of scalar point values corresponds to the first scalar point
output listed at the start of that line. In the above example, scalar point “101” corresponds to the
value listed at the start of the line, then the subsequent values correspond to the single output
for scalar points 102, 103 and 104.
Scalar point results from a punch file:
$DISPLACEMENTS 4
$REAL OUTPUT 5
$SUBCASE ID = 1 6
1 G 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 7
-CONT- 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 8
2 G 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 1.228000E-04 9
-CONT- 0.000000E+00 -2.333333E-05 0.000000E+00 10
3 G 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 4.456000E-04 11
-CONT- 0.000000E+00 -4.000000E-05 0.000000E+00 12
40 G 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 9.017334E-04 13
-CONT- 0.000000E+00 -5.000000E-05 0.000000E+00 14
50 G 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 1.424533E-03 15
-CONT- 0.000000E+00 -5.333333E-05 0.000000E+00 16
100 G 1.024533E-03 1.870133E-03 0.000000E+00 17
-CONT- 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 18
101 S 1.024533E-03 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 19
-CONT- 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 20
102 S 1.870133E-03 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 21
-CONT- 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 22
103 S 1.024533E-03 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 23
-CONT- 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 24
104 S 1.870133E-03 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 25
-CONT- 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 26

As shown in the punch file example above, a new row begins for each scalar point output
beginning with the ID. Since a scalar point has one degree of freedom, only the first value is
significant and the remaining 5 zero values can be ignored.
The modal degree of freedom output from a dynamic response solution is also a scalar quantity
and has the same format as the scalar point output described above, except it will have “M”
under the “TYPE” column.

Chapter
6 Understanding Coordinate
Systems
• Overview of Coordinate Systems in NX Nastran
• Understanding the Basic Coordinate System
• Defining a Local Coordinate System
• Understanding the Element and Material Coordinate System
• Other Special Coordinate System Entries

Chapter 6 Understanding Coordinate Systems
6.1 Overview of Coordinate Systems in NX Nastran

In NX Nastran, there are two general types of coordinate systems:
• The “basic” coordinate system, which is an implicitly defined reference coordinate system
• “Local” coordinate systems, which you define explicitly
Both of these different types of coordinate system is described in more detail below.
6.2 Understanding the Basic Coordinate System

NX Nastran has a built-in Cartesian system called the basic coordinate system. It is also called
the default coordinate system. The basic system is a rectangular system, except when you’re
using axisymmetric elements.
Figure 6-1. The Basic Coordinate System
ID of the Basic Coordinate System

In NX Nastran, all coordinate systems have a coordinate system identification number (CID).
The basic coordinate system’s identification number is zero (0) or blank.
Comparing the Basic and Global Coordinate Systems

Many finite element textbooks refer to a “global coordinate system.” However, this term means
something different in NX Nastran. It is important to understand the NX Nastran definition of
the global coordinate system as it differs from the classical textbook approach. These differences
in terminology can often be confusing to new NX Nastran users.
In the classical approach, individual element stiffness matrices are generated for all the
elements. Those individual elemental matrices are then transformed into a single stiffness
matrix commonly referred to as the global stiffness matrix. Each row and column of this
global stiffness matrix represents a degree of freedom of the structural model. The coordinate
system associated with each one of these degrees of freedom is the same and is known as the
global coordinate system.
In NX Nastran, the software generates the element stiffness matrix similarly to the classical
approach. NX Nastran assembles all the individual matrices into the global stiffness matrix.
However, instead of transforming the element stiffness matrices into a unique coordinate system,
NX Nastran transforms these matrices into the coordinate system that you specified in the CD
field of the GRID entry for the grid points to which each element is attached. NX Nastran then
assembles the individual elemental stiffness matrices to form the global stiffness matrix.

Understanding Coordinate Systems
Therefore, in NX Nastran, the “global” coordinate system isn’t a unique coordinate system. It is
simply the collection of all the CD coordinate systems specified on all of the GRID entries. This
approach facilitates a variety of elegant modeling techniques. If you prefer to have the global
coordinate system be the same as the basic coordinate system, which is a unique system, you can
leave the CD field blank for all the grid points in your model.
Figure 6-2 shows the coordinate system definition where:
Figure 6-2. Coordinate System Definition
(i, j, k) = local (user defined) coordinate system (x, y, z) or (r, θ, z) or (r, θ, φ)

(xb, yy, zy) = basic coordinate system
=
normalized
=
=
normalized
=

The GRID bulk data entry lets you define six rectangular displacement components (three
translations and three rotations) are defined at each grid point. You also specify both the location
coordinate system and the displacement coordinate system are specified on the GRID entry for
each geometric grid point.
See also
• “Defining Grid Points” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
6.3 Defining a Local Coordinate System

Because you may need to create your model, or portions of your model, in a coordinate system
other than the basic coordinate system, NX Nastran also lets you construct alternate coordinate
systems. In NX Nastran, such coordinate systems are known as “local” coordinate systems.
Local coordinate systems may be:
• Rectangular
• Cylindrical
• Spherical
You can relate local coordinate systems either directly or indirectly to the basic coordinate
system. Local coordinate systems play an important role in generating your models, solving
for the solution, and displaying the results.
For example, consider the farm silo in Figure 6-3. It is cylindrical with a hemispherical dome. It
is offset from the origin of the basic coordinate system. Creating local cylindrical (r, θ, z) and
spherical (r, θ, φ) systems makes it easier to define model geometry or review displacement
results.

Figure 6-3. Example of Local Coordinate Systems to Aid in Establishing Model

Geometry
Note: In any coordinate system, all angular input is in degrees, but output (such as rotational
displacement) is in radians.
Bulk Data Entries for Defining Coordinate Systems

In NX Nastran, there are six different bulk data entries that you can use to define local
coordinate systems:
With these different bulk data entries, you can define coordinate systems by referencing:
• Three existing grid points
• Three existing grid points in an existing reference coordinate system

Defining a Coordinate System by Referencing Existing Grid Points
The CORD1R, CORD1C, and CORD1S entries let you define a local coordinate system by
referencing three defined grid points. This is also known as the “Method 1” approach of
coordinate system definition in NX Nastran.
The method for defining a coordinate system with CORD1R, CORD1C, or CORD1S is very
similar. With each of these bulk data entries, you must:
• Specify a unique coordinate system ID (CID) in field 2 of the entry.
• Specify the IDs for each of the grid points that you want to reference. The three points
must be noncolinear and can’t be coincident. NX Nastran’s geometry processor checks the
points to ensure that they’re not colinear.
Additionally, with the CORD1R and CORD1C entries, you can define up to two coordinate
systems on a single entry.
Understanding the Importance of Using Fully Constrained, Separate Grid Points
Importantly, with Method 1s, if your model is later modified and any of the reference grid point
locations change, your local coordinate system orientation will also change. To avoid this type
of problem when using Method 1, you should always define three fully constrained grid points
that are not part of the structure. Then, if your model is modified, your local coordinate system
remains unchanged.
This example illustrates the problems you can encounter if you use Method 1 to define a
coordinate system with the CORD1R entry using three existing grid points instead of defining
three new ones.
Consider the truss structure shown in Figure 6-4. Suppose you want the positive T1 component
of the displacements for all the grid points to be in the negative Xb-direction as shown in (a).
In this case, we want to define CORD1R using existing grid points 2, 4, and 1 and assigning it an
ID of 11. You enter coordinate system 11 in the CD field of the GRID entry for all the grid points.
The model solves without problems and all results are in the correct direction.
Problems will occur if you need to subsequently modify the model. For example, suppose you
need to move the location of grid point 4 as shown in (b). However, in the process of moving grid
point 4, you also inadvertently rotate the local coordinate system 11.
While the deformed shape may look accurate if you post process the model, if you examine the
results in the output file, you will notice that they are not in the correct direction.

Figure 6-4. Model Change
Defining a Coordinate System By Referencing an Existing Coordinate System

The CORD2R, CORD2C, and CORD2S entries let you define a local coordinate system by
specifying the location of three points in a previously defined reference coordinate system. This
is also known as the “Method 2” approach of coordinate system definition in NX Nastran.
This reference coordinate system can either be the basic coordinate system or another local
coordinate system. Importantly, if this reference coordinate system is modified, the associated
local coordinate system will also change.
The method for defining a coordinate system with CORD2R, CORD2C, or CORD2S is very
similar. With each of these bulk data entries, you must:
• Specify a unique coordinate system ID (CID) in field 2 of the entry.
• Specify the coordinate system ID (RID) in field 3 of the reference coordinate system you’re
using. If you enter a 0 or a blank in this field, NX Nastran uses the basic coordinate system
for the reference coordinate system.
• Enter the coordinates of three grid points in the reference coordinate system you defined
in field 3.
Defining a Rectangular Coordinate System

You use the CORD1R and CORD2R Bulk Data entries to define a rectangular coordinate system.
Understanding CORD1R
When you define a rectangular coordinate with CORD1R, you must specify three reference
grid points: G1, G2, and G3.
• G1 defines the origin of the coordinate system.
• A vector taken from G1 to G2 defines the Z-axis
• G3, together with the Z-axis, define the XZ plane.
• The X-axis is defined to be in this XZ plane and is perpendicular to the Z-axis.
• The Y-axis is generated from the X- and Z-axes using the right-hand rule.

CORD1R Format
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CORD1R CIDA G1A G2A G3A CIDB G1B G2B G3B
Field Contents
CIDA, CIDB Coordinate system identification number.
GiA, GiB Grid point identification numbers.
See also
• “CORD1R” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Example: Adding Three Additional Grid Points to Define CORD1R

To better understand the use of a CORD1R entry, consider the truss structure introduced earlier
in this book. The input file has been modified so that the location of grid points 1 through 4 are
defined in a rectangular coordinate system with an ID of 11 as shown in Figure 6-5.
Figure 6-5. Grid Point Locations Using a Local Coordinate System

The new rectangular coordinate system with an ID of 11 has an origin located at the center of
the truss and is rotated 180 degrees about the basic Z-axis.
The corresponding input file for the structure is given in Listing 6-1. Note that it is necessary to
add three additional grid points to the input file. Importantly, these additional grid points don’t
affect the overall stiffness of the structure.
• Grid point 11 is located at the center of the truss structure, but it isn’t attached to the
structure. It is fully constrained.
• Grid point 12 is located 10 inches above grid point 11 in the basic Z-direction. The Z-axis for
the new coordinate system is therefore parallel to the basic Z-axis. The choice of 10 inches is
arbitrary since any positive value produces the same results.

• Grid point 13 defines the local XZ plane from which the X- and Y-axes of coordinate system
11 are determined. The choice of 0 inches for the X location of grid point 13 is also somewhat
arbitrary since it is used only to define the XZ plane. Any real number less than 300 inches
produces the same results. If the X-component of grid point 13 is greater than 300 inches,
then the X-axis will be in the basic X-direction instead of the direction shown.
$
$
BEGIN BULK
$
$ LOCAL COORDINATE SYSTEMS ARE DEFINED IN TERMS
$ GRID POINTS FOR METHOD 1
$
CORD1R 5 11 12 13
$
$ DESCRIBE THE GEOMETRY IN CP FIELD COORDINATE SYSTEMS
$
GRID 1 5 -300. -60. 0. 3456
GRID 2 5 -300. 60. 0. 3456
GRID 3 5 300. 60. 0. 3456
GRID 4 5 300. -60. 0. 3456
$
$ THE FOLLOWING GRID POINTS ARE ADDED ONLY FOR DEFINING
$ LOCAL COORDINATE SYSTEM 5 AND ARE FULLY CONSTRAINED
$
GRID 11 300. 60. 0. 123456
GRID 12 300. 60. 10. 123456
GRID 13 0. 60. 5. 123456
$
.
.
.
ENDDATA
Listing 6-1. Truss Using CORD1R
Understanding CORD2R
With CORD2R, you define the locations of points A, B, and C in the same manner as with the
CORD1R entry. You define these points in space using coordinates relative to a reference
coordinate system that you specify in Field 3. You must define the reference coordinate system
independently.
CORD2R Format
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CORD2R CID RID A1 A2 A3 B1 B2 B3
C1 C2 C3
Field Contents
CID Coordinate system identification number.
Identification number of a coordinate system that is defined
RID
independently from the CID coordinate system.
Ai, Bi, Ci Coordinates of three points in coordinate system defined in field 3.

Figure 6-6. CORDIR and CORD2R Definitions
See also
• “CORD2R” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Defining Cylindrical Coordinate Systems

The CORD1C and CORD2C bulk data entries allow you to define cylindrical coordinate systems.
Understanding CORD1C
The CORD1C entry is used to define a cylindrical coordinate system using three grid points to
define its location and orientation in space as shown in Figure 6-7.
• Grid point G1 defines the origin of the cylindrical system.
• A vector from grid point G1 to grid point G2 defines the Z-axis.
• Grid point G3 together with the Z-axis defines the θ = 0 plane.

Figure 6-7. CORD1C Definition
CORD1C Format
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CORD1C CIDA G1A G2A G3A CIDB G1B G2B G3B
Field Contents
CIDA, CIDB Coordinate system identification number.
See also
• “CORD1C” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Understanding CORD2C
The CORD2C entry uses the location of three points A, B, and C in the same manner as the three
grid points are used for the CORD1C entry. These points are defined in space using coordinates
relative to the reference coordinate system that you specify in Field 3.
• Point A defines the origin.
• Point B defines the direction of the z-axis.
• Point C lies in the plane of the azimuthal origin.
You must independently define the reference coordinate system (RID).

The location of a grid point (P in Figure 6-8) in this coordinate system is given by (r, θ,z) where θ
is measured in degrees. If this coordinate system is used to specify the displacement directions
they are given by ur, uθ and uz (the displacements are ur, uθ and uz).

CORD2C Format
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CORD2C CID RID A1 A2 A3 B1 B2 B3
C1 C2 C3
Field Contents
CID Coordinate system identification number. (Integer > 0)
RID independently from this coordinate system. (Integer ≥ 0; Default (zero) is
the basic coordinate system)
Ai, Bi, Ci Coordinates of three points in coordinate system defined in field 3. (Real)
Figure 6-8. CORD2C Definition
See also
• “CORD2C” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Example: Using the CORD2C Entry
The following example illustrates the use of the CORD2C entry. An arch with a semicircular top
is shown in Figure 6-9. To facilitate grid point input, we want to establish a local cylindrical
coordinate system for grid points 3 through 7.

Figure 6-9. Arch Structure

A cylindrical coordinate system with an ID of 100 is defined as shown in Figure 6-10.
Figure 6-10. Definition of Local Cylindrical Coordinate System

The local cylindrical coordinate system is defined by referencing the basic coordinate system.
Three points are required to define the local system:

• Point A is at the origin
• Point B lies on the z-axis of the new system.
• Point C defines the reference axis at which θ = 0°.
This coordinate system has an identification number in field CID which will be referenced by
other entities, such as the CP and CD fields of a GRID entry. In this example, the coordinates of
points A, B, and C are in the basic coordinate system.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CORD2C CID RID A1 A2 A3 B1 B2 B3
C1 C2 C3
CORD2C 100 15. 50. 0. 15. 50. 1.
16. 50. 0.
The associated GRID entries are defined as follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
GRID 1 0. 0. 0.
GRID 2 0. 50. 0.
GRID 3 100 15. 150. 0.
GRID 4 100 15. 120. 0.
GRID 5 100 15. 90. 0.
GRID 6 100 15. 60. 0.
GRID 7 100 15. 30. 0.
GRID 8 30. 50. 0.
GRID 9 30. 0. 0.
Grid points 3 through 7 use (r, θ, z) coordinates with r = 15.0 inches and θ varying from
30 degrees (GRID 7) to 150 degrees (GRID 3). The output for all grid points is in the basic
rectangular coordinate system since field 7 is left blank.
Understanding CORD1S
The CORD1S entry is similar to the CORD1C entry since three grid points (G1, G2, and G3) are
used to define the new coordinate system. As shown in Figure 6-11:
• Grid point G1 defines the origin of the spherical system.
• The vector starting at grid point G1 and passing through grid point G2 is the θ = 0 axis.
• This axis, together with grid point G3, determines the φ = 0 plane.
• The φ = 0 axis is in this plane and is oriented using the right-hand rule.
CORD1S Format
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CORD1S CIDA G1A G2A G3A CIDB G1B G2B G3B

Field Contents
CIDA, CIDB Coordinate system identification numbers.
See also
• “CORD1S” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Understanding CORD2S
The CORD2S entry uses the location of three points A, B, and C in the same manner as the three
grid points are used for the CORD1S entry. These points are defined in space using coordinates
relative to the reference coordinate system (Field 3). The reference coordinate system must
be independently defined.
CORD2S Format
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CORD2S CID RID A1 A2 A3 B1 B2 B3
C1 C2 C3
Field Contents
RID
independently from this coordinate system.
Ai, Bi, Ci Coordinates of three points in coordinate system defined in field 3.
Figure 6-11. CORD1S and CORD2S Definitions

θ for the spherical coordinate system is different than the θ in the cylindrical coordinate
system.
Example: Using Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinate Systems

To see the use of cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems, consider the grain silo shown below.
• The cylindrical portion of the silo is modeled using a cylindrical coordinate system.
• The roof of the silo is modeled using a spherical coordinate system.
Figure 6-12. Silo Model
The cylindrical coordinate system has an ID of 1 and is defined with the CORD2C entry. It is
defined with respect to the basic coordinate system.
• The origin is given by point A1, and located by the vector (100,0,0) as shown in Figure 6-12.
• The Z-axis is defined by the line extending from point A1 to point B1, which is located at
(100,1,0).
• The Z-axis along with point C1, which is located at (101,1,0), defines the θ = 0 plane.
• The R-axis is defined in this plane and is perpendicular to the Z-axis.
• The direction of the θ-axis is determined using the right-hand rule.
The spherical coordinate system has an ID of 2 is defined with the CORD2S entry. It is defined
with respect to the reference coordinate system 1.
• The location of origin of the spherical coordinate system 2 is given by point A2 at (0,0,50).
This location is with respect to coordinate system 1.
• The θ = 0 axis is the line extending from A2 to B2, which is located at (0,0,51).
• The φ = 0 plane is located by the φ = 0 axis and point C2, which is located at (1,0,51).

Since coordinate system 1 is defined in terms of the basic coordinate system, coordinate system 2
is also indirectly defined in terms of the basic coordinate system. You could also directly define
both coordinate systems in terms of the basic coordinate system. However, since coordinate
system 2 is linked to coordinate system 1, adjusting the position of the silo (for example, due
to a change in the module’s geometry) is only a matter of changing the locations of the grid
points on the CORD2C entry.
BEGIN BULK
$
$ THE CYLINDRICAL SYSTEM USED FOR THE SILO BODY
$
CORD2C 1 0 100. 0. 0. 100. 1. 0. +COR1
+COR1 101. 1. 0.
$
$ THE SPHERICAL SYSTEM USED FOR THE SILO CAP
$
CORD2S 2 1 0. 0. 50. 0. 0. 51. +COR2
+COR2 1. 0. 51.
.
.
.
ENDDATA
Listing 6-2. Grain Silo Coordinate Systems
6.4 Understanding the Element and Material Coordinate System

Every element in the NX Nastran library has its own unique element coordinate system that is
used to output the element forces, moments, and stresses as well as to orient section properties.
For some elements, such as the CROD element, the element coordinate systems are implicitly
defined based on the element connectivity. For other elements, you must explicitly define the
orientation of the element coordinate system. For further discussion of element coordinate
systems, refer to the NX Nastran Element Library.
In addition to the element coordinate system, an element may also have an optional material
coordinate system that can be used to define the orientation of orthotropic or anisotropic material.
Special Considerations for Grid Points on the Polar Axis
If the displacements of a grid point are defined to be in a spherical or cylindrical coordinate

system and the grid point is located on, or relatively close to, the polar axis, then it will be
replaced by the “defining” rectangular coordinate system. The z-axis of the “defining” rectangular
coordinate system is coincident with the polar axis and the x-axis is coincident with θ = 0 in
cylindrical system, or θ = 0 and φ = 0 in the spherical system. In this case, you should explicitly
specify a rectangular coordinate system.
Defining Element Offsets
Element offsets are defined by a Cartesian coordinate system, which is also parallel to the
displacement coordinate system at the connecting grid point. However, the components of the
offsets are always defined in units of translation, even if the displacement coordinate system
is cylindrical or spherical.

6.5 Other Special Coordinate System Entries

In addition to the main coordinate system bulk data entries discussed above, there are some
additional entries that you can use when defining coordinate systems in NX Nastran.
CORD3G
CORD3G lets you define a general coordinate system using three rotational angles as functions
of coordinate values in the reference coordinate system. You use the CORD3G entry with the
MAT9 entry to orient the material principal axes for 3D composite analyses.
See also
• “CORD3G” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
GMCORD
GMCORD lets you define a convective/follower coordinate system on a FEEDGE, GMCURV,
FEFACE, or GMSURF bulk data entry for use in adaptive (p-element) analysis.
See also
• “GMCORD” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Chapter
7 Material Properties
• Introduction
• Isotropic Materials
• Orthotropic Materials
• Anisotropic Materials
• Material Properties for Heat Transfer
• Material Properties for Fluid Analysis
• Material Properties for Nonlinear Analysis

Chapter 7 Material Properties
7.1 Introduction
Material definitions describe the stiffness or constitutive relationships, strength, density, and
thermal expansion characteristics of a material. NX Nastran supports isotropic, orthotropic
and anisotropic materials.
This chapter describes materials for general structural analysis as well as thermal and fluid
material properties.
Elements and Material Input Data Types

Table 7-1 summarizes the relationships between elements and material input data types.
Table 7-1. Correspondence Between Element and Material Type

Stress Temperature
Material Type Hyper-elastic Composite
Dependent Dependent
ElementType MAT1 MAT2 MAT3 MAT8 MAT9 MATHP MATS1 MATTi
CBAR X X
CBEAM X X X X
CBEND X X
CCONEAX X X X
CRAC2D X X
CRAC3D X X
CHEXA X X X X X
CPENTA X X X X X
CQUAD X
CQUAD4 X X X X X X X
CQUAD8 X X X X X X
CQUADR X X X X
CQUADX X
CROD X X X
CSHEAR X X
CTETRA X X X X X
CTRIA3 X X X X X X X
CTRIA6 X X X X X X
CTRIAR X X X X
CTRIAX X
CTRIAX6 X X
CTUBE X X X
7.2 Isotropic Materials

In NX Nastran, you model isotropic materials with the MAT1 bulk data entry. An isotropic
material is defined as a material that has the same material properties in any direction. In NX
Nastran, you use the MAT1 entry to describe the isotropic material properties for general, plain
stress, plain strain, and axisymmetric isotropic material behavior.

Material Properties
This section describes the MAT1 Bulk Data entries used to define isotropic materials and its
corresponding constitutive relations.
MAT1 Constituitive Relationships

The general three-dimensional isotropic material stress-strain constitutive relationship is:
Equation 7-1.
where:
{σ} stress
{ε} strain
{A} thermal expansion coefficients
E Young’s modulus
ν Poisson’s ratio
τ shear stress
γ shear strain
change in element temperature used to calculate initial element
(T − Tref)
thermal expansion
Constitutive Relationship for Plane Stress
Isotropic material constitutive relationship for plane stress behavior is:

Equation 7-2.
Constitutive Relationship for Plane Strain

Isotropic material constitutive relationship for plane strain behavior is:
Equation 7-3.
Constitutive Relationship for Transverse Shear

When MAT1 is used for transverse shear:
Equation 7-4.
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 ν. When you enter only two constants, the software computes
the third constant using the following equation:
Equation 7-5.
where:
E Young’s modulus

Material Properties
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 ν are used to develop a material matrix for the
element.
If you enter all three constants and they don’t 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.
Importantly, NX Nastran doesn’t apply some of the isotropic material constants in the stiffness
formulation of certain elements. Table 7-2 shows which elastic constants are used for the
different element types.
Table 7-2. MAT1 – Material Constant Usage for the Different Element Types
Element Entry E NU G
CROD
Extension and Torsion Transverse
CBEAM Bending Not Used
Shear
CBAR
CQUADi
CTRIAi Membrane and Bending Transverse Shear
CCONEAX
CSHEAR Not Used Shear
CRAC2D All Terms Not Used
CHEXA
CPENTA
All Terms Not Used
CTETRA
CRAC3D
Radial, Axial, All Coupled Ratios
CTRIAX6 Shear
Circumferential
MAT 1 Format
The MAT1 entry has the following format:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MAT1 MID E G NU RHO A TREF GE
ST SC SS MCSID
Field Contents
MID Material identification number. (Integer > 0)

Field Contents
E Young’s modulus. (Real ≥ 0.0 or blank)
G Shear modulus. (Real ≥ 0.0 or blank)
NU Poisson’s ratio. (-1.0 < Real ≤ 0.5 or blank)
RHO Mass density. (Real)
A Thermal expansion coefficient. (Real)
Reference temperature for the calculation of thermal loads, or a
TREF temperature-dependent thermal expansion coefficient. (Real; Default =
0.0 if A is specified)
GE Structural element damping coefficient. (Real)
Stress limits for tension, compression, and shear used only to compute
ST, SC, SS margins of safety in certain elements; they have no effect on the
computational procedures. (Real)
Material coordinate system identification number. Used only for
MCSID PARAM,CURV processing. See the “Parameters” in the NX Nastran
Quick Reference Guide. (Integer ≥ 0 or blank)
• The material identification number (MID) connects the MAT1 entry to an element property
entry (e.g., PBAR, PSHELL, or PSOLID).
• You only have to enter values for two of the three properties E, G, and NU. NX Nastran
automatically calculates the remaining value, if it’s required, as described above. Note that
you can’t leave both the E and G fields blank.
• Mass density RHO is used for GRAV loads as well as problems in dynamic analysis.
• The thermal expansion coefficient A and reference temperature TREF are used only in
thermal analysis problems.
• The structural damping coefficient (GE) is only used in dynamic analysis.
• The ST, SC, and SS entries let you perform optional margin of safety calculations by
supplying yield values for the materials. These are extra arithmetic calculations and don’t
affect your basic NX Nastran results.
• MCSID lets you specify a material coordinate system ID number. Material coordinate
systems are used with two- and three-dimensional elements to orient orthotropic and
anisotropic material axes with respect to the element coordinate system.
Defining Temperature- and Stress-Dependent Properties for MAT1
With the MAT1 entry, you can use related bulk data entries to define temperature- or
stress-dependent properties.
• You can use the MATT1 entry to designate certain material properties on the MAT1 entry as
temperature-dependent by referencing TABLEMi entries.

Material Properties
• In SOLs 106 and 129, you can use the MATS1 entry to designate certain material properties
on the MAT1 entry as stress-dependent.
See also
• “MAT1” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “MATT1” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “MATS1” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Example: Using MAT1 to Define a Structural Steel

For example, suppose you needed to create a MAT1 entry for a linear static analysis problem
using a mild structural steel. The material properties you need to define are:
• E = 30 × 106lbf/ in2
• ν = 0.3
• Mass density ρm = 7.0 × 10−4 lbf−sec2 / in4
Given these parameters, you would create a MAT1 entry (small field format) as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MAT1 5 30.E6 0.3 7.0E-4
The same MAT1 entry in free field format would be:

MAT1,5,30.E6,,0.3,7.0E-4
7.3 Orthotropic Materials

In NX Nastran, you use the MAT3 and MAT8 bulk data entries to define the orthotropic material
properties for two-dimensional and three-dimensional element orthotropic material behavior.
• MAT3 lets you for define orthotropic material properties for three-dimensional elements.
• MAT8 lets you define orthotropic material properties for two-dimensional elements.
This section describes the MAT3 and MAT8 Bulk Data entries and their corresponding
constitutive relations. See Table 7-1 for a summary of elements that use MAT3 and MAT8 entries.
Understanding the MAT3 Entry

MAT3 lets you define an orthotropic three-dimensional relationship in a cross-sectional
coordinate system (x, θ, z) for an axisymmetric CTRIAX6 element.
The stress-strain relationship as given by:

Equation 7-6.
where:
{σ} stress
{ε} strain
E Young’s modulus
G shear modulus
τ shear stress
γ shear strain
(T − Tref)
thermal expansion
To preserve symmetry, the following relationships must hold:
Equation 7-7.
Only the νθx, νxz, and νzθ terms are used in the input for the MAT3 bulk data entry.
MAT3 Format
The format of the MAT3 bulk data entry is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MAT3 MID EX ETH EZ NUXTH NUTHZ NUZX RHO
GZX AX ATH AZ TREF GE
Field Contents
MID Material identification number.

Material Properties
Field Contents
EX, ETH, EZ Young’s moduli in the x, θ, and z directions, respectively.
xx Poisson’s ratios.
RHO Mass density.
GZX Shear modulus.
AX, ATH, AZ Thermal expansion coefficients.
TREF Reference temperature.
See also
Understanding the MAT8 Entry

You use the MAT8 entry to define orthotropic material matrix for plate and shell elements. In
NX Nastran, you can use MAT8 in conjunction with the PCOMP property bulk data entry to
define lamina properties for thin shell elements.
The stress-strain relationship as given by:
Equation 7-8.
where:
{σ} stress
{ε} strain
E Young’s modulus
τ shear stress

γ shear strain
G shear modulus
(T − Tref)
thermal expansion
Where νyx/Ey = νxy/Ex must be satisfied to preserve symmetry. Only the νyx term is used in
the input.
When either Gxz or Gyz is input as zero, it implies that the corresponding shear modulus is
infinite. When this is the case, the transverse shear flexibility effects are neglected in the shell
formulation.
The in-plane stress-strain relationship is defined by:
Equation 7-9.
The transverse shear stress-transverse shear strain relationship is defined by:
Equation 7-10.
See also
• “PCOMP” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
MAT8 Format
The format of the MAT8 Bulk Data entry is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MAT8 MID E1 E2 NU12 G12 G1Z G2Z RHO
A1 A2 TREF Xt Xc Yt Yc S
GE F12 STRN

Material Properties
Field Contents
E1 Modulus of elasticity in the longitudinal direction.
E2 Modulus of elasticity in the lateral direction.
NU12 Poisson’s ratio ((ε2/ε1) for uniaxial loading in 1-direction).
G12 In-plane shear modulus.
G1Z Transverse shear modulus for shear in the 1-Z plane.
G2Z Transverse shear modulus for shear in the 2-Z plane.
RHO Mass density.
Ai Thermal expansion coefficient in the i-direction.
Allowable stresses or strains in tension and compression, respectively,
Xt, Xc
in the longitudinal direction.
Allowable stresses or strains in tension and compression, respectively,
Yt, Yc
in the lateral direction.
S Allowable stress or strain for in-plane shear.
GE Structural damping coefficient.
F12 Interaction term used in the Tsai-Wu theory.
STRN Request for maximum strain theory.
Note: With the MAT8 entry, you can’t define any temperature-dependent material properties.
See also
MAT8 Example
The composite tube structure shown in Figure 7-1 illustrates the modeling of an orthotropic
material. The longitudinal direction is the fiber direction and is oriented at an angle of 45
degrees relative to the tube axes as shown. The tube is held fixed at one end, and a uniform
axial load is applied at the other end.

Figure 7-1. Composite Tube with Orthotropic Properties

A sample of the tube material has been tested, and the material properties are determined in
the longitudinal (Xmat) and transverse (Ymat) directions. The material properties are shown in
Table 7-3.
Table 7-3. Composite Tube Material Properties

Longitudinal Direction Transverse Direction Shear
E –
ν 0.4 0.16 –
G12 – –
Listing 7-1 shows the input file. The geometry has been defined with a local cylindrical coordinate
system for convenience. This doesn’t affect the orientation of the material coordinate system.

Material Properties
$
$ GEOMETRY DEFINED AND OUTPUT IN THE CYL COORD SYS 1
$
CORD2C 1 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1
1. 0.0 0.0
$
GRID 110 1 15. 150. 30. 1
GRID 111 1 15. 150. 60. 1
GRID 114 1 15. -150. 30. 1
GRID 115 1 15. -150. 60. 1
$
CQUAD4 8 1 110 114 115 111 135.
$
PSHELL 1 1 3. 1
$
MAT8 1 250000. 100000. .4 80000. 80000. 80000.
$
Listing 7-1. Orthotropic Tube Input File

Only element 8 and its connected grid points are shown.
The finite element model for the tube is shown in Figure 7-2. Element 8 is highlighted to
illustrate how the material coordinate system is used. The material coordinate system is oriented
at an angle of 135 degrees (field 8 of the CQUAD4 entry). The 135 degrees is with respect to a
line drawn from G1 (which has a grid ID of 110) to G2 (which has a grid ID of 114). The resulting
material coordinate system is therefore the same as that shown in Figure 7-1. If you look at the
deformed model, it is interesting to note that the tube rotates about the z-axis even though a
uniform axial load is applied. This rotation is due to the orthotropic material properties and the
fact that the fiber direction oriented in a different direction than the applied load.

Figure 7-2. Finite Element Model of the Orthotropic Tube
7.4 Anisotropic Materials

This section describes the MAT2 and MAT9 entries that define anisotropic materials and their
corresponding constitutive relations.
• MAT2 lets you define anisotropic material properties for two-dimensional elements.
• MAT9 lets you for define anisotropic material properties for three-dimensional elements.
See Table 7-1 for a summary of elements that use MAT2 and MAT9 entries.
Understanding MAT2
The MAT2 entry is used to define two-dimensional anisotropic constitutive stress-strain
relationship using the anisotropic material matrix, [G]. You can only use the MAT2 entry with
plate and shell elements. With MAT2, you define in-plane material properties with respect to an
element material coordinate system. You can also include transverse shear material properties.
The stress-strain relationship is given by:

Material Properties
Equation 7-11.
where:
{σ} stress
{ε} strain
E Young’s modulus
G shear modulus
(T − Tref)
thermal expansion
The MAT2 entry is also used to define two-dimensional orthotropic constitutive stress-strain
relation using the anisotropic material matrix, [G]. The stress-strain relationship is given by:
Equation 7-12.
where the elastic coefficients are given by engineering constants used to describe orthotropic
material properties as:
Equation 7-13.
Equation 7-14.

Equation 7-15.
When MAT2 is used for transverse shear, the following equation defines the transverse shear
stress-strain relationship:
Equation 7-16.
G33 must be set to 0.
MAT2 Format
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MAT2 MID G11 G12 G13 G22 G23 G33 RHO
A1 A2 A3 TREF GE ST SC SS
MCSID
Field Contents
Gij The material property matrix.
RHO Mass density.
Ai Thermal expansion coefficient vector.
ST, SC, SS Stress limits for tension, compression, and shear.
MCSID Material coordinate system identification number.
When you perform composite analysis using the PCOMP entries, NX Nastran automatically
generates the MAT2 entries.


Material Properties
See also
Understanding MAT9
The MAT9 entry is used to define general three-dimensional anisotropic constitutive
stress-strain relationship using the anisotropic material matrix, [G]. You can use MAT9 to define
an anisotropic material property for the CHEXA, CPENTA, and CTETRA solid elements. You
can also use MAT9 to define a three-dimensional orthotropic material.
The stress-strain constitutive relationship is:
Equation 7-17.
where:
{σ} stress
{ε} strain
E Young’s modulus
G shear modulus
(T − Tref)
thermal expansion
The MAT9 entry is also used to define three-dimensional orthotropic constitutive stress-strain
relation using the anisotropic material matrix [G]. The stress-strain relationship is given by:

Equation 7-18.
If you want to use the MAT9 entry to define an orthotropic material, the terms of the material
matrix can be generated by using Eq. 7-19:
Equation 7-19.
υij = Poisson’s ratios
Ex, Ey, Ez = Young’s modulus in the x-, y- and z-directions
Gxy, Gyz, Gzx = shear moduli
Δ =
also
G44 = Gxy
G55 = Gyz
G66 = Gzx
and
G14 = G15 = G16 = 0.0

G24 = G25 = G26 = 0.0
G34 = G35 = G36 = 0.0
G45 = G46 = G56 = 0.0

Material Properties
MAT9 Format
The format of the MAT9 Bulk Data entry is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MAT9 MID G11 G12 G13 G14 G15 G16 G22
G23 G24 G25 G26 G33 G34 G35 G36
G44 G45 G46 G55 G56 G66 RHO A1
A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 TREF GE
Field Contents
Elements of the 6 × 6 symmetric material property matrix in the
Gij
material coordinate system.
RHO Mass density.
Ai Thermal expansion coefficient.
When you use the MAT9 entry, you should define a material coordinate system on the PSOLID
entry (using field 4). For solid elements, NX Nastran outputs stresses in the material coordinate
system, which by default, is the basic coordinate system. In general, for solid elements, it isn’t
easy to determine the orientation of the element coordinate system.

See also
• “PSOLID” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
MAT9 Example
The following example illustrates the use of the anisotropic material property using the MAT9
material entry. This example consists of three parts as follows:

1. Develop a material property matrix using a pseudo-anisotropic model consisting of a single

CHEXA element with some bars along the edges and across the diagonals.
2. Verify that the material matrix developed in part 1 is correct.
3. Use the material matrix in a distorted element.
This three-part approach is analogous to constructing an anisotropic material test coupon and
then testing that coupon in the test lab to obtain a strain matrix. From the strain matrix, you
develop the material matrix. Then, you verify the material matrix by modeling the test coupon.
Finally, you use the newly developed material matrix in the actual structure.
Part 1 – Develop the Material Matrix
To simulate a three-dimensional anisotropic material, this example uses a single CHEXA

element with CBAR elements of various cross-sectional areas and bending stiffnesses along the
edges and across the diagonals as shown in Figure 7-3(a). The cross sections of the bars aren’t
important, but if you’re interested in the actual dimensions, refer to the input file “anis1.dat” in
the Test Problem Library located on the delivery media. The dimensions of the cube are 1 · 1 · 1
inches. To constrain the cube, one of the corner grid points is fixed in all six component directions.
Six self-equilibrating load cases are used to represent each of the six stress components. Each
direction was applied as a separate subcase. A self-equilibrating normal load consists of applying
equal and opposite forces to opposite faces of the cube (i.e., forces F1, F2, and F3).
For the shear load, a self-equilibrating load consists of applying four forces around the cube in
order to place the cube in a state of pure shear. Note that for all self-equilibrating load cases, the
net resultant should be zero; hence, the SPC force should also be zero. Because of the dimensions
chosen for CHEXA, each load case represents a unit stress, and the resulting strains are the
strains due to unit stress.
Figure 7-3. Pseudo-Anisotropic Model

The strains at the center of the CHEXA were extracted from the output file and summarized in
Table 7-4.

Material Properties
Table 7-4. Strains Due to Unit Loads on Pseudo Anisotropic Model

Applied Unit Load
FX FY FZ FXY FYZ FZX
εX 0.155 -0.034 -0.056 -0.016 0.002 -0.011
εY -0.034 0.072 -0.018 -0.005 0.001 -0.003
Resulting εZ -0.056 -0.018 0.107 -0.008 0.003 -0.005
Strains (10–6) γXY -0.016 -0.005 -0.008 0.197 -0.011 0.009
γYZ 0.002 0.001 0.003 -0.011 0.219 -0.021
γZX -0.011 -0.003 -0.005 0.009 -0.021 0.180
Table 7-4 represents a strain matrix that, when inverted, is the material matrix [G] introduced
in Eq. 7-19. Note that since the strain matrix is symmetric, the material matrix [G] is also
symmetric.
The result is the material matrix [G] for our anisotropic material as shown in Eq. 7-20.
Equation 7-20.
Part 2 – Verify the Material Matrix
Now that the material matrix has been generated, the next step is to verify that the matrix is
entered on the MAT9 entry correctly. To do this, we return to the 1 · 1 · 1 inch cube. However,
this time the analysis will not include the CBAR entries as shown in Figure 7-3(b). The same six
load cases are applied as in Part 1.
If the material matrix is correct, the strains produced should be numerically the same as those
shown in Table 7-4.

The input file for the verification model is shown in Listing 7-2.
$
$ FILENAME - ANIS2.DAT
$
ID LINEAR,ANIS2
SOL 101
TIME 5
CEND
TITLE = ANISOTOPIC TEST ELEMENT
SPC = 1
SET 1 =13
STRAIN = 1
SPCFORCE=ALL
SUBCASE 1
LOAD = 1
SUBCASE 2
LOAD = 2
SUBCASE 3
LOAD = 3
SUBCASE 4
LOAD = 4
SUBCASE 5
LOAD = 5
SUBCASE 6
LOAD = 6
EGIN BULK$
GRID 1 0.0 0.0 0.0
GRID 2 1. 0.0 0.0
GRID 3 0.0 1. 0.0
GRID 4 1. 1. 0.0
GRID 6 0.0 0.0 1.
GRID 8 1. 0.0 1.
GRID 10 0.0 1. 1.
GRID 12 1. 1. 1.
CHEXA 13 1 1 6 8 2 3 10 +
+ 12 4
$
Listing 7-2. Anisotropic Verification Input File (Continued)

Material Properties
PLOAD4 1 13 1. 2 12 +
+ 1.
PLOAD4 1 13 1. 10 1 +
+ -1.
PLOAD4 2 13 1. 10 4 +
+ 0.0 1.
PLOAD4 2 13 1. 6 2 +
+ 0.0 -1.
PLOAD4 3 13 1. 6 12 +
+ 0.0 0.0 1.
PLOAD4 3 13 1. 1 4 +
+ 0.0 0.0 -1.
PLOAD4 4 13 1. 10 4 +
+ 1. 0.0
PLOAD4 4 13 1. 6 2 +
+ -1. 0.0
PLOAD4 4 13 1. 12 2 +
+ 1.
PLOAD4 4 13 1. 1 10 +
+ -1.
PLOAD4 5 13 1. 10 4 +
+ 1.
PLOAD4 5 13 1. 6 2 +
+ -1.
PLOAD4 5 13 1. 6 12 +
+ 1.
PLOAD4 5 13 1. 1 4 +
+ -1.
PLOAD4 6 13 1. 6 12 +
+ 1.
PLOAD4 6 13 1. 1 4 +
+ -1.
PLOAD4 6 13 1. 2 12 +
+ 1.
PLOAD4 6 13 1. 1 10 +
+ -1.
$
PSOLID 1 2 0
$
MAT9 2 10.67+6 6.91+6 6.89+6 1.25+6 -0.09+6 0.86+6 19.03+6
6.90+6 1.27+6 -0.12+6 0.83+6 14.28+6 1.23+6 -0.15+6 0.82+6
5.27+6 0.21+6 -0.11+6 4.63+6 0.52+6 5.72+6
SPC1 1 123 6
SPC1 1 12 1
SPC1 1 2 2
ENDDATA
Listing 7-2. Anisotropic Verification Input File

You should notice a few items in the verification model input file. The six loads are applied
separately, each with their own subcase. The constraints are applied to three separate grid points
and are non-redundant. The non-redundant constraint set allows the element to expand in all
directions without imposing any constraint forces. However, rigid body modes are constrained,
which is a requirement for static analysis. The last item to note is the use of the basic coordinate
system for the material definition.
The resulting center strains for the verification model are shown in Figure 7-4. As can be seen,
there is good agreement compared to the strain matrix shown in Table 7-4.

Figure 7-4. Verification Model Strain Output
Part 3 - Use the Anisotropic Material in the Actual Structure
The last step in the example is to use the material properties to model an actual structure as
shown in Figure 7-5. The structure is very coarse since it is used for demonstration purposes
only. The model consists of four elements with their material coordinate system oriented 45
degrees with respect to the basic coordinate system.
Figure 7-5. Anisotropic Solids Model

Material Properties
The input file is shown in Listing 7-3. Note the local coordinate system used to define the
material orientation. The displacement results are shown in Figure 7-6.
$ FILENAME - ANIS3.DAT
$
ID LINEAR, ANIS3
SOL 101
TIME 5
CEND
TITLE = USING THE MATERIAL MATRIX
LOAD = 1
SPC = 1
DISP = ALL
BEGIN BULK
PARAM POST 0
PARAM AUTOSPC YES
$ MATERIAL COORDINATE SYSTEM
$
CORD2R 1 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 .70710680.0 .7071068+
.70710680.0 -.707107
GRID 51 0.0 5. 0.0
GRID 52 5. 5. 0.0
GRID 53 0.0 5. 5.
GRID 54 5. 5. 5.
GRID 55 0.0 0.0 0.0
GRID 56 5. 0.0 0.0
GRID 57 0.0 0.0 5.
GRID 58 5. 0.0 5.
GRID 59 0.0 5. 10.
GRID 60 5. 5. 10.
GRID 61 0.0 0.0 10.
GRID 62 5. 0.0 10.
GRID 63 0.0 5. 15.
GRID 64 5. 5. 15.
GRID 65 0.0 0.0 15.
GRID 66 5. 0.0 15.
GRID 67 10. 5. 10.
GRID 68 10. 5. 15.
GRID 69 10. 0.0 10.
GRID 70 10. 0.0 15.
$
CHEXA 1 1 51 55 56 52 53 57 +
+ 58 54
CHEXA 2 1 53 57 58 54 59 61 +
+ 62 60
CHEXA 3 1 59 61 62 60 63 65 +
+ 66 64
CHEXA 4 1 60 62 69 67 64 66 +
+ 70 68
$
$
FORCE 1 69 0 100. 1. 0.0 0.0
FORCE 1 67 0 100. 1. 0.0 0.0
FORCE 1 68 0 100. 1. 0.0 0.0
FORCE 1 70 0 100. 1. 0.0 0.0
$
PSOLID 1 2 1 GRID SMECH
$
MAT9 2 10.67+6 6.91+6 6.89+6 1.25+6 -0.09+6 0.86+6 19.03+6
6.90+6 1.27+6 -0.12+6 0.83+6 14.28+6 1.23+6 -0.15+6 0.82+6
5.27+6 0.21+6 -0.11+6 4.63+6 0.52+6 5.72+6
$
SPC 1 51 123456 0.0
SPC 1 52 123456 0.0
SPC 1 56 123456 0.0

SPC 1 55 123456 0.0

$
ENDDATA
Listing 7-3. Structure with Anisotropic Material Input File
Figure 7-6. Output for Structure with Anisotropic Material
7.5 Material Properties for Heat Transfer

You define material properties for heat transfer analysis are supplied on MAT4, MAT5, MATT4,
MATT5, RADM and RADMT entries.
• The MAT4, MAT5, and RADM entries provide temperature independent (constant valued)
material properties.
• The MATT4, MATT5, and RADMT entries supply information about temperature-dependent
properties through reference to material tables (TABLEMi (i = 1, 2, 3, 4)).
With heat transfer material properties:

• Although the surface characteristics for free convection (heat transfer coefficient) and
radiation (emissivity and absorptivity) are not normally considered to be material properties,
they are included in the bulk data entries described here.
• Temperature dependence of the quantity of interest is ultimately defined on a TABLEMi

entry. For example, the table is connected to the MAT4 through the MATT4 entry. Most
material properties are directed toward a structural element and are referenced by the
property entry for the element of interest.
Understanding MAT4 and MATT4

The MAT4 bulk data entry lets you define thermal properties for temperature-independent
isotropic materials.
The format of the MAT4 Bulk Data entry is:

Material Properties
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MAT4 MID K CP ρ H μ HGEN REFENTH
TCH TDELTA QLAT
The following table describes the fields on the MAT4 Bulk Data entry.
Symbol Property Consistent Units

K(T) Thermal Conductivity* W/m °C
CP(T) Specific Heat* J/kg °C
ρ Density* kg/m3
H(T) Free Convection Heat Transfer Coefficient W/m2 °C
μ (T) Dynamic Viscosity* N sec/m2
HGEN(T) Volumetric Internal Heat Generation W/m3
REFENTH Reference Enthalpy J/kg
TCH Lower Temperature Limit for Phase Change °C
TDELTA Temperature Range for Phase Change °C
QLAT Latent Heat J/kg
* Thermal conductivity, specific heat, density, and dynamic viscosity cannot be time dependent.
Thermal heat flux loads can reference explicit functions of time. Thermal boundary conditions for
convection and radiation utilize control node techniques for specifying time dependent behavior.
The MATT4 entry lets you define temperature-dependent material properties in conjunction
with MAT4. NX Nastran always multiplies the basic quantities you specify on the MAT4 entry
by the corresponding tabular function (TABLEMi bulk data entries) that you reference with the
MATT4 entry.
See also
• “Convection and Radiation Boundary Conditions” in the NX Nastran Thermal Analysis
User’s Guide.
Understanding MAT5 and MATT5

The MAT5 bulk data entry lets you define thermal properties for temperature-independent
anisotropic materials. The MATT5 entry lets you define temperature temperature-dependent
material properties in conjunction with MAT5. NX Nastran always multiplies the basic
quantities you specify on the MAT5 entry by the corresponding tabular function (TABLEMi bulk
data entries) that you reference with the MATT5 entry.
See also

Understanding RADM and RADMT

The RADM bulk data entry lets you define the radiation properties of a boundary element for
heat transfer analysis. The format of the RADM Bulk Data entry is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
RADM RADMID ABSORP EMIS1 EMIS2 EMIS3 EMIS4 EMIS5 EMIS6
EMIS7 -etc.-
The following table describes the fields for the RADM Bulk Data entry.
Field Description Unit
Absorptivity for Directional Heat Flux and Radiation
ABSORP(T) Nondimensional
Boundary Condition (QVECT and RADBC)
Emissivity for Radiation Boundary Condition and
EMIS(λ,T) Nondimensional
Enclosure Radiation (RADBC and RADSET)
The RADMT entry lets you specify table references for properties in a RADM entry that you
want to be temperature-dependent.
See also
• “RADM” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “RADMT” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
7.6 Material Properties for Fluid Analysis

In NX Nastran, the MAT10 and MFLUID bulk data entries allow you to define material
properties for different types of fluid analyses.
Understanding MAT10
The MAT10 entry lets you define material properties for fluid elements for use in a coupled
fluid-structural interaction analysis.
See also
• “Coupled Acoustic Analysis” in the NX Nastran Advanced Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide
• “Overview of Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
Understanding MFLUID
The MFLUID entry lets you define properties of an incompressible fluid volume so that you
can generate a virtual mass matrix.
See also
• “MFLUID” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Material Properties
• “Virtual Fluid Mass” in the NX Nastran Advanced Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide
7.7 Material Properties for Nonlinear Analysis

In NX Nastran, there are several different types of nonlinear analysis:
• With a nonlinear elastic analysis, you can use the MAT1 bulk data entry in conjunction with
the MATS1 and TABLES1 entries to define the stress-dependent material properties.
• With an elastic-plastic analysis, you can use the MAT1 bulk data entry in conjunction with
the MATS1 and TABLES1 entries to define the stress-dependent material properties.
• With a viscoelastic analysis, you can define elastoplastic properties to consider plastic
deformation using the MATS1 bulk data entry in conjunction with MAT1.
• With a temperature dependent analysis, you can specify temperature-dependent properties

by using the MATTi, TABLEST, and TABLES1 bulk data entries.
• With a SOL 601 analysis, you can use the MATG entry (described below) to define gasket
materials.
• With a hyperelastic material analysis, you can use the MATHP entry (described below)
to define the material properties.
With a geometric nonlinear analysis, you can use either MAT2 or MAT9 to define material
properties.
See also
• “Material and Geometric Nonlinearity” in the NX Nastran Basic Nonlinear Analysis User’s
Guide
Understanding MATG
The MATG entry lets you define material properties for gasket type materials for use in a SOL
601 analysis.
See also
• “MATG” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Understanding MATHP
In NX Nastran, you can use the MATHP bulk data entry to specify material properties for
use in a fully nonlinear hyperelastic analysis.
The generalized Mooney-Rivlin strain energy function may be expressed as follows:

Equation 7-21.
and 2D1 = K and 2(A10 + A01) = G at small strains.
where:
first distortional strain invariant
second distortional strain invariant

Aij material constants related to shear deformation (distortion)
Di material constants related to volumetric deformation
T current temperature
T0 initial temperature
K bulk modulus
G shear modulus
The model reduces to a Mooney-Rivlin material Na = 1 and to a Neo-Hookean material if Na = 1

and A01 = 0.0.
Using MATHP to Define Material Constants

The MATHP entry consists of five continuation entries that let you define the Aijand Di material
constants of the strain energy function. You obtain the values to enter in the Aij and Di fields
from least squares fitting of experimental data.
If you don’t know the material constants, enter one of the following strings in the sixth
continuation entry of MATHP to invoke NX Nastran’s curve-fitting algorithm:
TAB1, TAB2, TAB3, TAB4, and TABD
These TABi fields reference experimental data that is contained in TABLES1 bulk data entries.
• You can use one or more of four experiments (TAB1 to TAB4 options) to obtain Aij.
• You can use pure volumetric compression data (TABD option) to obtain Di.
If ND = 10 (order of the volumetric strain energy polynomial function) and you either enter a
nonzero value for D1 or a nonzero value for D1 is calculated from experimental data in TABD,
then the parameter estimation of the material constants Aij takes compressibility into account in
the cases of simple tension/compression, equibiaxial tension, and general biaxial deformation.
Otherwise, the software assumes full incompressibility in estimating the material constants.
See also
• “Defining Hyperelastic Materials in NX Nastran” in the NX Nastran Basic Nonlinear

Material Properties
Using MATHP to Model Mooney-Rivlin or Neo-Hookean Materials
If you’re modeling a Mooney-Rivlin or Neo-Hookean material, you don’t need to specify a

continuation entry for MATHP.
Conventional Mooney-Rivlin and Neo-Hookean materials are fully incompressible. With
the MATHP entry, you can’t define full incompressibility. However, you can simulate full
incompressibility by specifying a large enough value for the D1 entry (field 5). However, entering
a value of D1 greater than 103 · (A10 + A01) is not recommended.
See also
• “MATHP” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Chapter
8 Applied Loads
• Overview of Load Sets
• Defining and Combining Subcases for Loading
• Defining Static Loads
• Point Loads
• Distributed Loads
• Inertia Loads (Acceleration Loads)
• Thermal Loads
• Enforced Element Deformation Loads
• Loads Due to Enforced Motion
• Frequency-dependent Loads
• Time-dependent Loads
• Using Static Loading Data in Dynamic Analysis
• Defining Loads for Cyclic Symmetry Analysis
• Combining Loads

Chapter 8 Applied Loads
8.1 Overview of Load Sets

Load sets in NX Nastran are collections, or lists, of loads. You define the loads using bulk data
entries. You then use case control commands to specify which of the loading entries you want
to use in a given analysis.
8.2 Defining and Combining Subcases for Loading

NX Nastran allows you to efficiently analyze multiple load cases in a single analysis using the
SUBCASE Case Control command. Each subcase defines a unique loading condition. When you
use create subcases:
• Each SUBCASE represents a separate, static loading condition, including different boundary
conditions.
• You can select different constraints, loads, and output in each SUBCASE.
• You must list SUBCASE ids within the Case Control section in ascending order. However,
the ids don’t need to be sequential. For example, you could have SUBCASE 1, 14, 31, and 50.
Within the Case Control section, any title information, output requests, or Bulk Data selections
that you make prior to defining the first SUBCASE command are the defaults for all subcases.
These defaults apply to all of the subcases unless you specifically override them with a different
request within a subcase.
If you don’t include a SUBCASE command in the Case Control section of your input file, the
software assumes that the model contains a single subcase with an ID of 1.
See also
• “Defining SUBCASES for Loading” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
Example: Creating Two Load Subcases for the Truss

For example, suppose we add a second load case to the truss structure as shown in Figure 8-1 so
that we can perform two separate analyses during a single run.
• Subcase 1 consists of the 1000-pound force acting at grid point 4 in the negative Y-direction.
• Subcase 2 consists of the 2000-pound force acting at grid point 3 in the X-direction.

Applied Loads
Figure 8-1. Truss Example with Two Loading Conditions

In the input file for this analysis (shown in Listing 8-1). In this input file, we placed a
displacement request (DISPLACEMENT - ALL) above the first subcase but not within either
of the two subcases. Therefore, NX Nastran outputs displacements for all the grid points for
both subcases. Since we included an element force request only in Subcase 2, NX Nastran
doesn’t generate any element force output for Subcase 1. It only outputs the element forces
for the grid points for Subcase 2.

$ Filename - TRUSS2.DAT
ID LINEAR,TRUSS2
SOL 101
TIME 2
CEND
TITLE = LINEAR STATICS USER’S GUIDE - TWO SUBCASES
SPC = 11
DISPLACEMENT = ALL
$
SUBCASE 1
LOAD = 10
$
SUBCASE 2
LOAD = 11
ELFORCE = ALL
$
BEGIN BULK
$
$ DESCRIBE THE GEOMETRY
$
GRID 1 0. 0. 0. 3456
GRID 2 0. 120. 0. 3456
GRID 3 600. 120. 0. 3456
GRID 4 600. 0. 0. 3456
$
$ MEMBERS ARE MODELED USING
$ ROD ELEMENTS
$
CROD 1 21 2 3
CROD 2 21 2 4
CROD 3 21 1 3
CROD 4 21 1 4
CROD 5 21 3 4
$
$ PROPERTIES OF ROD ELEMENTS
$
PROD 21 22 4. 1.27
$
$ MATERIAL PROPERTIES
$
MAT1 22 30.E6 .3
$
SPC1 11 123456 1 2
$
$ POINT LOAD SUBCASE 1
FORCE 10 4 1000. 0. -1. 0.
$
$ POINT LOAD SUBCASE 2
FORCE 11 3 2000. 1. 0. 0.
ENDDATA
Listing 8-1. Truss Input File with Two Loadings
Using REPCASE
For large models, you may need to further partition the results in the output files in a certain
manner or repeat the same output in different subcases. You can do this withe the REPCASE
Case Control command. The REPCASE command lets you organize the output based on the
element and/or grid point ID numbers.

Applied Loads
Listing 8-2 shows how you can use REPCASE separate the results for the truss example into
three different sections in the .f06 output file. In this example, the REPCASE 2 command
provides for additional output from the solution generated in SUBCASE 1 without performing
any additional analysis.
For the Case Control shown in Listing 8-2, SUBCASE 1 output consists of the displacement for
all of the grid points and the element forces for elements 1 and 2. The output for REPCASE 2
consists of the element force for elements 3 through 5. Note that the default output request for the
grid point displacements is overridden by the DISPLACEMENT = NONE command. SUBCASE
3 is a new loading condition with its own output requests. A second static solution is performed
for this subcase. Also note that only two static solutions are performed for this input file.
$ FILENAME TRUSS4.DAT
$
ID LINEAR,TRUSS4
SOL 101
TIME 2
CEND
TITLE = LINEAR STATICS USER’S GUIDE - REPCASE EXAMPLE
LOAD = 10
SPC = 11
DISPLACEMENT = ALL
SET 1 = 3,4
SET 2 = 1,2
SET 3 = 3 THRU 5
$
SUBCASE 1
LOAD = 10
ELFORCE = 2
$
REPCASE 2
ELFORCE = 3
DISPLACEMENT = NONE
$
SUBCASE 3
LOAD = 11
DISPLACEMENT =1
ELFORCE = 1
BEGIN BULK
Listing 8-2. Truss Input File with the REPCASE Command
See also
• “REPCASE” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using SUBCOM to Combine Subcases

When you’re performing a linear statics analysis, you can use the SUBCOM command to create
new subcases by combining other subcases. When you use SUBCOM to combine subcases, you
must use the SUBSEQ command to specify the coefficients for combining the previous subcases.
A SUBSEQ command is required for each SUBCOM subcase.
The use of the SUBCASE and SUBSEQ commands is best illustrated with an example.
Returning to the truss structure, the two load cases were previously treated as separate

loads, each with their own subcase. Now, suppose a third load case is desired that is a linear
combination of the first two subcases. The input file shown in Listing 8-3 illustrates this.
$
ID LINEAR,TRUSS5
SOL 101
TIME 2
CEND
TITLE = LINEAR STATICS USER’S GUIDE SUBCOM EXAMPLE
LOAD = 10
SPC = 11
DISPLACEMENT = ALL
$
SUBCASE 1
LOAD = 10
$
SUBCASE 2
LOAD = 11
ELFORCE = ALL
$
SUBCOM 3
SUBSEQ 1.0,0.5
ELFORCE = ALL
$
SUBCOM 4
SUBSEQ 1.0,-0.5
ELFORCE =ALL
$
BEGIN BULK
Listing 8-3. SUBCOM Input File

For this Case Control section, the SUBCOM 3 output is as follows:
The output for SUBCOM 4 is as follows:
The coefficients 1.0, and 0.5 for SUBCOM 3 are input on a SUBSEQ command. These coefficients
used in the SUBSEQ command refer to the previous Subcases 1 and 2. The 1.0 value in SUBCOM
3 is the coefficient corresponding to SUBCASE 1 and the 0.5 is the coefficient associated with
SUBCOM 2. SUBCOM 3 is not considered a subcase. Likewise, the coefficients 1.0 and –0.5
for SUBCOM 4 refer to SUBCASES 1 and 2. If you specify a third SUBSEQ coefficient for
either SUBCOM, the job will fail.
You can use SUBCOM commands to combine any number of previous subcases. However, you
must define a coefficient on the SUBSEQ command for each subcase. If you want to exclude a
subcase from the summation, set the coefficient to 0.0 for that particular subcase.
Note: You can define the combined loads in their own subcases and not use SUBCOMs. If you
only want to generate the output of the combined loads (so you only need two subcases), this is

Applied Loads
the preferred way. However, using SUBCOMs is helpful if you want to review the structural
response to the individual loads in addition to the combined load. The SUBCOM command
sums up the results of the previous subcases multiplied by the appropriate scale factors. One
of the best applications of the SUBCOM command is combining the results generated with
different constraints.
See also
• “SUBCOM” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using SYMCOM to Create a Symmetry Combination Subcase

In a static analysis, you can use the SYMCOM case control command to create a symmetry
combination subcase. When you use the SYMCOM command to combine selected SUBCASES,
you must also use a SYMSEQ command to specify the coefficients for combining the symmetry
subcases.
See also
• “SYMCOM” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “SYMSEQ” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Temperature Loads and Enforced Deformations in Subcase Combinations (SUBCOMS)

You can use the SUBCOM and SYMCOM case control commands to combine the results of two or
more immediately preceding subcases or SYM cases respectively. In NX Nastran, the results
for a combined loading condition are efficiently obtained by forming the linear combination of
the displacement vectors obtained in the previous subcases. NX Nastran calculates the element
forces and stresses in the usual manner from the displacement vector for the combined loading
condition. This technique is quite straightforward when the several loading conditions are
composed of forces and moments.
However, if any of the subcases that you’re combining contain thermal loads and/or enforced
element deformations, you must exercise some care to obtain correct element stresses and forces
for the combined loading condition.
See also
• “Using Temperature Loads with Subcases” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
8.3 Defining Static Loads

In NX Nastran, you can apply static loads to geometric and scalar points in a variety of ways,
including
• Loads applied directly to grid points
• Pressure loads on surfaces
• Distributed and concentrated loads on CBAR, CBEAM, and CBEND elements
• Gravity loads

• Centrifugal loads due to steady rotation
• Tangential loads due to angular acceleration
• Loads resulting from thermal expansion
• Loads resulting from enforced deformations of a structural element
• Loads resulting from enforced displacements at a grid point
While you can define multiple load sets in the bulk data section of your input file, the software
only uses the sets that you explicitly select in the case control section to solve the model.
See also
• “Defining SUBCASES for Loading” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
• Section 3.6 of The NASTRAN Theoretical Manual
8.4 Point Loads

This section shows how to apply concentrated forces and concentrated moments at grid points.
• You can use the FORCE, FORCE1, and FORCE2 entries to apply concentrated forces directly
to grid points.
• You can use the MOMENT, MOMENT1, and MOMENT2 entries to apply a apply
concentrated force in the translational degrees of freedom (T1, T2, and T3) at a grid point.
• Use FORCEAX and MOMAX to define forces or moments on conical shell elements.
• Use SLOAD to define a concentrated static load at a scalar point.
FORCE, FORCE1, FORCE2

You can apply concentrated forces directly to grid points with the FORCE, FORCE1, and
FORCE2 entries.
• Use a FORCE entry if you want to define a static, concentrated force at a grid point by
specifying a vector.
• Use a FORCE1 entry if the direction is determined by a vector connecting two grid points.
• Use a FORCE2 entry if the direction is specified by the cross product of two such vectors.
Using FORCE
The FORCE entry lets you specify the magnitude and direction of a force vector in any coordinate
system as shown below. You can use the FORCE entry to define a static load applied to a
geometric grid point in terms of components defined by a local coordinate system. The orientation
of the load components depends on the type of local coordinate system you used define the load.
The directions of the load components are the same as those indicated on Figure 5-2 of “Defining
Grid Points and Scalar Points” for displacement components.
Consider a force F acting on a cantilever beam:

Applied Loads
A concentrated force F is applied to a CBAR element connecting grid points 1 and 2 using the
FORCE entry. Its format is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
FORCE SID G CID F N1 N2 N3
Field Contents
SID Load set identification number. (Integer > 0)
G Grid point identification number. (Integer > 0)
CID Coordinate system identification number. (Integer ≥ 0; Default = 0)
F Scale factor. (Real)
Components of a vector measured in coordinate system defined by CID.
Ni
(Real; at least one Ni ≠ 0.0)
In our example, the FORCE entry may be written as:
FORCE 2 2 10. 0. -1. 0.
or, in free field format,

FORCE,2,2,,10.,0.,-1.,0.
The load set identification number (SID in column 2) refers to a command defined in the Case
Control Section (LOAD=2 in this example; the integer value 2 is arbitrarily chosen). Leaving
column 4 blank means that the basic (default) coordinate system is used to specify the orientation
of the load. The (0., -1., 0.) entries in columns 6, 7, and 8 refer to a vector in the -Y direction,
defining the direction of application of the load. The force applied to the grid point is , given by
Equation 8-1.
where = (N1,N2,N3)
Thus, the value of F in column 5 is the full value of the applied load of 10 lbf because vector
(in this example) is of unit length.

The magnitude of the applied force is the scale factor (field 5) times the magnitude of the vector
defined in fields 6 through 8. For example, the force applied with the following two FORCE
entries is the same.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
FORCE 1 3 0 -100. 1. 0. 2.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
FORCE 1 3 0 2. -50. 0. -100.
See also
• “FORCE” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using FORCE1 and FORCE2

• The FORCE1 entry lets you define a force by specifying a magnitude and two grid points (not
necessarily the loaded grid point) to determine the direction.
• The FORCE2 entry lets you define a force by specifying a magnitude with the direction
defined by the vector product of two other vectors.
The format of the FORCE1 and FORCE2 entries is as follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
FORCE1 SID G F G1 G2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
FORCE2 SID G F G1 G2 G3 G4
Field Contents
SID Load set identification number.
G Grid point identification number.
F Magnitude of the force.
Gi Grid point identification numbers.
FORCE1 and FORCE2 Example

While the FORCE1 and FORCE2 forms are not used extensively, they are useful for some
modeling situations as shown in the following example.
Suppose you wish to model a curved structure with edge loads as shown in Figure 8-2. The edge
loads consist of 10 N per element (acting normal to the elements) and 8 N per element along
the edge of each element (acting as a shear load). The FORCE1 and FORCE2 entries are the
ideal choice to apply these loads. You could use the FORCE entry, but it would be more difficult
because you would need to compute the normals for each of the loaded CQUAD4 elements.
Using FORCE1 and FORCE2 entries for the shear and normal loads, respectively, makes the
task much easier.

Applied Loads
The 10 N normal force for each element is divided equally between the two grid points along the
edge. The directions of the resulting 5 N forces are applied using the FORCE2 entry by taking
the cross product of the vectors defined by the edges to which the grid points are attached.
The result is a 5 N load acting normal to the plate. The 8 N shear force for each element is
also divided up equally between the two grid points along the edge. The resulting 4 N loads
are applied with the FORCE1 entry. The directions of these loads are determined by the line
connecting the edge grid points.
The input file is shown in Listing 8-4. Note that the normal forces and the shear forces are
applied as one load condition. If you want the forces to act as separate loadings, you can use
different IDs for the FORCE1 and FORCE2 entries and call them out using two separate
subcases in your input file.
Figure 8-2. Edge Forces on a Plate Element
$ FILENAME - EDGE.DAT
$
OLOAD=ALL
LOAD=3
.
.
.
BEGIN BULK
$
$ UNITS ARE CM AND N
$
FORCE1 3 3 4. 3 6
FORCE1 3 6 4. 3 6
FORCE1 3 6 4. 6 9
FORCE1 3 9 4. 6 9
FORCE1 3 9 4. 9 12
FORCE1 3 12 4. 9 12
FORCE2 3 3 5. 3 6 3 2
FORCE2 3 6 5. 3 6 3 2
FORCE2 3 6 5. 6 9 6 5
FORCE2 3 9 5. 6 9 6 5
FORCE2 3 9 5. 9 12 9 8
FORCE2 3 12 5. 9 12 9 8
$
GRID 1 0.0 -60. -2.

GRID 2 60. -60. -2.

GRID 3 120. -60. -2.
GRID 4 0.0 -30. 0.0
GRID 5 60. -30. 0.0
GRID 6 120. -30. 0.0
GRID 7 0.0 30. 0.0
GRID 8 60. 30. 0.0
GRID 9 120. 30. 0.0
GRID 10 0.0 60. -2.
GRID 11 60. 60. -2.
GRID 12 120. 60. -2.
$
PSHELL 1 4 .5 4
MAT1 4 7.1E6 .3
$
CQUAD4 1 1 1 2 5 4
CQUAD4 2 1 2 5 6 3
CQUAD4 3 1 4 5 8 7
CQUAD4 4 1 5 6 9 8
CQUAD4 5 1 7 8 11 10
CQUAD4 6 1 8 9 12 11
$
SPC1 1 123456 1 4 7 10
$
ENDDATA
Listing 8-4. Edge Loads

Note that the two loads are applied at the same grid points. This is perfectly acceptable. The
total force acting at the grid points is the sum of all the applied loads. The OLOAD (applied
load output request) output, which you request through the Case Control section, shows the
applied force resultant acting at a set of user specified grid points. The OLOAD output is useful
in verifying that the loads are applied correctly. A partial listing of the output file showing
the OLOAD output is shown in Figure 8-3.
Figure 8-3. OLOAD Output
See also
• “FORCE1” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “FORCE2” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using MOMENT, MOMENT1, MOMENT2

MOMENT, MOMENT1, and MOMENT2 are similar to the three FORCE entries. The only
difference is that you use force entries to apply concentrated force in the translational degrees of
freedom (T1, T2, and T3), while you use moment entries apply concentrated moments in the
rotational degrees of freedom (R1, R2, and R3).
• With MOMENT, you define a static, concentrated moment at a grid point by specifying a
scale factor and a vector that determines the direction

Applied Loads
• With MOMENT1, the software uses two grid points to determine direction ( , where
is a unit vector parallel to the vector from grid 1 to grid 2).
• With MOMENT2, the software uses four grid points to determine direction ( , where
is the unit vector parallel to the cross product of the vectors from G1 to G2, and G3 to G4).
The application of concentrated moments is analogous to forces. MOMENT has the following
format:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MOMENT SID G CID M N1 N2 N3
Field Contents
Grid point identification number at which the moment is applied.
G
(Integer > 0)
CID Coordinate system identification number. (Integer ≥ 0 or blank)
M Scale factor. (Real)
Components of the vector measured in the coordinate system defined by
Ni
CID. (Real; at least one Ni ≠ 0.0)
Consider moment M acting about the basic Z axis of the simply supported beam shown below:
In this case, the MOMENT entry could be written as
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MOMENT 6 2 -18.6 0.0 0.0 1.

MOMENT,6,2,,-18.6,0.,0.,1.
The applied moment is given by
Equation 8-2.

where is the vector (N1, N2, N3). As was the case with FORCE entry, M is the full magnitude
of the moment since is a vector of unit length. The direction of the applied moment is given
by the sign of M according to the right-hand rule because = (0., 0., 1.) is a vector in the
direction of the positive Z axis direction. Note that specifying M = 18.6 and = (0., 0., −1.)
would produce an equivalent result.
See also
• “MOMENT” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “MOMENT1” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “MOMENT2” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using FORCEAX, MOMAX
You can use the FORCEAX and MOMAX entries to define the loading of specified harmonics on
rings of conical shell elements. You can use FORCE and MOMENT entries to apply concentrated
loads or moments to conical shell elements if you defined such points with a POINTAX entry.
See also
• “FORCEAX” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “MOMAX” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using SLOAD
You can use the SLOAD entry to define a concentrated static load at a scalar point or a grid
point. With SLOAD, you can only specify the magnitude since only one component of motion
exists at a scalar point.
See also
• “SLOAD” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
8.5 Distributed Loads

There are three Bulk Data entries available to apply distributed loads to element surfaces.
• Use PLOAD define a uniform static pressure load on a triangular or quadrilateral surface.
• Use PLOAD1 and PLOAD2 to apply a distributed load to the CQUAD4, CTRIA3, and
CSHEAR elements only.
• Use PLOAD4 to apply distributed loads on any of the two-dimensional elements and on
the surfaces of three-dimensional elements.

Applied Loads
PLOAD
You can use the PLOAD entry to define a uniform normal static pressure load on triangular
or quadrilateral surfaces by using grid points. You can apply PLOAD to 2-D (surface) or 3-D
(solid) elements.
The PLOAD entry is different from the other PLOADi entries because it references three or four
grid points rather than the element itself. When you use PLOAD to load a CTRIA3 element, the
total force acting on the element is divided evenly among the three corner points. When you use
PLOAD to load a CQUAD4 element, the total force acting on the element is distributed to corner
grid points using the geometric shape of the element. The resultant of the applied corner loads
acts through the centroid of the element. The direction of the pressure load is determined using
the right-hand rule by the numbering sequence of the grid points on the PLOAD entry.
The PLOAD entry has the following form:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLOAD SID P G1 G2 G3 G4
Field Contents
P Pressure. (Real)
Gi Grid point identification numbers. (Integer > 0; G4 may be zero or blank)
Grid Points G1, G2, G3, and G4 define either a triangular or quadrilateral surface; if G4 is zero
or blank, the software assumes that the surface is triangular. The direction of the pressure load
is determined by applying the right-hand rule to the grid point ordering sequence of the surface.
Pressure is applied in the opposite direction by making the value of P negative.
See also
• “PLOAD” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

PLOAD1
You can use the PLOAD1 entry to apply a distributed load to a CBAR, CBEAM, or CBEND
element. You can use the PLOAD1 entry for both concentrated and linearly distributed forces.
• For the CBAR and CBEAM elements, you can apply the linearly distributed force between
any two locations on the element (or off the element if you wish.)
• For the CBEND element, you can only apply the linearly distributed loads to linearly varying
forces and moments between the end points.
You can use PLOAD1 entry to define either distributed or concentrated loads at intermediate
points on CBAR and CBEAM elements. You define applied loads at the end points of CBAR
and CBEAM elements with either FORCE or MOMENT entries. You can also use PLOAD1 to
define only distributed loads for the CBEND element. For the CBEND element, you can only
use PLOAD1 to define
You can use the CBARAO entry is used to define intermediate points on CBAR elements where
you want to obtain stress and/or force output. You can also use the PLOAD1 to define only
distributed loads for the CBEND element. The distributed load is always applied along the
entire length of the element and does not define loads at intermediate points on the CBEND.
The PLOAD1 entry cannot be used to define concentrated loads at intermediate stations on
the CBEND element.
You can apply the load can be applied along the entire element length, a segment of the length,
or at a point along the length. The form of the PLOAD1 entry is shown below. The meanings of
X1, X2, P1, and P2 are shown in Figure 8-4.
Format
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLOAD SID EID TYPE SCALE X1 P1 X2 P2
Field Contents
EID CBAR, CBEAM, or CBEND element identification number.(Integer > 0)
Load type. (Character: “FX”, “FY”, “FZ”, “FXE”, “FYE”, “FZE”, “MX”,
TYPE
“MY”, “MZ”, “MXE”, “MYE”, “MZE”)
Determines scale factor for X1, X2. (Character: “LE”, “FR”, “LEPR”,
SCALE
“FRPR”)
Distances along the CBAR, CBEAM, or CBEND element axis from end
X1, X2
A. (Real; X2 may be blank, 0 ≤ X1 ≤ X2)
P1, P2 Load factors at positions X1, X2. (Real or blank)

Applied Loads
Figure 8-4. PLOAD1 Convention in CBAR or CBEAM Elements

The TYPE option in field 4 lets you specify the type of the load. The load can be a concentrated
force or moment in the basic or element coordinate system. If the applied load is to be a
concentrated load, leave fields 8 and 9 blank and the concentrated load will be applied at the
X1 location. If both X1 and X2 are input, the load will be taken as a linearly varying load
between X1 and X2.
The SCALE option in field 5 lets you specify the location of the load on the CBAR and CBEAM
elements using field 5 of the PLOAD1 entry.
• With the “LE” or “LEPR” methods, you specify the actual start and end positions of the load
as measured from end A of the element. When using this method, the distances X1 and X2,
as shown in Figure 8-5, are in the same units as the dimensions used for the model.
• With the “FR” or “FRPR” methods, you specify the percent (using “X/XB”) along the element
where the load starts and ends. A value of 0.0 defines end A, while a value of 1.0 defines
end B. Again, the start of the load is measured from end A.
For both methods of describing the location of the loads, you can also specify whether the applied
load is to be a direct load (scale “LE” and “FR”) or a projected load (scale “LEPR” or “FRPR”). For
the projected loads, distributed loads are entered in terms of the projected length of the element
as shown in Figure 8-5. Remember that if you input the loads in terms of the basic coordinate
system (“FX”, “FY”, “FZ”, “MX”, “MY”, or “MZ”), then the projected angle a is with respect to the
basic coordinate system, not the element coordinate system.
PLOAD1Examples
This section contains a series of examples that illustrate different uses of the PLOAD1 entry.
PLOAD1 Example 1
In this example, we used PLOAD1 to apply a uniformly distributed load over the full length of a
CBAR element using fractional (normalized) scaling.

Note that P1 = P2 = 12.6 lbf/inch

X1 = 0.0 fractional scaling
X2 = 0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLOAD1 SID EID TYPE SCALE X1 P1 X2 P2
PLOAD1 36 52 FY FR 0.0 -12.6 1.0 -12.6
Note: You can also use PLOAD1 to apply a uniformly distributed load over the full length of a
CBAR element using length scaling.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLOAD1 36 52 FY LE 0.0 -12.6 2.0 -12.6
PLOAD1 Example 2
In this example, we used PLOAD1 to apply a linearly varying distributed load to the interior of a
CBAR element using length scaling:

Applied Loads
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLOAD1 36 52 FY LE 1.0 -3.1 2.0 -8.4
PLOAD Example 3
The example demonstrating the use of the PLOAD1 entry consists of applying a direct linearly
varying load to the three-bar structure shown in Figure 8-5.
Figure 8-5. Distributed Load on CBAR Elements

The input file for this example is shown in Listing 8-5.
$
$ FILENAME - DISTRIB.DAT
$
ID LINEAR,DISTRIB
SOL 101
TIME 2
CEND
LOAD = 1
FORCE = ALL
BEGIN BULK
$
$ UNITS ARE MM AND N
$
GRID 1 0. 0.0 0.0 123456
GRID 2 1000. 0.0 0.0 345
GRID 3 2000. 0.0 0.0 345
GRID 4 3000. 0.0 0.0 123456
$
CBAR 10 1 1 2 1.0 0.0 1.0
CBAR 11 1 2 3 1.0 0.0 1.0
CBAR 12 1 3 4 1.0 0.0 1.0
CBARAO 11 FR 19 .05 .05
$
PBAR 1 1 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

$
MAT1 1 4.E4 .3
$
PLOAD1 1 11 FY LE 300. 23. 800. 45.
$
ENDDATA
Listing 8-5. PLOAD1 Loading

Note the that the starting location for the linearly varying load starts and ends at 0.3 m (300
mm) and 0.8 m (800 mm), respectively. This is the distance measured from end A. One of the
most common mistakes is to make these distances 1.3 m and 1.8 m, respectively, while thinking
that it is the actual distance measured in the basic coordinate system. It is not; it is the distance
measured from end A of the loaded element-in this case, grid point 2.
When you use the PLOAD1 entry to define a distributed load, the CBARAO (CBAR Additional
Output) entry is helpful. You use the CBARAO entry to request stress and force output at
intermediate locations along the CBAR element. The CBARAO output for element 2 is shown in
Figure 8-6.
Figure 8-6. CBARAO Output for the Center Element

The CBARAO entry is one of the best tools available for model checkout when you’re using
linearly varying loads on the CBAR elements. The CBARO output lets you easily generate a
shear and moment diagram as shown in Figure 8-7 below.

Applied Loads
Figure 8-7. Shear and Moment Diagram Generated from CBARAO Output
For CBEAM elements, you can use the PBEAM entry to directly request intermediate output
along the element.
PLOAD1 Example 4
You can also use PLOAD1 to apply a concentrated load at an interior point of a CBAR element
using fractional scaling.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLOAD1 36 52 FY FR 0.5 -1000.
PLOAD1 Example 5
Another feature of the PLOAD1 entry is the ability to apply projected loads. To apply a load as a
projected load, you choose a scale (field 5) of “LEPR” for the actual length from end A or “FRPR”
for the fractional distance from end A. This example shows illustrates how you can use PLOAD1
to define a projected load using a snow load on a truss structure as shown in Figure 8-8.
Figure 8-8. Planar Truss Structure with a Snow Loading

Applied Loads
The snow load on the truss is 500 N/m acting in the basic Y-direction. The input file containing
the grid points and PLOAD1 entries is shown in Listing 8-6.
$
$ FILENAME - PLOAD1.DAT
$
$ UNITS ARE MM AND N
$
GRID 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 345
GRID 6 13000. 0.0 0.0 345
GRID 8 3250. 1250. 0.0 345
GRID 9 6500. 2500. 0.0 345
GRID 11 9750. 1250. 0.0 345
$
CBAR 5 1 1 8 1.0 1. 0.0
CBAR 6 1 8 9 1.0 1. 0.0
CBAR 7 1 9 11 1.0 1. 0.0
CBAR 8 1 11 6 1.0 1. 0.0
$
PLOAD1 1 5 FY FRPR 0.0 -.5 1. -.5
PLOAD1 1 6 FY FRPR 0.0 -.5 1. -.5
PLOAD1 1 7 FY FRPR 0.0 -.5 1. -.5
PLOAD1 1 8 FY FRPR 0.0 -.5 1. -.5
Listing 8-6. Truss with Snow Loading

To see the effect of using projected forces, the resulting SPC forces are shown in Figure 8-9. The
total reaction of the loads obtained by adding the SPC forces is 6500 N in the Y-direction. The
total reaction load is equal to the projected length of 13 meters times the distributed load of 500
N/m. If the projected option had not been used, the applied load would have been 6964.2 N,
which is the total length of the top members times the distributed load.
Figure 8-9. SPC Forces Due to the Snow Loading

Note: With PLOAD1, if you’re using a concentrated load and don’t need the additional features
that the CBEAM element offers, you should use the CBAR element because of the way the
equivalent end loads are generated.
• For the CBAR element, the equivalent end loads are generated explicitly.
• For the CBEAM element, the end loads are generated by numerical integration along the
length of the element, which may not be as accurate as the method used for the CBAR
element.
A linearly varying load applied with a PLOAD1 entry is accurate when used with either element.
PLOAD2
You can use the PLOAD2 entry to apply a normal uniform pressure load to CQUAD4, CSHEAR,
or CTRIA3 2-D (surface) elements using element IDs. The positive direction of the loading is
determined by the order of the grid points on the element connection entry, using the right
hand rule. The software computes the magnitude and direction of the load from the value of
the pressure and the coordinates of the connected grid points. NX Nastran applies the load to
the connected grid points.

The PLOAD2 entry has two forms:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLOAD2 SID P EID1 EID2 EID3 EID4 EID5 EID6
Alternate form:
PLOAD2 SID P EID1 “THRU” EID2
Field Contents
P Pressure value. (Real)
Element identification number. (Integer ≥ 0 or blank; for the “THRU”
EIDi
option, EID1 < EID2)
The direction of the pressure is determined using the connected GRID points in the same
right-hand rule sense as the PLOAD entry (i.e., with respect to the positive element z axis). In
addition, you use the “THRU” option, all referenced elements must actually exist.
The PLOAD2 entry is similar to the PLOAD entry except that the PLOAD2 references the
element ID instead of the grid points where the element is attached. The PLOAD2 is usually
preferred over the PLOAD entry because it is easier to use. The PLOAD2 entry, similar to the
PLOAD entry, is limited to pressure acting normal to the element surface. The direction of the
pressure load is determined by the numbering sequence of the grid points on the connectivity
entry (CQUAD4, CTRIA3, etc.).
See also
• “PLOAD2” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
PLOAD4
The PLOAD4 entry lets you create the most general pressure definition. You can use PLOAD4 to
apply pressures and/or tractions to any of the two-dimensional elements and the surfaces of the
three-dimensional elements. With PLOAD4, you can create a pressure load that’s either normal
to the surface or that contains a traction (not normal to the surface) component. In addition, you
can define a different value of pressure at each corner.
You can use PLOAD4 with CQUAD4, CQUAD8, CQUADR, CTRIA3, CTRIA6, and CTRIAR,
CHEXA, CPENTA, and CTETRA elements. Since the surface hyperelastic elements CQUAD4,
CQUAD8, CQUAD, CTRIA3, and CTRIA6 are plane strain elements, you can’t apply pressure
loads on them.
The software automatically computes the magnitude and direction of the equivalent grid point
forces using the isoparametric shape functions of the element to which the load has been applied.
Load intensities P1, P2, P3, (and P4) act at corner points G1, G2, G3, (and G4) for triangular
(and quadrilateral) elements. The default direction of positive pressure for faces of solid
elements is inward.
You can set the direction of the pressure can be set by one of two methods.

Applied Loads
• By default, the software uses the element normal to determine the direction of the pressure.
For two-dimensional elements, the direction of positive pressure is in the direction of the
outward normal as is determined by applying the right-hand rule to the ordering sequence
of the grid points on the connectivity entry. For surfaces of solid elements, the direction of
positive pressure is inward toward the center of the element. The face of the solid to which
you are applying the pressure is determined by specifying the appropriate corner grid points.
• Alternatively, you can input the direction of the pressure defined by the PLOAD4 entry using
an optional coordinate system and a vector entered on the continuation line. Using a local
coordinate system, you can define a pressure acting at any angle to the surface.You can also
apply loads acting parallel to the surface (tractions).
Another feature unique to the PLOAD4 entry is the ability to apply a nonuniform pressure. You
can enter the pressure at each of the corner grid points to create a linearly varying pressure load.
If you enter the pressure for the first grid point only, the software assumes that the pressure is
constant over the element.
The format of the PLOAD4 entry is:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLOAD4 SID EID P1 P2 P3 P4 G1 G3 or G4
CID N1 N2 N3
The alternate format is
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLOAD4 SID EID1 P1 P2 P3 P4 “THRU” EID2
CID N1 N2 N3
Field Contents
EID
EID1 Element identification number.
EID2
Load per unit surface area (pressure) at the corners of the face of
P1, P2, P3, P4
the element.
Identification number of a grid point connected to a corner of the
G1
face. Required data for solid elements only.
Identification number of a grid point connected to a corner diagonally
opposite to G1 on the same face of a CHEXA or CPENTA element.
G3 Required data for the quadrilateral faces of CHEXA and CPENTA
elements only. G3 must be omitted for a triangular surface on a
CPENTA element.
Identification number of the CTETRA grid point located at the
G4 corner; this grid point may not reside on the face being loaded. This
is required data and is used for CTETRA elements only.

Field Contents
Components of the vector measured in coordinate system defined
N1, N2, N3 by CID. Used to define the direction (but not the magnitude) of the
load intensity.
If P2, P3, and P4 are blank fields, the load intensity is uniform and equal to P1; P4 is left blank
for a triangular face. In addition, for pressure that acts normal to the face, the continuation
entry is not used.
See also
• “PLOAD4” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
PLOAD4 Example 1
Consider the curved plate shown in Figure 8-10. PLOAD4 entries are to be used to apply a
normal pressure to each of the six CQUAD4 elements.
Figure 8-10. Pressure Loads on the CQUAD4s

This input file is given in Listing 8-7. When using the PLOAD4 entry, you may specify a PLOAD4
entry for every element or use the alternate method of specifying several elements that have the
same pressure. The alternate method is used for this example.

Applied Loads
$ FILENAME - PRESS.DAT
$ UNITS ARE CM, N
PLOAD4 3 1 -.5 THRU 6
$
GRID 1 0.0 -60. -2.
GRID 2 60. -60. -2.
GRID 3 120. -60. -2.
GRID 4 0.0 -30. 0.0
GRID 5 60. -30. 0.0
GRID 6 120. -30. 0.0
GRID 7 0.0 30. 0.0
GRID 8 60. 30. 0.0
GRID 9 120. 30. 0.0
GRID 10 0.0 60. -2.
GRID 11 60. 60. -2.
GRID 12 120. 60. -2.
$
CQUAD4 1 1 1 2 5 4
CQUAD4 2 1 2 5 6 3
CQUAD4 3 1 4 5 8 7
CQUAD4 4 1 5 6 9 8
CQUAD4 5 1 7 8 11 10
CQUAD4 6 1 8 9 12 11
$
SPC1 1 123456 1 4 7 10
$
PSHELL 1 4 .5 4
MAT1 4 7.1E6 .3
Listing 8-7. CQUAD4 Elements with Pressure Loads

The resulting deflection is shown in Figure 8-11. The deflected shape is not what you would
expect. Element 2 appears to bend up. The problem occurs because the normal for element 2 is
reversed (see the ordering of the grid point IDs on the CQUAD4s). The pressure on this element
is acting upward. This type of mistake is quite common.
Figure 8-11. Displacements Due to Pressure Load
PLOAD4 Example 2
Specify the PLOAD4 entry for a uniform normal pressure load applied to the CHEXA solid
element shown in the following figure:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLOAD4 SID EID P1 P2 P3 P4 G1 G3 or G4
CID N1 N2 N3
PLOAD4 12 100 26.4 5 7
This load is selected in the Case Control Section with the command LOAD = 12. Leaving P2, P3,
and P4 blank assigns a uniform pressure value of 26.4 lb/in2.
PRESAX and PLOADX1

• You can use the PRESAX entry to define pressure loading on the conical shell element.
• You can use the PLOADX1 entry to define pressure loading on the CTRIAX6 element and on
the hyperelastic CTRIAX and CQUADX elements.
See also
• “PRESAX” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “PLOADX1” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
8.6 Inertia Loads (Acceleration Loads)

This section describes how to apply “static” acceleration loads to your model, such as gravity (the
response of a structure to its own weight) and vehicle maneuver loads. The acceleration causes
a static load and not a dynamic one - the structural response is steady state (static) with the
transient part being zero. With an acceleration load, you must specify both the magnitude of the
acceleration and the direction in which it acts.

Applied Loads
Using GRAV
You can use the GRAV entry to define the direction and magnitude of a gravity vector in any
user-defined coordinate system. The software multiplies components of the gravity vector by the
mass matrix to obtain the components of the gravity force at each grid point. Since the mass
matrix is used to compute the forces, you must have mass in your model. Typically, you would
define that mass by density you specify on a material bulk data entry. The software doesn’t
calculate the gravitational acceleration at scalar points. You must introduce gravity loads at
scalar points directly.
Gravity loading is one the best loadings to use when you’re performing model checkout because
the software applies the force at every point in the model that has mass. If you have modeling
errors where elements or grids points aren’t attached to the structure, their displacement is
unbounded, and the job fails. If this occurs, the software prints a diagnostic message indicating
the grid point and component, where the singularity is detected.
The format of the GRAV Bulk Data entry is:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
GRAV SID CID A N1 N2 N3 MB
Field Contents
SID Set identification number. (Integer > 0)
CID Coordinate system identification number. (Integer ≥ 0; Default = 0)
A Acceleration vector scale factor. (Real)
Acceleration vector components measured in coordinate system CID.
Ni
(Real; at least one Ni ≠ 0.0)
MB Used only in superelement analysis.
The direction and magnitude of acceleration are given by where the vector = (N1,
N2, N3) gives the direction. The magnitude of is equal to A times the magnitude of . Note,
for example, that entering the value of A in in/sec2 indicates that other specifications of the
model that involve length units (element length, moments of inertia, modulus of elasticity, etc.)
must also be in inches to preserve unit consistency.
For models that have only GRAV loads, the load set ID (SID) is selected in the Case Control
Section with a LOAD = SID Case Control command. For models that also contain other types
of loads, such as FORCE or PLOAD entries, you must use the LOAD entry to combine them
with the GRAV entry.
Finally, the model must include mass density information to use acceleration loads. You enter
mass density on a material property bulk data entry. For example, for a model of typical
structural steel using English units, the mass density might be
Thus, the MAT1 Bulk Data entry might look like the following:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MAT1 MID E G NU RHO A TREF GE
MAT1 12 30.E6 0.3 7.0E-4
See also
• “Combining Loads” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
GRAV Example 1
This example shows how to calculate the tip deflection of the cantilever beam due to its own
weight.
First, notice that the force of gravity (g) acts in the -Y direction (the direction of the center of the
earth). Thus, the vector can be written as:
Equation 8-3.
The acceleration due to gravity on the Earth’s surface is approximately 32.2 ft/sec2 (386.4 in/sec2)
or 9.8 m/sec2. Units must be consistent throughout the model (this example uses inches).
Thus, the GRAV entry is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
GRAV 15 386.4 0. –1. 0.

GRAV,15,,386.4,0.,-1.,0.
The Case Control command required to apply this load is LOAD = 15.

Applied Loads
GRAV Example 2
Next, we want to calculate the tip deflection of the cantilever beam due to its own weight and a
concentrated force. Assume that a concentrated force is added to the beam as shown:
To combine gravity loading with the concentrated force, the following approach must be used:
In Case Control: LOAD = 15
In Bulk Data:
Importantly, the set ID on a GRAV entry can’t be the same as the Set ID on any other load entry.
GRAV Example 3
As a final example, suppose you are analyzing an instrument package subjected to inertial loads
in specific directions, say:
1.3 g in the x-direction (1.3 g = 1.3 • 9.8 m/sec2 = 12.7 m/sec2)
Three separate GRAV entries can be written as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
GRAV SID CID A N1 N2 N3 MB
GRAV 15 12.7 1. 0. 0.
GRAV 15 27.4 0. 1. 0.
GRAV 15 2.9 0. 0. 1.
Using RFORCE
You can use the RFORCE entry to define a static loading condition due to angular velocity
and/or acceleration. These loads are specified by the designation of a grid point that lies on the

axis of rotation and by the components of rotational velocity or angular acceleration in any
defined coordinate system.
There are two methods to compute these loads.
• In the first method, the mass matrix is regarded as pertaining to a set of distinct rigid bodies
connected to grid points. Deviations from this viewpoint, such as the use of scalar points or
the use of mass coupling between grid points, can result in errors.
• The second method allows mass coupling, but does not allow offsets. The second method is
the only method used for angular acceleration.
On the RFORCE entry, you input the components of a spin vector that are used internally to
compute centrifugal forces. Each component of the spin vector is multiplied by the same scale
factor. The format of the RFORCE entry is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
RFORCE SID G CID A R1 R2 R3 METHOD
RACC
Field Contents
G Grid point identification number through which the rotation vector acts.
Cartesian coordinate system defining the components of the rotation
CID
vector.
A Scale factor of the angular velocity in revolutions per unit time.
R1, R2, R3 Rectangular components of rotation vector . The vector defined passes
through point G.
METHOD Method used to compute centrifugal forces due to angular velocity.
Scale factor of the angular acceleration in revolutions per unit time
RACC
squared.

Applied Loads
Figure 8-12. RFORCE Vector at Grid Point Gi
where:
angular velocity =
(radians/unit time)
angular acceleration =
(radians/unit time squared)
[m]i = 3 × 3 translational mass matrix at grid point Gi
The equation for has additional terms if the mass is offset and METHOD = 1 is
selected.)
You must select one of two methods for the internal calculation of the loading vector (field 9).
• Method=1 yields correct results only when there is no coupling in the mass matrix. This
occurs when the lumped mass option is used with or without the ZOFFS option (see the
CQUAD4 entry for a description of ZOFFS).
• Method=2 yields correct results for lumped or consistent mass matrix only if the ZOFFS
option is not used. The acceleration terms due to the mass offset (X1, X2, X3) on the CONM2
entry are not computed with method=2.
All possible combinations of mass matrices and offset and the correct method to be used are
shown in Table 8-1.
Table 8-1. Restrictions When Using the RFORCE Entry

No Offset Offset
Lumped Method=1 or Method=2 Method=1

Table 8-1. Restrictions When Using the RFORCE Entry

No Offset Offset
Coupled Method=2 Neither
In addition, for problems with elements that have edge grid points (CQUAD8, CTRIA6,
CTRlAX6, CHEXA, CPENTA, and CTETRA), the software only produces correct centrifugal
loads if you include the parameter PARAM,COUPMASS,x (where x is greater than 1) in the
input file and you select Method 2.
See also
• “RFORCE” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “COUPMASS” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Defining Mass in Your Model

There are several different ways that you can define mass in your model in NX Nastran:
• The concentrated mass elements and scalar points (CMASSi and CONMi)
• The mass density option on the material entries (MAT1, MAT2, etc.)
• Nonstructural mass defined on the property entries
You define mass density on the material entries in terms of mass/unit volume. The mass unit
must be consistent with the other units in the model. For example, in the English system (in, lb,
sec), the mass density of steel is approximately 7.32 × 10−4 lb-sec2/in4.
The software adds the nonstructural mass you define on the property entries to the structure in
addition to the structural mass from the elements.
• For one-dimensional elements, the units are mass/unit length.
• For two-dimensional and three-dimensional elements, the units are mass/unit area and
mass/unit volume, respectively.
Using the WTMASS Parameter to Express Mass in Weight Units

In some cases, you may want to use the WTMASS parameter to express the mass in terms of
weight units instead of mass units. The WTMASS parameter multiplies the assembled mass
matrix by the scale factor you specify with the WTMASS parameter.
For the steel example, you can enter the mass density a weight density of 0.283 lb/in3 with a
WTMASS parameter of 0.00259 (which is 1/386.4). However, if you enter any of the mass in
terms of weight, you must enter all the mass in terms of weight. The WTMASS multiplies
all the mass in the model by the same scale factor, with the only exception being the mass
you enter in Direct Matrix Input.
See also
• “WTMASS” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Applied Loads
WTMASS Example
For example, consider the two rotating masses shown in Figure 8-13. The masses are accelerated
at constant angular acceleration of 20 rev/sec2 from 0 to 200 rev/min. The goal is to determine
the axial force in the CBAR as a function of angular velocity.
Figure 8-13. Rotating Concentrated Masses

The input file is shown in Listing 8-8. Multiple load cases are used to determine axial forces at
six rotational speeds. Using multiple load cases for this problem is much more efficient than
submitting separate runs because NX Nastran doesn’t have to regenerate the stiffness and mass
matrices. Another interesting note is that the model doesn’t actually rotate; it is fixed at the
center. If the constraints permitted the model to rotate, the analysis would fail.

$
$ FILENAME ROTATE.DAT
$
ID LINEAR,ROTATE
SOL 101
TIME 2
CEND
$
FORCE = ALL
SUBCASE 1
LABEL = 0 REV/min
LOAD = 1
SUBCASE 2
LABEL = 40 REV/min
LOAD = 2
SUBCASE 3
LABEL = 80 REV/min
LOAD = 3
SUBCASE 4
LABEL = 120 REV/MIN
LOAD = 4
SUBCASE 5
LABEL = 160 REV/MIN
LOAD = 5
SUBCASE 6
LABEL = 200 REV/MIN
LOAD = 6
BEGIN BULK
PARAM GRDPNT 0
$
GRID 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 123456
GRID 2 10. 0.0 0.0
GRID 3 -10. 0.0 0.0
$
CBAR 10 1 1 2 1.0 0.0 1.0
CBAR 11 1 1 3 1.0 0.0 1.0
$
PBAR 1 1 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
$
MAT1 1 30.E6 .3
$
RFORCE 1 1 0. 0.0 0.0 1.0 1
20.
RFORCE 2 1 .666667 0.0 0.0 1.0 1
20.
RFORCE 3 1 1.33333 0.0 0.0 1.0 1
20.
RFORCE 4 1 2.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1
20.
RFORCE 5 1 2.66667 0.0 0.0 1.0 1
20.
RFORCE 6 1 3.33333 0.0 0.0 1.0 1
20.
$
CONM2 101 2 .1
CONM2 102 3 .1
$
ENDDATA
Listing 8-8. Axial Force in the Rotating Arms

Figure 8-14 shows a plot summarizing the axial force. The plot isn’t linear because centrifugal
forces aren’t linear with angular velocity. Consequently, using a SUBCOM command to combine
the subcases with RFORCE entries can lead to misleading results. In other words, the element
axial forces for Subcase 3 can’t be obtained by merely doubling the element axial forces of

Applied Loads
Subcase 2 by using a SUBCOM/ SUBSEQ combination. This occurs because the axial force is a
function of ω2, and not 2ω.
Figure 8-14. Axial Force in the Bar as a Function of Angular Velocity
8.7 Thermal Loads

You can define thermal loads on a structure to perform stress analysis or to determine thermal
expansion. In NX Nastran, you must define a temperature distribution via TEMPij Bulk Data
entries and thermal expansion coefficients.
• Thermal expansion coefficients are specified on the material Bulk Data entries.
• Temperatures can be specified at grid points (TEMP and TEMPD entries) and interpolated to
grid points within elements.
You can also specify temperature data on an element-by-element basis as shown in Table 8-2.
Table 8-2. Bulk Data Entries Used for Temperature Definition on Elements
Elements Temperature Data Bulk Data Entry
CROD, CONROD, Average temperature at ends A and B. TEMPRB
CTUBE
CBAR, CBEAM, Average temperature and cross-sectional
TEMPRB
CBEND temperature gradients at ends A and B.
CQUAD4,
Average temperature and gradient in the thickness
CTRIA3CQUAD8, TEMPP1
direction.
CTRIA6
Any average temperatures you specify directly for an element take precedence over the
temperatures that the software interpolates from the element’s connected grid points. Solid
elements obtain their temperatures only by interpolation from connected grid points. Note that
interpolated grid point temperatures provide temperature gradients over the neutral surface of
shell elements, whereas the TEMPPi entries do not.

NX Nastran uses the temperature data and thermal expansion coefficients to calculate
equivalent forces and moments acting at the grid points.
The TEMP(INIT) and TEMP(LOAD) Case Control commands specify the initial temperature and
applied temperature, respectively. The TEMP(INIT) command must appear either above the
first subcase or inside the first subcase. As with other types of loads, NX Nastran only applies a
thermal load if you specifically request it in the case control section.
Defining Temperatures for Grid Points

You can use the TEMP and TEMPD bulk data entries to define grid point temperatures.
• TEMP lets you define a scalar value of temperature at selected grid points.
• TEMPD lets you define a default temperature for all grid points whose temperatures aren’t
defined by a TEMP entry.
See also
• “TEMP” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “TEMPD” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Defining Temperatures for Elements

You can define temperatures for selected elements.
• You can specify temperatures for CROD, CBAR, CBEAM, CBEND, CONROD, or TUBE
elements on the TEMPRB bulk data entry. TEMPRB specifies the average temperature on
both ends. With CBAR, CBEAM and CBEND elements, you can use TEMPRB to define
temperature gradients over the cross section.
• You can specify temperatures for two-dimensional plate and membrane elements on a
TEMPP1, TEMPP2, or TEMPP3 bulk data entry. The user-defined average temperature over
the volume is used to produce in-plane loads and stresses. You can use thermal gradients
over the depth of the bending elements, or the resulting moments to produce bending
loads and stresses.
If you don’t define any thermal element data for an element, the software averages temperatures
of the connected grid points from the TEMP, TEMPD, or TEMPAX entries to calculate an average
temperature for the element. The thermal expansion coefficients are defined on the material
definition entries. Regardless of the type of thermal data, if the material coefficients for an
element are temperature dependent by use of the MATTi entry, the software always calculates
them from the “average” temperature of the element.
Using Temperature Loads with Subcases

If temperature loads are present in one or more of the subcases in your input file, the software
must take thermal strain into account in the calculation of element stresses and forces. That
is, a body subjected to a temperature field will deform in a stress free manner in the absence
of constraints. However, if the deformation is resisted through boundary conditions and/or the
presence of applied loads, the total actual strain, at a point must be reduced by the thermal
strain, α(T − To), to obtain the stress at the point. For example, the stress-strain relation for a
rod that undergoes thermal expansion and also sustains an axial force is written in the form

Applied Loads
Equation 8-4.
NX Nastran calculates element stresses and forces on an element-by-element basis from the
displacement vector and the temperature field. Therefore, if you’re using SUBCOM or SYMCOM
to combine selected subcases, you must supply a definition of the temperature field whenever
element stresses and forces are required.
Consider the following example where a temperature load is specified in SUBCASE 2.
.
.
.
SUBCASE 1
LOAD=2
SUBCASE 2
TEMP(LOAD)=4
SUBCASE 10
LOAD=10
SUBCOM 20
SUBSEQ=.5,1.,1.6
TEMP(LOAD)=4
.
.
.
Here, the multiplier for SUBCASE 2 is unity so that the temperature distribution required to
calculate element forces and stresses for the combined loading case is precisely TEMP(LOAD)=4.
If, on the other hand, the SUBSEQ entry is modified as indicated below, an additional
TEMP(LOAD) must be defined.
.
.
.
SUBCASE 1
LOAD=1
SUBCASE 2
TEMP(LOAD)=4
SUBCASE 10
LOAD=10
SUBCOM 20 SUBSEQ=.5,.75,1.6
TEMP(LOAD)=40
Here, TEMP(LOAD)=40 must reflect a temperature distribution of the form
Equation 8-5.
Equation 8-6.

You must supply this new TEMP(LOAD) through standard Bulk Data entries such as TEMPD,
TEMP, TEMPP1, and TEMPP3 and them call them out in the Case Control section with the
SUBCOM command.
In general, with n temperature loading conditions in the subcases immediately preceding a
SUBCOM, the temperature distribution that must be defined under the SUBCOM if you want
element force or stress output is of the form
Equation 8-7.
where the coefficients ai are defined on the SUBSEQ entry under the SUBCOM in question. The
reference temperature To, defined on MATi Bulk Data entries, can conveniently be defined as
zero in order to simplify the calculation of the temperature distribution for the combined loading
condition of the SUBCOM.
The same approach is used with combined loading condition defined through a SYMCOM Case
Control entry. However, the use of SYM subcases and SYMCOM entries implies the use of the
concepts of reflective symmetry, in which case you should use the DIH option of cyclic symmetry.
NX Nastran internally generates the appropriate boundary conditions, and the you simply
define the actual temperature distribution on each portion of the structure without regard to
decomposing the temperatures and/or mechanical loads into symmetric and antisymmetric
components.
This is best illustrated with the example problem shown in Listing 8-9.

Applied Loads
.
.
.
CEND
$
TEMP(INIT) = 1
$
SUBCASE 1
TEMP(LOAD) = 10
$
SUBCASE 2
TEMP(LOAD) = 15
$ THE FOLLOWING SUBCOM WILL COMBINE
$ 100% OF THE RESULTS FROM SUBCASE 1
$ WITH 50% OF THE RESULTS FROM SUBCASE 2
SUBCOM 3
SUBSEQ = 1.0,0.5
TEMP(LOAD) = 20
$
BEGIN BULK
$
TEMPD,1, 100.
TEMPD,10,150.
TEMPD,15,250.
$ "TEMPD,20" IS CALCULATED AS FOLLOW:
$ 100 + 1.0*(150-100) + 0.5*( 250 - 100 ) = 225.
$
TEMPD,20,225.
$ REST OF THE BULK DATA ENTRIES
ENDDATA
Listing 8-9. Using SUBCOMs with Temperature Loads

As an example of thermal loads, consider the umbrella tent shown in Figure 8-15. The tent is
subjected to thermal radiation from partial exposure to the sun. The ground is held at 40 degrees
Fahrenheit and the air temperature is held at 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Can the tent withstand
the thermal stresses imposed by solar radiation?
This problem involves conduction, convection, and radiation, which is beyond the scope of this
user’s guide, but the stress analysis of the resulting temperature profile is not. For further
discussion on the subject of heat transfer, refer to the NX Nastran Thermal Analysis User’s Guide.

Figure 8-15. Umbrella Tent With Thermal Loads

To analyze this type of problem, you need to run the heat transfer Solution 153 to produce a
temperature profile for all of the grid points in the model. A Solution 153 input file is generated
for this model and is included in the Test Problem Library with the name ‘heat.dat’.
In Solution 153, you have the option of creating a temperature file that can be included directly
into the Solution 101 input file. The Solution 101 input file used for the stress analysis is shown
in Listing 8-10. The temperature file from the Solution 153 run is shown in Listing 8-11. Note
the use of the INCLUDE statement, which inserts the temperature input file at that location
when you submit the job.

Applied Loads
$ FILENAME - THERMAL.DAT
$
ID LINEAR,THERMAL
SOL 101
TIME 10
CEND
TITLE = UMBRELLA TENT WITH THERMAL LOADING
$ DEFINE INITIAL TEMPERATURE
TEMP(INIT) = 2
$ DEFINE THERMAL LOADING
TEMP = 1
STRESS = ALL
SPC = 15
BEGIN BULK
$
INCLUDE ’heat.pch’
$
TEMPD 2 40.0
$
MAT1 1 10.E6 .3 2.59E-3 21.E-6
25000. 25000. 15000.
MAT1 4 2.E6 .3 2.59E-5 21.E-6
25000. 25000. 15000.
$
$ GRID, CBAR, CQUAD4, PBAR, PSHELL, AND SPC ENTRIES
$ REMOVED TO SAVE SPACE
ENDDATA
Listing 8-10. Umbrella Tent Thermal Analysis
$
$FILENAME - HEAT.PCH
$
$TITLE = TENT THERMAL ANALYSIS SUBJECTED TO RADIATION 1
$SUBTITLE=THE BASE TEMPERATURE AT 40 DEGREE F 2
$LABEL = 3
$DISPLACEMENTS 4
$REAL OUTPUT 5
$SUBCASE ID = 1 6
TEMP* 1 1 4.011359E+01 7
TEMP* 1 2 5.999791E+01 8
TEMP* 1 3 1.194475E+02 9
TEMP* 1 4 4.001704E+01 10
TEMP* 1 5 4.705626E+01 11
TEMP* 1 6 6.816640E+01 12
TEMP* 1 7 4.000030E+01 13
TEMP* 1 8 4.004408E+01 14
TEMP* 1 9 6.814966E+01 15
TEMP* 1 10 4.005281E+01 16
TEMP* 1 11 4.012182E+01 17
TEMP* 1 12 1.193867E+02 18
TEMP* 1 99 4.000000E+01 19
TEMP* 1 101 7.500000E+01 20
TEMP* 1 103 7.500000E+01 21
TEMP* 1 110 7.500000E+01 22
TEMP* 1 112 7.500000E+01 23
TEMP* 1 999 0.000000E+00 24
Listing 8-11. Temperature Distribution Generated with Solution 153

The OLOAD output shows the applied loads generated by the imposed temperature. The thermal
stresses for this example are quite small, so the structure should have no difficulty surviving
the thermal loading.

See also
• “Understanding Cyclic Symmetry” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
8.8 Enforced Element Deformation Loads

NX Nastran includes a limited capability to define enforced axial deformations. You can use the
DEFORM Bulk Data entry to apply an enforced extension (units of length) to CBAR, CBEAM,
CONROD, CROD, and CTUBE elements.
Enforced deformations, for example, are useful in the simulation of misfit or misalignment
in engineering structures. As in the case of thermal expansion, the software calculates the
equivalent loads by separate subroutines for each type of structural element and are applied to
the connected grid points. The magnitude of the axial deformation is specified on a DEFORM
entry.
You can only use DEFORM in SOLs 101, 105, 114, and 200. To apply enforced displacements in
other solution sequences, use SPCD.
With DEFORM, the enforced deformation is analogous to a turnbuckle that can be adjusted to
provide a desired axial deformation in an element. The appropriate stress-strain relation for a
rod element of length that undergoes an enforced axial deformation, δ is given by the following
equation:
Equation 8-8.
Consider this example:
.
.
.
SUBCASE 1
LOAD=1
SUBCASE 2
DEFORM=5
SUBCASE 10
LOAD=10
SUBCOM 20
SUBSEQ=.5,.75,1.6
DEFORM=50
.
.
.
Here DEFORM = 50 reflects a set of enforced deformations of the form
Equation 8-9.
For n DEFORM loading conditions in the subcases that immediately precede a SUBCOM, the
DEFORM loading condition that must be defined under the SUBCOM, if element force and
stress output is desired, is of the form

Applied Loads
Equation 8-10.
The format of the DEFORM entry is shown below:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
DEFORM SID EID1 D1 EID2 D2 EID3 D3
Field Contents
SID Deformation set identification number. (Integer > 0)
EIDi Element number. (Integer > 0)
Deformation. (Real; positive value represents elongation; negative
Di
value represents contraction)
You must use the DEFORM=SID to select the DEFORM entry in the Case Control section.
When you use DEFORM, you must remember that you’re not enforcing a strain or an actual
extensional length to the element. Rather, you’re applying a force to the element that produces
the specified extension if the element is free to expand without internal forces being generated.
The software adds this computed force to the other forces in the model. Since most elements
in your model aren’t free to expand, the extension value you specify may not be achieved. This
feature is best illustrated with an example.
See also
• “DEFORM” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “SPCD” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
DEFORM Example
Suppose you want to use the DEFORM entry to enforce a strain on the three-member structure
shown in Figure 8-16. The goal is to impose an initial strain equal to 100 μcm/cm in the center
member.

Figure 8-16. Three-Bar Structure with Initial Strain

Consider: (1) the DEFORM entry can only impose a force, (2) from static equilibrium, if no forces
are imposed on grid points 2 and 3, the force in all three members must be the same. With
this in mind, the following procedure is used.
1. Determine the force required in member 11 that produces the 100 mcm/cm strain.
2. Since there are no external forces acting on the elements, the force of 1065 N is same in all
the members. Using the 1065 N force, the stresses computed in the other members.
3. From the stresses found in part 2, the element strains are computed for elements 10 and
12. Multiplying the strain within each element by its length yields the extensional change
of the element. These extensional changes are the deform values required to produce a
100 μcm/cm strain in element 11.
Therefore,

Applied Loads
These values are entered on the DEFORM Bulk Data entry as shown in Listing 8-12. To help
understand the implementation of the DEFORM entry, two configurations are being analyzed.
The first configuration (Subcase 1) specifies the boundary conditions as shown in Figure 8-17(a).
For this case, the structure is free to expand without inducing any element forces. The results
of this subcase should be the extension of the members as entered on the DEFORM entry. As
mentioned previously, a force is applied to the element that produces the specified extension if
the element is free to expand.
The second subcase, shown in Figure 8-17(b), is the constrained configuration that is of interest.
If the calculations are correct, the strain in the center element should be the required 100
μcm/cm.
Figure 8-17. Three-Bar Structures with Initial Strain

$ FILENAME - STRAIN.DAT
ID LINEAR,STRAIN
SOL 101
TIME 2
CEND
$
DISP = ALL
STRESS = ALL
DEFORM = 1
SUBCASE 1
SUBCASE 2
SPC = 1
BEGIN BULK
$
SPC 1 4 1
$
GRID 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 123456
GRID 2 10. 0.0 0.0 23456
GRID 3 20. 0.0 0.0 23456
GRID 4 30. 0.0 0.0 23456
$
CBAR 10 1 1 2 1.0 0.0 1.0
CBAR 11 2 2 3 1.0 0.0 1.0
CBAR 12 3 3 4 1.0 0.0 1.0
$
PBAR 1 1 1.0
PBAR 2 1 1.5
PBAR 3 1 2.0
$
MAT1 1 7.1E6 .3
$
DEFORM 1 10 1.5E-3 11 1.E-3 12 .75E-3
ENDDATA
Listing 8-12. Initial Strain Input File

The stresses and displacements for the two subcases are shown in Figure 8-18. As can be
seen for the free end configuration, the extension of all of the members is consistent with the
DEFORM entry.
Note that the extensions for the elements aren’t the same as the values specified on the DEFORM
entry. The stress in member 11 is 710 N/cm2. Since E = 7.1 x 106, the strain in element 11 is
equal to = E/σ = 100 μcm/cm strain. The stress output is requested for this example because
strain output is not available for one-dimensional elements.

Applied Loads
Figure 8-18. Stress and Displacement Output of the Three Bar Structure
8.9 Loads Due to Enforced Motion
Statics
You can specify enforced zero displacements on GRID, SPC, or SPC1 entries.
• If you use GRID entries, the constraints become part of the structural model and
modifications cannot be made at the subcase level.
• SPC or SPC1 entries are usually used for defining zero displacements, which result in
nonzero forces of constraint.
You can specify nonzero enforced displacements on SPC or SPCD entries.

• The SPC entry lets you specify both the component to be constrained and the magnitude of
the enforced displacement.
• The SPCD entry lets you specify only the magnitude of the enforced grid point displacement.
When you use an SPCD entry, you must specify the component to be constrained on either

an SPC or SPC1 entry. Using SPCD avoids the decomposition of the stiffness matrix when
changes are only made in the magnitudes of the enforced displacements.
NX Nastran calculates the equivalent loads resulting from enforced displacements of grid
points and adds them to the other applied loads. You specify the magnitudes of the enforced
displacements on SPC entries (SPCAX in the case of conical shell problems) in the global
coordinate system. NX Nastran automatically applies the load when you select the associated
SPC set in the Case Control section.
See also
• “SPCAX” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Dynamics
In NX Nastran, you can use the:
• TLOAD1 and TLOAD2 entries to define a time-dependent dynamic load or enforced motion
for use in a transient response analysis
• RLOAD1 and RLOAD2 entries to define a frequency-dependent dynamic load for use in a
frequency response analysis
You can use the TYPE field (field5 on TLOAD1/TLOAD2 and field 8 on RLOAD1 and RLOAD2)
to specify the type of dynamic excitation you’re creating.
• If the TYPE field on the TLOAD1/2 entries indicates an enforced motion, the software first
assumes that the EXCITEID field points to SPC-type data. If not present, NX Nastran then
assumes the excitation is enforced motion using large masses and will then look for DAREA
and various static loading data, just as in the case of applied loads.
• With RLOAD1 and RLOAD2 entries, the software only look for SPC-type data in the case
of enforced motion.
For all entries (TLOAD1/2, RLOAD1/2), if the TYPE field indicates an applied load, the program
will search only for static loading data.
See also
• “TLOAD1” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “TLOAD2” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “RLOAD1” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “RLOAD2” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Applied Loads
Specifying Enforced Motion Data

In NX Nastran, you specify enforced motion data on the SPC/SPC1/SPCD Bulk Data entries.
(Note that components specified in SPCD data must be also be referenced on SPC or SPC1
entries.)
You can define enforced motion with SPC data (without the use of SPCDs) alone. However, such
usage is discouraged in favor of SPC/SPC1 data in connection with SPCDs. In this way, you
select SPCD entries via the EXCITEID field in the dynamic load data, while the software uses
the SPC/SPC1 sets to identify the constrained displacement set in the Case Control section.
With SPC data alone, enforced motion is applied solely via the Case Control section. The entries
referenced by the EXCITEID field on the TLOAD1/2 or RLOAD1/2 entries do not have to
exist. This method of specifying enforced motion is less elegant and somewhat more difficult to
interpret.
See also
• “SPC1” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using Residual Vectors (Modal Augmentation) in Modal Dynamic Response

Analysis
When enforced motion is employed in modal dynamic response analysis, using modal
augmentation vectors is highly recommended in order to improve solution accuracy. Without
these vectors, your obtained results may be unacceptable.
Qualitatively, the enforced motion shapes, or “modes,” may not necessarily be represented by
the component modes of the structure, leading to a truncation of the enforced motion shapes
during projection to the modal space. To obtain modal residual vectors from applied loads using
modal augmentation vectors, specify PARAM,RESVEC,YES in the Bulk Data section. NX
Nastran automatically derives the necessary static loads from the enforced motion data; you
don’t need to specify any additional loads.
In summary, the procedure for applying enforced motion in a dynamic analysis:
1. Specify the appropriate type of enforced motion to be applied via the TYPE field in
RLOAD1/RLOAD2 (field 8) or TLOAD1/TLOAD2 (field 5) Bulk Data entry, as appropriate.
2. Define the desired enforced motion using the SPCD Bulk Data entry. The set IDs of these
SPCD data must match the IDs appearing in the EXCITEID fields of the corresponding
dynamic load data in step 1.
3. Ensure that the components referenced in the SPCD Bulk Data entry above are also specified
in the SPC1 Bulk Data entry and this SPC1 is also selected in the Case Control Section.
4. Ensure PARAM,RESVEC is set to YES in the Bulk Data Section if a modal dynamic solution
approach is used.
See also
• “RESVEC” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

8.10 Frequency-dependent Loads

You use the DLOAD entry to define linear combinations of frequency dependent loads that are
defined on RLOAD1 or RLOAD2 entries. The RLOAD1 entry defines a frequency dependent
load of the form
Equation 8-11.
where A is defined on a DAREA entry, C (f) and D (f) are defined on TABLEDi entries, θ is
defined on a DPHASE entry, τ is defined on a DELAY entry, and f is defined on a FREQ, FREQ1
or FREQ2.entry. The RLOAD2 entry defines a frequency-dependent load of the form
Equation 8-12.
where A is defined on a DAREA entry, B (f) and φ (f) are defined on TABLEDi entries, θ is defined
on a DPHASE entry, and τ is defined on a DELAY entry. The coefficients on the DAREA, DELAY,
and DPHASE entries may be different for each loaded degree-of-freedom. The loads are applied
to the specified components in the global coordinate system.
Static loading data may be used to supply DAREA values. Using a LOADSET Case Control
request with LSEQ Bulk Data entries, you can build DAREA load vectors from any valid static
load set. This option is available in the frequency response solutions and in superelement
analysis.
The RANDPS entry defines load set power spectral density factors for use in random analysis
of the form
Equation 8-13.
where G (f) is defined on a TABRNDi entry. The subscripts j and k define the subcase numbers
of the load definitions. If the applied loads are independent, only the diagonal terms (j = k)
need be defined. You use the RANDT1 entry to specify the time lag constants for use in the
computation of the auto correlation functions.
See also
• “Frequency Response Analysis” in the NX Nastran Basic Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide (for
a discussion of frequency response calculations)
• Section 12.2 of The NASTRAN Theoretical Manual (for a discussion of random response
calculations)

Applied Loads
8.11 Time-dependent Loads

You can use the DLOAD entry to define linear combinations of time-dependent loads that are
defined on TLOAD1 and TLOAD2 entries. The TLOAD1 entry defines a time-dependent load
of the form
Equation 8-14.
where A is defined on a DAREA entry, τ is defined on a DELAY entry, and F (t − τ) is defined on a
TABLEDi entry. The TLOAD2 entry defines a time-dependent load of the form
Equation 8-15.
where T1 and T2 are time constants, , A and τ are the same as on the TLOAD1
entry, B is the growth coefficient, C is the exponential coefficient, F is the frequency, and P is
the phase angle.
The coefficients on the DAREA and DELAY entries may be different for each loaded
degree-of-freedom. The loads are applied to the specified components in the global coordinate
system.
Two methods are available to automatically create DAREA values from static load data.
• Simple static loads that supply load values directly to grid points (such as FORCE,
MOMENT, SLOAD, and PLOAD Bulk Data entries) will add to the DAREA factors when the
load identification matches the requested set.
• More complicated loads may be generated using the LOADSET Case Control command. The
requested LSEQ Bulk Data entry matches DAREA sets to static loading sets. Any type of
static load (e.g., LOAD, GRAV, RFORCE, and SPCD Bulk Data entries) may be generated for
either superelement or residual only (non-superelement) models.
Nonlinear effects are treated as an additional applied load vector, for which the components are
functions of the degrees-of-freedom. This additional load vector is added to the right side of the
equations of motion and treated along with the applied load vector during numerical integration.
It is required that the points to which the nonlinear loads are applied and the degrees-of-freedom
on which they depend be members of the solution set; i.e., that they cannot be degrees-of-freedom
eliminated by constraints. It is further required that, if a modal formulation is used, the points
referenced by the nonlinear loads be members of the set of extra scalar points introduced for
dynamic analysis.
There are four different types of nonlinear transient forcing functions:
• Arbitrary function generators
• Multiplies

• Positive power functions
• Negative power functions
The NOLIN1 entry defines a nonlinear load of the form
Equation 8-16.
where Pi is the load applied to ui, Si is a scale factor, T(uj) is a tabulated function defined with a
TABLEDi entry, and uj is any permissible displacement component or velocity component.
Equation 8-17.
where uj and uk are any permissible pair of displacement components and/or velocity components.
They may be the same.
Equation 8-18.
where A is an exponent and uj is any permissible displacement component or velocity component.
Equation 8-19.
where A is an exponent and uj is any permissible displacement component or velocity component.
See also
• “Transient Response Analysis” in the NX Nastran Basic Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide (for
a discussion of transient response calculations)
• Section 11.2 of The NASTRAN Theoretical Manual

Applied Loads
• For a discussion of nonlinear forcing functions, see Section 11.2 of The NASTRAN Theoretical
Manual.
8.12 Using Static Loading Data in Dynamic Analysis

To include static loading data in a dynamic analysis, all static loads and thermal loads that
have the same ID as the DAREA ID on the dynamic load entry are automatically selected, as
shown in the example below.
.
CEND
.
$ THE FOLLOWING REQUEST SELECTS RLOAD1 ENTRY 150
DLOAD = 150
.
BEGIN BULK
$ THE FOLLOWING PLOAD4 IS AUTOMATICALLY SELECTED
$ BECAUSE ITS ID OF 100 MATCHES THE EXCITEID ID OF THE
$ SELECTED RLOAD1 ENTRY
PLOAD4,100,...
RLOAD1,150,100,...
$ THE ABOVE USAGE IS EQUIVALENT TO THE USER
$ SELECTING AN LSEQ BULK DATA OF THE FORM:-
$ LSEQ,SET_ID,100,100,100
.
The DAREA Bulk Data entry is used to specify point loads in dynamic analysis. In the case of grid
points, these loads are implicitly assumed to be in the displacement (or local) coordinate systems
of those points. The software automatically converts all DAREA Bulk Data entries for grid and
scalar points into the appropriate equivalent FORCE/MOMENT/SLOAD Bulk Data entries.
Two additional, important advantages of the above enhancement follow.
• When you perform dynamic analysis using the modal approach, you may want to
employ residual vectors to improve the quality of the solution. In addition to specifying
PARAM,RESVEC,YES in the Bulk Data Section, you must also specify static loads at
those points that are dynamically excited. However, with the above automatic conversion
feature, it isn’t necessary to explicitly specify static loads for the purpose of residual vector
calculations. Such loads are automatically generated by NX Nastran.
• With the automatic conversion feature, you can use the DAREA entry to be used in static
analysis as well. This is particularly advantageous when you want to apply loads at grid
points in the displacement (or local) coordinate systems of those grid points.
When the software performs the automatic conversion, it issues you a message at the end of the
Preface module that contains an image of each converted DAREA Bulk Data entry as well as the
corresponding FORCE/MOMENT/SLOAD Bulk Data entry into which it has been converted.
See also
• “DAREA” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
8.13 Defining Loads for Cyclic Symmetry Analysis

In NX Nastran, there are several different bulk data entries that you can use to define loading
for cyclic symmetry analyses.

• You can use the LOADCYH entry to define the harmonic coefficients of a load in cyclic
symmetry analysis.
• You can use the LOADCYN entry to define a physical load in cyclic symmetry analysis.
• You can use the LOADCYT entry to specify a tabular load input for axisymmetric cyclic
symmetry problems.
See also
• “LOADCYH” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “LOADCYN” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “LOADCYT” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “Understanding Cyclic Symmetry” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
8.14 Combining Loads

You can use the LOAD case control command to combine the loads you specified on other entries
to form new loading conditions. You can use LOAD to define a static loading condition that’s a
linear combination (superposition) of load sets consisting of loads applied directly to grid points,
pressure loads, gravity loads, and centrifugal forces.
Once you’ve used the loading bulk data entries to define the load, you can use case control
commands to specify which of the loading entries you want to use in a given analysis. The case
control command you use depends on the type of load or loads you’re applying:
LOAD=n
DEFORM=n
TEMP(LOAD)=n
SPC=n
where n is a unique, user-defined set identification number (SID) in field 2 of the load Bulk
Data entry.
For a given analysis, the total load the software applies is the sum of external (LOAD), thermal
(TEMP(LOAD)), element deformation (DEFORM), and displacement (SPC) loads.
See also
• “LOAD” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “TEMPERATURE” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “DEFORM” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using LOAD
You must use LOAD if you want to combine gravity loads with loads applied directly to grid
points, pressure loads, or centrifugal forces, even if there is only one loading condition.

Applied Loads
You can define up to 300 (Si, Li) pairs with a single LOAD entry.
For any particular solution, the total static load will be the sum of the applied loads (grid point
loading, pressure loading, gravity loading, and centrifugal forces) and the equivalent loads.
The resulting combined load is determined by:
Equation 8-20.
Where:
• (S) is the overall scale factor you define on the LOAD entry
• (Si) is the scale factor you define on the LOAD entry for each individual load set
• {Li} is the applied load vector corresponding to load set ID Li
You request subcases, which may or may not include different loading conditions, in the Case
Control Section. Three Case Control commands (LOAD, TEMP(LOAD), and DEFORM) are used
in selecting loading conditions for subcases. Each of these commands identifies a unique set
whose SID is the same as the SID of one or more Bulk Data entries. Figure 8-19 shows the Bulk
Data entries you can select with each of the three Case Control commands.

Figure 8-19. Load Combinations
LOAD Example 1
As an example of the LOAD entry combining two loads, consider the umbrella tent shown in
Figure 8-20.

Applied Loads
Figure 8-20. Umbrella Tent Subjected to Gravity and Wind Loads

The input file containing the combined loading is shown in Listing 8-13. To apply the wind
pressure in the correct direction, a local coordinate system is defined so that the local Y axis
makes an angle of 5 degrees with the ground. This coordinate system is referenced on the
PLOAD4 continuation entry. Since all of the elements in the model are exposed to the wind load,
the simplest method is to use the thru option on the PLOAD4 entry (fields 8 and 9).
The gravity load of 386.4 entered on the GRAV entry corresponds to a 1 G load in the English
system. Whenever you are working with an acceleration vector in terms of Gs, make sure that
you convert the load such that its units are consistent with your structure.

$
$ FILENAME - TENT.DAT
$
:
LOAD=5
:
BEGIN BULK
$
CORD2R 1 0 0. 0. 0. 0. .08716 1.
1. .08716 1.
$
GRAV 1 0 386.4 0.0 0.0 -1.0
PLOAD4 2 1 .02 THRU 6
1 0. 1. 0.
LOAD 5 1. 1. 1 1. 2
$
PARAM POST 0
PARAM AUTOSPC YES
PARAM GRDPNT 0
$
PSHELL 1 4 .05
$
MAT1 1 10.E6 .3 2.59E-3
25000. 25000. 15000.
$
MAT1 4 2.E6 .3 2.59E-5
25000. 25000. 15000.
$
$ GRID, ELEMENT, AND CONSTRAINTS ARE NOT SHOWN
$
ENDDATA
Listing 8-13. Umbrella Tent with Wind and Gravity Loads

The gravity load is defined by the GRAV entry with a loading set ID of 1. The wind loading is
defined using the PLOAD4 entry with a loading set ID of 2. The LOAD entry (ID of 5) is used to
combine the gravity and wind loadings. The LOAD entry is selected by the LOAD = 5 command
in the Case Control Section. If the GRAV and the PLOAD4 entries were assigned the same ID,
a fatal error would have resulted.
LOAD Example 2
Assume that your model has one concentrated force of 15.2 lbs in the y direction applied to grid
point 12, and one concentrated moment of 6.4 inch-lbs about the x-axis applied to grid point 127.
It is required to double the value of force and triple the value of moment for your next analysis.
The LOAD Bulk Data entry may be written with an overall scale factor (S) of 1.0 and loadset
scale factors (Si) of 2.0 for force and 3.0 for moment. Thus,
In Case Control:
LOAD = 22
In Bulk Data:

Applied Loads
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
LOAD 22 1.0 2.0 30 3.0 40
FORCE 30 12 15.2 0. 1. 0.
MOMENT 40 127 6.4 1. 0. 0.

Chapter
9 Constraints
• Introduction to Constraints
• Single-point Constraints
• Automatically Applying Single-point Constraints
• Enforced Displacements at Grid Points (SPCD, SPC)
• Multipoint Constraints
• Rigid Body Supports
• Surface-to-Surface Gluing
• Linear Contact Using Constraints

Chapter 9 Constraints
9.1 Introduction to Constraints

A constraint is the enforcement of a prescribed displacement (i.e., component of translation or
rotation) on a grid point or points. There are two basic types of constraints in NX Nastran: single
point constraints (SPCs) and multipoint constraints (MPCs).
• A single point constraint is a constraint applied to an individual grid point. Single point
constraints can enforce either zero displacement or nonzero displacement.
• A multipoint constraint is a mathematical constraint relationship between one grid point

and another grid point (or set of grid points).
The boundary conditions of a static structure (fixed, hinged, roller support, etc.) typically require
that various degrees of freedom be constrained to zero displacement. For example, consider a
grid point fixed in a rigid wall. All six displacement degrees of freedom—three translational
directions and three rotational directions—must be constrained to zero to mathematically
describe the fixed boundary condition.
Real world structures often don’t have simple or ideal boundary conditions. Because a model’s
constraints greatly influences its response to loading, you must try to constrain your model
as accurately as possible.
This chapter describes how you apply constraints. To understand how constraints are processed,
you need to be familiar with the NX Nastran set notation and matrix operations.
9.2 Single-point Constraints

A single point constraint (SPC) applies a fixed value to a translational or rotational component
at an individual grid point or to a scalar point. Common uses of single point constraints
are to specify the boundary conditions of a structural model by fixing the appropriate
degrees-of-freedom and to eliminate unwanted degrees-of-freedom with zero stiffness. Multiple
sets of single point constraints can be provided in the Bulk Data Section, with selections made at
execution time by using the subcase structure in the Case Control Section. This procedure is
particularly useful in the solution of problems having one or more planes of symmetry.
You can use single-point constraints to:
• To constrain a structure to ground.
• To apply symmetric or antisymmetric boundary conditions by restraining the degrees of

freedom that must have a zero value to satisfy symmetry or antisymmetry.
• To remove degrees of freedom that are not used in the structural analysis (i.e., are not
connected to any structural elements or otherwise joined to the structure).
• To remove degrees of freedom that are very weakly coupled to the structure. This condition
can occur, for example, to the rotations about the normal of a slightly curved shell. In this
case, a judgment must be made whether to remove the degree of freedom using an SPC (in
which case the structure may be over-constrained), or to leave it in the problem (in which
case the stiffness matrix is nearly singular). A reasonable rule is to constrain the degree
of freedom if its stiffness is less than 10-8 as large as the stiffness in another direction at
the same grid point.
The elements connected to a grid point may not provide resistance to motion in certain directions,
causing the stiffness matrix to be singular. Single point constraints are used to remove these
degrees-of-freedom from the stiffness matrix.

Constraints
For example, consider a planar structure composed of membrane and extensional elements. The
translations normal to the plane and all three rotational degrees-of-freedom must be constrained
since the corresponding stiffness matrix terms are all zero. If a grid point has a direction of zero
stiffness, the single point constraint doesn’t need to be exactly in that direction. It only needs
to have a component in that direction. This allows the use of single point constraints for the
removal of such singularities regardless of the orientation of the global coordinate system.
Although the displacements will depend on the direction of the constraint, the internal forces
will be unaffected.
Defining Single point Constraints in NX Nastran

There are several different ways that you can define single point constraints:
• You can define single point constraints on SPC, SPC1, SPCADD and SPCAX bulk data
entries.
• You can define single point constraints on the GRID and GRDSET entries.
• You can use the PARAM,AUTOSPC,YES option to have the software automatically create
SPCs to remove degrees of freedom that are either unconnected or very weakly coupled.
You can obtain structural reaction forces called single point constraint forces (SPCFs) at grid
points constrained by SPCs. You can request printed output for single point forces in the Case
Control section. The software prints all nonzero forces, whether they originate from SPCi entries,
the PS field on GRID entries, or PARAM,AUTOSPC,YES.
When you apply a single-point constraint to remove a singularity, the restrained component of
motion to doesn’t need to be aligned exactly with the singular direction of motion (however, it is
highly recommended). Consider the pair of co-linear pin-connected rods, shown in Figure 9-1,
that permit unrestrained motion at point G in any direction perpendicular to the axis of the rods.
Figure 9-1. Pin-Connected Rods

After SPCs are applied to the translation in the z-direction and to all three components of
rotation, unrestrained motion is still possible in the n-direction. An SPC in either the x- or
the y-direction removes the remaining singularity without disturbing the axial forces in the
rods (in this special case). Note, however, that the motion at point G has a zero component in

the restrained direction, which may produce incorrect results for the displacements. For this
reason, you should select a local coordinate system whose coordinate axes align with the singular
components of motion.
Using GRID Entries

You can also define single point constraints using the PS option (field 8) on the GRID and
GRDSET bulk data entries. When you define constraints this way, the constraints are permanent
and are constrained for all subcases; you can’t select them in the Case Control section. Their
primary use, in addition to applying permanent supports, is to remove unconnected or very
weakly connected degrees of freedom.
The default value for enforced displacement on points that you constrain on GRID entries is zero.
You can override the default value at the subcase level with SPC entries.
See also
• “Specifying Permanent Single Point Constraints (Field 8)” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
• “GRID” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “GRDSET” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Grid Example 1: Cantilever Beam
In this example, we constrained Grid 1 in all six DOFs using field 8 (permanent single point
constraint) of the GRID Bulk Data entry:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
GRID 1 0. 0. 0. 123456
Or, in free field format,

GRID,1,,0.,0.,0.,,123456
Note that with this option, you don’t need to specify a constraint set in the Case Control section.

Constraints
Using SPC and SPC1

You can define single point constraints on SPC, SPC1, SPCADD and SPCAX bulk data entries.
• The SPC entry is the most general way of specifying single point constraints.
• The SPC1 entry is a less general entry that is more convenient when several grid points have
the same components constrained to a zero displacement.
• The SPCADD entry defines a union of single point constraint sets specified with SPC or
SPC1 entries.
• The SPCAX entry is used only for specifying single point constraints in problems using
conical shell elements.
You should use the SPC and SPC1 Bulk Data entries if you need to apply different sets of
boundary conditions in different subcases. The constraints specified on the SPC and SPC1
entries belong to sets identified by set identification numbers (SIDs) that must be selected in the
Case Control Section to be used. You can use the SPCADD entry in the Case Control section
to merge individual SPC and SPC1 sets into combined sets.
The format of the SPC entry is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
SPC SID G1 C1 D1 G2 C2 D2
Field Contents
SID Identification number of the single-point constraint set.
Gi Grid or scalar point identification number.
Ci Component number.
Value of enforced displacement for all degrees of freedom designated by Gi
Di
and Ci.
The SPC entry can also be used to specify a nonzero displacement constraint. The values
specified in fields 5 and 8 are enforced displacements for the components specified in fields 4
and 7, respectively. When using an enforced constraint within multiple subcases, it is more
efficient to use the SPCD entry.
See also
• “SPC1” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “SPCADD” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

SPC Example 1
Grids 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 must be constrained in all six DOFs. Assume that a single point
constraint selection is defined in the Case Control Section (SPC = 42). Applying the same
constraint on numerous individual GRID Bulk Data entries is not particularly convenient-an
SPC1 entry is a better choice:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
SPC1 SID C G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6
G7 G8 G9 -etc.-
SPC1 42 123456 1 2 3 4 6 7
8 9

SPC1,42,123456,1,2,3,4,6,7
,8,9
Note that if the “THRU” (alternate format) option were used (1 THRU 9), grid point 5 would
have been incorrectly fixed, and no displacement would occur anywhere in the model.

Constraints
SCP Example 2: Fixed Hinged Beam
Here, an SPC entry is used to constrain both ends of the beam. Assume that a single point
constraint set selection is defined in the Case Control Section (SPC = 42). The values of enforced
displacement (Di) are left blank since zero displacement is the default.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
SPC SID G1 C1 D1 G2 C2 D2
SPC 42 1 123456 5 12346

SPC,42,1,123456,,5,12346
9.3 Automatically Applying Single-point Constraints

NX Nastran automatically identifies and constrains singularities in the stiffness matrix using a
parameter called AUTOSPC. When you add PARAM,AUTOSPC,YES to either the bulk data or
case control sections of your input file, NX Nastran automatically removes degrees of freedom
that are either unconnected or very weakly coupled to the finite element model.
With AUTOSPC, you use the PARAM,EPZERO option to specify the minimum stiffness ratio the
software should use to determine a singularity. The stiffness ratio is the ratio of the stiffness in
the weakest direction to the stiffness in the strongest direction at the grid point (considering
all possible directions rather than just the coordinate directions). The software considers
translational and rotational stiffness separately.
See also
• “AUTOSPC” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “EPZERO” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Grid Point Singularity Processor

When you use the AUTOSPC parameter, the software uses the Grid Point Singularity Processor
(GPSP) module to identify potential singularities. When you set the AUTOSPC parameter to
YES, the GPSP constrains the degrees of freedom associated with the obvious singularities.
The GPSP identifies local singularities in the stiffness matrix after the software processes all
the SPC and MPC constraints in your model.
The software begins identifying local grid point singularities by examining the 3 · 3 matrices that
represent the three translations and three rotations of each grid point. For each 3 · 3 matrix,
the software performs an eigensolution to obtain the principal values (eigenvalues) and the
principal directions (eigenvectors). The principal values are normalized to obtain a measure Ri
as shown in Eq. 9-1:
Equation 9-1.
Ki = the diagonal stiffness term corresponding to the i-th degree of freedom

KMAX = the maximum principal stiffness
Any principal value for which |Ri| < EPZERO represents a singularity. The software examines
the principal direction corresponding to the singularity and identifies the component with the
largest ratio as the failed direction for the grid point. The software doesn’t constrain any degrees
of freedom that you specify as belonging to the a-set.
See also
• “Understanding Sets and Matrix Operations” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide (for
information on a-sets)
• “Constraint and Mechanism Problem Identification in SubDMAP SEKR” in the NX Nastran

User’s Guide
Understanding the Grid Point Singularity Table

When the GPSP examines the stiffness matrix for singularities at the grid point level, it lists any
singularities in the Grid Point Singularity Table (GPST). The software prints the GPST in the
.f06 file. The GPST lists all singular degrees-of-freedom, in the global coordinate system, and the
ratio of stiffness between the softest and stiffest degree-of-freedom for the grid point. It also lists
any degrees-of-freedom that the software automatically constrained.
You should always review the Grid Point Singularity Table carefully to understand which DOFs
were singular and why. Automatic constraint generation can mask actual modeling errors, such
as your forgetting to specify bending stiffness (via MID2 on the PSHELL entry).
The output includes a grid point singularity table with the following format:

Constraints
• The TYPE specifies whether the failed degree of freedom is a component of a grid point
(G) of a scalar point (S).
• The component of motion that failed. Constraints are applied in the global coordinate
direction closest to the weakest direction as defined above.
• If possible, the failed degrees of freedom are placed in the sb-set if AUTOSPC is set to YES
(the default for Solution 101). If AUTOSPC is set to NO, the singularity is identified but not
constrained and is not placed in the sb-set.
• An asterisk (*) is printed at the end of the line and indicates that action was taken by NX
Nastran.
To illustrate how failing to inspect the GPSP output can lead to a potential problem, consider the
single CBAR element example shown in Figure 9-2.
Figure 9-2. Single Element with Vertical Load

The CBAR element is fully constrained at end A and is loaded with a 100 N force in the
Yb-direction at end B. The input file for this model is shown in Listing 9-4. Both grid points
are defined in the basic coordinate system. The displacement coordinate system for grid
point 1 is the basic system, but the displacement coordinate system for grid point 2 is in the
local coordinate system 1. It is typical to define a local coordinate system when you need a
displacement component in a specific direction.
A sample Grid Point Singularity Table is shown in Figure 9-3.

Figure 9-3. Grid Point Singularity Table

In this table, grid point 2, the free end of the rod, failed (i.e. had no stiffness connection) in five
of its six possible DOFs. DOF 2 (translation in the Y direction) of grid point 2 wasn’t singular
because it is attached to the extensional stiffness of the rod. CROD elements support extension
and torsion, but in this example no value of J, the torsional constant, was provided in field 5 of
the PROD element property entry. As a result, the CROD element had no torsional stiffness. The
resulting unconnected DOF was detected and constrained by AUTOSPC.
$ FILENAME - BAR3A.DAT
ID LINEAR,BAR3A
SOL 101
TIME 5
CEND
TITLE = BAR WITH I1 AND I2
SPC = 1
LOAD = 1
FORCE = ALL
DISP = ALL
BEGIN BULK
PARAM POST 0
PARAM AUTOSPC YES
CORD2R 1 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 .7071068.7071068+
1. 0.0 0.0
$
GRID 1 0.0 0.0 0.0
GRID 2 10. 0.0 0.0 1
$
CBAR 1 1 1 2 1. 1. 0.0
$
SPC 1 1 123456 0.0
$
PBAR 1 1 1. .667 .167
FORCE 1 2 100. 0. 1. 0.
MAT1 1 1.+7 .3
ENDDATA
Figure 9-4. Single Element with a Vertical Load

For this example, the displacement should be exclusively in the Yb-direction. Since the
displacement is computed and output in the CD coordinate system, you expect that the
displacement components T2 (the Y1-direction) and T3 (the Z1-direction) for grid point 2 are
the same for this model. The displacement and force results shown in Figure 9-5 confirm this
assumption.

Constraints
Figure 9-5. Force and Displacement at Grid Point 2 with a Nonzero I2

However, suppose that when you construct the model, you know that the deflection is in plane 1
of the element only, so you leave the I2 field blank. The resulting grid point singularity table,
element forces, and displacements are shown in Figure 9-6
Figure 9-6. Force and Displacement at Grid Point 2 with a Zero I2

As can be seen, the GPSP module identified a singularity that is caused by the missing bending
stiffness of the element. However, the constraint is placed on the Y1 and θy1 the degrees of
freedom, not the Y1 and θyb degrees of freedom. The force in the CBAR element is correct, but
the displacements are wrong. You made a common assumption that for a symmetric structure
with in-plane loads, the out-of-plane properties are not needed. However, the choice of the
output coordinate system and parameter AUTOSPC resulted in a modeling error. If you chose
the output coordinate system for grid point 2 as the basic system, the displacements would be
correct. Also, for this model, if parameter AUTOSPC is set to NO, the job will fail.
If this had been a production size model, the error would not have been so obvious and may well
have gone undetected. Always look at the Grid Point Singularity Table results to make sure that
the constrained degrees of freedom are acceptable.
9.4 Enforced Displacements at Grid Points (SPCD, SPC)

There are two methods available to you for specifying an enforced displacement at a component.
The first method is to enter the value of the enforced displacement directly on an SPC entry.
The alternate method to enforce a displacement at a component is to use the SPCD Bulk Data
entry. The SPCD entry is actually a force, not a constraint, but it is used in conjunction with
an SPC entry to enforce the displacement. When you use an SPCD entry, internal forces are
computed that are applied to the structure to produce the desired enforced displacements.
The format of the SPCD entry is as follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
SPCD SID G1 C1 D1 G2 C2 D2
Field Contents
SID Identification number of a static load set.
Gi Grid or scalar point identification number.
Ci Component numbers.
Di Value of enforced displacement for at Gi and Ci.
Grid points with an enforced displacement using the SPCD entry must also appear on an SPC or
an SPC1 Bulk Data entry.
The SPCD method of enforcing a nonzero constraint is more efficient than using an SPC entry
alone when you’re using multiple subcases that specify different constraint conditions. Note
also that when you use an SPCD entry, the displacement values entered on the SPC entry are
ignored. The software only uses the SPCD values.
As an example of enforced displacement, consider the flat plate shown in Figure 9-7. The plate is
modeled with 2500 CQUAD4 elements.
Figure 9-7. Flat Plate with Various Corner Constraints

The purpose of this example is to compare the efficiency of using the SPC/SPCD combination
to that of using the SPC entry only. For the plate model, four runs are made, each having two
subcases with different constraint conditions. For the input files “const1.dat” and “const2.dat”,
the locations of the constraints are the same for both subcases, but the magnitudes of the
constraints change. The file “const1.dat” uses a different SPC for both subcases. The file
“const2.dat” specifies the same SPC for both subcases, but it has different SPCD entries.

Constraints
The input files “const3.dat” and “const4.dat” are similar to the first two; however, the locations
of the constraints in the two subcases are different. Table 9-1 summarizes the constraints
and CPU time for all four analyses.
Table 9-1. Comparison of the SPC Versus the SPC/SPCD Combination

Location of Enforced Displacement
const1.dat const2.dat const3.dat const4.dat
SPC Only SPC/SPCD SPC Only SPC/SPCD
Corner
Displacement Subcase 1 Subcase 2 Subcase 1 Subcase 2 Subcase 1 Subcase 2 Subcase 1 Subcase 2
(in)
Grid 1 0 0 0 0 - - - -
Grid 51 0 5 0 5 - 0 - 0
Grid 2551 5 5 5 5 0 5 0 5
Grid 2601 5 0 5 0 5 - 5 -
CPU Time* 7.3 (sec) 5.1 (sec) 7.3 (sec) 7.3 (sec)
– free to move
* CPU time on Windows 2000
The SPC/SPCD combination is more efficient for both modeling situations. It is most
advantageous to use this combination when the magnitudes but not the locations of the
constraints change. The larger improvement seen by the magnitude only change is reasonable
because only one SPC needs to be processed; the multiple boundary conditions are represented
as multiple loads. In general, whenever you have multiple subcases with different constraint
conditions, the SPC/SPCD combination is the preferred method for efficiency.
As mentioned previously, the SPCD is a force entry, not a constraint. Therefore, the SPCD is
called out in the Case Control Section with the LOAD command. The input file for “const2.dat” is
shown in Listing 9-1.
$ FILENAME - CONST2.DAT
ID LINEAR,CONST2
SOL 101
TIME 200
CEND
TITLE = ENFORCED DISPLACEMENTS USING SPC1 ONLY
DISP(PLOT) = ALL
SPC = 1
SUBCASE 1
LOAD = 11
SUBCASE 2
LOAD = 12
BEGIN BULK
PARAM POST 0
$
SPC1 1 123456 1 51 2551 2601
$
SPCD 11 1 3 0.0
SPCD 11 51 3 0.0
SPCD 11 2551 3 5.0
SPCD 11 2601 3 5.0
$
SPCD 12 1 3 0.0
SPCD 12 51 3 5.0
SPCD 12 2551 3 5.0
SPCD 12 2601 3 0.0

$
INCLUDE ’const.bulk’
$
ENDDATA
Listing 9-1. The SPC/SPCD Combination

As a final comment, if the SPCD entry is the only loading in the model, the software issues a
warning message stating that no loading is specified for your model. If you intend for the SPCD
entry to be the only loading condition, you can ignore the message.
9.5 Multipoint Constraints

In NX Nastran, you can create linear constraint relationships between several degrees of
freedom known as multiple-point constraints or MPCs. Each multipoint constraint is described
by a single equation that specifies a linear relationship for two or more degrees-of-freedom.
In NX Nastran, the term multiple-point constraint (MPC) describes an imposed linear
relationship between two or more degrees of freedom that are expressed in the form
Equation 9-2.
uj = any degree of freedom defined by a grid point or an S point
Rj = user-defined scale factor
See also
• Section 5.4 of The NASTRAN Theoretical Manual.
Uses of Multi-point Constraints

Multi-point constraints have many important practical applications and can be used to:
• Define the relative motion between two grid points as a degree of freedom.
• Define the average of several motions as a degree of freedom.
• Supply hinges or sliding joints between parts of a structure.
• Join dissimilar elements, for example, to join elements with rotational degrees of freedom
to elements that have only translational degrees of freedom (e.g., to join shell elements
to solid elements).
• Obtain the resultant of forces on a structure or on part of a structure.
• Distribute a force to several points in a structure. This is particularly useful if the force is an
unknown force, for example, the force required to compress a fluid.
• Join elements with noncoincident grid points, for example, to change mesh size within a
structure.

Constraints
• Replace extremely stiff structural members with rigid connections. This modeling technique
should only be used when necessary to improve the numerical conditioning of the stiffness
matrix. MPCs can be used for this application, but they are not recommended. The preferred
method is to use an R-type element because this element is simpler, and therefore less
prone to error.
• Define a component of motion at a grid point that isn’t aligned with the axes of the global
coordinate system, for example, to let you supply a constraint in such a direction with an
additional SPC entry.
• Describe rigid elements and mechanisms such as levers, pulleys, and gear trains. In this
application, the degrees-of-freedom associated with the rigid element that are in excess
of those needed to describe rigid body motion are eliminated with multipoint constraint
equations. Treating very stiff members as rigid elements eliminates the ill-conditioning
associated with their treatment as ordinary elastic elements.
• Enforce zero motion in directions other than those corresponding with components of the
global coordinate system. In this case, the multipoint constraint will involve only the
degrees-of-freedom at a single grid point. The constraint equation relates the displacement
in the direction of zero motion to the displacement components in the global system at
the grid point.
• Generate nonstandard structural elements and other special effects with scalar elements.
• Describe parts of a structure by local vibration modes (see Section 14.1 of The NASTRAN
Theoretical Manual) where the matrix of local eigenvectors represents a set of constraints
relating physical coordinates to modal coordinates.
Defining Multi-point Constraints in NX Nastran

In NX Nastran, you can define multi-point constraints on MPC, MPCADD, and MPCAX bulk
data entries.
• MPC is the basic entry for defining multipoint constraints. The first component specified on
the entry is the dependent degree-of-freedom, i.e., that degree-of-freedom that is removed
from the equations of motion. Dependent degrees-of-freedom may appear as independent
terms in other equations of the set; however, they may appear as dependent terms in only a
single equation.
• The MPCADD entry defines a union of multipoint constraints.
• The MPCAX defines multipoint constraints in conical shell problems.
You can output multipoint forces of constraint with the MPCFORCE Case Control command in
Solution Sequences 101 through 200.
In general, with these bulk data entries, you must provide the coefficients in the multi-point
constraint equations. However, you can also use several rigid elements to generate the MPC
equations automatically for some applications:
RROD A pin-ended rod which is rigid in extension.
RBAR A rigid bending element with six degrees-of-freedom at each end.

A rigid triangular plate with six degrees-of-freedom at each

RTRPLT
vertex.
A rigid body connected to an arbitrary number of grid points. The

RBE1 independent and dependent degrees-of-freedom can be arbitrarily
selected by the user.
A rigid body connected to an arbitrary number of grid points. The

independent degrees-of-freedom are the six components of motion
RBE2
at a single grid point. The dependent degrees-of-freedom are
specified at an arbitrary number of grid points.
Defines the motion at a reference grid point as the weighted

RBE3
average of the motions at a set of other grid points.
Defines multipoint constraints for the interpolation of

RSPLlNE
displacements at grid points.
Defines multipoint constraints to model clamped connections of

RSSCON
shell-to-solid elements.
The rigid elements will always meet equilibrium and continuity requirements, whereas this your
responsibility if you use the bulk data entries to define the MPC equations.
See also
• “MPC” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “MPCADD” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “MPCAX” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using MPC
The format of the MPC entry is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MPC SID G1 C1 A1 G2 C2 A2
G3 C3 A3 -etc.-
Field Contents
SID Set identification number.
Gj Identification number of grid or scalar point.
Cj Component number.
Aj Coefficient.
As an illustration of the use of the MPC entry, consider the following example.

Constraints
Consider the model shown in Figure 9-8. The goal is to determine the relative motion between
component 1 of grid point 1 and component 1 of grid point 2 using an MPC entry and a scalar
point.
Figure 9-8. Using an MPC to Compute Relative Displacement

Let the components of motion at the two grid points whose difference is desired be designated
as and as given by Eq. 9-3. The difference is represented by scalar point 3 defined on an
SPOINT entry.
Equation 9-3.
The equation of constraint can be in any of the forms shown in Eq. 9-4.
Equation 9-4.
Listing 9-2 shows the implementation of Eq. 9-4(a) to obtain the relative displacement. The first
degree of freedom on the MPC entry is the dependent degree of freedom-which in this case is
scalar point 3. It can just as well be made a component of motion at a grid point defined on a
GRID entry. Grid points 1 and 2 are the independent degrees of freedom. Note that the MPC set
ID (SID) is selected in the Case Control Section.
The first listed degree of freedom on the MPC entry (i.e., x3 in this example) is designated as
dependent and is placed in the m-set. The software eliminates the degrees of freedom in the m-set
early in the solution process. If you want the relative motion to appear as an independent degree
of freedom, express the multipoint constraint in either the second or third forms of Eq. 9-4.

$ FILENAME - RELDIFF.DAT
ID LINEAR,RELDIFF
SOL 101
TIME 5
CEND
TITLE = RELATIVE DISPLACEMENT
SET 1 = 1,2,3
DISP = 1
MPC = 1
LOAD = 1
SPC = 1
BEGIN BULK
$
$ ONLY THE GRIDS, SPOINT AND MPC ENTRIES ARE SHOWN
$
SPOINT 3
MPC 1 3 0 1. 2 1 -1.
1 1 1.
$
GRID 1 -10. 20. 0.0
GRID 2 10. 20. 0.0
GRID 4 -10. 10. 0.0
GRID 5 0.0 10. 0.0
GRID 6 10. 10. 0.0
GRID 7 0.0 0.0 0.0
ENDDATA
Listing 9-2. Relative Displacement Using an MPC Entry
Rules for Using Multi-point Constraints

There are three important rules for using MPCs (or R-type elements):
1. A member of the m-set can’t be a member of any exclusive subset of the g-set, for example, it
cannot be a degree of freedom that is removed by single-point constraints.
2. A given degree of freedom cannot be designated as a member of the m-set (dependent) more
than once. Thus, it cannot appear as the first listed component on more than one MPC entry.
3. You must avoid redundant constraints. This redundancy occurs, for example, if two of the
forms in Eq. 9-4 are supplied simultaneously on MPC entries. The technical difficulty that
occurs is that the matrix of constraint coefficients for the m-set is singular so that the
dependent degrees of freedom cannot be evaluated in terms of the independent ones. This
problem also occurs when R-type elements are interconnected in a closed loop.
Multipoint constraints simultaneously supply relationships between components of motion and

relationships between the forces of constraint. This can be demonstrated by using the principle
that the forces acting on a rigid body can do no work. Consider, for example, the equation of
constraint among three degrees of freedom shown in Eq. 9-5.
Equation 9-5.
The work done by the corresponding forces of constraint is given by Eq. 9-6.

Constraints
Equation 9-6.
In order for both Eq. 9-5 and Eq. 9-6 to be valid, it is necessary that the following equation
also be valid.
Equation 9-7.
Thus, the forces of constraint are proportional to the coefficients in the equations of constraint.
As an example, consider the use of a constraint to evaluate the average of four motions, i.e.,
Equation 9-8.
From Eq. 9-8, the forces of constraint are given by:
Equation 9-9.
It is clear, from Eq. 9-9, that a force applied to u5 is distributed equally to u1, u2, u3, and u4.
In general, any constraint can be viewed either as a means to constrain a component of
displacement or as a means to distribute the net force acting on the constrained component of
displacement (i.e., the resultant of applied force and internal forces).
See also
• “Understanding Sets and Matrix Operations” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
9.6 Rigid Body Supports

In the following discussion, a free body is defined as a structure that is capable of motion without
internal stress; i.e., it has one or more rigid body degrees-of-freedom. The stiffness matrix for a
free body is singular with the defect equal to the number of stress-free, or rigid body modes. A
solid three-dimensional body has up to six rigid body modes. Linkages and mechanisms can have
a greater number. In order to permit the analysis of mechanisms, no restriction is placed in the
program on the number of stress-free modes.
You can define free-body supports with a SUPORT or SUPORT1 entry. With conical shell
elements, you use the SUPAX entry. You must define free-body supports in the global coordinate
system. You must select the SUPORT1 bulk entry with the SUPORT1 Case Control command in
your input file.

In static analysis by the displacement method, the rigid body modes must be restrained in order
to remove the singularity of the stiffness matrix. The required constraints may be supplied with
single point constraints, multipoint constraints, or free body supports.
If you use free body supports, NX Nastran calculates the rigid body characteristics and checks
the sufficiency of the supports. The software checks the supports by calculating the rigid body
error ratio and the strain energy as defined in the Rigid Body Matrix Generator operation.
This error ratio and the strain energy are automatically printed following the execution of the
Rigid Body Matrix Generator. The error ratio and the strain energy should be zero, but may
be nonzero for any of the following reasons:
• Round-off error accumulation.
• Insufficient free body supports have been provided.
• Redundant free body supports have been provided.
The redundancy of the supports may be caused by improper use of the free body supports
themselves or by the presence of single point or multipoint constraints that constrain the
rigid body motions.
Static analysis with inertia relief is necessarily performed on a model that has at least one rigid
body motion. Such rigid body motion must be constrained by the use of free body supports.
These supported degrees-of-freedom define a reference system, and the elastic displacements
are calculated relative to the motion of the support points. The element stresses and forces will
be independent of any valid set of supports.
Rigid body vibration modes are calculated by a separate procedure provided that you supply
a set of free body supports. This is done to improve efficiency and, in some cases, reliability.
The determinant method, for example, has difficulty extracting zero frequency roots of high
multiplicity, whereas the alternate procedure of extracting rigid body modes is both efficient and
reliable. If you don’t specify free body supports (or you specify an insufficient number of them),
the (remaining) rigid body modes are calculated by the method selected for the finite frequency
modes, provided zero frequency is included in the range of interest. If you don’t provide free body
supports, and if zero frequency isn’t included in the range of interest, the rigid body modes
won’t be calculated.
You must specify free body supports if the mode acceleration method of solution improvement is
used for dynamic problems having rigid body degrees-of-freedom. This solution improvement
technique involves a static solution, and although the dynamic solution can be made on a free
body, the static solution cannot be performed without removing the singularities in the stiffness
matrix associated with the rigid body motions.
See also
• “Static Solutions in SubDMAP SEKRRS” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
• “Rigid-body Modes” in the NX Nastran Basic Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide
• “SUPORT Entry” in the NX Nastran Basic Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide
9.7 Surface-to-Surface Gluing

An option to “glue” element faces together during a solution is available in NX Nastran. The glue
option creates stiff springs to connect the pre-defined surfaces and prevents relative motion in

Constraints
all directions. For discussion purposes, the springs created by the solver from glue definitions
will be referred to as “glue elements” in the documentation. Pre-defined regions of element free
faces are used to detect where the glue elements are created. From each element free face, a
normal is projected, then the solver checks to see if any of these normals intersect with other
element free faces. A glue element is created during the solution if:
• NX Nastran finds an intersection between element faces,
• and the distance between the two faces is equal to or less than the defined separation
distance.
Glue definitions are supported in all solution sequences except for SOL 144–146, and 701. In a
SOL 153 heat transfer analysis they are treated as near infinite conductivity connections.
The surface-to-surface glue definitions are selected using the BGSET case control command. The
bulk entries which define gluing are discussed below.
Defining Glue Regions (BSURF, BCPROP and BSURFS Bulk Entries)

Surface-to-surface gluing and linear contact are similar in their definitions since both use the
same bulk entries to define regions. A region is a collection of element free faces in a section of
the model where you expect gluing (or contact) to occur. These regions can be created using shell
elements (BSURF and BCPROP) and using solid element free faces (BSURFS).
• The BSURF entry is defined by its own unique ID and is a list or range of shell element IDs
to include in the region.
• The BCPROP entry is defined by its own unique ID and is a list of shell element property
IDs. Shell elements which use any of the property IDs listed in the BCPROP entry will
be included in the region.
• The BSURFS entry is defined by its own unique ID and is a list of solid element IDs each
followed by 3 grid points defining which face of the 3D element to include in the glue region.
An element should not appear more than once in the regions that are part of a glue/contact pair.
Defining Glue Pairs (BGSET Case Control and Bulk Entry)

A glue pair is a way to combine two regions, source and target, in which gluing will be analyzed
during the solution. Use the BGSET bulk entry to define each glue pair. The fields on the BGSET
bulk entry are described as follows:
• GSID (glue set id) will need to match the value of ‘n’ on the BGSET case control entry for
the solution to recognize the glue definition.
• SIDi and TIDi (source and target id’s) refer to regions created by the BSURF, BCPROP and
BSURFS entries, and are used to define source and target regions respectively for a pair. As
many pairs as desired can be included on a single BGSET bulk entry.
• SDIST (search distance) defines the distance in which the solver can initially determine if
the distance between element faces in a particular pair are within the threshold for creating
glue elements. The default value of SDIST of 100 is large enough to handle most geometry
situations, but can be adjusted as needed. This value is used once, at the beginning of the
solution, to determine where glue elements need to be initially created. Recall that NX
Nastran projects normals from element faces and then checks to see if any of these normals
intersect with another element free face. If the projected normal intersects an element face,

and the distance between the two element faces is within the range defined on the SDIST
fields, a glue element is created.
• PEN (penalty factor) is used to adjust the stiffness of the glue condition. Penalty factors have
units of 1/(length). A physical interpretation is that it is equivalent to the axial stiffness of a
rod (K=e*E*dA) with area dA, modulus E, and length 1/e. The default penalty factor will
be sufficient for most cases. Increase it if separation of the surfaces is observed. If defined
too large, numerical problems may occur.
Improving Glue Accuracy (BGPARM Bulk Entry)

The number of glue elements which are created and their distribution will determine the
accuracy of the glued interface.
The glue solution parameters, INTORD and REFINE, are available on the BGPARM bulk entry
to improve the accuracy of the glue solution.
The number of locations where normals are projected (glue points) from the source region is
dependent on the value assigned to the INTORD parameter, and on the element face type.
The following table summarizes how the INTORD value adjusts the number of glue points for
a particular element face:
Number of Glue Points Used in Glue Element Evaluation

Face Type INTORD=1 INTORD=2 (default) INTORD=3
Linear Triangle 1 3 7
Parabolic Triangle 3 7 12
Linear Quad 1 4 9
Parabolic Quad 4 9 16
Another parameter on the BGPARM bulk entry, REFINE, will increase the number of glue points
by refining the mesh on the source region. Part of the refinement process is to project element
edges and grids from the associated target region back to the source region. The resulting
refinement on the source region is then more consistent with the target side, which then gives a
better distribution of glue elements. The refined grids and elements are only used during the
solution. The glue results are transferred back to the original mesh for post processing results.
By default, REFINE=1 and mesh refinement occurs. REFINE=0 will turn off the refinement
capability.
9.8 Linear Contact Using Constraints

Please note: This section describes an older approach to defining linear contact conditions with
the use of constraints. When this procedure was created, the options for linear contact in SOL
101 were limited and required some creative modeling techniques. Since there are now better
procedures to define linear contact conditions in SOL 101, the use of this procedure is no longer
recommended. The documentation for this procedure is included here for those interested in
the technique, and in order to support legacy input files with this type of definition. For a full
discussion on defining the recommended linear contact conditions for SOL 101, see the chapter
“Surface Contact for SOL 101” in this book.

Constraints
Introduction
Traditionally, GAP elements were used to model contact-type problems and had required the use
of nonlinear solution sequences—specifically, SOL 106 or 129. In contrast to the gap element
available for nonlinear analysis (SOL 106 and SOL 129), the “linear” gap capabilities in SOL 101
did not require estimation of gap stiffness. It used an iterative constraint type approach. The
constraints were applied to grid points or SPOINTs. The constraints ensured that:
1. The displacement (UR) cannot be negative. This is to ensure that there is no penetration.
Therefore, the chosen degree-of-freedom must be perpendicular to the contact surface and
positive in the opening direction.
2. The force of constraint (QR) cannot be negative. This is to ensure that there is no tension.
The constraints are satisfied by an iterative technique that is built into SOL 101. The iterative
process starts with a random vector. This random vector assumes certain grids to be in contact
and other grids to be in an open state. A solution is obtained when all the gap constraints are
satisfied, i.e., there’s no penetration and no tension forces. If a limit cycle (return to a previous
state) is detected during the iterations, a new random start vector is tried.
This approach provides an alternate method to the use of GAP elements in SOL 106. Some
experiments have shown that the cost of analysis will be about the same. The advantage is that
you do not have to learn how to calculate the GAP stiffness nor how to control SOL 106. Multiple
load conditions are allowed, and each will be solved separately.
If the constraint is between a finite element model and a fixed boundary, then arrange to have
one of the degrees-of-freedom at the boundary grid points represent motion perpendicular to
the boundary. A positive displacement represents motion away from the boundary. If, on the
other hand, the constraint represents relative motion between two bodies, MPC equations are
needed to define a relative motion degree-of-freedom, which is then constrained to have a
non-negative displacement.
Input
A SUPORT entry along with PARAM,CDITER are required. These two items plus some optional
parameters are described below.
SUPORT entry Selects constrained degrees-of-freedom. These points must be in

the a-set of the residual structure. This means they must not be
dependent in an MPC equation, constrained by SPC, partitioned by
OMIT, or in an upstream superelement.
PARAM,CDITER,x CDITER Constraints will be applied if CDITER is greater than zero.
The value x is the maximum number of iterations allowed. (Default
= 0).
PARAM,CDPRT Controls the printing of constraint violations during the iterations.
The sparse matrix printer prints UR (negative displacements) and QR
(negative forces of constraint) for constrained degrees-of-freedom.
(Default = ‘YES’)
DMIG,CDSHUT Optional DMIG input of the vector defining the state of the constrained
degrees-of-freedom. A one indicates closed and a zero indicates open.
If DMIG,CDSHUT is not provided, all SUPORT degrees of freedom
will assumed to be closed initially.

PARAM,CDPCH Controls the PUNCH output of DMIG,CDSHUT records for the final
state of the constrained degrees-of-freedom. (Default = ‘NO’). This
output will be created in a separate .pch file.
Output
The output is similar to standard SOL 101 output. Forces for closed degrees-of-freedom
will appear in the SPCFORCE output. In addition, optional diagnostic information for the
iterations can be requested (PARAM,CDPRT). A final state vector may also be sent to a .pch
file (PARAM,CDPCH).
The .f06 file should be examined to ensure that the iterations have converged, since the results of
the last iteration will be output. The last iteration should have zero changes. A typical converged
output is shown below. More detailed explanation are included in the actual examples.
Limitations
The following is a list of limitations for the linear gap elements.
• The only nonlinearity allowed is the constrained displacements.
• There is no sliding friction.
• Free bodies—using the SUPORT entry to define rigid body modes— cannot be used in the
same model with linear gap elements. The parameters INREL and CDITER are mutually
exclusive. A fatal message is issued if both parameters are present.
• No constraint changes are allowed between subcases.
• There is no guarantee that the solution will converge or that all systems will follow the
same path.
Examples
Two examples are shown below to illustrate the use of the linear GAP element.
EXAMPLE 1(cd_0.dat)
This model consists of a cantilever beam with a stopper and a vertical load of 30 lbs applied at
the free-end. There is a clearance of 0.05 inch between the free-end and the stopper. The purpose
of this problem is to find out if 30 lbs is sufficient to cause the free-end to hit the stopper.

Constraints
The first step in solving this problem is to define a variable S51 to monitor the opening between
the free-end (grid point 12) and the stopper (grid point 13). The following equation
Equation 9-10.
U12 = the displacement at grid point 12

U13 = the displacement at grid point 13
Gi = the initial gap opening
the relative distance between grids points 12 and 13 including the effect of the
S51 =
initial opening
accomplishes this goal. Grid point 13 can be removed from the equation since the stopper does
not move. Eq. 9-10 can be simplified and recast as
Equation 9-11.
so that an MPC equation can be written. Two scalar points are introduced in this case: Scalar
points 101 for G101 (Gi) and 51 for S51. Note that neither S51 nor G101 can be defined as
dependent since they already belong to the r-set and s-set, respectively. A copy of the input
file is shown in Listing 9-3.

$
$ cd_0.dat
$
sol 101
cend
Title = Gap elements, Cantilever beam
mpc = 77
spc = 88
load = 300
disp = all
spcf = all
mpcf = all
$
begin bulk
$
grid 11 0. 0. 0.
grid 12 60. 0. 0.
cbar 15 1 11 12 0. 1. 0.
pbar 1 2 1. 1. 1. 1.
mat1 2 3.e7 0.3
force 300 12 -30. 0. 1. 0.
spoint 51 101
suport 51 0
spc 88 11 123456
spc 88 101 0 .05
mpc 77 12 2 -1.0 51 0 1.
Listing 9-3. Input file for Cantilever Beam with Stopper.

Eq. 9-11 is represented by MPC,77. Scalar point 51 must also be placed on the SUPORT
entry. In addition, an enforced displacement of 0.05 must also be imposed on scalar point 101.
PARAM,CDITER,10 requests that a maximum of 10 iterations be performed for this analysis. If
more than 10 iterations are required for this problem, the results at the end of the 10th iteration
will be printed. PARAM,CDPRT,YES is optional in this case since it is the default.
An abridged output is shown in Eq. 9-7. The large non-zero values for epsilon and strain energy
for the SUPORT degree of freedom can be safely ignored as we are not performing inertia relief
analysis. The solution converges in 1 iteration as indicated by the following output.
^^^ END ITERATION 1, CHANGES 0
The gap is in contact as indicated by the following scalar point 51 output.

0
0 SHUT
POINT VALUE POINT VALUE POINT VALUE POINT VALUE POINT VALUE
COLUMN 1
51 S 1.00000E+00
The displacement T2 at grid point 12 is –0.05, which implies that the cantilever beam hits the
stopper. The load required to close the gap is:
Equation 9-12.
which is what the spcforce output at grid point 11 shows. The rest of the applied load 9.167
(30-20.833) is reacted by the stopper as indicated by spcforce at grid point 51 and, similarly, the
mpcforce at grid point 12.

Constraints
Figure 9-9. Abridged Output of Cantilever Beam with Stopper.

EXAMPLE 2(cd_1.dat)
The second example is a thick pad supported on a rigid base with a vertical point load applied at
the center. Due to symmetry, a half model is used by applying the appropriate boundary condition
at the center. The problem is to determine where the lift off occurs along the base (grid points 1
through 7.) An abridged input file for this example is shown in Listing 9-4. A planar problem
(Figure 9-10a) is considered in this case by constraining 3456 on the GRDSET entry. SPC1,200
applies the symmetric boundary condition at the center line of the structure. The potential
contact points are specified on the seven SUPORT entries—one for each grid point at the bottom.
In this case, since the contact is between a structure and a rigid surface, and there is no initial
gap, the use of the MPC is not required. A maximum of up to 20 iterations (PARAM,CDITER,20)
are allowed for this case. Furthermore, an initial guess of where the contact may occur is
provided (DMIG,SHUT.) In this case, grid points 1 and 7 are assumed to be shut and grid points
2 through 6 are assumed to be opened initially. PARAM,CDPCH,YES requests that the final
open/shut configuration be created in a separate punch file. PARAM,CDPRT,YES requests that
the printing of the constraint violations during the iterations, which is the default.
$ cd_1.dat
$
SOL 101
CEND
TITLE = DEMONSTRATE CONSTRAINED DISPLACEMENT IN SOL 101, #1 CD_1
SPC = 200
LOAD = 300
DISPL = ALL
OLOAD = ALL
SPCFO = ALL
BEGIN BULK
$
$ SYMMETRIC BOUNDARY AT X=0, DOWNWARD LOAD AT TOP CENTER
$
SPC1 200 1 1 11 21 31 41
GRDSET 3456
FORCE 300 41 1. -1.
$
$ CONSTRAIN DISPLACEMENTS ON BOTTOM EDGE, OPTIONAL CDSHUT INPUT
$
$2345678 2345678
SUPORT 1 2
SUPORT 2 2
SUPORT 3 2
SUPORT 4 2
SUPORT 5 2
SUPORT 6 2
SUPORT 7 2
$
PARAM CDITER 20
PARAM CDPRT YES
PARAM CDPCH YES
$
DMIG CDSHUT 0 9 1 0 1
DMIG CDSHUT 1 0 1 2 1.
7 2 1.
$
.
ENDDATA
Listing 9-4. Input File for Pad on Rigid Foundation.

Constraints
Figure 9-10. Undeformed Plot of the Thick Pad.
Figure 9-11. Deformed Plot of the Thick Pad.

From Figure 9-11b, it is obvious that grid points 6, 7, and possibly 5 have lifted off the foundation
due to the downward vertical load. Looking at the output (Figure 9-12), one can see that grid
points 1, 2, 3, and 4 are in contact as indicated under the “SHUT” output. Furthermore, the
displacement output illustrates that grid points 1, 2, 3, and 4 have zero displacement in the T2
direction—indicating that these four points are in contact. The T2 displacements for grid points
5, 6, and 7 are positive—indicating that these three points have lifted off the foundation. The
applied vertical load is reacted at the four grid points (1-4) as illustrated by the spcforce output.

Figure 9-12. Abridged Output of Thick Pad.

Chapter
10 Understanding Sets and

Matrix Operations
• Overview of Sets and Matrix Operations
• Understanding the Global Displacement Set and General Solution Process
• Static Condensation (Guyan Reduction)
• Sets for Dynamic Reduction
• Sets for Aerodynamics
• Output Selection Via Set Specification

Chapter 10 Understanding Sets and Matrix Operations
10.1 Overview of Sets and Matrix Operations

When you define a finite element model in NX Nastran, the software writes equations to simulate
the necessary structural properties. These equations are rows and columns in the matrix
equations that describe your model’s structural behavior. Certain data entries (i.e., SPCs, MPCs,
ASETs, etc.) cause matrix operations to be performed in the various stages of the solution process.
To organize the matrix operations, NX Nastran assigns each degree of freedom (DOF) in your
model to a displacement set. NX Nastran uses the sets to successively eliminate variables
during the solution process.
Most matrix operations used in a structural analysis involve partitioning, merging, and/or
transforming matrix arrays from one subset to another. For example, all components of motion of
a given type form a vector set that is distinguished from other vector sets. A given component of
motion can belong to many combined sets but can belong to only one exclusive set.
In NX Nastran, there are two basic types of degree-of-freedom sets:
• Mutually exclusive sets

In NX Nastran, mutually exclusive sets are the data sets that are removed by a constraint or
reduction operation during the analysis. If a DOF is a member of a mutually exclusive set, it
can’t be a member of any other mutually exclusive set. For example, a degree-of-freedom may
not be in the m-set on two RBAR entries, or on a selected SPC entry and a SUPORT entry.
• Combined sets
Combined sets are formed through the union (combination) of two or more sets. Each
degree-of-freedom is also a member of one or more combined sets called “supersets.”
Supersets are formed when the software combines the mutually exclusive sets.
The contents of both of these types of sets is listed in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide.
See also
• “Data Processing and Matrix Operations by Functional Module” in the NX Nastran User’s
Guide
• “Degree-of-Freedom Sets” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
10.2 Understanding the Global Displacement Set and General

Solution Process
A finite element model’s degrees of freedom include all the components of displacement at the
grid points and scalar points. Each grid point has six degrees of freedom, while each scalar point
has one. The union of all the local displacement components at all the grid points and scalar
points is called the global displacement set or g-set. The g-set is the top level set in NX Nastran
and represents an unconstrained set of structural equations.
The g-set displacement is represented as either ug or {ug}. Its significance is that the
mathematical expression for the static equilibrium of the finite element model can be expressed
in matrix form as:

Understanding Sets and Matrix Operations
Equation 10-1.
where [Kgg] is the global stiffness matrix and {Pg} is the vector of explicit loads (e.g., loads
generated from FORCE entries) or implicit loads (e.g., loads generated from GRAV entries)
applied to all of the grid points and scalar points.
The stiffness matrix [Kgg] is formed by generating and assembling the stiffness matrices for all
of the elements. The load vector is formed by assembling all of the implicitly and explicitly
defined load components within a given loading condition. Loads defined within elements are
automatically transferred to the appropriate grid points in a consistent manner.
The number of terms in the {ug} and {Pg} vectors is equal to six times the number of grid points
plus the number of scalar points. [Kgg] is a real and symmetric matrix.
[Kgg] is usually singular; therefore, the equations of equilibrium cannot be solved in the form
shown by Eq. 10-1.
At the next step in the solution process, NX Nastran partitions the g-set into two subsets: the
m-set and n-set.
The dependent DOFs of all multipoint constraint relations (MPCs, RBEs, etc.) define the m-set.
During the solution process, the contributions of these m-set DOFs are condensed into the set
of independent DOFs, the n-set. The n-set represents all the independent DOFs that remain
after the dependent DOFs are removed from the active set of equations. The m-set represents
the DOFs that are linearly dependent upon the n-set DOFs.
Using the n-set, SPCs are then applied to the independent equations to further partition the
equations.
• Degrees of freedom identified by PARAM,AUTOSPC and/or SPCi entries are assigned to
the sb-set.
• Permanent constraints, those DOFs specified in field 8 of the GRID entry, are assigned to
the sg-set.
• The union of the sb- and sg-sets compose the s-set.
After reducing the n-set by applying the s-set constraints, the f-set remains. The f-set represents
the “free” DOFs of the structure. If applied constraints are properly specified, then the f-set
equations represent a statically stable solution (i.e, a nonsingular stiffness matrix).
If you want the software to perform static condensation (Guyan reduction), the f-set is further
reduced by partitioning it into the o- and a-set. The o-set DOFs are those that are to be
eliminated from the active solution by static condensation. The a-set is the “analysis “ set and
is often the partition at which the solution is performed. By default, all DOFs in the f-set are
assigned to the a-set. In other words, the o-set is null, by default.
If you use the SUPORT entry, the software places the degrees-of-freedom defined on the SUPORT
entry are placed in the r-set or “reference” set. This set aids in the calculation of inertia forces,
balances the applied loads, and helps determine rigid body modes. When the r-set is partitioned
from the t-set, the l-set remains. This final set is termed the "leftover" set and is the lowest level
of partitioning performed in NX Nastran static analysis. The l-set partition is the matrix on
which the final solution is performed.

See also
• “Static Condensation (Guyan Reduction)” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
• “Inertia Relief in Linear Static Analysis” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
Understanding Basic Partitioning Operations

NX Nastran partitions the combined sets and removes one set from the analysis. Table 10-1, for
example, lists the basic set partitioning operations. The m-, s-, o-, and r-sets are the mutually
exclusive sets.
Table 10-1. Basic Set Partitioning Operations

g-set - m-set = n-set
n-set - s-set = f-set
f-set - o-set= a-set
a-set - r-set= l-set
Physically, the mutually exclusive set partitioning ensures that operations can’t be performed on
a DOF that’s no longer active. For example, if you apply an SPC to a DOF that is a dependent
degree of freedom on an RBAR, NX Nastran issues User Fatal Message (UFM) 2101A. Using
an SPC entry moves a DOF to the sb-set, but this cannot occur if the same DOF is already a
member of the m-set. Both the m-set and sb-set are mutually exclusive.
When a particular set has no DOFs associated with it, it is a null set. If a null set exists, NX
Nastran applies a partition and moves the DOFs to the subsequent partition.
The final set of degrees of freedom remaining after the exclusive sets are eliminated is called the
l-set (degrees of freedom left over). The static solution is performed on the ul set. The reduced
equations of equilibrium are expressed in the matrix form
Equation 10-2.
The reduced stiffness matrix [Kll] is symmetric and nonsingular if all mechanisms and rigid
body motion are removed by the partitioning of the m-set, s-set, and r-set. Eq. 10-2 is solved
for {ul} by Gaussian elimination (decomposition and forward-backward substitution). All of the
other subsets of vector—namely ur, uo, us, and um—can be obtained subsequently by successive
substitution into their defining equations. By default, all f-set degrees of freedom are assigned
to the a-set. If you don’t have a rigid body support (r-set) in your model, then the a-set is
identical to your l-set.
Determining Set Membership

You can output the set membership of all of the degrees of freedom with the PARAM,USETPRT
and PARAM,USETSEL Bulk Data entries. Use this parameter with caution as it can produce a
substantial amount of output for a large model.
See also
• “USETPRT” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

• “USETSEL” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
10.3 Static Condensation (Guyan Reduction)

The terms static condensation and Guyan reduction represent the same matrix operations and
are used interchangeably. Guyan Reduction involves a reformulation of the stiffness and mass
matrices based on partitions of the stiffness matrix. If you start with the stiffness equation in
terms of the set of the unconstrained (free) structural coordinates, you have
Equation 10-3.
Partitioning the statically independent free degrees of freedom into two subsets of the f-set,
you obtain
Equation 10-4.
ua = the a-set variables (the “analysis” set)
uo = the o-set variables, which are removed by static condensation (the “omitted” set)
Rewriting the static equation for uf in terms of o-set and a-set partitions, you obtain
Equation 10-5.
Expanding the bottom equation, you arrive at
Equation 10-6.
where:
[Goa] = −[Koo]−1[Koa]
{Uoo} = [Koo]−1[Po]
Expanding the top part of Eq. 10-5 and substituting uo with Eq. 10-6, you arrive at the equation

Equation 10-7.
where:
[Kaa] =
{Pa} =
The solution to the f-set degrees of freedom is obtained in three phases. The first phase is to
reduce the f-set to the a-set using Guyan reduction. The second phase is to solve for {ua} in Eq.
10-7, which is the analysis set. Once this is done, {uo} can then be solved by Eq. 10-6, which is
the omitted set. The conventional method involves solving Eq. 10-3 in a single step.
In static analysis, the results using static condensation are numerically exact. The partitioned
solution merely changes the order of the operations of the unpartitioned solution. However,
Guyan reduction isn’t generally recommended for static analysis. This recommendation stems
from the cost of the Guyan reduction process since it creates reduced matrices [Kaa] and
[Maa], which are typically smaller but denser (i.e., matrix bandwidth is destroyed). Additional
decomposition of the matrix [Koo] is also required. In other words, even though the solution size
is smaller, the solution time may take longer and the disk space requirement may be larger due
to a denser matrix. Furthermore, it requires additional interaction on your part. However, some
understanding of the concept of Guyan reduction in static analysis is quite helpful if you ever
decide to apply this feature in dynamic, cyclic symmetry, or superelement analyses.
Guyan reduction has special applications in dynamic analysis. In dynamic analysis, the
reduction is approximate; the term {uoo} is ignored. The reduction is based solely on static
transformation and is exact provided that no loads are applied to the o-set degrees of freedom.
Using Static Condensation

In NX Nastran, the ASETi and OMITi bulk data entries define the degrees-of-freedom in the
analysis and omitted sets, respectively. You can use either the ASET/ASET1 or the OMIT/OMIT1
entries to specify only the a-set (with ASET/ASET1 entries) or o-set (with OMIT/OMIT1
entries) degrees of freedom. The software automatically places the remaining f-set DOFs in the
complementary set, as described below. However, if you specify both the a-set and o-set DOFs,
then the unspecified remaining f-set DOFs are automatically placed in the o-set. If you specify
the same DOF on both the a-set and o-set, the job fails with UFM 2101A.
The a-set and the o-set are created in one of the following ways:
1. If OMITi entries are present, the o-set consists of degrees-of-freedom listed explicitly on
OMITi entries. The remaining f-set degrees-of-freedom are placed in the b-set. They are
then also members of the a-set.
2. If ASETi or QSETi entries are present, the a-set consists of all degrees-of-freedom listed
on ASETi entries and any entries listing its subsets, such as QSETi, SUPORTi, CSETi,
and BSETi entries. The remaining f-set degrees-of-freedom are placed in the o-set. Note,
however, there must be at least one explicit ASETi or QSETi entry type present for the o-set
to exist, even if it is a redundant specification.

3. If there are no ASETi or QSETi entries , but there are SUPORT, BSETi, or CSETi entries,
the entire f-set is placed in the a-set, and the o-set isn’t created.
4. There must be at least one explicitly defined ASETi, QSETi, or OMITi entry for the o-set to
exist, even if the ASETi, QSETi, or OMITi entry is redundant.
Notes:
• If you’re performing an analysis using conical shell elements, you use the OMITAX entry
instead of the OMITi entry.
• In superelement analysis, exterior (“boundary”) degrees-of-freedom are automatically

determined and placed in the a-set of the superelement. Exterior degrees-of-freedom for
superelements are therefore equivalent to degrees-of-freedom listed on ASETi entries.
The a-set defines a combined set. Degrees-of-freedom listed on Bulk Data entries that define its
subsets, the q-, r-, c-, and b-set, may also be listed on ASETi Bulk Data entries, although this is a
redundant specification and isn’t necessary. However, automatic restarts are more reliable if
ASETi entries are present for all degrees-of-freedom listed on SUPORT entries.
Since the reduction process is performed on an individual degree of freedom, it is possible to have
some of the degrees of freedom at a grid point in the a-set and other degrees of freedom at a grid
point in one of the other mutually exclusive sets. No additional user input is required.
Format for ASET
You can use ASET in conjunction with ASET1. The formats for the ASET/ASET1 are as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ASET G1 C1 G2 C2 G3 C3 G4 C4
Field Contents
Gi The i-th grid or scalar point identification number
Ci Component number(s) for the i-th grid or scalar point
Example
ASET 5 3 30 345 8 12345
In this example, component 3 of grid point 5, components 3, 4, and 5 of grid point 30, and
components 1,2,3,4, and 5 of grid point 8 are assigned to the a-set. All other degrees of freedom
that aren’t otherwise specified (e.g., on SPCi or MPC entries) are placed in the omitted set (o-set).
Format for ASET1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ASET1 C G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7
G8 G9 G10 G11 -etc.-

Field Contents
C Component number(s).
Gi The i-th grid or scalar point identification number.
Example
ASET1 345 3 4 1 16 8 9 5
13 20 25
In this example, components 3,4, and 5 of grid points 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 16, 20, and 25 are
assigned to the a-set. All other degrees of freedom that are not otherwise specified (e.g., on SPCi
or MPC entries) are placed in the omitted set (o-set).
Alternate Format for ASET1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ASET1 C ID1 “THRU” ID2
Field Contents
ID1 The first grid or scalar point identification number in the range.
ID2 The last grid or scalar point identification number in the range.
Example
ASET1 123456 10 THRU 909
In this example, components 1,2,3,4,5, and 6 of grid point 10 through 909 are assigned to the
a-set. As long as at least one grid point between 10 and 909 exists, all the grid points between
grid points 10 and 909 don’t need to exist . NX Nastran places all other degrees of freedom that
are outside of grid points 10 through 909 and not otherwise specified (e.g., on SPCi or MPC
entries) in the omitted set (o-set).
Format for OMIT

OMIT can be used in conjunction with OMIT1. The formats for the OMIT/OMIT1 are as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
OMIT G1 C1 G2 C2 G3 C3 G4 C4
Field Contents
Ci Component number(s) for the i-th grid or scalar point.

Example
OMIT 5 3 30 345 8 123456
For the above example, component 3 of grid point 5, components 3, 4, and 5 of grid point 30,
and components 1,2,3,4,5, and 6 of grid point 8 are assigned to the o-set. All other degrees
of freedom that are not otherwise specified (e.g., on SPCi or MPC entries) are placed in the
analysis set (a-set).
Format for OMIT1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
OMIT1 C G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7
G8 G9 G10 G11 -etc.-
Field Contents
Example
OMIT1 345 3 4 1 16 8 9 5
13 20 25
For the above example, components 3, 4, and 5 of grid points 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 16, 20, and 25 are
assigned to the o-set. All other degrees of freedom that aren’t otherwise specified (e.g., on SPCi
or MPC entries) are placed in the analysis set (a-set).
Alternate Format for OMIT1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
OMIT1 C ID1 “THRU” ID2
Field Contents
ID1 The first grid or scalar point identification number in the range.
ID2 The last grid or scalar point identification number in the range.
Example
OMIT1 123456 10 THRU 909
For this example, components 1,2,3,4,5, and 6 of grid points 10 through 909 are assigned to the
o-set. All grid points between grid points 10 and 909 need not exist as long as at least one of
them exists. All other degrees of freedom that are outside of grid points 10 through 909 and not
otherwise specified (e.g., on SPCi or MPC entries) are placed in the analysis set (a-set).

The choice of whether to use the ASET/ASET1 or OMIT/OMIT1 is really a matter of convenience.
Consider a simple example using Guyan reduction. The cantilever beam model in Figure 10-1 is
used for this purpose. The common Bulk Data entries for this model are contained in Listing 10-1.
Figure 10-1. Cantilever Beam Using Guyan Reduction
$ filename - bulkm.dat
$
CBAR 1 1 1 2 10
CBAR 2 1 2 3 10
CBAR 3 1 3 4 10
CBAR 4 1 4 5 10
CBAR 5 1 5 6 10
FORCE 10 6 100. 0. 0. 1.
$
GRID 1 0. 0. 0.
GRID 2 1. 0. 0.
GRID 3 2. 0. 0.
GRID 4 3. 0. 0.
GRID 5 4. 0. 0.
GRID 6 5. 0. 0.
GRID 10 0. 0. 10.
MAT1 1 7.1+10 .33 2700.
PBAR 1 1 2.654-3 5.869-7 5.869-7 9.9-7
SPC1 10 123456 1
$
Listing 10-1. Input File for Common Bulk Data Entries

The first run is a conventional run without any reduction (Listing 10-2). Since Guyan reduction
isn’t used, then, by default, all degrees of freedom that aren’t otherwise constrained are assigned
to the a-set. In other words, degrees of freedom 1 through 6 for grid points 2 through 6 are
assigned to the a-set. Components 1 through 6 of grid point 1 are assigned to the s-set due to
the SPC Case Control command and SPC1 Bulk Data entry.

$ filename - full.dat
id bar aset
sol 101
time 10
cend
$
spc = 10
disp = all
$
subcase 1
load = 10
$
begin bulk
$
include ’bulkm.dat’
enddata
Listing 10-2. Input File for Using Conventional Analysis

The second run uses Guyan reduction by specifying degrees of freedom 1 through 6 at grid
points 2, 4, and 6 to the a-set by using the ASET1 entries (Listing 10-3). Due to this action, the
remaining unconstrained degrees of freedom (DOF 1 through 6 for grid points 3 and 5) are
assigned to the o-set. Components 1 through 6 of grid point 1 are assigned to the s-set due to
the SPC Case Control command and SPC1 Bulk Data entry.
$ filename - aset.dat
id bar aset
sol 101
time 10
cend
$
title =
subtitle =
spc = 10
disp = all
$
subcase 1
load = 10
$
begin bulk
$
aset1,123456,2,4,6
$
enddata
Listing 10-3. Input File Specifying A-Set DOFs

The third run is similar to the second run except the omitted degrees of freedom are specified
rather than the analysis degrees of freedom (Listing 10-4). Degrees of freedom 1 through 6 for
grid points 3 and 5 are assigned to the o-set by using the OMIT1 entries. Due to this action,
degrees of freedom 1 through 6 for grid points 2, 4, and 6 are automatically assigned to the a-set.
Components 1 through 6 of grid point 1 are assigned to the s-set due to the SPC Case Control
command and SPC1 Bulk Data entry.

$ filename - omit.dat
id bar omit
sol 101
time 10
cend
$
title =
subtitle =
spc = 10
disp = all
$
subcase 1
load = 10
$
begin bulk
$
omit1,123456,3,5
$
enddata
Listing 10-4. Input File Specifying O-Set DOFs

Since Guyan reduction is numerically exact in static analysis, all three runs should yield the same
results. Figure 10-2 summarizes the results from the three runs-they are identical, as expected.
Figure 10-2. Results Comparison With and Without Guyan Reduction

Note that the only differences in the three input files are the ASET1/OMIT1entries. The common
Bulk Data entries are inserted in the run stream by using the INCLUDE statement.
10.4 Sets for Dynamic Reduction

One of the more important applications of partitioning is Guyan reduction. This technique is a
means for reducing the number of degrees-of-freedom used in dynamic analysis with minimum
loss of accuracy. Its basis is that many fewer grid points are needed to describe the inertia of
a structure than are needed to describe its elasticity with comparable accuracy. The error in
the approximation is small provided that the set of displacements used for dynamic analysis is
judiciously chosen. Its members should be uniformly dispersed throughout the structure, and all
large mass items should be connected to grid points that are members of the analysis set.
Importantly, the matrix operations associated with this partitioning procedure tend to both
create nonzero terms and fill what were previously very sparse matrices. The partitioning option
is most effectively used if the members of the omitted set are either a very large fraction or a very
small fraction of the total set. In most of the applications, the omitted set is a large fraction of the
total and the matrices used for analysis, while small, are usually full. If the analysis set isn’t a
small fraction of the total, a solution using the large, but sparser, matrices may be more efficient.
In dynamic analysis, additional vector sets are obtained by a modal transformation derived from
real eigenvalue analysis of the a-set. These sets are as follows:
ξo = rigid body (zero frequency) modal degrees-of-freedom

ξf = finite frequency modal degrees-of-freedom
ξi = ξo + ξf, the set of all modal degrees-of-freedom
One vector set is defined that combines physical and modal degrees-of-freedom:
uh = ξi + ue, the set of all physical and modal degrees-of-freedom
In dynamic analysis, the a-set is further partitioned into the q-, r-, c-, and b-subsets.
• The q-set stores the coefficients for the generalized coordinates determined by dynamic
reduction and/or component mode calculations.
• The r-set is again used to determine rigid body modes.
• The c-set contains coordinates considered free to move while computing the generalized
coordinate functions.
• The b-set contains coordinates fixed during this process.
The d-set (“dynamic”) for direct formulations is formed from the union of the structural
degrees-of-freedom in the a-set and the extra points of the e-set. The d-set can be used to input
unsymmetrical terms into the equations of motion using DMIG and TF Bulk Data entries. In the
modal formulations, the h-set is composed of the union of the ci (modal) set and the e-set. Again,
you can use the DMIG and TF Bulk Data entries to introduce unsymmetrical matrix coefficients.
See also
• “Dynamic Reduction” in the NX Nastran Basic Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide

• “The Set Notation System Used in Dynamic Analysis” in the NX Nastran Basic Dynamic
• “Direct Matrix Input” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
10.5 Sets for Aerodynamics

Aerodynamic calculations are made in a Cartesian aerodynamic coordinate system. By
convention, the flow is in the positive x direction. The basic coordinate system was not chosen,
since it would place an undesirable restriction upon the description of the structural model.
Any NX Nastran Cartesian system may be specified, and flow will be defined in the direction
of its positive x-axis. All element and aerodynamic grid point data, computed initially in the
basic coordinate system, will be converted to the aerodynamic coordinate system. The global
(displacement) coordinate system of the aerodynamic grid points will have its T1 direction in the
flow direction. T3 is normal to the element for boxes, and parallel to the aerodynamic T3 in the
case of bodies. Coordinate system data are generated for the aerodynamic grid points.
The grid points are physically located at the centers of the boxes and body elements. Permanent
constraints are generated for the unused degrees-of-freedom. A second set of grid points, used
only for undeformed plotting, is located at the element corners. All six degrees-of-freedom
associated with each grid point in this second set are permanently constrained. Grid point
numbers are generated based upon the element identification number. For any panel, the
external grid point numbers for the boxes start with the panel identification number and
increase consecutively.
Aerodynamic degrees-of-freedom, along with the extra points, are added after the structural
matrices and modes have been determined.
See also
• “Aerodynamic Data Input and Generation” in the NX Nastran Aeroelastic Analysis User’s
Guide
10.6 Output Selection Via Set Specification

The membership of grid points and their components and scalar points in the various sets is
stored in the USET table. In NX Nastran, sets are defined by their name. For example, if you
want the TABPRT module to print the M, R, N, SG, K, and SA sets, then specify:
PARAM,USETSTR1, M:R:N:SG
PARAM,USETSTR2, K:SA.
The data block naming convention in the solution sequences for matrices related to the sets is
based on the set names. For example, the system stiffness matrix [Kgg] has the name KGG. Some
sets are used that do not appear in the USET table. The h-set, for example, is the set used for
modal formulations. Its size is not known until after the USET table is formed, so it does not
appear in the table. The j-set, a set synonymous with the g-set, is used in superelement analysis.
There are several other sets used that also do not appear in the USET table.
Some names may be used for other purposes. You can input the name H, for example, to the
MATGPR module when you want to label rows or columns of matrices sequentially, rather than
by their external sequence numbers. This feature may be used to number vectors in load matrices
or in other instances not related to modal analysis, even though “H” is defined for modal analysis.

Chapter
11 Direct Matrix Input
• Overview of Direct Matrix Input
• Using DMIG
• DMIG Examples

Chapter 11 Direct Matrix Input
11.1 Overview of Direct Matrix Input

You can use the Bulk Data entry DMIG to input a stiffness (or mass) matrix which connects
specified degrees-of-freedom. The matrix so defined will be added to the stiffness (or mass)
matrix computed from finite element properties.
The DMIG entry includes provisions for unsymmetrical terms and complex values, both of
which are useful in dynamic analysis. These provisions should not be used in static or normal
modes. Note that an entry in the Case Control Section is required (K2GG = NAME for a stiffness
matrix or M2GG= NAME for a mass matrix).
The primary application of the DMIG Bulk Data entry is to enter stiffness and mass data for
parts of the structure which are obtained from another computer run. The format is cumbersome
(two matrix terms per continuation entry) and the matrix should be input to high precision. For
stiffness matrices only, the GENEL Bulk Data entry is an alternative for manually inputting
data.
The finite element approach simulates the structural properties with mathematical equations
written in matrix format. Once you provide the grid point locations, element connectivities,
cross-sectional properties, material properties, applied loads, and boundary conditions, NX
Nastran then automatically generates the appropriate structural matrices. The structural
behavior is then obtained by solving these equations.
If these structural matrices are available externally, you can input these matrices directly
without providing all the modeling information. Normally this is not a recommended procedure
since it requires additional effort. However, there are occasions where the availability of this
feature is very useful and in some cases is extremely crucial. Some possible applications are
listed below:
• Suppose you are a subcontractor to a classified project. The substructure that you are
analyzing is attached to the main structure built by the primary contractor. The flexibility of
this main structure is crucial to the response of your component, but the geometry of the
main structure is classified. The main contractor, however, can provide you with the stiffness
matrix of the classified structure. By reading in this stiffness matrix and adding it to your
NX Nastran model, you can account for the flexibility of the attached structure without
compromising the security. The stiffness matrix is the inverse of the flexibility matrix.
• Suppose you are investigating a series of design options on a component attached to an

aircraft bulkhead. Your component consists of 500 DOFs and the aircraft model consists of
100,000 DOFs. The flexibility of the backup structure is somewhat important. You can
certainly analyze your component by including the full aircraft model (100,500 DOFs). On
the other hand, if the flexibility at the attachment points on the aircraft can be measured
experimentally, then you can add the experimental backup structure stiffness to your
component without including the whole aircraft model. The experimental backup structure
stiffness matrix is the inverse of the measured flexibility matrix. This way your model size
remains at 500 DOFs, and you still have a good approximation of the backup structure
stiffness.
• The same concept can be applied to a component attached to a test fixture. The stiffness of
the fixture at the attachment locations can be read in as a stiffness matrix. Once again, the
experimental test fixture stiffness matrix at the attachment points is the inverse of the
measured flexibility at these points.
There are several ways that these matrices can be read in, such as DMIG, GENEL, and
INPUTT4. Only DMIG is covered here. The DMIG and the INPUTT4 options offer alternate
methods for inputting large matrices. Note that INPUTT4 provides more precision than the
DMIG input; the DMIG yields more precision than the GENEL on a short word machine.

Direct Matrix Input
See also
• “General Element Capability (GENEL)” in the NX Nastran Element Library
• “INPUTT4” in the NX Nastran DMAP Programmer’s Guide
11.2 Using DMIG

You can use the DMIG feature to directly input a stiffness, mass, or loading matrix to the grid
and/or scalar points in static analysis. These matrices are referenced in terms of their external
grid point IDs and DOFs. The symbols for these g-type matrices in standard mathematical
format are
All three matrices must be real. Furthermore,
must also be symmetric. These matrices are implemented on the g-set level. In other words,
these terms are added to the finite element model at the specified DOFs prior to the application
of constraints. This section focuses on the DMIG features that are used in static analysis. The
DMIG has additional features that can be used in dynamic analysis.
See also
• “DMIGs, Extra Points, and Transfer Functions” in the NX Nastran Advanced Dynamic
DMIG Bulk Data User Interface

In the Bulk Data section, the DMIG matrix is defined by a single DMIG header entry followed by
a series of DMIG data entries. Each of these DMIG data entries contains a column containing
the nonzero elements for the particular matrix that you are entering.
Header Entry Format

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
DMIG NAME “0" IFO TIN TOUT NCOL
Field Contents
Name of the matrix. It consists of one to eight alphanumeric characters,
NAME
the first of which must be alphabetic. (Required)
IFO Form of matrix input: Integer, required
1 = square
9 or 2 = rectangle
6 = symmetric

Field Contents
TIN Type of matrix that is input: Integer, required
1 = real, single precision
2 = real, double precision
TOUT Type of matrix that is created: Integer
0 = set by your machine precision (default)
1 = real, single precision
2 = real, double precision
Number of columns in a rectangular matrix. Used only for IFO = 9.
NCOL
(Integer > 0).
Remarks
1. One header entry is required for each input matrix.
2. The matrix name used in field 2 must be unique.
3. Field 3 of the header entry must contain an integer 0.
4. The default value of 0 for TOUT is recommended.
5. If the input matrix is rectangular, using IFO = 9 is recommended instead of IFO = 2.
Column Data Entry Format

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
DMIG NAME GJ CJ G1 C1 A1
G2 C2 A2 -etc.-
Field Contents
This is the same name that is used with its corresponding header
NAME
entry as described above.
The external grid or scalar point identification number for the column.
GJ
(Integer > 0).
The component number for the GJ grid point. (0 < Integer ≤ 6 if GJ is
CJ
a grid point; blank or zero if GJ is a scalar point).
The external grid or scalar point identification number for the row.
Gi
(Integer > 0).
The component number for the Gi grid point. (0 < Integer ≤ 6 if Gi is a
Ci
grid point; blank or zero if Gi is a scalar point).
Ai The value of the matrix term.

Direct Matrix Input
Remarks
1. Each non-null column (a column with at least one nonzero term) starts with a GJ, CJ pair.
The entries (Gi, Ci pairs) for each row of that column follow. The number of Gi, Ci pairs
equals the number of nonzero terms in that column. The terms may be input in arbitrary
order. High precision is required when using DMIG; therefore, in general, the use of large
field input is recommended. Each non-null column of your matrix makes up a DMIG column
data entry. Therefore, the total number of DMIG entries is equal to the number of non-null
columns plus one. The extra entry is the DMIG header entry.
2. For symmetric matrices (IFO = 6), you can input a given off-diagonal term either below or
above the diagonal. While the upper and lower triangle terms may be mixed, a fatal error
results if the corresponding symmetric element is input both below and above the diagonal.
However, to keep it simple, for a given matrix, you should decide to input the terms either
completely below the diagonal or above the diagonal, but not both. The symmetric option is
generally used for the mass and stiffness matrices.
3. Rectangular matrices can be input using the option IFO = 9. This option is generally used to
input load matrices.
See also
• “DMIG” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
DMIG Case Control User Interface

In order to include the direct input matrices you define with DMIG, the Case Control Section
must contain the appropriate K2GG, M2GG, B2GG, K42GG, or P2G command.
See also
• “K2GG” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “M2GG” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “B2GG” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “K42GG” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “P2G” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Examples
K2GG = mystif
The above Case Control command adds the terms of the matrix, which are defined by the DMIG
entries with a name of “mystif”, to the g-set stiffness matrix.
M2GG = yourmass
entries with a name of “yourmass”, to the g-set mass matrix.
B2GG = mydamp
entries with a name of “mydamp”, to the g-set viscous damping matrix.

K42GG = strdamp
entries with a name of “strdamp”, to the g-set structural damping matrix.
P2G = hisload
entries with a name of “hisload”, to the g-set load matrix.
11.3 DMIG Examples

The following examples of using DMIG features use the cantilever beam model shown in Figure
11-1.
Figure 11-1. Planer Cantilever Beam
Stiffness Matrix Using DMIG

First, we must analyze this problem using the conventional method with two loading
conditions—a vertical tip load and a gravity load. Listing 11-1 contains the input file for this
run. Note that for illustrative purposes, a planar problem (xz plane) is shown. However, this
same concept is applicable to a general three-dimensional structure.

Direct Matrix Input
$ FILENAME - DMIGFULL.DAT
ID BAR DMIG
SOL 101
TIME 10
DIAG 8
CEND
$
TITLE = PLANAR CANTILEVER BEAM
SPC = 10
DISP = ALL
$
SUBCASE 1
LABEL = TIP LOAD AT END
LOAD = 10
$
SUBCASE 2
LABEL = GRAVITY LOAD
LOAD = 20
$
BEGIN BULK
$
CBAR 1 1 1 2 10
CBAR 2 1 2 3 10
CBAR 3 1 3 4 10
CBAR 4 1 4 5 10
CBAR 5 1 5 6 10
FORCE 10 6 100. 0. 0. 1.
GRAV 20 9.8 0. 0. 1.
GRID 1 0. 0. 0. 246
GRID 2 1. 0. 0. 246
GRID 3 2. 0. 0. 246
GRID 4 3. 0. 0. 246
GRID 5 4. 0. 0. 246
GRID 6 5. 0. 0. 246
GRID 10 0. 0. 10. 123456
MAT1 1 7.1+10 .33 2700.
PBAR 1 1 2.654-3 5.869-7
SPC1 10 123456 1
$
ENDDATA
Listing 11-1. Input File for Conventional Analysis

The next run removes CBAR element number 5 from the input file and uses the DMIG feature to
directly read in the bar element stiffness matrix. The bar element stiffness matrix for a planar
element and ignoring the axial stiffness is as follows:
Since the matrix is symmetric, either the lower or upper triangular portion of the matrix must
therefore be provided. For E = 7.1 · 1010N/m2, I = 5.869 · 10−7m4, and l5 = 1m, the stiffness
matrix for CBAR element number 5 is as follows:

In this case, you chose UGSTIF as the name of the input stiffness for bar element number 5.
Therefore, in order to bring in this stiffness matrix and add it to the global stiffness matrix, the
Case Control command K2GG= UGSTIF is required. Note these stiffness terms are additions to
the global stiffness matrix at that location and are not a replacement of the stiffness terms at
that location. In the Bulk Data Section, five DMIG entries are required-one for the header entry
and four for the data column entries—since there are four non-null columns in the above matrix.
For the header entry, the same name UGSTIF must be used to match the name called out in the
Case Control Section. The third field is 0, which must be the value used for the header entry.
The fourth field (IFO) is set to 6 to denote a symmetric matrix input. The fifth field (TIN) is set to
1 to denote that the matrix is provided as real, single precision.
Once again, the terms in the matrix are referenced in terms of their external grid IDs when
using the DMIG feature. Physically, each term in a particular column of the stiffness matrix (kij)
represents the induced reactive load in the i-th degree of freedom due to a unit displacement in
the j-th direction with all other displacement degrees of freedom held to zero. Since the matrix is
symmetric, only the lower triangular portion of the matrix is read.
The first DMIG data column entry reads the first column of the above matrix. Field 2 of this
DMIG entry must have the same name UGSTIF as referenced by the Case Control K2GG =
UGSTIF command. Fields 3 and 4 of this entry identify this column in terms of its external grid
ID and corresponding degree of freedom, respectively. In this case, it is grid point number 5,
degree of freedom 3 (z-translation at grid number 5).
Once this column is defined and by following the format description as described in the section
for column data entry format, you can then input the four terms in this column row by row.
These four terms are defined by sets of three fields. They are the external grid point ID number,
corresponding degree of freedom, and the actual matrix term, respectively. The first row of
column one is defined by external grid point ID 5, degree of freedom 3 (z-translation at grid point
number 5) with a stiffness value of 500039. The second row of column one is defined by external
grid point ID 5, degree of freedom 5 (y-rotation at grid point number 5) with a stiffness value of
-250019. The third row of column one is defined by external grid point ID 6, degree of freedom
3 (z-translation at grid point number 6) with a stiffness value of -500039. The fourth row of
column one is defined by external grid point ID 6, degree of freedom 5 (y-rotation at grid point
number 6) with a stiffness value of -250019.
The next DMIG entry reads the second column of the above matrix starting with the diagonal
term. Fields 3 and 4 of this entry identify this column in terms of its external grid point ID and
corresponding degree of freedom, respectively. In this case, it is grid number 5, degree of freedom
5 (y-rotation at grid point number 5). The rest of the procedure is similar to that of column one
with the exception that only three rows need to be read due to symmetry (rows two through four).
The next two DMIG entries read columns three and four of the stiffness matrix, respectively.
Note that due to symmetry, one less row needs to be read for each additional column.
The input file using DMIG is contained in Listing 11-2. The results as compared with the
conventional analysis are tabulated in the first two sections of Figure 11-2. The comparison is

Direct Matrix Input
performed for Subcase 1 with a vertical load applied to the tip of the cantilever beam. In this
case, the results are accurate to within three to four digits.
As mentioned previously, a high degree of precision should be retained when inputting a
matrix with the DMIG method. In this case, since the small-field input format is used, the
maximum number of characters that can be used are eight (including sign and decimal
place). The same job was then rerun for the DMIG input with additional significant digits
added using double-precision and large-field format (Listing 11-3). In this case, the results
are identical by comparing the results of the first and last sections of Figure 11-2. Note that
even the double-precision input on short-word machines does not contain all of the significant
digits of the machine.

$ FILENAME - DMIGSTFS.DAT
ID BAR DMIG
SOL 101
TIME 10
DIAG 8
CEND
$
TITLE = PLANER CANTILEVER BEAM
SUBTITLE = USE DMIG TO BRING IN STIFFNESS MATRIX OF ELEMENT # 5 USING SMALL FIELD
K2GG = UGSTIF
SPC = 10
DISP = ALL
$
SUBCASE 1
LOAD = 10
$
BEGIN BULK
$
CBAR 1 1 1 2 10
CBAR 2 1 2 3 10
CBAR 3 1 3 4 10
CBAR 4 1 4 5 10
$ DMIG HEADER ENTRY
$
DMIG UGSTIF 0 6 1
$
$ DMIG DATA COLUMN ENTRIES
$
DMIG UGSTIF 5 3 5 3 500039. +000001
++0000015 5 -250019. 6 3 -500039. +000002
++0000026 5 -250019. +000003
$
DMIG UGSTIF 5 5 5 5 166680. +000004
++0000046 3 250019. 6 5 83340. +000005
$
DMIG UGSTIF 6 3 6 3 500039. +000006
++0000066 5 250019. +000007
$
DMIG UGSTIF 6 5 6 5 166680.
$
FORCE 10 6 100. 0. 0. 1.
GRAV 20 9.8 0. 0. 1.
GRID 1 0. 0. 0. 246
GRID 2 1. 0. 0. 246
GRID 3 2. 0. 0. 246
GRID 4 3. 0. 0. 246
GRID 5 4. 0. 0. 246
GRID 6 5. 0. 0. 246
GRID 10 0. 0. 10. 123456
MAT1 1 7.1+10 .33 2700.
PBAR 1 1 2.654-3 5.869-7
SPC1 10 123456 1
$
ENDDATA
Listing 11-2. Input File for Reading a Stiffness Matrix Using DMIG with Small-Field
Format

Direct Matrix Input
$ FILENAME - DMIGSTFL.DAT
ID BAR DMIG
SOL 101
TIME 10
DIAG 8
CEND
TITLE = PLANER CANTILEVER BEAM
SUBTITLE = DMIG TO BRING IN STIFFNESS MATRIX FOR ELEMENT # 5 USING LARGE FIELD
K2GG = UGSTIF
SPC = 10
DISP = ALL
$
SUBCASE 1
LOAD = 10
$
BEGIN BULK
$
CBAR 1 1 1 2 10
CBAR 2 1 2 3 10
CBAR 3 1 3 4 10
CBAR 4 1 4 5 10
$
$ DMIG HEADER ENTRY
$
DMIG UGSTIF 0 6 2
$
$ DMIG DATA COLUMN ENTRIES
$
DMIG* UGSTIF 5 3 *A
*A 5 3 5.000388 D+5 *B
*B 5 5 -2.500194 D+5 *C
*C 6 3 -5.000388 D+5 *D
*D 6 5 -2.500194 D+5
$
DMIG* UGSTIF 5 5 *A2
*A2 5 5 1.666796 D+5 *B2
*B2 6 3 2.500194 D+5 *C2
*C2 6 5 8.33398 D+4
$
*A3 6 3 5.000388 D+5 *B3
*B3 6 5 2.500194 D+5
$
*A4 6 5 1.666796 D+5
$
FORCE 10 6 100. 0. 0. 1.
GRAV 20 9.8 0. 0. 1.
GRID 1 0. 0. 0. 246
GRID 2 1. 0. 0. 246
GRID 3 2. 0. 0. 246
GRID 4 3. 0. 0. 246
GRID 5 4. 0. 0. 246
GRID 6 5. 0. 0. 246
GRID 10 0. 0. 10. 123456
MAT1 1 7.1+10 .33 2700.
PBAR 1 1 2.654-3 5.869-7
SPC1 10 123456 1
ENDDATA
Listing 11-3. Input File for Reading a Stiffness Matrix with Large-Field Format

Figure 11-2. Results Comparison Between the Conventional Method Versus DMIG
Mass Matrix Using DMIG

You can also include a mass matrix with DMIG in a similar manner as the stiffness matrix
with the following exceptions:
• You use the Case Control command M2GG = “name”, instead of K2GG= “name,” where
“name” is the name of the mass matrix referenced in field 2 of the DMIG Bulk Data entries.
• The matrix defined in the DMIG entries represents the mass matrix terms instead of the
stiffness matrix terms.
Viscous Damping Matrix Using DMIG

You can also include a viscous damping matrix with DMIG in a similar manner as the stiffness
matrix with the following exceptions:
• You use the Case Control command B2GG = “name”, instead of K2GG= “name,” where
“name” is the name of the viscous damping matrix referenced in field 2 of the DMIG Bulk
Data entries.

Direct Matrix Input
• The matrix defined in the DMIG entries represents the viscous damping matrix terms
instead of the stiffness matrix terms.
Structural Damping Matrix Using DMIG

You can also include a structural damping matrix with DMIG in a similar manner as the
stiffness matrix with the following exceptions:
• You use the Case Control command K42GG = “name”, instead of K2GG= “name,” where
“name” is the name of the structural damping matrix referenced in field 2 of the DMIG
Bulk Data entries.
• The matrix defined in the DMIG entries represents the structural damping matrix terms
instead of the stiffness matrix terms.
Load Matrix Using DMIG

The load vectors can also be read using the DMIG feature if desired, although this is not a
commonly used feature. It is similar to the format for reading in the stiffness or mass matrix,
with the following exceptions:
• You use the Case Control command P2G = “name”, instead of K2GG = “name” or M2GG
= “name.”
• The matrix defined in the DMIG entries are columns of the load vectors instead of the
stiffness or mass matrix terms.
• The load matrix, in general, is rectangular and unsymmetrical (i.e., IFO = 9 on the header
entry).
• The column number (GJ) you specify on the DMIG input must match the load sequence
number. The GJ field is the load sequence number, and the CJ field isn’t used at all for a
rectangular matrix. For example, if there is a total of ten load conditions in your model and
you want to add load vectors to the third and seventh subcases using DMIG, then the NCOL
field should be assigned as 10 on the header entry. Two additional DMIG Data entries,
representing the two load vectors added to the third and seventh subcases, are needed. The
GJ field for the first of these two data entries must have a value of 3 to denote the third load
sequence. The remaining data for this entry are the nonzero rows of this load vector. Their
input format is identical to that of the stiffness or mass matrix. The GJ field for the second of
these two data entries must have a value of 7 to denote the seventh load sequence number.
Again, the remaining data for this entry are the nonzero rows of this load vector.
Again the problem in Figure 11-1 is used to illustrate this feature. The input file is shown in
Listing 11-4. In this example, the DMIG feature is used to read in the load for the vertical tip
load in Subcase 10. In the Case Control Section, the P2G = UGLOAD command is used to
activate the DMIG entries with the name of UGLOAD. In the Bulk Data Section, the DMIG load
header entry is similar to that of the stiffness and mass header entry with the exception of the
IFO and NCOL fields. In general, the matrix is rectangular; therefore, IFO is defined as 9
instead of 6. NCOL is the total number of load cases for the problem.
Since there are two load cases, NCOL must be defined as 2. The number of DMIG load data
entries is equal to the number of external load columns added. In this case, you only need one
DMIG load data entry since only one load condition is added to the first subcase. The GJ field
of 1 denotes that you are adding the load to the first subcase (first load sequence). Note that
GJ references the load sequence (1) rather than the SUBCASE ID (10). The CJ field should be

blank when using the DMIG load feature. The rest of the fields are read in the same manner
as the stiffness and mass matrices—only nonzero entries need to be defined. Note that if you
have reversed your subcase setup—that is, if you apply your gravity load as the first subcase and
bring in the tip load as the second subcase—then field three of the second DMIG entry must
then be modified to 2 instead of 1.
$ FILENAME - dmigload.dat
ID BAR DMIG
SOL 101
TIME 10
DIAG 8
CEND
$
TITLE = USE DMIG TO BRING IN LOAD VECTOR FOR SUBCASE 1
P2G = UGLOAD
SPC = 10
DISP = ALL
$
SUBCASE 10
$
SUBCASE 20
LABEL = GRAVITY LOAD
LOAD = 20
$
BEGIN BULK
$
CBAR 1 1 1 2 10
CBAR 2 1 2 3 10
CBAR 3 1 3 4 10
CBAR 4 1 4 5 10
CBAR 5 1 5 6 10
$
DMIG UGLOAD 0 9 1 2
DMIG UGLOAD 1 6 3 100.
$
GRAV 20 9.81 0. 0. 1.
GRID 1 0. 0. 0. 246
GRID 2 1. 0. 0. 246
GRID 3 2. 0. 0. 246
GRID 4 3. 0. 0. 246
GRID 5 4. 0. 0. 246
GRID 6 5. 0. 0. 246
GRID 10 0. 0. 10. 123456
MAT1 1 7.1+10 .33 2700.
PBAR 1 1 2.654-3 5.869-7
SPC1 10 123456 1
$
ENDDATA
Listing 11-4. Input File for Reading in a Load Vector Using DMIG

Direct Matrix Input
Figure 11-3. Results Comparison Between Conventional Load Input Versus DMIG
Inputting large matrices by hand using the DMIG method can be time consuming, error prone,
and quite tedious. However, in most instances, the DMIG input may be automatically generated
by a DMAP module when using NX Nastran or other external programs. You can also use
PARAM,EXTOUT,DMIGPCH to generate these DMIG entries.
See also
• “EXTOUT” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Chapter
12 Element Data Recovery

Resolved at Grid Points
• Introduction to Element Data Recovery
• Stress Recovery at Grid Points
• Mesh Stress Discontinuities at Grid Points

Chapter 12 Element Data Recovery Resolved at Grid Points
12.1 Introduction to Element Data Recovery

Element stresses may be averaged at grid points and then used to calculate estimates of stress
discontinuities in the model mesh. Resolving element data at the grid points is supported
only for selected linear elastic element types (see Table 12-1 for supported element types).
The calculation of average stresses at grid points and the calculation of estimates of stress
discontinuities use a common mesh definition method.
You define the mesh in the OUTPUT(POST) section of the Case Control section using one of two
methods:
• SURFACE input for 2-D shell element meshes
• VOLUME input for 3-D solid element meshes
The averaging of grid point stresses (and strains) and stress discontinuities are calculated
independently for meshes composed of only 2-D shell elements and those composed of only 3-D
solid elements. You use the STRESS Case Control command to request the element stress and
strain data used in the calculation of grid point stresses and stress discontinuities. To substitute
the calculation of strains for stresses, use the STRAIN Case Control command in place of the
STRESS command in the Case Control Section.
You request grid point stresses for reports with the GPSTRESS Case Control command. The
calculation of stress discontinuities is supported for both elements and grid points associated
with an element mesh by the ELSDCON and GPSDCON commands, respectively.
The following sections explain in more detail the requesting and calculation of grid point stresses
and stress discontinuities, respectively.
Table 12-1. Elements Types Supported in Element Data Resolved at Grid Point
Calculations (Hyperelastic Elements Not Included)
Element Type 2-D Shell Stress 3-D Solid Stress Stress Discontinuity
CQUAD4 x x
CQUADR x x
CQUAD8 x x
CTRIA3 x x
CTRIAR x x
CTRIA6 x x
CHEXA x x
CPENTA x x
CTETRA x x
See also
• “STRESS” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “STRAIN” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “ELSDCON” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “GPSDCON” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Element Data Recovery Resolved at Grid Points
12.2 Stress Recovery at Grid Points

You can have NX Nastran compute stresses at grid points:
• On surfaces of two-dimensional plate elements, namely, the CQUAD4, CQUADR, CQUAD4,
CTRIA3, CTRIAR, and CTRIA6
• In volumes containing CHEXA, CPENTA, and CTETRA solid elements
By default, NX Nastran outputs stresses at the center of each of these elements and also at
the vertices of CQUADR, CQUAD8, CTRIAR, and CTRIA6 shell elements and the CHEXA,
CPENTA, and CTETRA solid elements. However, the center output isn’t always adequate. For
example, when you’re working with the surfaces of CQUAD4 and/or CTRIA3 elements, you may
also need realistic stress values at the grid points. Also, in the case of surfaces of CQUADR,
CQUAD8, CTRIAR, and CTRIA6 elements or of volumes containing CHEXA, CPENTA, and
CTETRA elements, the vertex stresses output for the elements that connect to a common grid
point are often not identical.
This section describes a rational method that yields accurate and unique stresses at each vertex
grid point in user-defined surfaces or volumes. Grid point stress recovery is only available in
linear static analysis, real eigenvalue analysis, and transient analysis. Grid point stress recovery
isn’t available for lamina stresses.
You can also use NX Nastran to estimate the probable error in these grid point stresses
(see “Mesh Stress Discontinuities at Grid Points”). Estimates are generated for each stress
component. The root mean square error of these estimates is then computed to provide a single
measure of the error in the computation of the stresses at a grid point. This data provides a gross
indication of the adequacy of a finite element model to represent the physical phenomena under
investigation. The error estimator is available in SOLution Sequence 101.
Description of Method
A scheme to interpolate and/or extrapolate over a surface from a known set of stresses (the
element stresses) requires that these known stress components be transformed into a consistent
coordinate system prior to interpolation and extrapolation. This coordinate system is defined by
the analyst and it should be generally compatible with the surface of interest in order to obtain
accurate grid point stresses. Generally, such a coordinate system will be the natural coordinate
system that the analyst used in the generation of the model of the surface or volume in question.
Calculated grid point stress components are output in this coordinate system, called the output
coordinate system of the surface or volume.
Each stress component is treated independently of other stress components in the calculation
of average grid point stress components. The stress invariants at grid points (i.e., principal
stresses, the von Mises stress, and the mean pressure) are evaluated from the average values
of the stress components at grid points. The grid point stress components are output in the
output coordinate system of the surface or volume and the stress invariants are oriented relative
to this output coordinate system.
Two methods are used to calculate grid point stress components for plate and shell elements:
topological and geometric. A single, simplified, topological method is used to calculate grid point
stress components in volumes containing solid elements. However, prior to a discussion of these
methods, it is necessary to define the four categories into which grid points are divided.
1. Interior Grid Points
Grid points that are connected only to interior line segments; i.e., line segments that are
coincident with the edges of two or more elements.

2. Corner Grid Points

Grid points that are only connected to a single element.
3. Edge Grid Points

Grid points that are connected to both interior and exterior line segments. An exterior line
segment is coincident with the edge of only one element.
4. Exception Grid Points

Grid points at which discontinuities in stress can occur. Exception points will be described
more completely under “Treatment of Exception Points – ’BRANCHing’.”
Stresses at interior, corner, or edge grid points are considered to be continuous between directly
connected elements. Stresses at exception points may be discontinuous between connected
elements and, as will be seen, a different grid point stress may be output for each of the
connected elements. You must exercise good engineering judgment when you assess the validity
of grid point stresses at exception points.
Topological Method – Plate Elements and Solid Elements

The topological method for the evaluation of grid point stresses only recognizes the existence
of interior, edge, and corner points; i.e., exception points are not considered as a distinct
category of grid point (exception points arise as a result of geometrical rather than topological
characteristics). The relations used to compute average grid point stresses in surfaces of plate
elements by the topological method are described in Table 12-2. The relations used to compute
the average grid point stresses in volumes containing solid elements are described in Table 12-4.
Only the topological method is available for solid elements.
Table 12-2. Evaluation of Average Grid Point Stresses for Plate and Shell Elements
by the Topological Method
Type of Grid
Average Grid Point Stress Component Remarks
Point
If CQUAD4 and/or
CTRIA3 elements
where: connect to the same
grid point as CQUAD8
σI = average stress at interior grid point and/or CTRIA6
Interior elements, then only
Ne = number of directly connected elements the CQUAD8 and or
CTRIA6 elements are
used in the calculation
of average grid point
stresses.

Type of Grid
Point
If an edge point is
not connected to an
interior point by line
segments, then NI =
0, the second term in
where: the relation σE is set
Edge
σE = average stress at edge grid point to zero, and the factor
2 in the first term is
NI = number of interior points connected replaced by 1.
by line segments
Same as remark for
σIi = average stress at ineterior grid points interior grid points.
Corner points connected to CQUAD4 element with
the grid point diagonally opposite the corner point,
an interior point, or an edge point.
where:
Same as remark for
Corner
σc = average stress at corner grid point interior points
σi = CQUAD4 center stress
σD = average stress at grid point diagonally opposite
corner point
(If point diagonally opposite corner point is not an
interior or edge point, then σc = σ1.
Corner points connected to CTRIA3 elements and
the other two grid points, namely, E1 and E2, of the
connected CTRIA3 are edge points:
where:
σc = average stress at corner grid point
σ1 = CTRIA3 center stressσE1, σE2 = stresses at edge Same as remark for
Corner points E1 and E2 interior points
(if either E1 or E2 is not an edge point, then σc)
Corner points connected to one CQUAD4 or one
CTRIA6 element:
where:

Type of Grid
Point
σr = stress at element vertex connected to corner

point
Corner points connected to two or more CTRIA6
elements:
where:
Nc = number of CTRIA6 elements connected to corner
point.

Table 12-3. Evaluation of Average Grid Point Stress for Solid Elements by the
Topological Method
Type of
Grid Point
Mixtures of CHEXA,
Interior and where: CPENTA, and CTETRA
Edge elements may connect to an
σI = average stress at interior or edge grid points interior or edge grid point.
Ne = number of directly connected elements
σei = element vertex stresses
The same relation is

used whether a CHEXA,
Corner where: CPENTA, or CTETRA
σr = stress at element vertex connected element is connected to the
to corner point grid point.
Geometric Method – Surface Elements

In the geometric method, grid point stresses for points which connect to CQUAD8 or CTRIA6
elements use the average of the element corner stresses. If any CQUAD4 or CTRIA3 elements
connect to these points, their influence is not considered.
The geometric method for the determination of average grid point stresses which connect only to
CQUAD4 or CTRIA3 elements utilizes the numerical technique of least squares. The “best fit”
value of the stress at a point (x, y) is functionally denoted as:
Equation 12-1.
where the coefficients A0, A1x, and A2 must be determined. The coordinates x and y are the
locations of points at which known stresses exist. In accordance with the least squares technique,
it is required to minimize the function:
Equation 12-2.
with respect to {A}. Here σ represents the known element stresses.
To perform the minimization, Eq. 12-1 is written in matrix form as:

Equation 12-3.
where:
Equation 12-4.
and Eq. 12-2 is differentiated with respect to the coefficients Ai.
Equation 12-5.
The coefficients {A} are then determined from Eq. 12-5 to be:
Equation 12-6.
The average grid point stress at a given grid point can then be calculated by substituting Eq.
12-6 into the matrix representation of Eq. 12-1 as follows:
Equation 12-7.
where:
Q = matrix of interpolation factors

Xo Y o = locations of grid points at which stress is required
Note that if ([T]T[T])−1 is singular, the matrix of interpolation factors is taken to be so

that Eq. 12-7 becomes:

Equation 12-8.
where NI = number of known stress points associated with the grid point. In most cases, Eq.
12-8 is equivalent to the topological interpolation method.
The strategy used in the evaluation of Eq. 12-7 for interior, edge, and corner grid points is
presented in Table 12-4.
As previously mentioned, the coordinates x and y of Eq. 12-1 are the locations of points at which
known stresses exist. These locations are actually taken as the projected coordinates of the
known stress points on the average surface evaluated at the grid point at which the stress is to be
computed. This average surface is determined to be the surface whose normal is the average of
the unit normals to the elements connected to the grid point of interest. The local x-axis used in
the evaluation of the geometric coefficients of the matrix [T] is taken as the projection of the x-axis
of the output coordinate system on the average surface evaluated at the grid point of interest.
Table 12-4. Evaluation of Average Grid Point Stresses for Plate and Shell Elements by
the Geometric Method
Type of Grid
Number of Elements Involved in Stress Calculation
Point
Interior All directly connected elements
Two directly connected elements:
Use the two known element stresses plus the stresses at all interior points
Edge connected by line segments of the directly connected elements.
Three or more directly connected elements:
Use the known element stresses of the directly connected elements.
Corner Same as topological method (see Table 12-1).
Treatment of Exception Points – “BRANCHing”

Exception points have been defined as grid points at which stress discontinuities may occur.
Such discontinuities may occur because a substantial difference in slope exists between adjacent
elements directly connected to the same line segment or if more than two elements are directly
connected to the same line segment. Examples of these two cases are illustrated below.

Figure 12-1. Three or More Elements Connected to the Same Line Segment
Figure 12-2. Slope Difference between Adjacent Elements Connected to the Same Line
That these two situations are geometric rather than topological in nature and, therefore,
are only considered under the geometric interpolation option.
Since exception points are defined as grid points at which stress discontinuities may exist, it is
conceivable that a computed average grid point stress at an exception point may be different
for each of the directly connected elements. However, it is more common to find that a subset
of the elements that are directly connected to an exception point forms a subsurface on which
stresses may be considered to be continuous. A unique average grid point stress may then be
computed for the elements of the subsurface.
The calculation of average grid point stresses for a subsurface that contains two or more elements
is performed with the geometric interpolation method used for edge points. If a subsurface
consists of a single element, the calculation of an average grid point stress is performed in the
same manner as utilized in the calculation of average grid point stresses at corner points. It

must be noted, however, that σD, σE1, and σE2 may be interior, exterior, or corner points (see
Table 12-4).
User Information
The use of the grid point stress recovery option is demonstrated in this section through the
consideration of several example problems. These problems are discussed separately after the
presentation of the requirements that must be met in the Executive Control Section, the Case
Control Section, and the Bulk Data Section.
Executive Control Section

A typical Executive Control Section would be of the following form:
SOL 101
CEND
Case Control Section

The option to obtain grid point stress output is exercised through commands in the Case Control
Section. The general request for the recovery of grid point stresses is accomplished using
commands with the form:
GPSTRESS = ALL
or
SET j = k, l, m, . . .GPSTRESS = j
The k, l, m, . . . reference the identification numbers of the surfaces or volumes of elements

that are defined in the OUTPUT(POST) section of the Case Control Section. Grid point stress
data will be output only for those surfaces or volumes referenced through the GPSTRESS Case
Control command.
If grid point stress data is desired, an ELSTRESS (or STRESS) request for all elements in
the surfaces or volumes of interest must be included in the Case Control Section. Such
requests will cause the output of element stress data as well as grid point stress data.
If the output of element stress data is not desired, the requests ELSTRESS(PLOT) = or
STRESS(PLOT) = may be used.
In static analysis, one may place the GPSTRESS command above the subcase level or in
individual subcases. If the GPSTRESS command is above the subcase level, it will be utilized
by all subcases and subcoms unless overridden by a GPSTRESS command in a SUBCASE or
SUBCOM.
The OUTPUT(POST) section of the Case Control Section contains specific requests for grid point
stress data for the surfaces or volumes of elements. Any number of element surfaces or volumes
may be defined, but only those surfaces or volumes that are referenced through the GPSTRESS
command will have grid point stress data generated and output.
Element surfaces and volumes are defined through a SURFACE and VOLUME commands in the
OUTPUT(POST) section of the Case Control Section.
Grid Point Stress Output Description

Listing 12-1 through Listing 12-3 are examples of grid point stress output produced for
two-dimensional plate elements requested on the SURFACE Case Control command. Listing

12-1 is the most common form of output and is always the result when the TOPOLOGICAL
method is used, and when the GEOMETRIC method is used and no surface “BRANCHing”
is detected. Note that when the “ELEMENT ID” value is zero, it always indicates that all
elements in the SURFACE connected to the grid point contribute to the average grid point
stress and lie in the “best” subsurface. Listing 12-2 and Listing 12-3 show examples of the
output when the GEOMETRIC method is used and when “BRANCHing” occurs. The negative
value for the “ELEMENT ID” indicates the “best” average grid point stress and the element
identification number of an element associated with “best” subsurface. Similarly a positive
element identification numbers indicate another average grid point stress for a “less best” grid
point stress and the element identification number associated with it’s subsurface. When
TOLERANCE is set positive as in Listing 12-2 only the “best” grid point stress is calculated when
“BRANCHing” is detected and when TOLERANCE is set negative all subsurface average grid
point stress are calculated. See “SURFACE” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide.
Listing 12-1. Grid Point Stress Output – Typical
Listing 12-2. Grid Point Stress Output with “BRANCHing” and TOLERANCE > 0

Listing 12-3. Grid Point Stress Output with “BRANCHing” and TOLERANCE < 0
General Remarks
Each element stress component (independently of all other stress components) is transformed
into the output coordinate system before interpolation. It is necessary that this output coordinate
system vary slowly over the surface for the interpolated stresses to be accurate. This approach is
certainly valid for stress interpolation over elements that are in a common plane and it should be
adequate for engineering analysis when the difference in slope between adjacent elements is
small. However, when the elements do vary substantially from a smooth surface, the analyst
must utilize engineering judgment relative to the accuracy of the resultant stress data.
Average grid point stresses are only computed at element vertices. For elements with defined
midpoints, you can estimate the stress at these midpoints to be the average of the computed
stresses at the grid point at the ends of the edge in question.
12.3 Mesh Stress Discontinuities at Grid Points
Error Estimates for Grid Point Stress Data

This section describes the error estimation tools that can help you identify areas of your model
that may require refinement.
The essence of the previous averaging procedures used to obtain grid point stress data is to:
1. Convert these local element stress components into a common user-defined coordinate
system.
2. Average the several values of each stress component to obtain a unique value of the stress
component that is to be associated with the grid point in question.
3. Compute the stress invariants at the grid points from the stress components at the grid
points.

In the general case, the stress components are σx, σy, σz, τxy, τxz, and τyz.
For discussion purposes, the averaging process used to compute the stress components at the
grid points can be represented in the form of Eq. 12-4.
Equation 12-9.
where:
σg = weighted mean value of the stress component computed at the grid point.
value of the stress component in the ith element (i = 1,2,...,Ne) in the neighborhood of
σei =
the grid point. δgi is in the same coordinate system as δg.
weighting factor assigned to the ith element. The sum of the Ne values of Wi must
equal 1. (This requirement assures that all computed statistics will be unbiased.) The
Wi =
attribute of being unbiased implies that the variance is equal to the mean square error.
Equal weighting (i.e., Wi = 1/Ne) is assumed.
An estimate of the error in a particular component of stress at a grid point can then be computed
by assuming that the values of the corresponding stress components computed for the elements
in the neighborhood of the grid point are data points with uncorrelated random errors. It then
follows that an estimate of the probable error in the stress component δg at the grid point is:
Equation 12-10.
where δei = σei − σg. Thus, the probable error δg is the root mean square error in δei divided by
.
It should be noted that the standard deviation or root mean square error is a reasonable measure
of precision in many practical cases, but it is easy to provide examples in which the standard
deviation is a poor measure of the concentration of the distribution about the mean. Eq. 12-9 is
assumed to provide an approximate error estimator for the grid point stress data.

Element and Grid Point Stress Discontinuity Output Requests

It should be clear that element and grid point stress discontinuity output can only be obtained if
the analyst has requested grid point stress output via the GPSTRESS command in the Case
Control Section of the NX Nastran input file. The GPSTRESS command, of course, requires that
the analyst define all required SURFACEs and VOLUMEs in the OUTPUT(POST) portion of
the Case Control Section.
To output Grid Point Stress DisCONtinuities:
GPSDCON = ALL
or
SET j = k, l, m, ....GPSDCON = j
To output ELement Stress DisCONtinuities:

ELSDCON = ALL
or
SET j = k, l, m, ....ELSDCON = j
The following remarks should be noted relative to the use of the GPSDCON and/or ELSDCON
commands.
1. The GPSDCON and ELSDCON commands are honored only in SOLution Sequences 101,
114, 144, and 200.
2. The GPSDCON and ELSDCON commands may be placed above the SUBCASE level or in
individual SUBCASEs and/or SUBCOMs. The use of these commands above the SUBCASE
level causes stress discontinuity data to be output for ALL SUBCASEs in the NX Nastran
input file. If the analyst wishes to restrict stress discontinuity output to specific SUBCASEs,
GPSDCON and/or ELSDCON commands should appear only under these specific SUBCASEs.
3. The analyst is cautioned that these commands produce a substantial amount of output.
4. The GPSDCON and/or ELSDCON commands may be effectively used in restarts. For
example, one could include requests for GPSTRESS data during the initial run of a project
and then obtain data on stress discontinuities on a subsequent restart by including
GPSDCON and/or ELSDCON commands in the Case Control Section.
5. Stress discontinuity output will only be provided when grid point stresses have been
previously computed by the methods described in this article. Thus, stress continuity will
not be computed when, for example, both plate and solid elements are connected to a grid
point that is involved in stress discontinuity calculations.
Discussion of Error Measures

Large values of error estimators for CQUAD4 and CTRIA3 elements aren’t uncommon
occurrences in statistical error measures. For example, the mean and variance have direct
analogs in engineering mechanics. The mean is analogous to the centroid of a body and is thus a
measure of where the mass is centered. The variance is the second moment about the mean,
and it tends to be small if the majority of the mass is concentrated about the centroid. As the
mass is dispersed further from the centroid, the moment of inertia tends to increase. If the
mass is concentrated at the centroid (as it might be in some idealized lumped mass models),
the moment of inertia becomes zero.

Thus, the error estimates for CQUAD4 and CTRIA3 elements will tend toward larger values
because the data used to compute the estimators are dispersed relatively far from the mean.
For those elements that provide stress data at vertices, the estimators will tend toward smaller
values because the stress data tend to be concentrated about the mean in well-designed finite
element models.
Generally, the goal is to design a finite element mesh for static analysis so that all important
stress gradients will be adequately represented. If the mesh is not sufficiently detailed, the
stress data at element vertices or element centroids will result in the relatively large values of
the error estimators.
Very inaccurate values of these error estimators may be obtained at the edges of defined
SURFACEs and on the faces of defined VOLUMEs. Such edges and surfaces will often correspond
with the boundaries of superelements.
In summary, error estimators can, in some cases, be highly inaccurate. Nevertheless, error
estimate data is quite useful when properly interpreted by the analyst.
Grid Point Stresses and Mesh Stress Discontinuities

Grid point stresses may be requested for grid points connected by CTRIA3, CTRIA6, CTRIAR,
CQUAD4, CQUAD8, CQUADR, CHEXA, CPENTA, and CTETRA elements (with linear material
properties only). In linear static analysis only, a mesh stress discontinuity error analysis may
then be performed based on the computed element and grid point stresses.
Grid point stresses are not computed for laminar stresses.
The grid point stresses are calculated in the user-specified coordinate system. The following
real membrane stresses are output on request:
• Normal stresses in the x and y directions.
• Shear stresses on the x face in the y direction.
• Angle between the x axis and the major principal axis.
• Major and minor principal stresses.
• von Mises equivalent or maximum shear stress (see STRESS Case Control command).
The following real stresses are output on request for grid points connected to solid elements:
• The three normal stresses.
• The three shear stresses.
• Magnitude and direction of the three principal stresses.
• The mean pressure.
• The von Mises equivalent or octahedral stress (see STRESS Case Control command).
Only real stresses are available at the grid points. The user has the following options:
• The capability to vary output requests by SUBCASE.
• Choice of elements in stress field.

• Choice of topological or geometric interpolation (surface fields only).
• Choice of output coordinate system.
• Choice of output stress fiber locations (surface fields only).
The grid point stresses are requested in the Case Control Section for printing and postprocessing
using the Case Control commands GPSTRESS (Grid Point Stress) and STRFIELD (Stress Field).
The user is required to request element stress output (STRESS = N) for all elements referenced
by selected SURFACE and VOLUME commands. The grid point stress requests a set of surface
or volume fields which are defined in the OUTPUT(POST) part of the Case Control Section on
the SURFACE or VOLUME commands, respectively. The postprocessing output requests are
separated from case control and plot requests by the OUTPUT(POST) command.
The general rules for Case Control syntax are the same as for plotting. The grid point stress
output is defined on the SURFACE and VOLUME commands. The SURFACE command defines
the following: output coordinate system, list of elements in the stress surface field, output
stress fiber location for stress evaluation and the choice of topological or geometric interpolation
method used to determine the grid point stresses from the elements. The VOLUME command
defines the following: output coordinate system, list of elements in the stress volume, and the
choice of DIRECT and/or PRINCIPAL stresses.
In the linear static structured solution sequences only (SOLutions 101, 114, 144, and 200) mesh
stress discontinuities may be requested to estimate errors due to the coarseness of the finite
element mesh. The estimation of the error is computed for the element and grid point stresses
and requested by the ELSDCON and GPSDCON Case Control commands, respectively. These
commands select the desired surfaces and volumes which are defined in the OUTPUT(POST)
section of the case control. This output option also requires a corresponding GPSTRESS or
STRFIELD request for the desired surfaces and volumes and a STRESS case control request for
the elements in those surfaces and volumes.
The following is computed and output for stress discontinuities on shell elements:
• Normal stress discontinuities in the x and y directions.
• Shear stress discontinuities on the xy direction.
• Major and minor principal stress discontinuities.
• von Mises and maximum shear stress discontinuities.
• Error estimate.
The following is computed and output for stress discontinuities on solid elements:
• Normal stress discontinuities in the x, y, and z directions.
• Shear stress discontinuities on the xy, yz, and xz directions.
• Major and minor principal stress discontinuities.
• von Mises stress and mean pressure discontinuities.
• Error estimate.

Chapter
13 Solution Sequences
• Understanding Solution Sequences
• Data Processing and Matrix Operations by Functional Module
• Summary of Solution Sequence Operations

Chapter 13 Solution Sequences
13.1 Understanding Solution Sequences

NX Nastran is comprised of a large number of building blocks called modules. A module is a
collection of FORTRAN subroutines designed to perform a specific task, such as processing
model geometry, assembling matrices, applying constraints, solving matrices, calculating output
quantities, conversing with the database, printing the solution, and so on. The modules are
controlled by an internal language called the Direct Matrix Abstraction Program (DMAP).
Each type of analysis available in NX Nastran is called a solution sequence. Each solution
sequence is a prepackaged collection of hundreds or thousands of DMAP commands that you
select with a SOL Executive Control statement. Once you select a solution sequence, the
software automatically sends that sequence’s particular set of DMAP commands to the modules
that are needed to perform the requested solution.
The major type is called a Solution Sequence. They are called with numbers ranging from 100 to
200. The solution sequences are listed in Table 13-1.
Note: You can also select a solution sequence by using the SOL keyword followed by the name
of the solution sequence. For example, SOL SESTATIC is equivalent to SOL 101. Using the
solution numbers is generally recommended rather than their names because the solution
numbers are more easily recognized.

Solution Sequences
Figure 13-1. Hierarchy in the Structural Solution Sequences
Table 13-1. Structured Solution Sequences

SOL Description
SOL Name
Number
Statics with options: Linear Heat Transfer Alternate
101 SESTATIC Reduction Inertia Relief Design Sensitivity – Statics
Normal Modes with option: Design Sensitivity –
103 SEMODES
Modes
Buckling with options: Static Analysis Design
105 SEBUCKL Sensitivity – Buckling
Nonlinear Statics
106 NLSTATIC See the NX Nastran Basic Nonlinear Analysis User’s
Guide
107 SEDCEIG Direct Complex Eigenvalues
108 SEDFREQ Direct Frequency Response
109 SEDTRAN Direct Transient Response

Table 13-1. Structured Solution Sequences

SOL
SOL Name Description
Number
110 SEMCEIG Modal Complex Eigenvalues
111 SEMFREQ Modal Frequency Response
112 SEMTRAN Modal Transient Response
114 CYCSTATX Cyclic Statics with option: Alternate Reduction
115 CYCMODE Cyclic Normal Modes
118 CYCFREQ Cyclic Direct Frequency Response
Nonlinear Transient Response
129 NLTRAN See the NX Nastran Basic Nonlinear Analysis User’s
Guide
Static Aeroelastic Response
144 AESTAT
See the NX Nastran Aeroelastic Analysis User’s Guide
Aerodynamic Flutter
145 SEFLUTTR
Aeroelastic Response
146 SEAERO
Static Structural and/or Steady State Heat Transfer
153 NLSCSH Analysis
Transient Structural and/or Transient Heat Transfer
159 NLTCSH Analysis
187 DDAM DDAM analysis.
190 DBTRANS Database Transfer
Design Optimization
200 DESOPT See the NX Nastran Design Sensitivity and
Optimization User’s Guide
Obtaining DMAP Listings for Solution Sequences

You can obtain the DMAP listings for any of the solutions sequences by including a COMPILER
LIST statement in the Executive Control Section.
• A description of the data processing and matrix operations for the solution sequences is given
in “Summary of Solution Sequence Operations.”
• The complete details for each of the functional modules are given in Chapter 4 of the NX
Nastran Programmer’s Manual.
• Those DMAP modules which are of general use (matrix operations and utility modules) are
described along with examples of their use in “Data Processing and Matrix Operations by
Functional Module.”
Using Alters to Modify Solution Sequences

If you want to modify a DMAP sequence, you can use the alter feature described in NX Nastran
DMAP Programmer’s Guide. For example, you can use an alter to:

Solution Sequences
• Schedule an EXIT prior to completion in order to check intermediate output
• Schedule the printing of a table or matrix for diagnostic purposes
• Delete or add a functional module to the DMAP sequence
To make alterations to a solution sequence, you should be familiar with the rules for DMAP
programming
A library of DMAP alters is delivered with NX Nastran. You can use these alters to request
options not available in the solution sequences. You can also use them to perform exceptional
operations that do not fit in with the normal flow of the solution sequences.
Understanding Scheduled and Unscheduled Exits

Scheduled exits can be requested at any point in a structured solution sequence format by means
of the SEMG, SEKR, SELG, SELR, SEMR, and SEALL Case Control commands. If none of these
commands are specified, then SEALL = ALL is the default.
Unscheduled exits are usually caused by errors on input entries or errors in the structural
model resulting from missing or inconsistent input data. When such errors are detected,
an unscheduled exit is performed accompanied with the output of the applicable user error
messages. Following the correction of the input data errors, a modified restart can be performed.
Unscheduled exits may also occur because of machine failure or insufficient time allowance.
In these cases, an unmodified restart is usually made. In some cases, where a portion of the
problem has been completed, including the output for the completed portion, a modified restart
must be made following an unscheduled exit due to insufficient time allowance. The situations
are discussed under case control requirements in the sections dealing with the individual
solution sequences.
The initial execution of any problem must be made with complete NX Nastran input data,
including all of the bulk data. However, all or part of the bulk data may be assembled from
alternate input sources.
Restart Procedures
NX Nastran also has an automatic restart capability. The automatic restart is not only driven
by modifications to the Case Control and Bulk Data Sections but also by modifications in
upstream superelements.
In NX Nastran, restarts are accomplished with the NASTRAN Data Definition Language feature,
a file that lists the names and attributes of data types saved for restart. The evidence that a
Solution Sequence has restart capability can be found by the existence of TYPE statements
in its DMAP compile listings. It uses the SubDMAP feature, which allow breaking a large
collection of DMAP statements into more manageable data structures similar to subroutines
in other programming languages.
For a restart analysis, the Bulk Data Section consists only of delete “/” entries and any new
entries you want to add. The previous Bulk Data is read from the database. All other parts of
the NX Nastran Input Data (including the File Management statements, the Executive Control
statements, the Case Control commands, the BEGIN BULK command and the ENDDATA entry)
must be resubmitted even though no changes are made in the case control and no new bulk data
is added. When changing solution sequences, the solution number (SOL) must be changed to the
number or name of the new solution sequence.

Any changes in the Case Control Section associated with Bulk Data entry selection or subcase
definition, or changes in the Bulk Data Section.
Restarts always start at the beginning of a specified DMAP or SOL sequence. In a restart
analysis, NX Nastran queries the database in two phases.
Phase 1: The software marks all appropriate existing database data blocks and parameters
as existing for the current restart run.
Phase 2: The software checks the current input against the version from which the restart
initiates and deletes any data blocks with modified input from the Phase 1 determined
database data blocks and parameters. This phase is performed by the RESTART module(s)
contained within the solution’s DMAP.
Restart only executes DMAP Modules for which some or all of the output does not exist on
the current version database. The S-type parameter is considered as an output data block for
restart purposes, hence if it is not listed in the NDDL, then the module that contains it will be
re-executed. All DMAP modules are executed until the first RESTART module after which
output checking is performed. Forced execution of modules after this point may be manually
controlled by SYSTEM (109) flag.
If no such changes are made, the executive system performs an unmodified restart. If changes
have been made only in the output requests, the restart is considered unmodified. However, some
modules may have to be re-executed in order to prepare the output. Output requests that were
satisfied, plots made, etc., should be removed if they are not to be output again.
For modified restarts, a number of previously executed DMAP instructions may have to be
re-executed, depending on the nature of the modifications made by the user. The DMAP
instructions that need to be executed in a modified restart are automatically determined within
the program by comparing all changes made in Case Control commands and Bulk Data entries.
See also
13.2 Data Processing and Matrix Operations by Functional Module

The following sections will refer specifically to the structural analysis matrices such as stiffness,
damping, and mass. However, this information also applies to heat transfer analysis for
conductance and capacitance. There is no analogy for mass in heat transfer analysis.
See also
• NX Nastran DMAP Programmer’s Guide (for additional information regarding the use of
DMAP modules for matrix operations)
• Chapter 4 of the NX Nastran Programmer’s Manual (for detailed descriptions of the

individual functional modules)
Geometry Processing in SubDMAP PHASEO

NX Nastran begins the initial processing of your total model in PHASEO. In PHASEO, the
software takes data from the input files and stores it in data structures that feed more expensive
processes in later SubDMAPS. Flags are set to control branching for special features. All

Solution Sequences
superelement inputs are processed. Tables are indexed for faster processing in post-processors.
Parameters are read from Case Control and Bulk Data files by module PVT. The shell element
normals at each grid point are computed in module TASNP2, and output in table GPSNT.
Tables for internal program use are generated by the geometry processors from the grid point
entries, coordinate system definition entries, sequence entries, connection entries, static load
entries, temperature definition entries, and constraint entries. The computer time for all
geometry processing is usually only a small part of the time required for problem solution.
The basic geometry processing is performed by GP1 (Geometry Processor – Phase 1). The
software assembles a list of all grid points and scalar points in internal order for use in relating
internal and external identification numbers. Matrices for transformation from basic to all
defined global coordinate systems are computed, and all grid point locations are transformed to
the basic coordinate system.
The element connection tables (ECT) are generated by GP2 (Geometry Processor – Phase 2) from
the connection entries. The external grid point numbers are converted to the internal indices
defined in GP1.
The temperature data and static loads are processed by GP3 (Geometry Processor – Phase
3). The temperature data is collected by sets and the external grid point numbers. Element
numbers are converted to the internal indices defined in GP1 and GP2. In the case of static
analysis, the static loads are also collected by sets and the external identification numbers
are converted to internal indices.
The constraint data is processed by GP4 (Geometry Processor – Phase 4). The displacement set
definition table (USET) is generated from the constraint definition entries. USET contains one
coded word for each degree-of-freedom in the model to identify the set or sets of coordinates to
which the degree-of-freedom belongs (see “Understanding Sets and Matrix Operations” for the
definition of degree-of-freedom sets). The multipoint constraint matrix [Rmg] is formed from the
MPC and rigid element Bulk Data entries. In static analysis, the enforced displacement matrix
[Ys] is formed for use in the generation of equivalent static loads.
The BNDSPC module moves SPCs on boundary grid points to downstream superelements.
Model Checkout
A checkout procedure is provided for the development of new models. It includes the bookkeeping
and control blocks, and part of the generation block of Figure 13-3. It is requested by the
PARAM,CHECKOUT,YES option.
See also
• “Superelement Analysis” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
SEP1 Module
Generates the SEMAP table, which lists superelement membership of grid points and elements.
Provides estimates for computation costs and storage requirements. This module will identify
any structural partitioning errors.
There are two paths through the superelement capability. If the bulk data entries have a BEGIN
SUPER and/or BEGIN SUPER = [SEID] entries the data flow goes through the partitioned
superelement capability modules, SEP1X and SEP2X. If only a BEGIN BULK entry is present
the grid point list capability modules SEP1 and SEP2 are used. The SEP1X path also allows
grid point list superelements, with the exception of fluid structure analysis, SOL 200 (Design

Optimization), and the RELEASE entry. Models using these features must use the grid point
list path.
See also
• “Superelement Analysis” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
SEP2, SEP2CT Modules

Partitions out the data for any superelement selected by SE-type Case Control commands.
These modules identify load and rigid element partitioning errors, and errors in the Case
Control Section.
Constraint Modules
The GP1 and GP4 modules process all selected superelements. They check for the presence of
requested coordinate systems; for illegal duplicate specifications of mutually exclusive sets, such
as SPCi and ASETi entries referencing the same point; and for correct specifications on SPCi,
xSETi, and MPCi entries, and rigid elements.
You may print the user set table with PARAM,USETPRT, when PARAM,CHECKOUT,YES
is present. If rigid elements or selected MPC entries exist, the constraint matrix [Rmg] (see
“Multipoint Constraint Operations in SubDMAPs SEKR and SEMR2 and SEMRB”) is given
three tests:
1. A matrix of rigid body vectors [uogh] is calculated by the VECPLOT module. This matrix
includes zeroes for the rows corresponding to scalar points. The product
is calculated. Terms of [Emh] larger than PARAM,TINY are printed. If the constraint matrix
contains internal constraints, nonzero terms will exist in [Emh]. If an MPC equation includes
scalar points, nonzero terms may exist in the corresponding row of [Emh] although the
equation may be in equilibrium.
2. The product
is calculated. The product matrix is decomposed by the DCMP module. Diagonal terms of the
factor matrix that are larger than PARAM,MAXRATIO are printed. These terms indicate
that the printed row is linearly dependent on prior rows. Unless the constraint matrix is
changed, it is likely that the model will encounter fatal errors due to singularity in the MCE1
module, or will have a poorly-conditioned constraint elimination process.
3. The product
is calculated, where [Rmm] is the partition of [Rmg]. This product is also processed by the
DCMP module. If a row appears here that also appears in the messages from the prior step,
it confirms that the constraint matrix is inherently ill-conditioned. If a row appears here

Solution Sequences
that did not appear in the prior step, it indicates that a change in the m-set exists that can
also make the [Rmm] matrix well conditioned.
The DBC module stores data for use in postprocessors. It runs at many points in the Solution
Sequences. In this SubDMAP it stores basic structural geometric data. The AEROE SubDMAP
generates the geometry of the aerodynamic model. The Automated Component Mode Synthesis
(ACMS) capability controls branches at many places in the Solution Sequences. The RESTART
module controls the modules that will be run on restart, based on changes in the input files. The
run exits after these checks are performed.
Matrix Assembly Operations in SubDMAP SEMG

The stiffness, mass, damping, differential stiffness, and heat conduction matrices are formed
during the matrix assembly operations in subDMAP SEMG.
Stiffness is generated from the following sources:
• Structural elements defined on connection entries (e.g., CBAR and CROD).
• General elements defined on GENEL entries.
• Scalar springs defined on CELASi entries.
Mass is generated from the following sources:

• A 6 × 6 matrix of mass coefficients at a grid point defined on a CONM1 entry.
• A concentrated mass element defined on a CONM2 entry in terms of its mass and moments
of inertia about its center of gravity.
• Structural mass for all elements, except plate elements without membrane stiffness, using
the mass density on the material definition entry.
• Nonstructural mass for all elements specifying a value on the property entry.
• Scalar masses defined on CMASSi entries.
Damping is generated from the following sources:

• Viscous rod elements defined on CVISC entries.
• Scalar viscous dampers defined on CDAMPi entries.
• Element structural damping by multiplying the stiffness matrix of an individual structural

element by a damping factor obtained from the material properties (MATi) entry for the
element.
These matrices are formed from the connection and geometric tables prepared by the geometry
processors and the material and element property tables prepared in the Phase 0. The matrix
assembly operations will usually represent a significant portion of the total solution time.
The computer time for matrix assembly operations is linear with the number and type of
elements. Unit times for stiffness matrix assembly are given in the NX Nastran Installation and
Operations Guide. Assembly times for coupled mass matrices, differential stiffness matrices, and
heat conduction matrices are about the same as those for stiffness matrices. Assembly times for
lumped mass matrices and damping matrices are usually relatively small.

The matrix assembly process begins with the generation of various tables in TA1 (Table
Assembler) from the geometric data, connection data and property data. These tables are used in
data recovery operations as well as in the matrix assembly operations.
The matrix assembly operations are performed by EMG (Element Matrix Generator) and EMA
(Element Matrix Assembler) modules. All of the element matrices (KELM, KDICT, MELM,
MDICT, BELM, and BDICT) are generated by EMG. The stiffness matrix exclusive of general
elements, [Kxgg], as well as the structural damping matrix, [K4gg], the mass matrix, [Mgg], and
the viscous damping matrix, [Bgg], are assembled in separate executions of EMA.
The parameter COUPMASS is used to select either coupled mass or lumped mass generation in
EMG. If the parameter WTMASS is present, the mass matrices generated in EMG are multiplied
term by term by the value in field 3 of the PARAM entry. This operation allows you to specify
mass data in units of weight.
The structural damping matrix [K4gg] is assembled from elements with structural damping.
Structural damping is specified in the GE field of the MATi entry.
Equation 13-1.
where:
NE = number of elements
GEe = element structural damping coefficient from MATi entries
[Ke] = element stiffness matrix
The direct matrix inputs requested by the K2GG, K42GG, M2GG, and B2GG Case Control
commands define the stiffness matrix [K2gg], structural damping matrix [K4,2gg], mass matrix
[M2gg], and damping matrix [B2gg], and are assembled by the MTRXIN module. The outputs
from EMA and MTRXIN are combined by the ADD module.
The stiffness contributions from the general elements (GENEL Bulk Data entry) are assembled
in SMA3 (Structural Matrix Assembler – Phase 3). The final stiffness matrix [Kgg] is formed by
combining [Kxgg] prepared by the EMA module with the contributions from general elements
generated by SMA3.
Weight and balance information is calculated from the mass matrix [Mgg] by GPWG (Grid Point
Weight Generator). The execution of GPWG is controlled by the parameter GRDPNT. The details
of the output are described in “GRDPNT” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide.
Multipoint Constraint Operations in SubDMAPs SEKR and SEMR2 and SEMRB

The multipoint constraint operations apply constraints to the stiffness matrices using the linear
relationships among the displacements you specify on MPC, MPCAX, and rigid element Bulk
Data entries.
The multipoint constraint equations are initially expressed in the form,

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-2.
where you supply the coefficients. You also specify the degree-of-freedom that is made dependent
by each equation of constraint, so that the {ug} matrix may immediately be partitioned into
two subsets,
Equation 13-3.
where the set, umwhere you supply the coefficients, is the set of dependent degrees-of-freedom.
The matrix of constraint coefficients is similarly partitioned
Equation 13-4.
so that Eq. 13-2 becomes
Equation 13-5.
[Rm] is a nonsingular matrix. We can, therefore, form the multipoint constraint matrix,
Equation 13-6.
so that Eq. 13-4 may be stated as
Equation 13-7.
Prior to the imposition of constraints, the structural problem may be written as
Equation 13-8.

or, partitioning in terms of the coordinate sets, un and um
Equation 13-9.
Bars over symbols are used to designate arrays that are replaced in the reduction process.
The addition of constraints to the structure requires that the forces of constraint be added to
the equilibrium equations. Thus, writing the equilibrium and constraint equations together
in partitioned form,
Equation 13-10.
where {qm} is the vector of constraint forces on {um}. Straightforward elimination of um and qm
gives
Equation 13-11.
or
Equation 13-12.
where
Equation 13-13.
and

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-14.
The initial partition of Kgg and the operations indicated by Eq. 13-6, Eq. 13-13 and Eq. 13-14
are performed by appropriate modules of the program. The multipoint constraint matrix, Gm,
is used in structural matrix reduction (Eq. 13-13), load vector reduction, (Eq. 13-14) and data
recovery (Eq. 13-7).
The multipoint constraint equations, Rmg, formed in the GP4 module, are partitioned by the
MCE1 module (Multipoint Constraint Eliminator – Phase 1) as follows:
Equation 13-15.
MCE1 also solves the equation
Equation 13-16.
for the transformation matrix [Gmn]. An alternate path is available for module MCE1 in
SubDMAP XMCE1, requested by PARAM,MCE1,NEW. It contains a partitioned solution for
R−1mm · Rmn, where the part of Rmm that is diagonal is partitioned from the coupled part. It was
developed at a time when the partitioned solution was faster than the single-pass solution used
in MCE1. The single pass solution was improved so that it is now faster than the partitioned
solution. The partitioned solution is maintained to provide an alternate solution when the
single-pass solution is implausible, or does not complete in a normal manner.
The MCE2 module (Multipoint Constraint Eliminator – Phase 2) partitions the stiffness matrix
Equation 13-17.
and performs matrix reduction
Equation 13-18.
The other structural matrices, [K4gg], [Bgg] and [Mgg], are transformed by formulas that are
identical in form to Eq. 13-13, in subDMAPs SEMR2 and SEMRB.

The MCE2 module is also used in subDMAP SEMR2 to obtain [Mnn].

The UPARTN module partitions [Kgg] to [Kmg] form which is equivalent to
Equation 13-19.
and is used to obtain multipoint forces of constraint. See “Data Recovery Operations in
SubDMAP SEDISP.”
Single Point Constraint Operations in SubDMAPs SEKR, SEMR2 and SEMRB

The single point constraint operations apply constraints to the structural matrices using the
single point constraints you specify on SPCi Bulk Data entries, the PS field on GRID entries,
or constrained by the AUTOSPC feature described in “Constraint and Mechanism Problem
Identification in SubDMAP SEKR.”
Single point constraints are applied to the set, us, in the form
Equation 13-20.
where {YS} is a vector of enforced deformations, any or all of whose elements may be zero. The
set, un, is partitioned into us and uf (the free or unconstrained set)
Equation 13-21.
The stiffness matrix, Knn, is similarly partitioned
Equation 13-22.
The complete structural equations including the single point forces of constraint, qs, may be
written in partitioned matrix form as

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-23.
Straightforward elimination gives
Equation 13-24.
The forces of constraint are recovered by means of the middle row of Eq. 13-23, i.e.,
Equation 13-25.
The distinct partitions Kfs and Kss, are needed in subsequent calculations of SPC forces in static
analysis. For the other structural matrices (K4nn, Bnn, and Mnn) the (sf) and (ss) partitions are
saved, for dynamic SPC forces calculation.
The partially constrained stiffness matrix [Knn] is partitioned by UPARTN module as follows:
Equation 13-26.
Similar partitioning operations are performed on [Mnn] in subDMAP SEMR2 to obtain [Mff],
[Msf] and Mss. In subDMAP SEMRB, the structural and viscous damping matrices [K4sf],
[K4ss], [B sf] and [Bss] are obtained from the MATREDU module. All (sf) and (ss) matrices are
required for the recovery of single point constraint reaction forces described in “Data Recovery
Operations in SubDMAP SEDISP.”
Constraint and Mechanism Problem Identification in SubDMAP SEKR

A singularity in a linear equation solution leads to a condition where a unique solution is not
possible. For example, if [K] {u} = {F}, and [K] is zero, then if {F} is not zero, no value of {u} will
satisfy the equation. However, if {F} is zero, any value of {u} will satisfy the equation. The
equation can always be satisfied by prescribing {u}, rather than {F}. This is equivalent to
constraining u with a single-point constraint.
There are two types of singularity:

1. The singularity can be identified by considering the stiffness terms of only one grid point.
This is called a grid point singularity.
2. The singularity requires consideration of stiffness terms of more than one grid point. This
is called a mechanism type of singularity.
Grid Point Singularity

Grid point singularities are automatically identified by the GPSP module. They may be
automatically constrained, under user control. First, multipoint constraints are eliminated,
leading to the matrix [Knn] (see “Multipoint Constraint Operations in SubDMAPs SEKR and
SEMR2 and SEMRB”). Singularities are identified by grid point and component number of the
failed direction. The ratio of stiffness at the degree-of-freedom to the largest stiffness at that grid
point is listed. If automatic constraint is selected (see “AUTOSPC” in the NX Nastran Quick
Reference Guide), the set membership of the singular degrees-of-freedom is listed before the
automatic constraint and after the automatic constraint. Both the mutually exclusive set and
the highest combined set identical to the mutually exclusive set are listed for each identified
singularity.
The output will include a Grid Point Singularity Table with the following format:
G R I D P O I N T S I N G U L A R I T Y T A B L E
POINT TYPE FAILED STIFFNESS OLD NEW
ID DIRECTION RATIO USET USET
3801 G 1 0.00E+00 L S *
3801 G 2 0.00E+00 L S *
3801 G 3 0.00E+00 L S *
3801 G 4 0.00E+00 L S *
3801 G 5 0.00E+00 L S *
3801 G 6 0.00E+00 L S *
In this table,
1. G (under the heading TYPE) stands for grid point (S for scalar point is also output).
2. FAILED DIRECTION is the degree-of-freedom component in the displacement coordinate

system and closest to the weakest direction.
3. The STIFFNESS RATIO is the ratio of the stiffness in the weakest direction to the stiffness
in the strongest direction at the grid point (considering all possible directions rather than
just the coordinate directions). Translational and rotational stiffnesses are considered
separately. The default value for the failure criterion is 10−8, which may be changed by the
PARAM,EPZERO entry.
4. Note that, for the example shown, the failed degrees-of-freedom were originally in the ul set
and were placed in the us set. This may not always be the case, for reasons noted earlier, or
because you didn’t request the AUTOSPC feature.
5. You should carefully inspect the Grid Point Singularity Table because a singularity is very
often the result of a modeling error, which should be corrected.
User Options
The identification of singularities is an automatic feature; however, you may exercise the
following options through PARAM Bulk Data entries described in “Parameters” in the NX
Nastran Quick Reference Guide.

Solution Sequences
Parameter
Description
Name
AUTOSPC Controls automatic constraint of a singularity.
EPPRT Specifies the maximum value of a singularity to print.
EPZERO Specifies the maximum value of a singularity.
PRGPST Controls printout of singularity table.
SPCGEN Writes SPC entries to the PUNCH file based on the singularity table.
The singular degrees-of-freedom are shifted to other sets by the following logic if
PARAM,AUTOSPC,YES is specified:
o-set Condition Set Before Constraint Set After Constraint

o s
If o-set exists
c b
c s
If no o-set
b s
Other mutually exclusive sets not listed above will not be constrained. In addition, singular
degrees-of-freedom on CYAX, CYJOIN, and SPCOFFi entries are identified but not constrained.
The most usual cause of grid point singularity is degrees-of-freedom not constrained by elements
because they are not of interest to the modeler. An example is out-of-plane rotations on a
component made of plates lying in a plane. The automatic constraint provides the correct action
for this type of singularity. Another cause is elements left out by oversight. Here, one typically
observes that many or all degrees-of-freedom at a grid point are singular. The automatic
constraint may mask a modeling error in this instance. For this reason, all singularity messages
should be carefully inspected during the modeling checkout phase to ensure that modeling
errors are not being masked.
When using the K2PP, M2PP, B2PP, or TFL Case Control command, PARAM,AUTOSPC,NO is
recommended.
Mechanism-Type Singularities
A more complicated type of instability arises when two or more grid points participate in a
singularity in a linear equation solution. This is known as a mechanism type of instability.
Again, for the simple example shown in Figure 13-2, the equations of equilibrium can not be
satisfied at all, or may have nonunique solutions for special loading conditions. Note, however,
that the structure of this example will pass the grid point singularity checks.
Figure 13-2. A Mechanism Type of Instability

The static equilibrium equation for the example in Figure A Mechanism Type of Instability is
Equation 13-27.
If P1 = −P2, many solutions are possible, where (u1 − u2) = P1/k, but u1 may have any value. If P1
and P2 are arbitrary, the equation cannot be satisfied.
This condition is detected during the matrix decomposition phase of the linear equation solution
process by the DCMP module. The stiffness matrix is decomposed into a lower triangular matrix,
[L], and a diagonal matrix, [D]. As discussed in “User Interface” in the NX Nastran Numerical
Methods User’s Guide a diagonal term of [D] (“di”) will approach zero for every mode of instability
of the structure. (In this example there is one instability.) These instabilities are identified by
dividing all di’s into their corresponding stiffness term, then listing all ratios larger than a large
number. See “MAXRATIO” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide for a description of several
other parameters used to control this operation.
Identify Grid Component for All Ratios > PARAM,MAXRATIO.

A corrective action for this example would be to constrain one of the grid points or to add springs
connecting this spring to other parts of the structure (not shown). Since, in general, there may be
many grid points active in a singularity, there is little reason for picking one over another for
connection. The usual cause of this type of instability is elements left out by oversight. While
this may be your intention, it cannot be detected by the program. For these reasons, there is no
automatic method to constrain mechanisms. The discussion of “MAXRATIO” in the NX Nastran
Quick Reference Guide describes the various actions and user options that are available in the
several contexts where singularities may be detected. Diagnosis techniques and corrective
actions are described in the NX Nastran Numerical Methods User’s Guide.
Static Condensation in SubDMAPs SEKR and SEMR2

Structural partitioning is used to refer structural matrices to the boundary points in
substructuring operations and to perform a static condensation in dynamic analyses.
At user option the set of free coordinates, uf, may be partitioned into two sets, uo and ua, such
that the uo set is eliminated first. Thus

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-28.
The equilibrium equations after the elimination of constraints (Eq. 13-24) may be written in
partitioned form as
Equation 13-29.
Rearrange the bottom half of Eq. 13-29:
Equation 13-30.
and solve for {uo}:
Equation 13-31.
Substitute for uo into the top half of Eq. 13-29:
Equation 13-32.
It is convenient to define the matrix
Equation 13-33.
so the Eq. 13-32 becomes

Equation 13-34.
where advantage is taken of the symmetry of [Koo].
Following the practice of condensation established in preceding subsections,
Equation 13-35.
where
Equation 13-36.
Equation 13-37.
The [Go] matrix defined in Eq. 13-33 is obtained practically from the solution of
Equation 13-38.
where [Kao]T is treated as a set of load vectors. Each such vector produces a column of [Go].
Once {ua} is obtained the set of omitted coordinates, {uo}, is obtained as follows. Define the
set as the solution of
Equation 13-39.
Then, using Eq. 13-33 and Eq. 13-39 in Eq. 13-30,

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-40.
In subDMAP SEKR, the constrained stiffness matrix, [Kff], is partitioned by UPARTN as follows:
Equation 13-41.
DCMP and FBS are used to solve the equation
Equation 13-42.
for the static transformation matrix, [Gtoa], and MPYAD performs the matrix reduction
Equation 13-43.
If PARAM,ALTRED,YES is specified then the [Kff] matrix is partitioned and reassembled to form
[Kxff] which has the a-set degrees-of-freedom sequenced last. [Kxff] is partially decomposed
Equation 13-44.
where [Lfo] is a trapezoidal matrix and [Kaa] is the boundary stiffness matrix.
The [Lfo] matrix is partitioned
Equation 13-45.
While [Lfo]T is of the same dimension as the [Gtoa] matrix, it is on the average half as dense,
thereby reducing the storage requirements.
In subDMAP SEMR2, UPARTN partitions the constrained mass matrix [Mff] as follows:

Equation 13-46.
and successive executions of MPYAD and SMPYAD modules perform the matrix reduction
Equation 13-47.
In subDMAP SEMRB, the structural and viscous damping matrices [Bff] and [K4ff] are condensed
by the MATREDU module.
The partitioned solution for statics is an exact solution. It merely changes the order of
operations of the unpartitioned solution. The static reduction for dynamics is exact for o-set
degrees-of-freedom that are massless, but represents an approximate relumping of o-set
masses to the a-set. You must select enough a-set degrees-of-freedom to adequately define the
eigenvectors of the system. The dynamic reduction technique discussed in “Dynamic Reduction
and Component Mode Synthesis in SubDMAP SEMR3” provides a way of improving the
approximation by computing the normal modes for the o-set degrees-of-freedom.
Static Solutions in SubDMAP SEKRRS

There are two major branches through this subDMAP, standard static analysis and static
analysis with inertia relief effects.
Inertia Relief Not Selected

When inertia relief is not selected and there are no SUPORTi entries are present the a-set
equations are solved directly
Equation 13-48.
Kaa is decomposed into its factor matrices Laa and Da. These factors are passed on to SubDMAP
STATRS for solution of ua.
When inertia relief is not selected but there are SUPORTi entries are present the a-set equations
are partitioned into the r-set, defined on the SUPORTi entries, and the l-set, what is “left over”
after the r-set is removed.
Equation 13-49.

Solution Sequences
In this context, the r-set is treated as an alternate form of single-point constraints. The partitions
of K involving r are discarded. ur is set to zero. ul is found from the first row of this equation.
Loads in Pr go directly to ground, and are output with the SPC forces, along with the product
−Krl · ul.
Inertia Relief Selected

The basic assumption of inertia relief is that the structure is in a state of steady acceleration,
and that all transients due to dynamic effects are negligible. The solution is obtained in a
moving reference frame from which all displacements are measured. For inertia relief analysis
inertial loads are computed automatically that exactly balance the applied loads. A support
system is applied to make the system numerically stable. The inertial loads assume rigid body
accelerations when computing the loads.
The derivations given here assume that the system mass matrix Mgg has been reduced to Maa
and is available, as described elsewhere. In the actual DMAP, equivalent methods that never
generate Maa are used instead, in the interests of efficiency. Maa can be a larger size data block,
and costly to compute. It can be shown that the results provided by the two derivations are
identical. For example, the rigid body mass matrix Mrr, defined below as
Equation 13-50.
can just as easily be formed from the g-set equations
Equation 13-51.
Similar comments can be made about computing the inertial loads that balance the applied
loads. The derivatives are presented here in the form of a-set equations that are more readily
understood, if less efficient in practice, than the g-set equations. You can find equations for the
more efficient method TANs 4002 and 4854 or in DMAP compilations. Current research indicates
that this capability may shift to a-set operations in future versions to obtain more automation.
There are at present two forms of inertia relief: automatic selection of a support system
(“auto-support”); and manual selection of the support system, using SUPORTi entries. Both
react to PARAM,GRDPNT, the parameter used to locate a reference point for grid point weight
summaries. The more automatic method is described first.
Auto-Support (PARAM,INREL,-2)
Vectors of rigid body motion Dgr for six unit motions of a reference point are computed from grid
point geometry in module VECPLOT. The Dar component is partitioned from this matrix. Dar is
used to compute the rigid body mass Mrr about the reference point.
Equation 13-52.

Equation 13-53.
Mrr is printed out with the matrix name of QRR.
The acceleration of the reference point ar due to the applied loads is computed,
Equation 13-54.
The accelerations ar are printed with the matrix name of URA.
The resulting inertial loads Pai and total loads Pa are
Equation 13-55.
Equation 13-56.
A constraint equation is written that states that the average weighted motion of the system is
zero,
Equation 13-57.
This equation is appended to the a-set to define the 1-set equations in their augmented form,
Equation 13-58.
Equation 13-59.

Solution Sequences
qr are the unknown forces required on the system to produce equilibrium. They should be
computational zeros, and are output with the SPC forces. The equation involving Kll is solved
directly, with ua and qr partitioned from ul.
Manual Support (PARAM, INREL, -1 and SUPORTi)

You prescribe a set of DOFs that constrain the structure in a statically-determinate manner on
SUPORTi entries. These entries define the r-set. There must be six or less DOFs listed, and
they must constrain all rigid body modes that are not constrained by SPCs or other modeling
devices. The rigid body modes are computed from the statics equation, where there are no loads
applied, and urr is the identity matrix. Given
Equation 13-60.
Dlr is found by solving the first row of this equation, then merged with Irr to form,Dar,
Equation 13-61.
The rigid body mass, reference point accelerations, and inertial loads are formed with the
same equations used for auto-support. The loads are partitioned into the l- and r-sets, and the
partitioned form of Kll is used for solution for displacements,
Equation 13-62.
ua is merged from ul and a null partitioned for ur.
A Comparison of Auto- and Manual-Support Solution

If one analyzes the same model with both methods, you should find that stresses, constraint
forces, and other internal quantities are identical except for truncation errors, but the
displacements may differ appreciably. This is because they use a different reference frame.
For the many supports, the reference frame is set up so that the motion at the r-set DOFs
are identically zero. One can think of a reference frame drawn through these points, and
all displacements measured relative to it. This reference frame is moving through space at a
constant acceleration rate, so the displacements are relative, rather than inertial displacements.
For the auto-support option, one can visualize the reference frame as a set of axes connected to
every point with mass with a very complicated set of levers that allows the structure to “breathe”,
as loads are applied to it, but keep the weighted average motion to a zero value. If the model
happens to have a grid point at the reference point, you will observe very small motion there,

computational zeros but not the binary zeros of the manual support method. This is because this
motion is computed for the auto-support method, but assumed to be zero for the manual method.
The choice of an r-set as defined by SUPORTi DOFs requires meeting both a geometric
requirement and a stiffness requirement. The geometric requirement is that the set should form
a statically determinate tie to ground. This can be difficult to do with complicated geometries.
The stiffness requirement is that the DOFs should be stiff enough to provide a stable solution.
A method that has been used by some modelers is to pick points stiff enough that they could
be used to lift the structure without damaging it. Sometimes such points do not exist. The
difficulties in picking a stable, reliable support system was one of the main motivations for
development of the more modern auto-support systems.
PARAM, GRDPNT, GID is optional for both methods when superelements are not present, but
required by the manual method when superelements are present. The auto-method does not
support superelement analysis. The default for GRDPNT is GID = -1, which is a flag to use the
basic origin as the reference point when computing rigid body modes. Use of a GID near the
c.g. of the structure produces more esthetically pleasing results. The rigid body accelerations
produced by the solution are then measured near the center of the structure, rather than at a
point that may be outside of the structure.
Static and Dynamic Load Generation
Applied Static Loads in SubDMAPs SELG, SELR, and SELRRS

The static load vectors {Pg} are generated by SSG1 (Static Solution Generator – Phase 1) in
subDMAP SELG from your input of applied loads, temperature fields, and enforced deformations.
The direct matrix input requested by the P2G Case Control command define the load matrix
[P2g] which is assembled by the MTRXIN module and is added to the output from SSG1.
If PARAM,INREL,-1 is specified, then
1. The rigid body transformation matrix [Dgr] is generated with the VECPLOT module. Its
columns contain the motion of all degrees-of-freedom due to unit motion of the corresponding
reference point degree-of-freedom.
2. Loads due to unit rigid body accelerations are computed,
3. The loads above are appended to the applied loads {Pj},
The SELA module assembles {Pj} into {Pg}.

The constraints are applied to the static load vectors by SSG2 (Static Solution Generator – Phase
2) in subDMAP SELR as follows:

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-63.
Equation 13-64.
Equation 13-65.
Equation 13-66.
Equation 13-67.
Equation 13-68.
If PARAM,ALTRED,YES is specified, the diagonal extracted from [Loo] → [Doo] and the reduced
load matrix is computed from
Equation 13-69.
where {ux o} is obtained on a forward pass from the equation
Equation 13-70.

for PARAM,ALTRED,NO, the SSG3 module (Static Solution Generation – Phase 3) solves the
equation
Equation 13-71.
for {uoo}, the displacements of the omitted coordinates.
SSG3 also calculates the residual vector, δPo, and the residual vector error ratio, εo, for the
omitted coordinates
Equation 13-72.
Equation 13-73.
Except for round-off error, the error ratio εo should be zero. Large values of these error ratios
usually indicate singularities in the stiffness matrix. The residual load vector, RUOV, may be
output by use of PARAM,IRES,1.
The quantity
Equation 13-74.
is calculated by the SSG3 module and printed under the heading “External Work.” This
component of strain energy includes effects of thermal loads, element deformations, and enforced
displacements that may be subtracted later in the solution process. For example, an enforced
displacement that causes zero strain will result in external work.
If a r-set is present, subDMAP SELRRS calculates determinate forces of reaction
Equation 13-75.
where:

Solution Sequences
[Dar] =
Applied Dynamic Loads

Dynamic loads are produced in many subDMAPs. They are generally of the form:
Equation 13-76.
The POi vectors are spatial functions that describe what DOFs are loaded and their scale factors.
The Fi functions are temporal functions that define how the loads change with time in transient
analysis x = t, or with excitation frequency in frequency response analysis x = f. All spatial loads
except those on extra points are calculated in the static analysis load generator module, SSG1, to
obtain the Pg vector described in the prior paragraphs.
Enforced motions are produced similarly.
Equation 13-77.
The YOi vectors are again the spatial distribution, and the Fi(x) temporal functions. The YOi
vectors are produced by the GP4 module to produce the Yg vector. It is the same vector described
for static analysis in Eq. 13-66, except that it is merged to g-set size with null terms from Ys.
The static load and enforced motion vectors are converted into dynamic loading tables in DPD
module, then passed on to the dynamic load generators, FRLG and TRLG. These modules
produce the applied loads and enforced motions at the p-set level, Pp(x ) and Yp(x ), as a function
of excitation frequency or time. For transient analysis velocity and acceleration vectors are also
provided, Y (x) and Y (x).
A reduction matrix Rpx is made in the FDRMGEN module, where the subscript “x” implies
the d-set, for direct analysis, and h, for modal analysis. It combines the operations shown in
Eq. 13-63 through Eq. 13-68 previously. In subDMAP CFORCE2 Eq. 13-66 is modified to
add velocity and acceleration effects,
Equation 13-78.
In frequency response the velocity and acceleration effects can be computed from Ys by
multiplying it by i · ω once or twice, where ω is the excitation frequency.
Pf is reduced to Pd or Ph by the same techniques used in static analysis.

For modal analysis with enforced motion it is essential that PARAM,RESVEC,YES be used. It
causes static solutions to be formed from Kfs · Ys -type terms. When the structure is tied to ground
in a statically-determinate manner, these solutions are linear combinations of the rigid body
modes that would exist if the ties to ground were removed. If the ties to ground are redundant, a
condition named multi-base input, the resulting shapes will have significant stresses associated
with them. They represent the effect of low-frequency excitation on the structure when
PARAM,RESVEC,YES is not present, for the statically determinate case the element stresses
will be correct but the displacement-type data will be missing the effect of the static shapes. For
the multi-base input case, both stresses and displacement-type output will be incorrect.
Dynamic Reduction and Component Mode Synthesis in SubDMAP SEMR3

These capabilities use several subsets of the a-set not used by other solution techniques. The
v-set matrix is formed in subDMAP SEKR
Equation 13-79.
The v-set mass matrix is formed similarly in subDMAP SEMR3. The v-set degrees-of-freedom
are free to vibrate during dynamic reduction and component mode computation. They consist of
the omitted terms (o-set), the free boundary points used for rigid-body mode designation (r-set),
and the other free boundary points (c-set). The [Mv] matrix is formed in a similar manner.
If the METHOD command is specified for superelements, then the component modes are
computed. The auto-omit operations described in “Real Eigenvalue Analysis in SubDMAPs
SEMR3 and MODERS” are carried out resulting in the reduced eigensolution equation
Equation 13-80.
where Nz is the number of eigenvectors requested by the EIGR or EIGRL Bulk Data entries.
The back-transformations for the auto-omit-spc are performed, resulting in the expanded
eigenvector matrix [φyz]. This matrix is used to purify the approximate eigenvectors found in
dynamic reduction,
Equation 13-81.
The uncoupled eigensolution components are assembled from [φvz]

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-82.
Equation 13-83.
where [φbz] = [0]
[φoz] and [φaz] are stored for use with the uncoupled solution obtained using PARAM,FIXEDB,-1
as described in “Data Recovery Operations in SubDMAP SEDISP.”
The residual vector capability is requested with PARAM,RESVEC,YES. Details on this capability
are given in “Matrix Assembly Operations in SubDMAP SEMG,” where real eigensolutions are
discussed. The RESVEC SubDMAP returns auxiliary functions uo2. They are appended to the
eigenvectors, and are given all of the operations given to eigenvectors,
Equation 13-84.
The inertia relief mode shapes are calculated by statically applying the rigid-body inertial loads
to the structure.
Equation 13-85.
Setting [Hia] to zero and solving for [Hio] results in,
Equation 13-86.

The [Goq] matrix is formed,
Equation 13-87.
The [Goq] matrix is truncated or padded with null columns to provide Nq columns, where Nq
is the q-set size. [Goq] is expanded to a-size,
Equation 13-88.
The total transformation matrix is formed by adding dynamic and static components and
is reassembled whenever needed,
Equation 13-89.
The generalized stiffness coefficients are formed from the dynamic transformation,
Equation 13-90.
The physical and generalized degrees-of-freedom are not stiffness coupled. [Kqq] is merged
to Na size,
Equation 13-91.
where superscript l refers to matrices formed from dynamic reduction. [Kqq] is stored in the
database. When the total stiffness boundary matrix is needed, it is formed from its partitions,
Equation 13-92.

Solution Sequences
or
Equation 13-93.
The physical and generalized degrees-of-freedom are mass-coupled. The terms are formed from
the equations,
Equation 13-94.
Virtual mass effects, if any, are added to [Mlaa1] to form [Mlaa].
The total mass matrix is formed by:
Equation 13-95.
For the rigid formats [Maa] is formed directly from its partitions,
Equation 13-96.
The a-set matrices do not contain static effects in the t-set components, and dynamic effects in
the q-set components. Virtual mass effects, if any, are added to [Maa] to form [Mmaa].
The damping matrices [Bgg] and [K4gg] are reduced to the a-set by the MATREDU module which
performs the following operations:
1. Eliminate multipoint constraints

2. Eliminate single point constraints
3. Partition omitted degrees-of-freedom
4. Perform static condensation
Formulation of Dynamic Equations in SubDMAP GMA

The tables prepared by the geometry processors are modified by DPD (Dynamic Pool Distributor)
to include the extra points (e-points) introduced for dynamic analysis.
[Kmaa], [Mmaa], [Baa], and [K4aa] are expanded to the d-set to form [K1dd], [M1dd], [B1dd], and
[K4dd]. The direct input matrices [K2pp], [M2pp], and [B2pp] requested by the K2PP, M2PP,
and B2PP Case Control commands are reduced to the d-set to form [K2dd], [M2dd], and [B2dd],
respectively.
The general dynamic equation used in the direct methods is
Equation 13-97.
p is the derivative operator
Equation 13-98.
where:

Solution Sequences
{Ud} the extra points

=
For direct frequency response and complex eigenvalue analysis the stiffness, damping, and mass
matrices are generated as follows:
Equation 13-99.
Equation 13-100.
and
Equation 13-101.
For direct transient response the stiffness, damping and mass matrices are generated as follows:
Equation 13-102.
Equation 13-103.
and
Equation 13-104.
where:
• [K1dd] is the reduced structural stiffness matrix plus the reduced direct input K2GG
(symmetric).
• [K2dd] is the reduced direct input matrix K2PP plus the reduced transfer function input
(symmetric oar unsymmetrical).

• [K4dd] is the reduced structural damping matrix obtained by multiplying the stiffness matrix
[Ke] of an individual structural element by an element damping factor ge and combining
the results for all structural elements (symmetric) plus the reduced direct input K42GG
(symmetric).
• [B1dd] is the reduced viscous damping matrix plus the reduced direct input B2GG
(symmetric).
• [B2dd] is the reduced direct input matrix B2PP plus the reduced transfer function input
(symmetric or unsymmetrical).
• [M1dd] is the reduced mass matrix plus the reduced direct input M2GG (symmetric).
• [M2dd] is the reduced direct input matrix M2PP plus the reduced transfer function input
(symmetric or unsymmetrical).
• g is the structural damping coefficient on the PARAM Bulk Data entry G. The frequencies ω3
and ω4 are specified on the PARAM Bulk Data entries as W3 and W4, respectively.
For direct solutions [Kdd], [Mdd], and [Bdd] are examined to identify rows and columns which are
null in all three matrices. If the parameters ASING = 0 (the default) the singularities caused by
the null rows and columns are removed as follows:
1. For direct frequency and direct transient response, the stiffness matrix [Kxdd] is formed from
[Kdd] by placing unity on the diagonal for each null row and column.
2. For direct complex eigenvalue analysis null rows and columns are discarded from [Kdd],
[Mdd], and [Bdd] to form [Kddd], [Mddd], and [Bddd]. This is performed in subDMAP
DCEIGRS. See “Complex Eigenvalue Analysis in SubDMAP CEIGRS.”
If parameter ASING = -1 and null rows and/or columns exist, a fatal error will result.
In modal frequency response, and complex eigenvalue analysis, structural damping and viscous
damping are included in the dynamic matrices as follows:
Equation 13-105.
and
Equation 13-106.
In modal transient response, the structural damping and viscous damping are included as follows:
Equation 13-107.

Solution Sequences
and
Equation 13-108.
The general dynamic equation used in the modal method is:
Equation 13-109.
where p is the derivative operator
Equation 13-110.
ζi are the modal coordinates.
The transformation from {Uh} to {Ud} is
Equation 13-111.
where:
[φdh] =
The dynamic matrices expressed in modal coordinates are assembled in GKAM (General K
Assembler-Modal) as follows:
Equation 13-112.

Equation 13-113.
and
Equation 13-114.
where, if PARAM,KDAMP = 1 (default)
If PARAM,KDAMP = –1 in complex eigenvalue analysis, modal frequency response, aerodynamic

flutter, and aeroelastic response the viscous modal damping will be incorporated into the complex
stiffness matrix as follows:
Equation 13-115.
Values of g(fi) are specified on the TABDMP1 Bulk Data entry, selected by the SDAMPING
Case Control command. If KDAMP = 1 (default), the matrices [b] and [k] are formulated as in
modal transient response.
In SubDMAP CMPMODE damping of CMS (o-set) modes is calculated by similar techniques.
This q-set damping is expanded to g-set size, and placed in the Baa matrix for summing into
downtown superelements.
Data Recovery Operations in SubDMAP SEDISP

The dependent displacements and the single-point forces of constraint are calculated in SDR1
(Stress Data Recovery – Phase 1). The inputs to SDR1 are columns of the solution vectors
corresponding to each eigenvalue, loading condition, or output time step. In the case of transient
analysis, there are three columns, corresponding to displacement, velocity and acceleration,
for each output time step.

Solution Sequences
Load Modification
If PARAM,INREL,-1 or PARAM,INREL,-2 are specified, then any component of the load vector is
first multiplied by [Crx] to produce a set of loads that are a linear combination of applied and
inertial loads called {P1l}
Equation 13-116.
Static Analysis
In the case of static analysis and PARAM,ALTRED,NO, SDR1 recovers dependent displacements
Equation 13-117.
Equation 13-118.
where
Equation 13-119.
If PARAM,ALTRED,YES is specified, then the displacements {uo} are obtained from a backward
pass from the equation
Equation 13-120.
where {uyo} = {uxo} − [Lao]T{ua}
Enforced displacements are combined with uf

Equation 13-121.
Equation 13-122.
where
Equation 13-123.
and recovers single point forces of constraint
Equation 13-124.
and multipoint forces of constraint
Equation 13-125.
In superelement static analysis, if PARAM,FIXEDB,-1 is present, then ua is set to zero, and data
recovery is performed using the modified equation
Equation 13-126.
This is equivalent to obtaining a solution with all exterior (“boundary”) degrees-of-freedom
fixed. Displacements are due only to interior displacements due to interior loads, that is, the
{uoo} component.
Eigenvalue Analysis
In the case of eigenvalue analysis SDR1 recovers dependent components of the eigenvectors

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-127.
Equation 13-128.
Equation 13-129.
Equation 13-130.
Equation 13-131.
and single-point forces of constraint
Equation 13-132.
If PARAM,DYNSPCF,NEW (default) then the single-point forces are computed as follows:
Equation 13-133.
In superelement analysis, if PARAM,FIXEDB,–1 is present, the uncoupled eigenvectors are
recovered from the modified equations

Equation 13-134.
Equation 13-135.
with {φaz} and {φoz} from “Superelement Analysis.”
The multipoint forces of constraint qmq are recovered by
Equation 13-136.
Dynamic Analysis
In the case of dynamic analysis with the direct formulation the extra points are partitioned
out of {ud}.
Equation 13-137.
SDR1 recovers the dependent components
Equation 13-138.
Equation 13-139.
and recovers single point forces of constraint

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-140.
If PARAM,DYNSPCF,NEW (default) then the forces are computed as follows.
In transient response analysis, the formulation is
Equation 13-141.
where:
MxSf = MSf + M2ppSf
BxSf =
KxSf = KSf + K2ppSf
In frequency response and complex eigenvalue analysis, the formulation is
Equation 13-142.
where:
MxSf = MSf + M2ppSf

BxSf = BxSf + B2ppSf
KxSf = (1 + ig)KSf + K2ppSf + iK4ggSf
The multipoint forces of constraint qmg are recovered
Equation 13-143.
where qmg is the reactions expanded to the g-set and Xm and Pm are the internal and external
loads on the m-set degrees-of-freedom, respectively. (See also Eq. 9 in Section 3.5.1 in The
NASTRAN Theoretical Manual).
In transient response analysis,

Equation 13-144.
where:
Mxmg = Mmg + M2ppmg
Bxmg =
Kxmg = Kmg + K2ppmg
In frequency response and complex eigenvalue analysis,
Equation 13-145.
where:
Mxmg = Mmg + M2ppmg

Bxmg = Bmg + B2ppmg
Kxmg = (1 + igKmg + K2ppmg + iK4ggmg
For frequency response there is one complex vector for each loading condition. For complex
eigenvalue analysis there is one complex eigenvector for each complex root and there is no
loading term {Ps} associated with the determination of the single point constraints. For transient
analysis there is a displacement, velocity, and acceleration associated with each output time step.
In the case of dynamic analysis with the modal formulation, you may obtain improved element
stresses by requesting the mode acceleration data recovery technique.
The use of the mode acceleration technique requires the decomposition of the l-set stiffness
matrix [Kll]. This decomposition is not otherwise performed in dynamic analysis unless the
model has rigid body modes. Also, the technique requires a forward/backward substitution
operation with a number of righthand sides equal to the number of solution vectors. A subset of
the solution vectors can be obtained can be obtained by using the OTIME or OFREQUENCY
entries in the Case Control Section. The subset of solution vectors is prepared by the MODACC
functional module.
In the case of dynamic analysis with the modal formulation, two methods of data recovery are
available. The default procedure is usually much more efficient for data recovery operations
when the modal formulation is used for dynamic analysis. In this procedure, the dependent
components of the eigenvectors used in the modal formulation are first recovered by SDR1
using the same sequence of operations described for problems in real eigenvalue analysis (after
eliminating unwanted modes). The complete eigenvectors are used as the input to SDR2 in order
to determine the requested forces and stresses in terms of modal coordinates.
In dynamic analysis, you may restrict the output request to the response of selected points in
the solution set. In this case, the time-consuming operations in the recovery of the dependent

Solution Sequences
degrees-of-freedom can be avoided. This solution set processing is performed by VDR (Vector
Data Recovery).
The modal data generated by SDR1 and SDR2 are formed into a data matrix by DDRMM
(Dynamic Data Recovery Matrix Method). The output quantities are determined by multiplying
the data matrix by the modal solution vectors. The computer time for this matrix multiplication
is proportional to the number of output times, the number of modes used in the modal
formulation, and the number of output frequencies or output time steps. If both the number
of output items and the number of modes are small, the computer time required will not be
significant when compared to the total problem solution time. Although the DDRMM method
of data recovery is more efficient, a complete {ug} is not formed. For this reason the method
does not permit the creation of deformed structure plots, grid point force balance or the use of
the mode acceleration technique.
The alternate procedure may be invoked using PARAM,DDRMM,-1. With this method the
solution vectors are first transformed from modal to physical coordinates
Equation 13-146.
This operation is performed by MPYAD in subDMAP MODACC. Having determined the vectors
{ud} in physical coordinates, the data recovery operations can be completed using the same
sequence of operations described for the direct formulation of dynamics problems.
Most of the operations in the recovery of the dependent components do not require significant
amounts of computer time. However, in the case of the multiply-add operation associated with
the recovery of the omitted coordinates ([Goa] {ua}, [Goa] {φa}) a significant amount of computer
time will be required if there is a large number of vectors and a large number of components in
the a-set. This operation is likely to be especially costly for transient problems because there is
usually a large number of output time steps and there are three vectors for each time step.
Data Recovery Operations in SubDMAP SEDRCVR

NX Nastran calculates the element forces and stresses in SDR2 (Stress Data Recovery – Phase
2). The matrix operations in this phase of data recovery are similar to those performed in
EMG for stiffness matrix generation. The computer time will be proportional to the number of
elements for which output is requested.
If static loads are applied to intermediate points on the CBAR element, you can request the
output of stresses and forces at a selected set of intermediate points. The additional calculations
required for output at intermediate points on CBAR elements is performed in functional module
SDRX.
The solutions and data recovery operations for transient analysis are initially sorted by the time
step (SORT1). A transpose operation is performed by SDR3 (Stress Data Recovery – Phase
3) in order to prepare the requested output sorted by external point identification number or
external element identification number (SORT2). In frequency response problems, you may
request either SORT1 or SORT2 output. The SORT2 output will usually be desirable if the
solution is made for a large number of frequencies. In any event, the SORT2 output must be
prepared if XY-plots are requested.
Computer time for the preparation of SORT2 output will be directly related to the number of
items requested for output. If a large number of items are requested for output, the transpose
operation will require a significant amount of computer time.

You may request the output of a grid point force balance table for a selected set of points. This
table lists the forces acting at each selected point due to element forces, single point forces of
constraints and applied loads. The grid point force balance table is prepared by GPFDR (Grid
Point Force Data Recovery).
You may also request the output of an element strain energy table and/or an element kinetic
energy table for a selected set of elements. The tables include the energy for each element, the
percentage of the total energy for each element, and the energy density for each element. The
element energy is computed from the equations
Equation 13-147.
Equation 13-148.
where the subscript e implies the data for one element. The energy density is computed by
dividing the element energy by the element volume. Some elements do not have enough data
input to allow calculation of element volume, such as CELASi elements. The density output for
these elements is set to zero. Simplified equations for other element volumes may be used.
For example, offsets are ignored for bar-like elements, and midside node locations are ignored
for plate and solid elements. Element volumes are calculated by the ELPRT module, and can
be output by use of PARAM,EST,1. The strain energy table is prepared by functional module
GPFDR.
13.3 Summary of Solution Sequence Operations

This section describes the data processing and algorithms that are performed by special purpose
functional modules, sequences of functional modules (subDMAPs) and complete solution
sequences.
See also
• NX Nastran DMAP Programmer’s Guide (for detailed descriptions of functional modules)
• Chapter 4 of the NX Nastran Programmer’s Manual
Static Solutions
There are several major paths for static solutions and some minor ones. For standard static
analysis the stiffness matrix is decomposed in SubDMAP SEKRRS, in preparation for a linear
solution in SubDMAP STATRS. There is also a form of static analysis called inertia relief
analysis.
There are now several paths through inertia relief analysis, reflecting that it is still in a state
of development, with more changes likely in future systems. This revision of this manual will

Solution Sequences
discuss inertia relief in SOL 101 only. Each path has advantages and limitations. There is also a
similar but different method used in SOL 1, using obsolete modules and with all of the limitations
of SOL 1, most notably lack of superelement capability. That method has not changed in many
years, and is adequately described in the first edition of this manual. It will not be documented
here. There is still another method in SOL 144, Static Aeroelasticity. It is documented elsewhere.
All methods of inertia relief analysis take the standard static analysis equation
Equation 13-149.
where Pa are the applied loads, and add a set of constraint equations Rra and
automatically-computed inertial loads Pi. The constraints are required because Kaa is for a free
structure and cannot be solved reliably without some form of constraint.
Equation 13-150.
Equation 13-151.
In theory, if Pai is a set of balanced loads (no resultant) the solution of ua is possible without
the need for constraint equations. In practice, Pai may have some unbalance due to numerical
truncation effects. Even a small resultant load will provide a displacement solution at infinity
in theory, or with very large numbers in practice, usually. The same truncation effects that
unbalance the loads may provide enough “ground springs” in the stiffness matrix to allow a
solution, but it will be a poor quality solution. Everything will first move 1.E5 units in the
same direction. Stresses will be determined by subtracting numbers of this size to find element
displacement perhaps on the order of 1.E-3. Ironically, if all goes well the forces in the support
system are miniscule, but it must be present to control stability when truncation errors are
present.
Types of Inertia Relief

Inertia Relief analysis is a quasi-dynamic analysis. It is assumed that the structure is not tied to
ground and is in a state of steady acceleration caused by the applied loads. The displacements
measured relative to ground are constantly increasing and cannot be determined. Displacements
are therefore determined with respect to an accelerating reference frame that is attached to the
structure. The applied loads are balanced by inertial loads that are calculated automatically
from the steady acceleration acting on the mass properties of the model. Inertia relief analysis is
requested with PARAM,INREL,[x], where [x] may have the values -1 or -2.
The reference frame may be obtained by two different methods.
• For the manual support method (PARAM,INREL,-1) you select 6 or fewer DOFs using
SUPORTi entries. The reference frame is defined from these DOFs.

• For the auto support method (PARAM,INREL,-2) 6 constraint equations are written that
constrain the structure to zero motion, on average, while leaving it free to “breath” and
deflect due to the applied loads and inertial loads.
Both methods find it convenient to have “rigid body modes shapes” that represent a set of vectors
that represent all possible strain-free motion of the structure when not loaded. The technique
used to obtain rigid body mode shapes differs between the two methods.
Rigid Body Modes Using Manual Support (PARAM,INREL,-1 and SUPORTi)
You prescribe a set of DOFs that constrain the structure in a statically-determinate manner on
SUPORTi entries. These entries define the r-set. There must be six or less DOFs listed and
they must constrain all rigid body modes that are not constrained by SPCs or other modeling
devices. The rigid body modes are computed from the static analysis equation. There are no
loads applied and Irr is the identity matrix. Given
Equation 13-152.
Dlr is found by solving the first row of this equation, then merged with Irr to form Dar,
Equation 13-153.
Equation 13-154.
Rigid Body Modes Using Auto-Support (PARAM,INREL,-2)
Vectors of rigid body motion Dgr for six unit motions of a reference point are computed from grid
point geometry in module VECPLOT. The Dar component is partitioned from this matrix.
The Basic Equation of Motion for Inertia Relief
Inertia relief analysis starts with the a-set equation

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-155.
and adds a constraint equation
Equation 13-156.
The last equation implies a similar equation on a generalized constraint force variable vector, qr
Equation 13-157.
If Pai represents balanced loads, qr is zero. If there is a small unbalance due to numerical
truncation effects, qr is then small, but finite. There are two methods for defining Rar, as
discussed below. Both have the property of defining some part of ua to have zero motion, so that
the other parts of ua are in effect measured relative to the constrained DOFs.
On of the solution methods partitions Kaa into its r-set and l-set components. The first equation is
partitioned, and the a-set equations and the constraint equation may combine into one equation,
Equation 13-158.
The methods of computing Piare described below. Yr, the generalized displacement input, is
set to zero.
Constraint Equations Using Manual Supports
In the constraint equation Rrr = Irr, the identity matrix. Rrl is null. The last row can then be
solved for ur = Yr = 0. The second equation can then be used to eliminate qr,
Equation 13-159.

Equation 13-160.
Because Rrl is null, the first equation then becomes
Equation 13-161.
This equation can be solved for ul reduced from ua directly. It will be shown later that Pr terms
are transferred to Pl terms in the inertial loads. ua is formed from a merge of ul and null terms
for ur.
Constraint Equations Using Automatic Supports
A constraint equation is written that states that the average weighted motion of the system is
zero,
Equation 13-162.
Equation 13-163.
Rra is generally a dense matrix, with non-zero terms at most DOFs with mass. It could be
used to reduce the Kaa matrix with equations similar to those used for multi-point constraints,
but that would produce a dense Kll matrix, much more expensive to decompose and solve
than the Kll used in the manual support method. A solution method is used which increases
solution costs only slightly.
The r-set l-set partitioning is not needed. The constraint equation is appended to the a-set
equations to define the l-set equations in their augmented form,
Equation 13-164.

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-165.
qr are the unknown forces required on the system to produce equilibrium. They should be
computational zeros, and are output with the SPC forces. The equation involving the augmented
Kll is solved directly for ul · ua and qr are then partitioned from ul. In superelement analysis the
constraints are applied in the residual structure only.
Matrix Decomposition in SubDMAP SEKRRS
There are two major branches through this SubDMAP, standard static analysis and static
analysis with inertia relief effects.
Inertia Relief Not Selected
When inertia relief is not selected and there are no SUPORTi entries present the a-set is
decomposed directly in the DCMP module,
Equation 13-166.
Laa is lower triangular, and Daa is diagonal. Both are stored in an unconventional (“packed”)
format, and output in a single data block named LLL. This name is used because the l-set and
the a-set are synonymous when no SUPORTi entries exist. The factor matrices Laa and Daa are
passed on to SubDMAP STATRS for solution of ua.
When inertia relief is not selected but there are SUPORTi entries present, the a-set equations
are partitioned into the r-set, defined on the SUPORTi entries, and the l-set, what is “left over”
after the r-set is removed.
Equation 13-167.
In this context, the r-set is treated as an alternate form of single-point constraints. The
partitions of K involving r are discarded. ur is set to zero. ul is found from the first row of this
equation. Loads in Pr go directly to ground, and are output with the SPC forces, along with the
product −Krl · ul from the second equation. Kll is decomposed with the same equations used for
conventional static analysis.

Decomposition of Kll
For the manual support method Kll is defined above. Its factors, used to compute the rigid
body modes are also used later to compute the static solution. For the auto support method the
factors of the expanded form of Kll are passed on.
Solution in SubDMAP STATRS
Computation of Inertial Loads

The basic assumption of inertia relief is that the structure is in a state of steady acceleration
and that all transients due to dynamic effects are negligible. The solution is obtained in an
accelerating reference frame from which all displacements are measured. Inertial loads are
automatically computed that exactly balance the applied loads. A support system is applied to
make the system numerically stable. The inertial loads assume rigid body accelerations when
computing the loads.
The derivations given here assume that the system mass matrix Mgg has been reduced to Maa
and is available, as described elsewhere. In the actual DMAP, equivalent methods that never
generate Maa are used instead, in the interests of efficiency. Unit inertial loads are computed
from Mgg, then reduced by load reduction techniques, avoiding the need for Maa · Maa can be a
large size data block, and costly to compute. It can be shown that the results provided by the two
derivations are identical. For example, the rigid body mass matrix Mrr, defined below as
Equation 13-168.
can just as easily by formed from the g-set equations
Equation 13-169.
Dar is used to compute the rigid body mass Mrr about the reference point.
Equation 13-170.
Mrr is printed out with the matrix name of QRR.
The acceleration of the reference point ar due to the applied loads is computed,
Equation 13-171.

Solution Sequences
The acceleration ar are printed with the matrix name of URA.

The resulting inertial loads Pai and total loads Pal are
Equation 13-172.
Equation 13-173.
For both methods, the mass matrix is reduced from Mgg size to Mrr size with load vector
operations that can be shown to be identical to the Maa operations described here, except for
the order of operations. The load and mass transformations are based on rigid body modes
produced from geometry.
A Comparison of Auto- and Manual-Support Solutions

When the same model is analyzed with both methods you should find that stresses, constraint
forces, and other internal quantities are identical except for truncation errors, but the
displacements may differ appreciably. This is because they use a different reference frame. For
the manual supports, the reference frame is set up so that the motion at the r-set DOFs are
identically zero. Think of a reference frame drawn through these points, and all displacements
measured relative to it. This reference frame is moving through space at a constant acceleration
rate, so that displacements are relative rather than inertial displacements. There are many sets
of SUPORT i entries valid for one model. If you change SUPORTi DOFs you may also expect to
see changes in displacements, but not in internal loads or element stresses.
For the auto-support option, one can visualize the reference frame as a set of axes connected to
every point with mass with a very complicated set of levers that allow the structure to “breathe”
as loads are applied to it, but keep the weighted average motion to a zero value. If the model
happens to have a grid point at the reference point, you will observe very small motion there,
computational zeros but not the binary zeros of the manual support method. This is because this
motion is computed for the auto-support method, but assumed to be zero for the manual method.
The choice of an r-set as defined by SUPORTi DOFs requires meeting both a geometric
requirement and a stiffness requirement. This geometric requirement is that the set should form
a statically determinate tie to ground. This can be difficult to do with complicated geometries.
The stiffness requirement is that the DOFs should be stiff enough to provide a stable solution.
A method that has been used by some modelers is to pick points stiff points do not exist. The
difficulties in picking a stable, reliable support system was one of the main motivations for
development of the more modern auto-support system. SUPORTi entries are not allowed for the
auto support method, and will cause a fatal error exit when present.
PARAM,GRDPNT,GID is optional for both methods when superelements are not present. It is
required when superelements are present, and must be on a boundary point attached to all
superelements. This same point should be used for the SUPORTi DOFs for the manual support
method. It defines the reference point used for generating the geometry-based rigid body vectors.
The default for GRDPNT is GID=-1, which is a flag to use the basic origin as the reference
point when computing rigid body modes. Use of a GID near the c.g. of the structure produces
more esthetically pleasing results. The rigid body accelerations produced by the solution are

then measured near the center of the structure, rather than at a point that may be outside the
structure.
Applications of Inertia Relief

Although this capability could be used in an environment where the reference frame is
accelerating steadily, such as a free-falling elevator, the more common usage is when the modeler
attempts to apply loads in equilibrium. He wishes the net acceleration of the structure to be zero.
A ship floating in the sea, with pressure loads balancing gravity loads, is an example. Developing
balanced load sets can be tedious on large models with complex geometry. The accelerations
printed out in the URA matrix can be used as a measure of load quality. If the accelerations are
negligibly small, the load balance is adequate. If the accelerations are large, some adjustment
of the loads sets may be necessary. For good inertia relief analysis a good mass distribution is
needed. As the structural weight is usually only a small proportion of the total weight, this
means that a realistic payload mass distribution must be modeled also.
Another use of inertia relief analysis becoming more prevalent with the advent of auto support
is in checkout of a new model. Although six and only six rigid body modes are provided, they
are provided in the form of a “flying waterbed”. To take an extreme example, suppose that
a structure is made up of two components bolted together, but the bolts were not modeled,
inadvertently. This model has twelve rigid body modes before the constraints are applied. Both
components sit on the same waterbed. This means that all singularities will be constrained, and
the model will run to completion on the first pass. If loads are applied to one component only,
the constraints will cause the other component to move too, in a strain-free manner. A plot of
the motion of the model should reveal that there is no displacement continuity between the two
components. This should make the cause of the unexpected behavior apparent. As the goal of
this analysis is model checkout only the structure mass distribution is usually adequate for
stable solution. The payload masses may be added later.
Real Eigenvalue Analysis in SubDMAPs SEMR3 and MODERS

The basic equation solved in these SubDMAPs is
Equation 13-174.
where K and M are real and symmetric, and M is positive semi-definite. This equation is defined
for the a-set variables when called from MODERS for overall structural modes of vibration, and
for o-set variables when called from SEMR3 during CMS (Component Mode Synthesis) analysis.
Many steps are taken in DMAP to better automate the removal of DOFs that are ill-defined,
and to augment the mode shapes with residual flexibility effects. The SubDMAPs that perform
these operations are described below.
Although a knowledge of DMAP is not necessary for dynamic analysis, such a study can increase
the understanding of the steps that are performed.
Massless Mechanism Identification in SubDMAP MMFIND

SubDMAP MMFIND identifies potential instabilities in the matrices used for real eigensolutions.
The K and M matrices presented to the READ module for real eigensolutions may contain
massless mechanisms (MMs). A massless mechanism has a constraint shape X such that

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-175.
Equation 13-176.
Equation 13-177.
If φ contains the eigenvectors of the system, then
Equation 13-178.
Equation 13-179.
The constraint shapes have non-zero terms only where the eigenvectors have zero terms. The
massless mechanism shapes can be thought of as "deficient" eigenvectors describing parts of
the system that are unconnected (or very weakly connected) to other parts of the structure
that have both stiffness and mass that are active in the well-conditioned eigenvectors. εk and
εm may be binary zeroes, or computational zeroes due to truncation effects. An "eigenvalue" λ
associated with massless mechanism shapes is
Equation 13-180.
λ is indeterminate in the limit as the εi approach zero. It can be a very large number, a very
small number, and either negative or positive. It is likely to change a large amount when
small changes are made to the model. This is the definition of an unstable eigensolution. The
assumption taken here is that the cause of this condition is either stiffness and/or mass effects
inadvertently left out of this part of the model, with the result that the load paths are ill-defined.
This load path is constrained, and the software issues a warning message. That is, this mode of
motion is later removed from the K and M matrices prior to eigensolution by steps equivalent to
single point constraint elimination.
The massless mechanisms are defined from the shifted stiffness matrix A = K + s · M, where
s is a shift that you may change from its default value with the parameter PARAM, SHIFT1,

(default=1.234 Hz.). The default is chosen to make detection of rigid body modes as MMs
unlikely. A is decomposed into its factors,
Equation 13-181.
The ratios of the diagonal terms of A over D are stored in a vector Ry. Terms of D approach a
value of zero at the ends of massless mechanisms. Terms of Ry larger in magnitude than user
parameter MAXRATIO are reset to unity and are kept in vector R1. It can be shown that each
of these terms is at the end of a massless mechanism constraint shape. R1 is expanded into a
set of loading vectors P, with one unit term per column. P is used along with the factors to
find the constraint shapes,
Equation 13-182.
The constraint shapes are normalized, and small numbers are discarded. Each column of u is
then a potential constraint mode. It could also be a rigid body mode. The rigid body modes are
detected by computing the diagonal terms of the generalized mass matrix for these shapes,
Equation 13-183.
Terms of Mg(i, i) greater than PARAM, MECHFIL, default value = 1.e-6 are an indication that
the corresponding column is a rigid body mode. Columns of this type in u are discarded to
produce u1, the matrix of constraint mode shapes. The location of the end of the constraint
shapes is passed back in R. The constraint mode shapes themselves are passed back in MECHU.
R is used later to remove rows and columns in K and M to constrain the massless mechanisms.
The nonzero terms in MECHU are used to indicate which DOFs will discard loads applied to
them, because they will have zero coefficients in the true eigenvectors of the system, leading
to a null contribution to generalized force for all modes. MECHLD contains P, and is intended
for a feature not yet implemented.
Massless Mechanism Control in SubDMAP XREAD

At present, the auto-omit DMAP is duplicated at several places, followed by a call to XREAD. It
is therefore an implicit part of the XREAD operations now, and may be moved to XREAD in a
later version to reduce the duplication of code.
SubDMAP XREAD modifies the input matrices used for eigensolution, when needed, then
restores the modified solutions back to the original size of the matrices. Solutions for both
structural vibration and buckling analyses are provided. This discussion describes vibration
analysis first, with a concluding section on changes made for a buckling solution.
Auto-Omit Operation
All the eigensolution methods require that each column of [K] plus [M] have some nonnull terms.
Any degree-of-freedom that has only null terms in both matrices is regarded as undefined and

Solution Sequences
causes a fatal error. The GIV and HOU methods of eigenvalue extraction also require that
the mass matrix be positive-definite. The MGIV, MHOU, and the Lanczos methods allow null
columns in the mass matrix but are generally faster if the massless degrees-of-freedom are
removed by the static reduction method described in “Static Solutions in SubDMAP SEKRRS.”
However, the static reduction tends to increase the number of active columns in the a-set
matrices. The INV, SINV, and Lanczos methods, by contrast, are generally slower if the static
reduction is performed on massless degrees-of-freedom, because these methods take advantage
of sparse matrices, whereas the other methods do not.
Three options are provided to deal with the various null column possibilities. If PARAM,ASING,-1
is used, any degrees-of-freedom with null columns in both the stiffness and mass matrices
(“undefined degrees-of-freedom”) are identified and a fatal error exit is taken. This is an option to
use to identify modeling errors before performing an expensive eigenvalue solution.
If ASING = 0 (the default) the method used depends on the eigenvalue extraction method. In the
tridiagonal methods of eigenvalue extraction, degrees-of-freedom with null columns in the mass
matrix are identified and placed in the w-set.
Equation 13-184.
where [Mww] and [Mwx] are null by definition. Degrees-of-freedom in the r-set (SUPORT Bulk
Data entry) must have mass, or a fatal error will result. The stiffness matrix is similarly
partitioned.
Equation 13-185.
with until diagonal terms placed on null columns of [Kww]. The static condensation matrices
are formed
Equation 13-186.
and
Equation 13-187.

This method will prevent errors due to mass matrix singularly in the tridiagonal methods if the
singularity is caused by null columns in [M]. It will not detect singularities due to mechanisms
(caused, for example, by a point mass offset from a grid point). This type of singularity does not
necessarily prevent obtaining eigensolutions, but will cause poor numerical stability. The MGIV
or MHOU methods do not suffer from numerical instability due to singular or nearly singular
mas matrices. They are therefore more reliable than the GIV HOU methods. In well conditioned
problems, however, it is unnecessary to ? automatically select the appropriate method. The
AHOU method is the most modern, reliable method.
The static reduction will reduce the cost of solution and minimize the number of uninteresting
high roots found at the value of computed infinity due to the singularity of the mass matrix. Note
that the static reduction used here does not introduce any approximation, as the “omitted”
that is w-set terms have null mass values. The introduction of unit diagonal terms on null
columns of [Kww] does not introduce approximations because the terms that multiply these
diagonal terms (the corresponding rows of [G??] are null. The same results can be achieved at
higher cost by first eliminating null rows and columns of [Kww] by the single point constraint
operations of “Single Point Constraint Operations in SubDMAPs SEKR, SEMR2 and SEMRB”
followed by static reduction.
The solution for the system [Kxx − λ · Mxx] · φx = 0 is provided. Rigid body shapes Dxr are
provided when SUPORTi entries exist, causing an r-set. The factor of Kxx, named LLL, is used
for computing approximate solutions for buckling analysis, to better set the range of eigenvalues
to be searched. For the tridiagonal methods, K and M have DOFs with zero mass removed by an
auto-omit method in a prior subDMAP. For other methods of analysis, Kaa and Maa are used
directly for residual structure modes, and Kvv and Mvv for CMS (Component Mode Synthesis)
modes.
The modes of the system are computed in the READ eigensolver module. If the solution appears
to be of good quality the subDMAP returns with no other operations performed. If the modes
can not be found, or appear to be of low quality, the module sets a flag (Neigv parameter). This
flag causes the MMFIND subDMAP to be called. Given K and M, it finds a high-ratio vector R
and a matrix of constraint mode shapes MMECHA. These terms are defined in the MMFIND
section above.
There are non-zero terms in R at the end of massless mechanisms. These mechanisms can be
removed with SPC-like operations using R as a partitioning vector,
Equation 13-188.
Mxx is partitioned similarly, to obtain M22. Partitions involving the "1" subscript are discarded.
The modified eigenproblem solved is then [K22 − λ · M22] · φ2 = 0. φ2 is merged to the size of the
original K matrix by inserting null rows for the "1-set" DOFs,
Equation 13-189.
The auto-omit reduction is backed out by the operations

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-190.
Equation 13-191.
Real Eigenvalue Analysis in the READ Module

Real eigenvalues and their associated eigenvectors are determined in READ (Real Eigenvalue
Analysis – Displacement). In the case of normal mode analysis, READ extracts real eigenvalues
from the equation
Equation 13-192.
There are seven basic eigensolution methods. The Inverse (INV and SINV) Method obtains
eigensolutions by iterations based on the equation
Equation 13-193.
where λi is an estimate of the eigenvalue. This method is best suited to large problems with
sparse matrices, where only a few eigenvectors are desired.
The tridiagonal methods, Givens (GIV and MGIV) and Householder (HOU and MHOU), first
mass-scale the equation
Equation 13-194.
where [L] is a lower-triangular matrix. The [K] and [M] matrices are pre- and post-multiplied
by [L]−1 and [L−1]T, respectively, to obtain the standard form
Equation 13-195.
where [J] = [L−1][K][L−1]T and [I] is the identity matrix. Note that the mass matrix is in effect
inverted, so that it must be nonsingular. The [J] matrix is transformed to tridiagonal form for

economical computation of eigenvalues and eigenvectors. The eigenvectors in the tridiagonal

basis are then back-transformed to the initial basis. The Modified Givens (MGIV) and Modified
Householder (MHOU) Methods use the shifted matrix
Equation 13-196.
in place of [M] in the discussion above, thereby allowing the mass matrix to be singular if there
are compensating terms in the stiffness matrix. The GIV, MGIV, and MHOU methods are best
suited to small problems, or for large problems where many eigenvectors are required, after
extensive static reduction or dynamic reduction is performed.
The Lanczos method uses a block shifted algorithm. Sets of vectors obtained by a recursive
form are used to reduce the problem to a reduced block tridiagonal form. The eigensolutions
are computed in the reduced basis by a QL algorithm, then back-transformed to the original
basis. This is currently the most modern method, and should be considered for all large-size
problems. Since the method takes advantage of sparsity in the input matrices, it is most
economical when used without static or dynamic reduction. It is requested with either the
EIGRL or EIGR Bulk Data entries.
The AHOU method combines the best features of all of the tridiagonal methods, and is the
recommended method at present. It first decomposes M. If the factors are stable, the HOU
method is used. If the factors may be unstable, the MHOU method is used instead.
Modal Solution Preparation in the MODERS subDMAP

MODERS is called when solving for the eigensolution of the residual structure, with a-set
operations. It is used for both structural mode and buckling analysis.
In buckling, the r-set caused by SUPORTi entries are treated as equivalent SPCs. The rows and
columns associated with r-set DOFs are discarded before eigensolution.
For structural analysis, the auto-omit operations take place for the tridiagonal methods. See the
XREAD Section for details.
There are also operations for ACMS and indexing of output tables present in MODERS. They
can also be found in many other SubDMAPs. Briefly, ACMS (Automated Component Mode
Synthesis) is based on breaking a large model into superelements automatically, solving it in
pieces, then re-assembling the pieces so that the output appears to be from a conventional model.
Some of the partitioning burden that was placed on you in manual superelement analysis proved
difficult to automate, so more automatic alternate methods have been developed for ACMS that
require less user input. The automatic support system described in the RESVEC SubDMAP
section is a case in point. Most of the ACMS innovations are moved to conventional analysis,
over time, after they have been tested in field usage.
Table indexing is a method to allow direct access to data in large sequential files, to speed up
interactive analysis. This work is being done as part of the API project.
Residual Flexibility in the SubDMAP RESVEC

Residual flexibility augments the mode shapes with shape functions found from static analysis
with various types of loading functions. These auxiliary displacement shapes reduce errors due
to modal truncation, particularly near the area of load application. These shapes are modified
or discarded to make them linearly independent of the mode shapes. They are then made

Solution Sequences
orthogonal to the mode shapes with a second eigensolution in a reduced basis. This augmented
system provides increased accuracy for modal dynamic analysis.
The RESVEC subDMAP is called in several contexts. When used in the residual structure, it
operates on a-set matrices such as Kaa. When used in CMS, it operates on o-set matrices such
as Koo. The naming convention used in the subDMAP is to use the generic set name x. For
example, Kxx implies Kaa when called from the residual structure operations, and Koo during
CMS. In this section we will use the a-set nomenclature, to make the discussion less abstract.
The notation "In CMS" below implies that we are then talking about operations unique to
CMS-only in that paragraph, that is, o-set operations. Other operations for CMS operations
are similar to those for the a-set.
Residual flexibility has proven to be of great value in the Automated Component Mode Synthesis
capability ("ACMS") because the structure is partitioned automatically based on economic
criteria, rather than engineering criteria. Economic criteria sometimes pick boundaries that
are non-optimal for accuracy. The residual flexibility operations recover the lost accuracy. This
ability has driven development in this area. The new capabilities generated for ACMS also carry
forward to more conventional analysis techniques. The DMAP implementation has several
branches unique to ACMS, and a reset of default values. The main change is that RESVEC
is automatically requested when ACMS is requested, but must be requested explicitly for
conventional analysis. The method to request this capability is by adding PARAM, RESVEC,
YES. The default values for parameters described below is for the conventional (non-ACMS)
option. Most options are automatically turned on when ACMS is requested.
As in other subDMAPs, fluid-structure analysis of modal data is broken into two parts, a part for
structural modes only, and a part for fluid modes only. These effects are coupled after RESVEC.
A review of the subDMAP compilation shows the complication resulting from this partitioning
and the looping through several operations, once for fluid and once for structure. The complexity
is ignored in this section by largely ignoring fluid analysis. The equations describe the structural
path. The fluid path can be inferred to be similar.
Finally, some of the steps described in this section are actually performed in other SubDMAPs.
They are described here for clarity, with a notation of the SubDMAP where the actual DMAP
statements may be found.
Parameters Unique To Residual Flexibility Operations

The comment section of the DMAP source code is reproduced here, with extensions such as the
default value of NDDL parameters. The recommended parameters to use are param, resvec, yes,
and param, resviner, yes. The first is required to select any type of residual vector calculation.
The second adds load cases for loads due to inertia effects from rigid body acceleration to the
applied load cases. It has been found to improve results for a small incremental cost.
$ resvec default=’no’
$ The main user parameter. Selects all resvec operations, as qualified
$ by the other resv* parameters. Set to ’yes’ for any resvec
$ operations.
Tuning parameters are used only for unusual models. The defaults were set after running
many test problems.
$ resvrat default = 1.e8
$ filter value for discarding trial vectors with little
$ independent content. Make it smaller to discard more vectors
$ resvpgf default = 1.e-6

$ filter on partitioning vector. Make it larger to dicard more vectors
$ resvofxs default = .001

$ [in the DMAP, but no longer in use]
Intermediate Output Control

$ resvse default=’no’
$ The default ’NO’ will skip the printing of the strain
$ energy of the static shapes (labeled EXTERNAL WORK).
$ Use RESVSE=’YES’ to print the strain energy.
Miscellaneous
$ resvsli default = ’yes’
$ The default ’YES’ will test for linearly
$ independent shapes. Use RESVSLI=’NO’ to skip the tests.
$ resviner default = ’no’

$ The default (NO) is to NOT use inertial loads to obtain trial vectors.
$ Use ’yes’ to use inertial loads as a source for
$ trial vectors
$ resvso default = ’yes’

$ The default ’YES’ will clean up the static vectors to
$ insure orthogonality to modes. If the stiffness
$ matrix is well conditioned this is unnecessary, use
$ RESVSO=’NO’ to skip the reorthogonalization.
$ resmeth default = ’ahou’
$ method used for eigensolution in reduced basis.
$ ’lan’ is an alternate method, somewhat more robust but slower for this
$ class of reduced basis problem.
The research legacy of this capability is evident in the many user parameters for specific
functions, some of which appear only in TYPE statements. Most are used only when you suspect
problems in your analysis. Their defaults, and even names, are likely to change from version to
version. The res*-type parameters current with the version you are using can be determined by
compiling the RESVEC SubDMAP, and searching for, y, parameter names in TYPE statements.
The default values of NDDL parameters can be determined compiling the NDDL statements
with an input file like this:
$ file nddl*.dat
compile nddl=nddl nolist noref deck $
cend
begin bulk
enddata
The .pch file output format, provided when "deck" appears on the compile statement, is more
readable with an editor than the .f06 output file. An example of some lines of this output is:
PARAM RESVEC =’NO’ TYPE=CHAR8 PATH=SEID LOCATION=MASTER
PARAM RESVSE =’NO’ TYPE=CHAR8 PATH=SEID LOCATION=MASTER
PARAM RESVSLI =’YES’ TYPE=CHAR8 PATH=SEID LOCATION=MASTER
PARAM RESVINER =’NO’ TYPE=CHAR8 PATH=SEID LOCATION=MASTER
PARAM RESVSO =’YES’ TYPE=CHAR8 PATH=SEID LOCATION=MASTER
PARAM RESVRAT =1.E+8 TYPE=RS PATH=SEID LOCATION=MASTER
PARAM RESVPGF =1.E-6 TYPE=RS PATH=SEID LOCATION=MASTER
Load Generation
Three types of loads are used to generate auxiliary shapes. Their selection is controlled by
user parameters and other bulk data input. The parameter name and its default are listed by
each load type. Adding new load columns has little incremental cost, so provisions are made
for many types of loading conditions, to avoid the need for re-calculation of residual flexibility

Solution Sequences
effects on restarts. The types of loads chosen are those most likely to contain effects that may be
truncated by modal analysis.
• Point Loads (USET,U6 Bulk Data entry; PARAM, RESVEC,YES)
This is a provision for cases where the DOFs to be loaded in later runs are known a priori,
but the magnitudes of the loads are not known. This type of loading is described not by
conventional load bulk data entries, but by an entry used to define a special set, the u6 set.
This option is best suited to loads on a few DOFs. This set is not used for other purposes in
the solution sequences, so it is used in this context to define places where unit point loads
will be applied later. Each u6 DOF causes one additional loading condition consisting of a
point load at DOF u6. These loads are labeled Pg1 in the subDMAP.
• Applied Loads (Conventional dynamic loading entries; PARAM, RESVEC,YES)

All dynamic loads defined on DAREA Bulk Data entries are converted to equivalent FORCE
entries at the start of the program. All loads selected from a DLOAD Case Control command
that apply to grid and scalar points are processed for static loads. These load entries are
processed by the static load generator (SSG1 module) to produce the Pg load vectors. These
are the spatial loads that will be multiplied later by time-varying functions in transient
analysis, or frequency-varying functions in frequency response analysis.
Appended, Reduced Loads
Loads from the prior two possible sources are appended into one load matrix,
Equation 13-197.
The loads are partitioned and reduced,
Equation 13-198.
Equation 13-199.
where Rga symbolizes the several-step load reduction described for static loads earlier. Pa is
carried forward when processing residual structure modes. Po is carried forward when processing
CMS modes. They will be given the generic name Pa in the remaining discussion.
Inertia loads are due to unit rigid body acceleration (param,RESVINER, YES; PARAM,
RESVEC,YES).

Rigid body displacements Dgr for 6 unit motions of a reference point are computed from geometry.
The a-set DOFs are partitioned out to form Dar. The inertia loads due to unit accelerations of
these shapes are computed,
Equation 13-200.
These loads are appended to all prior selected loads to make the final load matrix Pa1, consisting
of u6-set effects, applied load effects, and rigid body inertia load effects.
Free Boundary Effects (CMS only)
When free boundary points are defined by CSETi entries, the mode shapes are computed for
the v-set, which includes the o-set and the c-set. It is necessary to reduce the v-set effects to
o-set effects. The v-set may include rigid body modes that the c-set constrains. The derivation
and motivation for these steps is described elsewhere. The resulting steps implemented in the
subDMAP are:
• Discard any rigid body modes by counting the number of r-set points.
• Reduce the mode shapes from v-set to o-set size,
Equation 13-201.
where x symbolizes the union of the c- and r-sets, locally.
Po2 replaces Pa1 in the ensuing discussion.
Load Sweeping
Later steps will discard shape functions that are not linearly independent of the mode shapes
and prior shape functions. Some of these shapes that would be discarded can be identified by
inspecting the loads that produce them. These loads can then be discarded before their residual
vectors are calculated, saving the expense of calculating shapes that will eventually be discarded.
Loads in Pa1 are normalized to produce Pan. Some portion of the loads in Pan can be expressed
as modal loads, and therefore do not need to be carried further. The derivation of the sweeping
equation used to eliminate these loads starts by expressing the loads as a linear combination
of the inertial modal loads
Equation 13-202.
where y is unknown. Multiplying both sides by φTa, and solving for y,

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-203.
where Mi − 1 = [φTa · Maa · φa]−1, the inverse of the modal mass.
These equations are used to solve for the swept loads Pa2, based on the normalized loads Pan,
Equation 13-204.
If the modes adequately express the generalized load caused by a column of Pan, the
corresponding column of Pa2 will be numerical noise, consisting of numbers near computational
zero. Your input used to set this filter is PARAM,RESVPGF, with a default value of 1.E-6.
Columns with little content are discarded from Pa2, leading to the swept load vectors Paf.
Static Solution for Shape Functions

If the structure contains rigid body modes it is not stable for static analysis. This problem is
solved by one of two methods:
Manual SUPORT (SubDMAP SEKRRS)

If you supply SUPORTi entries, the r-set DOFs it produces are used as "temporary" SPCs,
applied to allow solving for the static shapes, but removed before computing modes. Partitions
involving "r" are discarded.
Equation 13-205.
Equation 13-206.
Equation 13-207.

Equation 13-208.
Auto SUPORT (SubDMAPs MODEFSRS, SEMR3) ACMS Only

If no SUPORTi entries or an inadequate set are supplied for constraining all rigid body modes,
and rigid body modes are found when solving [Kaa − λ · Maa] · φa = 0, the rigid body modes φr are
separated from the flexible modes based on their natural frequency being smaller than a user
parameter, PARAM, FZERO, (default = 1.E-4 Hz). φr is used to make constraint equations MPar,
Equation 13-209.
These equations are appended to Kaa using Lagrange Multiplier Techniques, and solved directly,
Equation 13-210.
The matrix on the left is named KLL in the subDMAP. It is similar to the KLL produced above
by partitioning the larger Kaa matrix in that it is stable for static solution, but differs in that
it is larger than Kaa by the addition of the constraint equations. These equations enforce the
condition expressed by the bottom row,
Equation 13-211.
This is a statement that the c.g. of the structure is at rest on average, but the structure is free to
deflect about it. This approach will produce different ua2 vectors than those produced by the
partitioned solution. In the partitioned solution one set of points is grounded, and all loads are
transmitted through the structure to them. A load on an explicit r-set point, for example, will
go directly to ground, and will cause zero deflection. This implies that some skill is required in
selecting DOFs for SUPORTi entries. With the LMT approach the constraints to ground are
distributed, so that loads applied anywhere will tend to load the entire structure.
Solution for Trial Vectors by Static Analysis

Inertia relief analysis is NOT performed, despite the presence of SUPORTi entries, usually
used in the context of inertia relief. In this context, SUPORTi data or its equivalent for the
auto-support feature is used for SPC-type operations. In CMS at present, Koo may not contain

Solution Sequences
rigid body modes. There is no provision to constrain them with SUPORT-type inputs. DOFs may
be removed from the o-set to make it stable. For example, in superelement analysis, an interior
point active in the rigid body mode, which by default is in the o-set, can be made an exterior
point. This changes it to the a-set, which is held fixed when computing CMS modes. If the rigid
body modes still exist downstream, they can be constrained in residual structure calculations.
The ua2 trial vectors, or "raw static shapes", as they are called in the SubDMAP comments, may
not be linearly independent of the mode shapes, and are certainly not orthogonal to the mode
shapes or each other. An orthogonalization process is now used to insure that the resulting
shapes are orthogonal to the mode shapes and each other. Shapes that have little information
after this process are discarded.
Orthogonalization
The trial vectors ua2 may not be linearly independent of each other or the mode shapes. They
are processed to find a set of combined mode shapes and linear combinations of the trial shapes
that are all orthogonal to each other with respect to the mass matrix. This reduces the risk of
ill-conditioning when using these matrices for solution later.
The trial vectors are appended to φa to form the combined set φua1
Equation 13-212.
An optional pre-sweeping of trial vectors is done when requested by PARAM, RESVSO, YES.
The derivation of the sweeping equation is similar to that for sweeping loads above, with the
equation for x, the vector of linear combination coefficients, being
Equation 13-213.
The swept displacement shape vectors φua1 are then determined by eliminating x,
Equation 13-214.
If the optional sweeping is not selected φa1 is merely equal to φa2.
The ua1 vectors are mass-normalized into φua such that the diagonal terms of the product on
the left side are unity
Equation 13-215.

Equation 13-216.
Mzz is generally fully coupled at this point. It is decomposed with an LTL factorization, Mzz = L ·
D · L, where L is lower triangular and D is diagonal.
The ratio of D over the diagonal terms of Mzz is calculated in the vector R,
Equation 13-217.
Rows of R whose value exceeds PARAM, RESVRAT (default=1.e8) indicate columns of φua that
have little new content, and are discarded to produce Ua3 and Mzz3 · Mzz3 is diagonal in the region
of the eigenvectors, but coupled in the region of the auxiliary shapes. It is then re-named as Mzz.
The generalized stiffness corresponding to Mzz is calculated,
Equation 13-218.
The eigensolution of the z-set is obtained,
Equation 13-219.
The eigenvectors φz of this reduced basis are used as a transformation to orthogonalize Ua3,
Equation 13-220.
The eigenvalue table of the combined system, λz, replace the prior eigenvalue table that
contained modes only. λz includes both structural modes and the effects of orthogonalized
residual flexibility vectors.
Model Partitioning in the MODEFSRS subDMAP

MODEFSRS is used in the residual structure to separate the fluid and structural components of
the a-set. The modes of these components are computed independent of one another to find φsa
and φfa, the structural and fluid modes, respectively. Once computed, residual flexibility effects
are added with calls to the RESVEC SubDMAP.

Solution Sequences
The eigenvectors with residual flexibility effects appended to them λa are then merged together
to produce one eigenvector matrix,
Equation 13-221.
For the cases where only fluid or only structural modes are requested, the identity matrix is
substituted for the eigenvector matrix that is not calculated.
Complex Eigenvalue Analysis in SubDMAP CEIGRS

Complex eigenvalues and the associated eigenvectors are calculated in CEAD (Complex
Eigenvalue Analysis – Displacement) using the inverse power method, the determinant method,
the Hessenberg method, or the Lanczos method, as you request on the EIGC Bulk Data entry.
For direct complex eigenvalue analysis and if PARAM,ASING = 0 (default) then null rows and
columns are discarded from [Kdd], [Mdd] , and [Bdd] to form [Kdxx], [Mdxx], and [Bdxx].
In the case of a direct formulation CEAD extracts the eigenvalues from the following equation.
Equation 13-222.
{udx} is then augmented with null rows to form {ud}.
In the case of a modal formulation the following equation is used:
Equation 13-223.
CEAD also normalizes the eigenvectors according to one of the following user requests:
• Unit magnitude of a selected coordinate (“POINT”).
• Unit magnitude of the largest component (“MAX”).
as specified on the EIGC Bulk Data entry.

The complex Lanczos method is recommended for large problems with sparse matrices. The
HESS method is best suited to small dense matrices, typical of small models or those typical
in a modal formulation. The INV method is obsolete, and is retained as an alternate method
when all else fails.

Frequency Response and Random Analysis in SubDMAP FREQRS

The frequency-dependent loads are generated in FRLG (Frequency Response Load Generation)
from the RLOAD1 and RLOAD2 Bulk Data entries. Constraints are applied to reduce the loads
to the d-set, and in the case of a modal formulation, the loads are transformed to the h-set.
The solution for the response is performed in FRRD1 or FRRD2 (Frequency Response Solution).
In the case of a direct formulation the following equation is solved.
Equation 13-224.
and in the case of a modal formulation, the following equation is used in:
Equation 13-225.
The arithmetic used in the solution may be real or complex and the solution procedure may be
symmetric or unsymmetrical. The choice of arithmetic and solution procedure is made by the
program depending on the form of the dynamic matrices.
Power spectral density functions and autocorrelation functions are computed in RANDOM
(Random Analysis) according to the information on RANDPS and RANDT1 Bulk Data entries.
Random analysis calculations are made for selected displacements, loads, single point constraint
forces, element stresses and element forces. The selection of items for random analysis is made
in the XY-output request part of the Case Control Section.
Transient Response in SubDMAPs SEDTRAN and SEMTRAN

The linear time-dependent loads are generated in TRLG (Transient Response Load Generation)
from the TLOAD1 and TLOAD2 Bulk Data entries. The nonlinear loads are generated from the
NOLINi Bulk Data entries. Constraints are applied to reduce the loads to the d-set, and in the
case of a modal formulation, the loads are transformed to the h-set.
The solution for the response is performed in TRD1 (Transient Response Solution). In the case of
a direct formulation the following equation is integrated over the time periods specified via the
TSTEP Bulk Data entry in subDMAP DTRANRS:
Equation 13-226.
in order to determine the displacement velocity and acceleration response.
In the case of a modal formulation, the following equation is used in subDMAP MTRANRS:

Solution Sequences
Equation 13-227.
If there are no direct input matrices and no nonlinear loads, an analytical integration procedure
is used rather than numerical integration. The numerical integration procedure may use
either symmetric or unsymmetrical routines. The choice is made by the program depending on
the form of the dynamic matrices.
Buckling Analysis in SubDMAP MODERS

In linear buckling, a static load is applied to the structure and the following eigenvalue problem
is solved subsequently,
Equation 13-228.
where [Kaa] is the linear stiffness, [Kdaa] is the differential stiffness, λi are the eigenvalues and
{φi} are the eigenvectors (buckling modes). The critical buckling loads are
Equation 13-229.
where {Pa} is the vector of applied static loads including reaction forces.
The basic assumption in linear buckling is that the differential stiffness [Kdaa] is proportional to
the applied load {Pa}. The assumption implies a linear material law and small deformations. For
buckling in nonlinear problems see the NX Nastran Basic Nonlinear Analysis User’s Guide.
The linear stiffness [Kaa] is derived from the variation of the stresses, the differential stiffness
[Kdaa] is derived from the variation of the strains keeping the stresses constant.
SOL 105 is the recommended solution sequence for linear buckling in static analysis. The Case
Control Section must contain at least two subcases. A static loading condition is applied in
the first subcase. The load is defined with a LOAD, TEMP(LOAD), or DEFORM Case Control
command. The load may also be defined with enforced deformations on the SPC Bulk Data
entries. In the second subcase, a METHOD command must appear to solve the eigenvalue
problem. The Lanczos method (EIGR Bulk Data entry) is the recommended eigenvalue solver
for linear buckling.
Linear buckling is available in the following solution sequences.
Linear buckling in statics with superelements, including original
SOL 105 design sensitivity (DSA).
SOL 5 Linear buckling in statics.
The linear buckling capability is available for the following elements: CONROD, CROD, CTUBE,
CBAR, CBEAM, CBEND, CQUAD4, CTRIA3, CTRIA6, CSHEAR, CHEXA, CPENTA, AND
CTETRA.

The differential stiffness formulation for the CQUAD4 and CTRIA3 elements was changed in
Version 68. Numerous spurious modes appeared in linear buckling of thin shell structures using
versions prior to Version 68. The improved results of Version 68 can be produced with a version
earlier than Version 68 by overlapping two CQUAD4 or CTRIA3 elements, one with bending
stiffness only and one with membrane stiffness only. The pre-Version 68 method of calculating
the differential stiffness may be activated in Version 68 by setting the system cell NASTRAN
SYSTEM(170)=1 in the NASTRAN statement. The Version 68 method is the default, NASTRAN
SYSTEM(170)=0. The pre-Version 68 method remains in the code to recover old results.
The following recommendations apply to linear buckling analysis.
• Use at least 5 elements per half sine wave to get reasonable results in the buckling load.
• For buckling of 3-D shell structures, use PARAM,K6ROT,100. to assign a stiffness to the
sixth degree-of-freedom. The default is PARAM,K6ROT,0.
The following restrictions apply to linear buckling analysis.

• Offsets should not be used in beam, plate or shell elements. The buckling loads for structures
with offsets are incorrect.
• Follower force effects are not included in the differential stiffness. The calculated buckling
loads are incorrect. The Bulk Data entries FORCE1, FORCE2, MOMENT1, MOMENT2,
PLOAD, PLOAD2, PLOAD4, RFORCE, TEMP, TEMPD, TEMPP1, TEMPP3, TEMPRB
describe follower forces.
The theoretical aspects of superelement analysis are discussed in the NX Nastran Superelement
User’s Guide. Superelements are mathematically equivalent to substructures. The major
difference is in a more convenient user interface and in the ability to process a much broader
class of problems than is practical for most other substructuring capabilities.
There are now two distinct paths through superelements in the solution sequences. There
are also two major types of superelements.
• When a BEGIN SUPER entry is present the program uses the more modern SEP1X module
to make the SEMAP table used to control partition of superelements.
• When there is a BEGIN BULK entry but no BEGIN SUPER entries a parallel path using the
older SEP1 module is used instead.
While the newer module supports most features of both part and grid list superelements, it
does not have some of the advanced features supported in the older module. When starting
a new project you should decide at modeling initiation which path is most suitable because
transitioning from one to another can be painful, particularly when the model is in development.
If one starts on the old path, for example, and then adds a new feature that causes the program
to automatically switch to the new path, some of your modeling input may be invalidated. This
may cause considerable, confusing, and unnecessary work to transition to the new path.
The short answer is that the new path should be the best path for most projects, based on the
appeal of its advanced features and the likelihood that future improvements in NX Nastran may
require use of the new path. The new path is forced by replacing the BEGIN BULK entry with a
BEGIN SUPER entry in your Main Bulk Data file. It should by the first entry in your bulk data.
It allows grid list superelements, but they need not be present.

Solution Sequences
The exception for the path chosen is when your project requires the use of features available in
the old path but not yet enabled in the new path. Some of these features may be used in the new
paths by special avoidance techniques, but these techniques can be cumbersome. It may be more
convenient to stay with the older methods until the newer methods catch up.
Terminology
• Newest Option: The partitioned bulk data file superelements (parts) are the form introduced
in Version 69. They are sometimes called substructures. A major feature of parts is ID
independence. That is, element IDs and grid points IDs may be duplicated across different
parts, although they must be unique within a part.
• Intermediate: The Main Bulk Data Superelements (superelements) introduced in Version 47

are sometimes called grid list superelements (list s.e.s). When used in the new path, they
have more restrictive rules than in the old path.
• Oldest Path: List s.e.s only are used in the old path. There are no formal names at present to
differentiate the intermediate and old flavors. Some advanced features are available only
in this path, at present.
A subtle difference between the two paths is that the new path always uses a single level
configuration for list s.e.s if there is no SETREE-type entry. It does this by defining new
boundary points in the residual structure when some are needed but not supplied by you. The
old path automatically converts to a multilevel configuration when required, regardless of the
presence of DTI, SETREE entries. It has no ability to generate new boundary points. This type of
change when switching from the old path to the new, on purpose or by accident can be confusing.
Criteria for Selecting Part Versus List Superelements

Each of the two major forms has overwhelming advantages in certain contexts. Some of these
advantages are of a temporary nature, as the rest of the technology in supporting FE tools catch
up to the newest methods. However, other relative advantages are due to the inherent difference
in concept between the two major branches that will be relevant into the foreseeable future. It is
likely that both branches will be maintained and extended because of their unique capabilities.
The following criteria should be considered when making a choice:
• Converting an existing non-superelement model to a part configuration is a labor-intensive
process at present. No migration aides are provided. Converting it to a list superelement
requires addition of only SESET entries, a trivial task by comparison.
• When debugging a new model it is much easier to comprehend and more efficient when it is
in a superelement configuration. Errors in one area will not obscure errors in other areas,
and the model solved is smaller, leading to faster turnaround. It may be more economical
to run it in a non-superelement configuration for production runs after the model is stable
and requires no more changes. If it is a list superelement this means merely removing the
SESET entries, after which it is automatically an exactly equivalent non-superelement
model if advanced features such as those provided by the RELEASE and CSUPEXT entries
are avoided. If it is a part superelement there can be a large labor cost for conversation, as
all duplicated IDs will need to be changed, duplicate points at boundaries will need to be
resolved, etc. A list s.e. model, to make virtue of necessity, enforces rules such as unique
IDs when updating the model that make re-conversion to a non-s.e. configuration an almost
automatic process.
• When starting a new modeling project where more than one person provides input, and most
particularly when more than one organization contributes to the model, the higher degree of

data control for part superelements is attractive. There is no need to legislate acceptable ID
ranges for each part. It is possible to lock the description of a part into its boundary matrices,
in a data base marked with a time stamp, so that there is little questions about who is
responsible for the behavior of each part.
• Many GUIs can be used to modify list superelements because the rules for ID independence
are the same for GUIs as they are for list s.e.s Part superelements can be modeled in GUIs
only one at a time. This makes boundary matching, in particular, cumbersome.
Features Not Supported in the New Path

• Fluid Structure Analysis: This capability is supported in the new path with the “old” path
rules:
1. All fluid elements must be in a special list superelement, and/or in the residual structure
2. This special superelement may have fluid elements only; structural elements or grid
points are not allowed
3. One or several fluid cavities may be in the fluid superelement
4. Fluid elements may be connected to structural elements in list superelements, or in the

residual structure.
5. Elements in part superelements may not be connected to fluid elements.
• p-Elements: Not supported at all. It may be possible to segregate the portions of the model
containing p-elements into external superelements, but this will be a labor-intensive process.
No documentation is available on this topic at present.
• RELEASE Entries: Allowed only in the old path. There are semi-heroic modeling techniques
that may be used to simulate this feature in the new path, but they are not documented.
• SExSET Entries: Most set entries for non-superelement models such as ASET have
synonyms for use in list s.e.s such as SEASET. The synonym is not accepted in PARTs, but
the simpler format of ASET, for example, is accepted.
Features Not Supported in the Old Path

In general, features associated with automatic boundary control are not supported. The QRG is
not explicit on this issue. A list of entries not supported in the old path is:
SETREE, SENQSET, SEBNDRY, SEBULK, SECONCT, SEEXCLD, SELABLE, SELOC,
SEMPLN
The DTI, SETREE entry is used in place of SETREE. The action of the SEELT entry is somewhat
different. For the new path, the SEMAP will be changed to account for the action of SEELT
entries. For the old path, it is assumed that the element being moved is one that can be moved
without changing the SEMAP, such as an element attached only to boundary points. If the
SEELT requires change of the SEMAP the program processes conventionally until it encounters
the s.e. with the “illegal” SEELT entry, then gives a fatal error exit stating that the connectivity
of the superelement is incorrect.
Check List for Transitioning an Old Model to the New Path

• Replace the BEGIN BULK entry with a BEGIN SUPER entry.

Solution Sequences
• Check the SEMAP table from an old run to determine if it is in a multilevel state. When
it is, add SETREE entries that define the tree in the old run, or convert it to a single level
model if multilevel is not essential. If you have many multilevel models to convert, there is a
parameter that will request that SETREE entries be made from the SEMAP, and placed in
the .pch (punch) file.
• Discard all RELEASE and CSUPEXT entries and p-elements. If you cannot find reasonable
replacements for them you may be forced to stay in the old path.
Decide if this is the right time to convert to a PART model, or whether the list s.e. capability in
the new path is more advantageous, based on the discussion above.
The Case Control commands for superelement processing selection all begin with the letters SE
(SEMG, SELG, SEKR, SEMR, SELR, SEALL, and SEEX). The SEFINAL command is used to
control the order of processing of the superelements. A subcase structure is required that defines
constraints, loads, and data recovery options for each superelement. Each subcase includes the
Case Control command SUPER in order to relate the subcase to a particular superelement and
load condition. Examples of Case Control (including plot requests) are given in the NX Nastran
Superelement User’s Guide. A set of plotting commands is required for each superelement to be
plotted, separated by the plotter commands SEPLOT and SEUPPLOT.
Each superelement is given an identification number (SEID). You assign each grid point to
a superelement on a GRID or SESET Bulk Data entry. Identical image, mirror image, and
external superelements are defined by the CSUPER and optional SEQSEP Bulk Data entries.
The SEELT Bulk Data entry may be used to change the superelement membership of boundary
elements. The RELEASE Bulk Data entry may be used to disconnect selected degrees-of-freedom
from exterior grid points of a superelement.
The mesh generator option, called by MESH on the NASTRAN statement, supports the
superelement capability fully, in that all GRID entries generated for a field can be given the same
SEID, and the SESET Bulk Data entry can change these SEIDs at boundaries. The automatic
grid point resequencing features are fully implemented for superelement models.
The superelement partitioning module passes on resequencing data from SEQGP Bulk Data
entries only for grid points of a superelement which are not exterior points for any superelement.
This class of grid points can be determined from the SEMAP table printed by the program, but
may change if the order of processing is changed. The automatic resequencing option processes
each superelement separately.
Component mode synthesis uses SEBSETi, SECSETi, SESUP and SEQSETi entries to define
the boundary condition when computing component modes. Uncoupled solutions for statics and
modes can be obtained by use of PARAM,FIXEDB,-1.
Superelement Bulk Data entries may be specified in nonsuperelement solution sequences, but
those entries pertaining to the superelement capability (e.g., the CSUPER entry) are ignored, as
well as some fields on other entries (e.g., Field 9 on the GRID entry). However, better automatic
resequencing may be possible if the SEID data is removed.
Superelement Processing in the Structured Solution Sequences

An overview of the superelement processing in SOLutions 101-200 is shown in Figure 13-3. Phase
0 performs the preparation and bookkeeping function. The input data is stored on the database
and scanned to prepare the SEMAP table. This table lists the superelement to which each Bulk
Data entry is to be applied. Phase 0 also partitions out the data that defines each superelement
and performs automatic restart processing. In Phase I this data is used to generate the boundary
matrices to be assembled when combining the superelements into the total structure. Phase II
performs calculations done only on the residual structure (the superelement processed last), such

as transient response calculations or eigensolutions. Phase III expands boundary solutions to

the interior grid points of the superelement, performs the data recovery operations for internal
forces, stresses, and strain energy, and outputs these quantities. Phase IV combines plot vectors
from upstream superelements to provide deformed structural plots for all or part of the structure.

Solution Sequences
Figure 13-3. Structured Solution Sequence Flow Chart

The input file processor operations are carried out in a conventional manner. The grid point
resequencer module resequences each superelement individually.
Some of the geometry processor operations of “Geometry Processing in SubDMAP PHASEO” are
carried out to prepare tables of all grid points in the entire model, useful for generation of the
SEMAP table. After the SEMAP is available, the SLIST table is assembled. This list controls
the operations to be performed in that particular run for generating boundary matrices, as
selected with Case Control commands. The GP4 module generates constraint data in the form
of the USET table, as described in “Geometry Processing in SubDMAP PHASEO.” A separate
USET table is generated for each superelement. It is similar to the USET table of the older rigid
formats except that the exterior points are automatically placed in the a-set.
Assembly and Reduction (Phase I) in SubDMAP Phase1DR

The following operations may be carried out, as you select with superelement-type Case Control
commands. By default, all superelements and the residual structure are given these operations
serially. If requests for the SEMA (or SEMR) operation are made on an upstream superelement
and the residual structure, all superelements in the tree between the selected superelement and
the residual structure will also be given the SEMA operation.
Superelement Matrix Generation (SEMG) in SubDMAP PhaselA

The element structural matrices (stiffness, structural damping, mass and viscous damping) are
generated and stored. The direct matrix input option (DMIG Bulk Data entry) can be used to
add stiffness, structural damping, mass or viscous damping terms to the system matrices in this
operation. These terms are selected by the Case Control commands K2GG, K42GG, M2GG,
and B2GG. The parameters CB1, CB2, CK1, CK2, CK41, CK42, CM1 and CM2 can be used to
scale the structural matrices.
The SEMA module adds in stiffness terms from any upstream superelements. The SEEX Case
Control command may be used to eliminate stiffness contributions from selected upstream
superelements. The superelements that are upstream are defined by the current SEMAP. The
number of rows and columns of the upstream superelements must be consistent with the number
of exterior grid points, as defined by the SEMAP In order to complete execution of the SEMA
module, the boundary matrices of all upstream superelements must be present in the database,
and consistent with the current SEMAP.
The SELA module adds loads from upstream superelements to the load vector for the current
superelement. The SEEX Case Control command may be used to eliminate load contributions
from upstream superelements. The requirements for conformity of load data in the database
with the current state of the SEMAP are similar to those for stiffness, except that only rows,
not columns of the load vectors are mapped using data in the SEMAP table. The requirement
on columns of all load matrices is that they be equal to the number of columns (number of load
condition) in the residual structure. If the number of columns in all superelements and the
residual structure is not the same, a user fatal error results. Static loads may be applied to any
grid point, whether exterior or interior to a superelement. Dynamic loads may be applied directly
to residual structure points. Dynamic load entries may also reference static load sets applied to
the superelements via the LOADSET Case Control command and LSEO Bulk Data entries.
Superelement Load Generation (SELG) in SubDMAP PHASE1A

The load generation module SSG1 is executed in the static and dynamic response solutions. This
operation is not executed in the normal modes and complex eigenvalue solution sequences. As
loads may depend on structural matrices (i.e., thermal or inertial loads), an SELG operation

Solution Sequences
must be preceded by an SEMG operation. The resultants of these loads about the grid point
listed on the PARAM,GRDPNT Bulk Data entry are output.
Superelement Stiffness Reduction (SEKR) in SubDMAPs SEKR and SEKRRS
You may change SPCs and/or MPCs between subcases (“boundary condition changes”). The
GPSP module identities grid point singularities, and, optionally, provides SPCs for singular
degrees-of-freedom. This is followed by the constraint eliminations described in “Multipoint
Constraint Operations in SubDMAPs SEKR and SEMR2 and SEMRB,” “Single Point Constraint
Operations in SubDMAPs SEKR, SEMR2 and SEMRB,” and “Constraint and Mechanism
Problem Identification in SubDMAP SEKR.” If the omitted degrees-of-freedom contain
mechanism-type singularities, the grid and component number of all downstream ends of the
mechanism are output in the matrix named MECHS, and a user fatal error stops execution.
The approximate fixed-boundary natural frequencies of the superelement are printed in the
FAPPROX matrix. The boundary stiffness matrix [Kaa] is stored in the database. Mass and
damping matrices are not processed in this phase.
SUPORTi Bulk Data entries, which define the r-set, may reference only grid points in the
residual structure. The rigid body operations for the stiffness are performed as described in
“Static Solutions in SubDMAP SEKRRS.”
Superelement Load Reduction (SELR) in SubDMAP SELR
This operation processes loads in the static and dynamic response solution sequences. This
operation is not executed in the normal modes and complex eigenvalue solution sequences. The
static load reduction of “Static Condensation in SubDMAPs SEKR and SEMR2” is applied,
stopping after generation of the [Pa] matrix for superelements and [Pl] for the residual structure.
Superelement Mass Assembly and Reduction (SEMR) in SubDMAP SEMRM
In the dynamics solution sequences, the constraint operations of “Multipoint Constraint

Operations in SubDMAPs SEKR and SEMR2 and SEMRB,” “Single Point Constraint Operations
in SubDMAPs SEKR, SEMR2 and SEMRB,” and “Constraint and Mechanism Problem
Identification in SubDMAP SEKR” are applied to the mass and damping matrices. The rigid body
operations of “Static Solutions in SubDMAP SEKRRS” are applied to the mass of the residual
structure only. Dynamic reduction and component mode calculations are performed. This allows
a mass-change-only type of restart by use of the SEMG and SEMR options and avoids the costly
reduction of the stiffness matrix in the SEKR operation if no stiffness changes are made.
The optional Bulk Data entry PARAM,ERROR,0 affects operations in Phase I. If it is not used,
the default action is to terminate the run after the first user fatal error, as in the older rigid
formats. If the parameter is used, a user fatal error causes a branch to the end of Phase I for
the superelement, and continuation to the generation, assembly, and reduction operations for
any remaining superelements. The five SE-type commands may be executed on one run, or may
be done separately. The following sequence must be observed if these commands are executed
separately:
SEKR after SEMG
SELG after SEMG
SELR after SEKR, SELG, SEMR
SEMR after SEKR

Residual Structure-Only (Phase II)

The operations on the superelements described above are also performed on the residual
structure. This is followed by operations unique to the residual structure. Eigensolutions and
direct and modal forced response calculations take place at this point. Direct input matrices,
when selected by the Case Control commands M2PP, K2PP, and B2PP are constrained and added
as in the “Formulation of Dynamic Equations in SubDMAP GMA.”
Bulk Data entries used for static loads (i.e., FORCE, GRAV, LOAD, etc.) may be used in direct
and modal dynamic analysis. They are interchangeable with DAREA Bulk Data entries and may
be referenced by LSEQ Bulk Data entries.
Data Recovery Operations (Phase III) in SubDMAP SUPER3

The total solution vectors of the downstream superelement are partitioned to generate the
boundary solution vectors for the superelement being processed. The boundary solution is
expanded to all interior points of the superelement. The fixed boundary component is computed
and added.
If SPC force output is requested, the resultants of the SPC forces about PARAM,GRDPNT or
the basic coordinate system origin are also output. The data recovery operations of “Static
Solutions in SubDMAP SEKRRS” are carried out. (Note that solution sequences involving
complex eigenvalue or frequency response analysis may produce complex displacement vectors.
GPFDR module output (grid point force balance, element strain energy) may be requested for
complex vectors, but only the real component of the vector is processed.) Deformed structure
plots of only elements in the superelement are generated here.
Upstream Plots (Phase IV) in SubDMAP SUPER3

The displacement vectors of a superelement and all of its upstream members are combined
and plotted at your request.
Superelement Processing
An overview of the superelement processing is shown in Figure 13-4. Phase 0 performs the
preparation and bookkeeping function. The input data is stored on the database and scanned to
prepare the SEMAP table. This table lists the superelement to which each Bulk Data entry is to
be applied. Phase I partitions out the data that defines one superelement and processes this
data to generate the boundary matrices to be assembled when combining the superelements
into the total structure. Phase II performs calculations done only on the residual structure (the
superelement processed last), such as transient response calculations or eigensolutions. Phase
III expands boundary solutions to the interior grid points of the superelement, performs the data
recovery operations for internal forces, stresses, and strain energy, and outputs these quantities.
Phase IV combines plot vectors from upstream superelements to provide deformed structural
plots for all or part of the structure.
The input file processor operations are carried out in a conventional manner. The grid point
resequencer module resequences each superelement individually.
Some of the geometry processor operations of “Geometry Processing in SubDMAP PHASEO” are
carried out to prepare tables of all grid points in the entire model, useful for generation of the
SEMAP table. After the SEMAP is available, the SLIST table is assembled.
This list controls the operations to be performed in that particular run for generating boundary
matrices as selected with Case Control options.

Solution Sequences
Assembly and Reduction (Phase I)
The following operations may be carried out as you select on superelement-type Case Control
commands. By default, all superelements and the residual structure are given these operations
serially. If requests for the SEMA (or SEMR) operation are made on an upstream superelement
and the residual structure, all superelements in the tree between the selected superelement and
the residual structure will also be given the SEMA operation.
Superelement Matrix Generation (SEMG)
The element structural matrices (stiffness, structural damping, mass and viscous damping) are
generated and stored. The direct matrix input option (DMIG Bulk Data entry) can be used to
add stiffness, structural damping, mass or viscous damping terms to the system matrices in this
operation. These terms are selected by the Case Control commands K2GG, K42GG, M2GG, and
B2GG. The parameters CB1, CB2, CK1, CK2, CK41, CK42, CM1, and CM2 can be used to
scale the structural matrices.
Superelement Load Generation (SELG)
The load generation module SSGI is executed in the statics and dynamic response solutions.
This operation is not executed in the normal modes and complex eigenvalue solution sequences.
As loads may depend on structural matrices (i.e., thermal or inertial loads), an SELG operation
must be preceded by an SEMG operation. The resultants of these loads about the grid point
listed on the PARAM,GRDPNT Bulk Data entry are output.

Figure 13-4. Solution Sequence Flow Chart
Superelement Stiffness Matrix Assembly and Reduction (SEKR)
The SEMA module adds in stiffness terms from any upstream superelements. The SEEX Case
Control command may be used to eliminate stiffness contributions from selected upstream

Solution Sequences
superelements. The superelements that are upstream are defined by the current SEMAP. The
number of rows and columns of the upstream superelements must be consistent with the number
of exterior grid points, as defined by the SEMAP. In order to complete execution of the SEMA
module, the boundary matrices of all upstream superelements must be present in the database,
and consistent with the current SEMAP. The GP4 module generates constraint data in the form
of the USET table, as described in “Geometry Processing in SubDMAP PHASEO.” A separate
USET table is generated for each superelement. It is similar to the USET table of the older rigid
formats except that the exterior points are automatically placed in the a-set.
You may change SPCs and/or MPCs between subcases (“boundary condition changes”) in
SOLs 101 and 103 only. The GPSP module identifies grid point singularities, and at user’s
option provides SPCs for singular degrees-of-freedom. This is followed by the constraint
eliminations described in “Multipoint Constraint Operations in SubDMAPs SEKR and SEMR2
and SEMRB,” “Single Point Constraint Operations in SubDMAPs SEKR, SEMR2 and SEMRB,”
and “Constraint and Mechanism Problem Identification in SubDMAP SEKR.” If the omitted
degrees-of-freedom contain mechanism-type singularities, the grid and component number of all
downstream ends of the mechanism are output in the matrix named MECHS, and a user fatal
error stops execution. The approximate fixed-boundary natural frequencies of the superelement
are printed in the FAPPROX matrix. The boundary stiffness matrix [Kaa] is stored in the
database. Mass and damping matrices are not processed in this phase.
SUPORT Bulk Data entries, which define the r-set, may reference only grid points in the residual
structure. The rigid body operations for the stiffness are performed as described in “Static
Solutions in SubDMAP SEKRRS.”
Superelement Load Assembly and Reduction (SELR)

This operation processes loads in the static and dynamic response solution sequences. This
operation is not executed in the normal modes and complex eigenvalue solution sequences.
The SELA module adds loads from upstream superelements to the load vector for the current
superelement. The SEEX Case Control command may be used to eliminate load contributions
from upstream superelements. The requirements for conformity of load data in the database
with the current state of the SEMAP are similar to those of the SEKR operation above,
except that only rows, not columns of the load vectors are mapped using data in the SEMAP
table. The requirement on columns of all load matrices is that they be equal to the number of
columns (number of load condition) in the residual structure. If the number of columns in all
superelements and the residual structure is not the same, a user fatal error results. Static loads
may be applied to any grid point, whether exterior or interior to a superelement. Dynamic loads
may be applied directly to residual structure points. Dynamic load entries may also reference
static load sets applied to the superelements via the LOADSET Case Control command and
LSEQ Bulk Data entries. The static load reduction of “Static Condensation in SubDMAPs
SEKR and SEMR2” is applied, stopping after generation of the [Pa] matrix for superelements
and [Pl] for the residual structure.
Superelement Mass Assembly and Reduction (SEMR)

In the dynamics solution sequences, the constraint operations of “Multipoint Constraint
Operations in SubDMAPs SEKR and SEMR2 and SEMRB,” “Single Point Constraint Operations
in SubDMAPs SEKR, SEMR2 and SEMRB” and “Constraint and Mechanism Problem
Identification in SubDMAP SEKR” are applied to the mass and damping matrices. The rigid
body operations of “Static Solutions in SubDMAP SEKRRS” are applied to the mass of the
residual structure only. Dynamic reduction and component mode calculations of “Static and
Dynamic Load Generation” are performed. This allows a mass-change-only type of restart by use
of the SEMG and SEMR options and avoids the costly reduction of the stiffness matrix in the
SEKR operation if no stiffness changes are made.

The optional Bulk Data entry PARAM,ERROR,0 affects operations in Phase I. If it is not
used, the default action is to terminate the run after the first user fatal error, as in the older
rigid formats. If the parameter is used, a user fatal error causes a branch to the end of Phase I
for the superelement, and continuation to the generation, assembly, and reduction operations
for any remaining superelements.
The five SE-type commands may be executed in one run, or may be done separately. The
following sequence must be observed if these commands are executed separately:
SEKR after SEMGSELG after SEMGSELR after SEKR, SELG, SEMRSEMR after SFKR
Residual Structure-Only (Phase II)

The operations on the superelements described above are also performed on the residual
structure. This is followed by operations unique to the residual structure. Eigensolutions and
direct and modal forced response calculations take place at this point. Direct input matrices,
when selected by the Case Control commands M2PP, K2PP, and B2PP are constrained and added
as in “Formulation of Dynamic Equations in SubDMAP GMA.”
Bulk Data entries used for static loads (i.e., FORCE, GRAV, LOAD, etc.) may be used in direct
and modal dynamic analysis. They are interchangeable with DAREA Bulk Data entries and may
be referenced by LSEQ Bulk Data entries.
Data Recovery Operations (Phase Ill)

The total solution vectors of the downstream superelement are partitioned to generate the
boundary solution vectors for the superelement being processed. The boundary solution is
expanded to all interior points of the superelement. The fixed boundary component is computed
and added.
If SPC force output is requested, the resultants of the SPC forces about PARAM,GRDPNT or the
basic coordinate system origin are also output. The data recovery operations of “Data Recovery
Operations in SubDMAP SEDISP” are carried out. (Note that solution sequences involving
complex eigenvalue or frequency response analysis may produce complex displacement vectors.
GPFDR module output (grid point force balance, element strain energy) may be requested for
complex vectors, but only the real component of the vector is processed.) Deformed structure
plots of only elements in the superelement are generated here.
Upstream Plots (Phase IV)

The displacement vectors of a superelement and all of its upstream members are combined and
plotted at user’s request.
Superelement Alternate Statics Solution

SOL 101 provides an alternate method of performing the superelement static condensation.
PARAM,ALTRED,YES must be entered in the Bulk Data Section. In some cases, the alternate
solution can result in significant reduction in computer cost for static analysis.
The stiffness and load reduction and displacement recovery are described in:
• “Static and Dynamic Load Generation”
• “Static Condensation in SubDMAPs SEKR and SEMR2”
• “Data Recovery Operations in SubDMAP SEDISP”

Solution Sequences
Static Superelement Analysis With lnertia Relief

Inertia relief analysis is available in SOL 101. PARAM,INREL,-1 or PARAM,INREL, -2 must
be present for either of these options. The following method transforms static loads based on
model geometry rather than the stiffness matrix as described in “Static Solutions in SubDMAP
SEKRRS.”
The additional operations required to perform inertia relief are described in “Static and Dynamic
Load Generation” and “Static Solutions in SubDMAP SEKRRS.”
Assumptions and Limitations

1. The model must have six and only six rigid body modes for a continuous, three-dimensional
structure.
2. Masses on scalar points are ignored in calculating inertia loads.
3. The structural model, when given enforced displacements at the reference point, is assumed
to produce the same motion as a rigid body model. This will be true for any structural or
rigid element. It is possible, if unconventional, to use CELASi or general elements, MPC
equations, or DMIG coefficients that will not meet this assumption.
4. Identical and mirror image superelements are not processed correctly.
Nonlinear Heat Transfer Analysis

In NX Nastran, you can perform:
• Steady state heat transfer analysis
• Transient heat transfer analysis
Steady State Heat Transfer Analysis

The steady state heat balance equation is given by
Equation 13-230.
where:
[K] = a heat conduction matrix

[ ] = a radiation exchange matrix
{P} = a vector of applied heat flows that are constant
{N} = a vector of nonlinear heat flows that depend on temperature
{u} = a vector of grid point temperature
Tabs = the absolution temperature
The components of the applied heat flow vector, {P}, are associated either with surface heat
transfer or with heat generated inside the volume heat conduction elements. The vector of

nonlinear heat flows, {N}, results from boundary radiation, surface convection, and temperature
dependent thermal loads.
The equilibrium equation is solved by a Newton iteration scheme, where the tangential stiffness
matrix is approximated by
Equation 13-231.
and the residual vector is
Equation 13-232.
Transient Heat Transfer Analysis

The general equation solved in transient analysis has the form
Equation 13-233.
To take phase change into consideration, the heat diffusion equation is converted into
Equation 13-234.
where:
[B] = heat capacity matrix

[K] = heat conduction matrix
[ ] = radiation matrix
{P} = vector of applied heat flows that are constant or functions of time
{N} = vector of nonlinear heat flows that depend on temperature
{H} = enthalpy vector
= {dH / dt}
{ }
{u} = grid point temperatures
= {du / dt}
{ }
Tabs = absolute temperature scale factor

Solution Sequences
The equilibrium equation is solved by Newmark’s method with adaptive time stepping. Base on
this one-step integration scheme, the time derivative of the nodal temperatures at the (i + 1) th
iteration of the time step (n + 1) is expressed as
Equation 13-235.
where
Equation 13-236.
and
Equation 13-237.
The parameter η is specified on the PARAM,NDAMP Bulk Data entry. When η = 0 (θ = 0.5),
no numerical damping is requested. In this case, Newmark’s method is equivalent to the
Crank-Nicolson method.

Chapter
14 Modeling Guidelines
• Introduction to Modeling Guidelines
• Choosing the Right Element
• Determining Mesh Density
• Creating Mesh Transitions
• Reviewing Grid Point Stresses
• Defining Consistent Loading
• Symmetry

Chapter 14 Modeling Guidelines
14.1 Introduction to Modeling Guidelines

With finite element modeling, the quality of your results depends directly upon the quality of
your model. One of the more common errors that a beginning finite element analyst makes in
modeling is to simply simulate the geometry rather than to simulate both the geometry and the
physical behavior of the real structure. This section covers the following finite element modeling
topics and guidelines:
• Choosing the right element
• Mesh density
• Mesh transitions
• Grid point stresses
• Consistent loading
• Symmetry
It is also good modeling practice to simulate and validate a new capability or a feature that you
haven’t used before with a small prototype model before applying this feature to your production
model. Model verification techniques are covered in “Model Verification.”
14.2 Choosing the Right Element

NX Nastran contains a large library of structural elements. Often, you could use several
elements to model the same structural effects. 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.
In many cases, the choice of the best element for a particular application may not be obvious. 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.
Given this, you should have a fairly good idea of how the structure will behave prior to generating
your finite element model. In other words, understanding the load path is crucial in the selection
of the appropriate element. Additionally, a few hand calculations can usually provide a rough
estimate of stress intensities. If you don’t have a fairly good idea of how the structure will
behave, you may be misled by incorrect results due to errors or incorrect assumptions in your
input data preparation.
General Guidelines for Element Selection

Always experiment with a small test model when using elements that you aren’t familiar
with. This practice is cheaper than experimenting with a large production model, and it gives
you a better understanding of an element’s capabilities and limitations prior to applying it to
a large production model.

Modeling Guidelines
Avoid using obsolete elements. Elements are classified as obsolete only if their utility is
completely superseded by newer elements and after the newer elements are in service long
enough to be reliable. In most cases, they are retained in NX Nastran only to satisfy the
requirements for upward compatibility. Elements that are considered obsolete are no longer
included in any updated documentation.
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. When you use a CELASi element, the locations of the two end points should be
coincident to avoid this type of problem. If the two end points aren’t 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.
Additoinally, 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.
Don’t 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 α 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/ ω (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.

Modeling Guidelines
Figure 14-4. CQUAD8 with Missing Midside Node

For single curved structures (e.g., a cylinder), the CQUAD8, in general, yields better results than
the CQUAD4 element. For doubly curved structures (e.g., a spherical dome), the CQUAD4
element, in general, performs better than the CQUAD8.
You should turn on the shell normal (PARAM,SNORM,X) option when using the CQUAD4,
CTRIA3, CQUADR, or CTRIAR element. See the next section on shell normals for further details.
The membrane properties for the CQUADR and CTRIAR elements are less sensitive to the
element shape than the CQUAD4 and CTRIA3. The same thickness should be used for all
four corners (T1 = T2 = T3 = T4, or use the T Field on the PSHELL entry). The CQUADR and
CTRIAR elements can be used in conjunction with each other, but not with other elements.
Shell Normals
By default, the direction of the normal rotation vector for flat plate elements is assumed to be
perpendicular to the plane of each element. If the model is curved, the shell bending and twist
moments must change direction at the element intersection. If transverse shear flexibility is
present, the deformations may be too large. (Because elements using low-order formulations
ignore the edge effect, this rarely causes any problems-a large value of the parameter K6ROT
partially cures the problem.) With the unique normal (SNORM) option, the rotational degrees
of freedom at each corner of an element are measured relative to the specified normal vector
direction. Thus, all elements connected to a grid point will use a consistent direction for defining
shell bending and twisting moments.
In CQUAD4 and CTRIA3 elements, the stiffness matrices of the elements are modified to
eliminate the undesirable small stiffness in the rotational motions about the shell normal
vector. In effect, the transformation replaces the normal moments with in-plane forces. No
changes were made to the basic element stiffness matrix, and therefore flat plate models will
not be affected. The objective of the new transformation was to remove a potential weakness in
curved shell models and allow the automatic constraint process to remove the true singularity
in the assembled stiffness matrix.
The CQUADR and CTRIAR elements are also improved for some types of shell problems.
Because of their extra degrees of freedom, these elements are more sensitive to the coupling
between in-plane and out-of-plane motion due to curvature. The new formulation provides more
consistency between adjacent elements in a curved shell.
Shell normals are available for CQUAD4, CQUADR, CTRIA3, and CTRIAR elements. Normals
are activated if the actual angle between the local element normal and the unique grid point
normal is less than 20°, the default value for β (see Figure 14-5.) The default for β can be changed

by setting PARAM,SNORM,β to the desired real value up to 89 degrees. The unique grid point
normal is the average of all local shell element normals at a specific grid point. Generated grid
point normals may be overwritten by user-defined normals.
Figure 14-5. Unique Grid Point Normal

A shell normal defines a unique direction for the rotational degrees of freedom of all adjacent
elements. A shell normal vector is created by averaging the normal vectors of the attached
elements. If the actual angle is greater than the value defined on PARAM,SNORM, (default =
20.) the edge is assumed to be a corner, and the old method is used. Shell normals improve the
accuracy of the results in curved shells where in-plane shear and twisting moments act together.
If the actual shell normal vector is known, such as in a cylinder or sphere, the automatically
calculated values may be superseded by the actual vectors using the Bulk Data entry
SNORM,GID,CID,V1,V2,V3
where:
• GID is a unique grid point,
• CID is the coordinate system for defining the shell normal vector,
• V1, V2, and V3 are unscaled components of the vector in the coordinate system.
A second parameter, SNORMPRT, controls the print or punch of values of the internal shell
normals. The output format is the same as the SNORM Bulk Data so that the individual values
may be used and modified on a subsequent job.
Remarks and Recommendations for Shell Normals
1. The type of structure that exhibits the most change in results is a thick curved shell with
large in-plane shear forces and twisting moments.
2. Most other problems, such as flat plates and curved shells with pressure loads, show changes
in results of less than 1%. More degrees of freedom may be constrained using this improved
formulation. This formulation results in zero in-plane rotational stiffness values.

Modeling Guidelines
3. It has been observed from testing that the automatic normal vector calculations produced
answers nearly equal to and as accurate as those using the explicit SNORM vector input. In
other words, the results were insensitive to small differences in the direction of the vectors.
The important fact is that the shell normal vector requires the connected elements to use a
consistent normal direction.
4. The CQUAD8 and CTRIA6 elements are not included in the shell normal processing. If
they are modeled correctly, they do not require shell normal processing. Connecting these
elements to the lower-order flat elements is not recommended.
5. Curved shell elements have no stiffness in the rotational degree of freedom when the new
formulation is used-consequently, mechanisms may be introduced. Mechanisms occur when
elements, RBEs, or MPCs are connected to the out-of-plane rotation of the shell grid points.
Note that PARAM,AUTOSPC,YES does not constrain these mechanisms.
6. In linear solution sequences, the values of “param,k6rot,0.” and “param,snorm,20.” are

the default.
7. Transverse shear flexibility (MID3 on the PSHELL property entry) should be left on when
normals are used.
Three-dimensional Elements
Although the CHEXA and CPENTA elements are designed to behave reasonably well as thin
shell elements, in general, you shouldn’t use them in this capacity. The high ratio of extensional
stiffness in the direction normal to the effective transverse shear stiffness can produce significant
round-off errors.
As in the case of plate elements, if you include midside nodes for the solid elements, you should
locate them as close to the center of the edge as possible. Additionally, if midside nodes are
desired, you should include all of them.
R-type Elements
A high degree of precision must be maintained when specifying coefficients for MPCs to avoid
introduction of unintentional constraints to rigid body motions. You should use rigid elements
(e.g., the RBE2, RBAR, etc.) whenever possible because their constraint coefficients are
internally calculated to a high precision. Furthermore, these R-type elements require much
less user interaction.
14.3 Determining Mesh Density

The mesh density in a finite element model has important implications for both accuracy and
cost. Frequently, the minimum number of elements is set by topological considerations, for
example, one element per member in a space frame or one element per panel in a stiffened shell
structure. Historically, when problem size was more severely limited, it was not uncommon to
lump two or more frames or other similar elements in order to reduce the size of the model. With
computers becoming faster and cheaper, the current trend is to represent all major components
individually in the finite element model.
If the minimum topological requirements are easily satisfied, the question remains as to how fine
to subdivide the major components. The question is particularly relevant for elastic continua,
such as slabs and unreinforced shells. In general, the accuracy of your results increases with the

mesh density. The mesh density required can be a function of many factors. Among them are
the stress gradients, the type of loadings, the boundary conditions, the element types used, the
element shapes, and the degree of accuracy desired.
The grid point spacing should typically be the smallest in regions where you expect stress
gradients to be the steepest. Figure 14-6 shows a typical example of a stress concentration near a
circular hole. The model is a circular disk with an inner radius = a and an outer radius = b. A
pressure load pi is applied to the inner surface. Due to symmetry, only half of the disk is modeled.
In the example, both the radial stress and the circumferential stress decrease as a function of
l/r2 from the center of the hole. The error in the finite element analysis arises from differences
between the real stress distribution and the stress distribution within the finite elements.
Three different mesh densities are used in this example as shown in Figure 14-6.
• The first one is a coarse mesh model with the elements evenly distributed.
• The second model consists of the same number of elements; however, the mesh is biased
toward the center of the hole.
• The third model consists of a denser mesh with the elements evenly distributed.
These three models are then analyzed with three different element types-CQUAD4, CQUAD8,
and CQUAD4 with the corner stress option. The circumferential stress at the inner radius is
always greater than pi, which is the applied pressure load at the inner radius, and approaches
this value as the outer radius becomes larger. The theoretical circumferential stress σθ (see
Timoshenko and Goodier, Theory of Elasticity, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Third Ed., 1970)
is given by the following equation:
where:
a = inner radius
b = outer radius
r = radial distance as measured from the center of the disk
pi = pressure applied at the inner radius
The stresses are then plotted as a function of the radius in a nondimensional fashion-stress pi/
versus r/a. The results are summarized in Table 14-1 and Figure 14-7.

Modeling Guidelines
Figure 14-6. Circular Disk with Different Meshes

Figure 14-7. Stresses with Different Elements and Meshes

Modeling Guidelines
Figure 14-8. Figure 9-7 Stresses with Different Elements and Meshes (continued)

Figure 14-9. Figure 9-7 Stresses with Different Elements and Meshes (continued)
Table 14-1. Stresses Close to r = a for a Circular Disk

Case Element Type Description Stress
DOF(L-Set)
No. Theoretical
1 CQUAD4 194 Coarse, Even Mesh 0.594
2 CQUAD4 194 Coarse, Biased Mesh 0.881
3 CQUAD4 868 Fine, Even Mesh 0.801
4 CQUAD8 550 Coarse, Even Mesh 0.929
5 CQUAD8 550 Coarse, Biased Mesh 1.041
6 CQUAD8 2538 Fine, Even Mesh 1.015
CQUAD4 with Corner
7 194 Coarse, Even Mesh 1.142
Option
CQUAD4 with Corner
8 194 Coarse, Biased Mesh 1.047
Option
CQUAD4 with Corner
9 868 Fine, Even Mesh 1.127
Option
10 THEORETICAL – – 1.000

Modeling Guidelines
For this particular case, since the stresses are proportional to 1/r2, you expect the highest stress
to occur at the inner radius. In order to take advantage of this piece of information, the obvious
thing to do is to create a finer mesh around the inner radius. Looking at the results for the first
two cases in Table 14-1, it is quite obvious that just by biasing the mesh, the results are 30%
closer to the theoretical solution with the same number of degrees of freedom.
A third case is analyzed with a finer but unbiased mesh. Note that for case number 3, even
though it has more degrees of freedom, the result is still not as good as that of case number 2.
This poor result is due to the fact that for the CQUAD4 element, the stresses, by default, are
calculated at the center of the element and are assumed to be constant throughout the element.
This assumption is best illustrated by the results shown in Figure 14-7(a). Looking at Figure
14-6, it is also obvious that the centers of the inner row of elements are actually further away
from the center of the circle for case number 3 as compared to case number 2. The results for
case number 3 can, of course, be improved drastically by biasing the mesh.
You can request corner outputs (stress, strain, and force) for CQUAD4 in addition to the center
values. Corner results are extrapolated from the corner displacements and rotations by using a
strain rosette analogy with a cubic correction for bending. The same three models are then rerun
with this corner option—their results are summarized in cases 7 through 9. Note that the results
can improve substantially for the same number degrees of freedom.
You select corner output by using a corner output option with the STRESS, STRAIN, and
FORCE Case Control commands. When you select one of these options, output is computed at
the center and four corners for each CQUAD4 element, in a format similar to that of CQUAD8
and CQUADR elements.
There are four corner output options available:
• CORNER
• CUBIC
• SGAGE
• BILIN
These different options provide for different approaches to the stress calculations. The default
option is CORNER, which is equivalent to BILIN. BILIN has been shown to produce better
results for a wider range of problems.
To carry it a step further, the same three models are then rerun with CQUAD8 (cases 4 through
6). In this case, the results using CQUAD8 are better than those using the CQUAD4. This result
is expected since CQUAD8 contains more DOFs per element than CQUAD4. Looking at column
three of Table 14-1, you can see that due to the existence of midside nodes, the models using
CQUAD8 contain several times the number of DOFs as compared to CQUAD4 for the same
number of elements. The results using CQUAD4 can, of course, be improved by increasing the
mesh density to approach that of the CQUAD8 in terms of number of DOFs.
It is important to realize that the stresses are compared at different locations for Cases 1 through
3 versus Cases 4 through 9. This difference occurs because the stresses are available only at the
element centers for Cases 1 through 3, but the stresses are available at the corners as well as the
element centers for Cases 4 through 9. When looking at your results using a stress contour plot,
you should be aware of where the stresses are being evaluated.
How fine a mesh you want depends on many factors. Among them is the cost you are willing to
pay versus the accuracy you are receiving. The cost increases with the number of DOFs. The
definition of cost has changed with time. In the past, cost is generally associated with computer
time. With both hardware and software becoming faster each day, cost is probably associated

more with the time required for you to debug and interpret your results. In general, the larger
the model is, the more time it takes you to debug and interpret your results. As for acceptable
accuracy, proceeding from case 8 to case 6, the error is reduced from 4.7% to 1.5%; however, the
size of the problem is also increased from 194 to 2538 DOFs. In some cases, a 4.7% error may
be acceptable. For example, in cases in which you are certain of the loads to within only a 10%
accuracy, a 4.7% error may be acceptable. In other cases, a 1.5% error may not be acceptable.
In general, if you can visualize the form of the solution beforehand, you can then bias the grid
point distribution. However, this type of information is not necessarily available in all cases. If a
better assessment of accuracy is required and resources are available (time and money), you can
always establish error bounds for a particular problem by constructing and analyzing multiple
mesh spacings of the same model and observe the convergences. This approach, however, may
not be realistic due to the time constraint.
You can use the stress discontinuity feature, as described in “Model Verification” in the NX
Nastran User’s Guide, to assess the quality of the mesh density for the conventional h-version
elements.
With the software’s p-version element and p-version adaptivity capabilities, you can perform the
mesh refinement in NX Nastran.
See also
• “CQUAD4 and CTRIA3 Elements” in the NX Nastran Element Library
h-elements
In traditional finite element analysis, as the number of elements increases, the accuracy of
the solution improves. The accuracy of the problem can be measured quantitatively with
various entities, such as strain energies, displacements, and stresses, as well as in various error
estimation methods, such as simple mathematical norm or root-mean-square methods. The
goal is to perform an accurate prediction on the behavior of your actual model by using these
error analysis methods. You can modify a series of finite element analyses either manually or
automatically by reducing the size and increasing the number of elements, which is the usual
h-adaptivity method. Each element is formulated mathematically with a certain predetermined
order of shape functions. This polynomial order does not change in the h-adaptivity method. The
elements associated with this type of capability are called the h-elements.
p-elements
A different method used to modify the subsequent finite element analyses on the same problem
is to increase the polynomial order in each element while maintaining the original finite
element size and mesh. The increase of the interpolation order is internal, and the solution
stops automatically once a specified error tolerance is satisfied. This method is known as the
p-adaptivity method. The elements associated with this capability are called the p-elements.
See also
• “p-Elements” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide

Modeling Guidelines
14.4 Creating Mesh Transitions

You can use mesh transitions, for example, to refine the mesh in a particular area, connect
different element types (for example, a CBAR element to a solid element), or provide transitions
required to model the geometry of the structure.
• Never place a mesh transition in an area of interest or in an area where there is a large
variation in stress.
• Mesh transitions should be located away from the areas of interest in a region.
Due to incompatibilities between finite element types, any transition between different element
types (even a transition from CQUAD4 to CTRIA3 elements) can result in local stress anomalies.
Normally, these stress anomalies are localized and dissipate quickly as you move away from the
transition. However, a problem arises when the transition occurs in an area of interest. In this
case, the local stress rises (or decreases) due to the effect of the transition; in other words, the
results may be conservative (or unconservative) in an area near a transition. However, if this
localized stress variation occurs away from areas of interest, the increase (or decrease) in stress
caused by the transition should cause no concern.
Transition from a Coarse Mesh to a Fine Mesh

Creating a transitions between corase and fine meshes can be challenging. One common method
of performing a transition is to use an intermediate belt of triangular elements as shown in
Figure 14-10(a). It is also very tempting to selectively delete midside nodes of higher-order
elements (e.g., CQUAD8) and use them as transition elements as shown in Figure 14-10(b).
However, this method isn’t recommended because it severely distorts the stress distribution in
the elements adjacent to the change in mesh size.
Figure 14-10. Transition Methods

When using a higher-order element, such as a CQUAD8 or a CHEXA (nine to 20 nodes) for any
purpose, you should include all midside nodes. A CQUAD8 element with all midside nodes
deleted is excessively stiff and therefore is inferior to a CQUAD4. For the CHEXA element, you
should use it with eight nodes (no midside nodes), or use it with 20 nodes (all midside nodes).
The midside nodes, if used, should be located as close to the center of the edge as possible.
As an alternative mesh transition method, a spline element can be used. In NX Nastran, the
RSPLINE element is an elastic interpolation element that connects N end points. Displacements
for intermediate grid points are interpolated from the equations of an elastic beam passing
through these grid points. The spline element assumes a linear interpolation for displacement
and torsion along the axis of the spline, a quadratic interpolation for rotations normal to the axis
of the spline, and a cubic interpolation for displacements normal to the axis of the spline.

Consider an example problem as shown in Figure 14-11. This problem involves a plate fixed at
the left end with a dimension of 14 in by 9 in, and modeled with 1 in by 1 in CQUAD4 elements.
For clarity, only grid points of interest are labeled. Five different loadings-as shown in Table 14-2
are applied to this structure along the free edge (right end). For convenience, a RBE3 element is
created along the free edge by defining a dependent point (grid point 500) at the center. This grid
point is connected to all the edge grid points. The load can then be applied to grid point 500 and
distributed to the rest of the edge grid points.
Hypothetically, suppose that you’re interested in the stresses along the line one inch from the
fixed edge. Since you’re not interested in the stresses outside of this region, you can represent
the rest of the region with a coarser mesh. Two different transition methods will be used for
this purpose-one with CTRIA3s (Figure 14-12) and one with RSPLINEs (Figure 14-13). The
transitions are performed along the line five inches away from the fixed edge. An additional
transition is performed at x = 11 inches in order to maintain the same grid point density on the
right edge for all three models. This condition assures identical load applications for all three
models. Normally, this additional transition is seldom done in a real model.
Table 14-2. Loadings Used for the Mesh Transition Test

Loading Description
1. Membrane Loads
2. In-Plane Shear Loads (parabolic

distribution)
3. In-Plane Bending Loads
4. Vertical Loads

Modeling Guidelines
Table 14-2. Loadings Used for the Mesh Transition Test

Loading Description
5. Twisting Loads
Figure 14-11. Baseline Model

Figure 14-12. Transition with CTRIA3
Figure 14-13. Transition with RSPLINE

The model with the mesh transition using CTRIA3s, as shown in Figure 14-12, is quite
straightforward and needs no further explanation. However, further discussion is warranted
in the case of mesh transition using the RSPLINE element.
The input format for the RSPLINE element is as follows:

Modeling Guidelines
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
RSPLINE EID D/L G1 G2 C2 G3 C3 G4
C4 G5 C5 G6 -etc.-
Field Contents
EID Element identification number.
Gi Grid point identification number.
Ci Components to be constrained.
See also
• “The RBE3 Element” in the NX Nastran Element Library
Remarks
1. The first and last grid points must be independent.
2. Displacements are interpolated from the equations of an elastic beam passing through
the grid points.
A single RSPLINE is used to connect grid points 51 through 60 as shown in Figure 14-13. Grid
points 51, 54, 57, and 60 are considered to be independent, while the other six points are
dependent (grid points 52, 53, 55, 56, 58, and 59). This RSPLINE interpolates the motions at
the intermediate points, indicated by circles in Figure 14-13 (grid points 52, 53, 55, 56, 58,
and 59), from the cubic equations of a beam spline passing through the points indicated by
squares (grid points 51, 54, 57, and 60). The input for the RSPLINE element connecting grid
points 51 through 60 is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
RSPLINE 1000 51 52 12345 53 12345 54
55 12345 56 12345 57 58
12345 59 12345 60
The results using these two transition methods are compared with the baseline model with no
transition. These results are evaluated at two locations: at x = 1.0 in (location of interest) and at
x = 5.0 in (transition region). The five different loading conditions mentioned previously were
used. The Hencky-von Mises stresses using the grid point stress feature (“Reviewing Grid Point
Stresses”) and the CQUAD4 corner stress option are used for comparison. The results are shown
in Figure 14-14 through Figure 14-18. As you can see, the results compare well, using either
method of transition, with the baseline model at the area of interest (away from the transition
region) for all five loading conditions.
At the transition region, depending on the loading and location, the transition using CTRIA3
elements compares better with the baseline model in some cases, whereas the transition using
RSPLINE elements compares better with the baseline model in other cases. Note that there
are only four stress values available in the case of using CTRIA3s since there are only four grid
points along the line joining grid points 51 through 60 in Figure 14-12.
The CTRIA3 elements used in this model are all regularly shaped elements; in most real life
problems, it is very likely that the transition areas may consist of CTRIA3 elements that are

more distorted. In this case, the transition using the distorted CTRIA3 elements does not
perform as well as the model in Figure 14-11 consisting of regularly shaped CTRIA3 elements.
In either case, there are noticeable differences in the stresses at the transition region, as
expected. However, at the area of interest and away from the transition region, the stresses
are virtually the same for both cases as compared to the baseline model. Once again, mesh
transitions should always be modeled away from the area of interest.

Modeling Guidelines
Figure 14-14. Resultant Stresses for Membrane Loads

Figure 14-15. Resultant Stresses for In-Plane Shear Loads

Modeling Guidelines
Figure 14-16. Resultant Stresses for In-Plane Bending Loads

Figure 14-17. Resultant Stresses for Vertical Loads

Modeling Guidelines
Figure 14-18. Resultant Stresses for Twisting Loads
Mesh Transition Between Dissimilar Element Types

Attaching a plate or bar element to a solid element is a case of transition between dissimilar
element types. This process is more involved than it appears at first glance. Solid elements have
stiffness only in the translational DOFs at the attachment grid points; they have no stiffness

for rotational DOFs. A simple visualization is to think of the attachment of a solid element to a
grid point as a “ball-and-socket” joint, that is, translational forces may be transmitted, but no
moment may be transmitted through the connection.
This incompatibility of the element stiffness matrices represents a modeling problem whenever
plate or bar elements are attached to solid elements. Both plate and bar elements have stiffness
for rotational DOFs (although the plate element may not have a stiffness for the normal
rotation). Therefore, special modeling must be performed whenever a plate or bar is connected
to a solid element. Otherwise, the connection becomes a hinge (for plate elements) or a pinned
connection (for bar elements).
Several methods are available to handle the transition between these elements. These methods
range from adding extra elements (for example, adding an additional plate or bar that continues
into the solid element) to using special (R-type) elements for the transition.
One method of handling this transition is to use RBE3 elements. The RBE3 is an interpolation
element, which is ideally suited for this application. By using RBE3s, the rotations of the
attached grid points is simply slaved to the translations of the adjacent grid points.
Examples of using RBE3 elements to connect a solid element to a plate element and bar element
are shown in Figure 14-19. The RBE3 elements attach the rotational DOFs to the translational
DOFs on the solid element.
Figure 14-19. Typical Transition Between Dissimilar Elements

For the plate to solid connection, two RBE3 elements suffice:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
$RBE3 EID REFGRID REFC WT1 C1 G1,1 G1,2
RBE3 901 1 456 1.0 123 2 3
4
RBE3 902 2 456 1.0 123 1 3

4

Modeling Guidelines
For the bar to solid connection, one RBE3 element can make the connection:
RBE3 903 12 456 1.0 123 11 13
22
These RBE3 elements transmit the loads to the independent DOFs. If RBE2 elements are
used, then the connection is “rigid.”
Remember, when handling these connections, the solid elements have no stiffness for rotational
DOFs, whereas the real structure does. This means that a special modeling effort is needed when
any element with bending stiffness is connected to a solid element.
When using the RBE3 element, care must be taken to ensure that the independent DOFs are
sufficient to transfer any applied loads. For the bar-to-solid connection in Figure 14-18, if
only two independent grid points are used, the element is “unstable,” that is, since only the
translational DOFs are used as independent DOFs in the sample, the element is unstable for
rotation about the axis connecting the two points. Therefore, three non-colinear grid points are
used. A simple way to remember this is to ask, “If I constrain the DOFs that I list as independent
on the RBE3, can I prevent any possible rigid body motion?” If the answer to this question is
“yes,” then the RBE3 element is capable of transferring any applied loads. In this way, you can
avoid possible problems in processing the RBE3 elements.
See also
• “The RBE3 Element” in the NX Nastran Element Library
Shell-to-solid Transition Element (RSSCON)

The RSSCON method is another way to model shell-to-solid transitions (see Figure 14-20). This
capability conveniently eliminates the need to define RBE3s or MPCs (multipoint constraints) to
constrain a shell element’s translational and rotational degrees of freedom to a solid element’s
translational degrees of freedom. When using the RSSCON capability, the shell element
mesh must line up with the solid element mesh so that there is an exact element-to-element
correspondence.
Figure 14-20. Clamped Connection of a Shell to a Solid

The RSSCON Bulk Data entry supports both p-adaptive elements and h-elements. The
p-adaptive elements are outside the scope of this user’s guide. Through the RSSCON Bulk Data

entry, the shell elements CQUAD4, CQUAD8, CTRIA3, CTRIA6, CQUADR, and CTRIAR can
be connected to the solid elements CHEXA, CPENTA, and CTETRA. Elements with midside
nodes are also supported.
RSSCON generates a multipoint constraint, which puts the shell degrees of freedom in the
dependent set (m-set). The three translational degrees of freedom and the two rotational degrees
of freedom of the shell edge are connected to the three translational degrees of freedom of the
upper and lower solid edge. Poisson’s ratio effects and temperature loads are modeled correctly.
The generated multipoint constraints produce six zero-energy modes for rigid-body motion.
The RSSCON Bulk Data entry defines the connection of a shell element to a solid element.
Within NX Nastran, however, there are two options for making this connection using the
RSSCON Bulk Data entry, as shown in Figure 14-21:
1. The ELEM option, which allows you to specify the element ID of the shell and the element ID
of the solid to which the shell is to be connected.
2. The GRID option, which allows you to specify the grid point ID of the shell and the upper
and lower grid point IDs of the solid. Two triplets of grid point IDs may be specified on one
RSSCON Bulk Data entry.
Figure 14-21. ELEM and GRID Option on the RSSCON Bulk Data Entry
The best modeling practice is illustrated in Figure 14-22. The height of the connected solid
element should be chosen equal to the thickness of the shell. If the height of the connected solid
element is much larger than the thickness of the shell element, then the connection modeled
with RSSCON will be stiffer than the continuum model. For example, in a mesh where shell grid
points are identical or coincide with solid grid points, the RSSCON Bulk Data entry may model a
connection that is too stiff (see Figure 14-23[a]). Note also that in the model of Figure 14-23[b],
the GRID option must be used to connect a shell element to more than one solid element.
The RSSCON connector element can accommodate a variety of mesh topologies, as shown in
Figure 14-24.

Modeling Guidelines
Figure 14-22. Best Modeling Practice for RSSCON
Figure 14-23. RSSCON in Meshes Where Solid and Shell Elements Share Grid Points

Figure 14-24. Modeling Options with RSSCON

The only modeling requirement is that the shell grid point must lie on the line connecting the
lower and upper solid grid points. By default, the RSSCON allows the shell grid point to have
an offset from this line of up to 5% of the distance between the two solid grid points. If a shell
grid point does not lie on the line joining the two solid grid points, but within this 5% tolerance,
the shell grid point will be moved to lie on the line. On the other hand, if a shell grid point lies
outside this 5% tolerance, the run terminates with a fatal message. You can modify the default
5% tolerance by adding “PARAM,TOLRSC, ε ” to the Bulk Data Section, where ε is the desired
tolerance percentage. The default value for ε is 0.05. You can print the old and new location of
the moved shell grid points with the parameter “PARAM,SEP1XOVR,16".
When you use the GRID option, NX Nastran does not verify that the grid points are valid shell or
solid grid points. When the ELEM option is used, if a solid-shell connection has horizontal edges

Modeling Guidelines
that are curved in the shell plane, NX Nastran assumes that the geometry of the shell element is
compatible with that of the solid element. In the case of vertical edges, the shell element grid
point must lie on the line between the upper and lower solid element grid point. A default offset
tolerance of 5% (user modifiable via "param,tolrsc,ε") of the distance between the solid grid points
is allowed. For limitations of the RSSCON related to the p-elements, see:
• “Introduction to R-Type Elements” in the NX Nastran Element Library
By default, the moved shell grid points aren’t printed.
Figure 14-25. RSSCON Modeling Practice Parameters
RSSCON Modeling Recommendations

The RSSCON connector produces excellent results if you follow good modeling practices. The
geometry of the RSSCON connector is checked, and fatal messages are issued for invalid
connections. Additional recommendations are given below.
1. Midside-noded elements should only be connected to other midside-noded elements. For
example, a CQUAD8 element connected to a CHEXA20 element is acceptable; however, a
CQUAD4 element connected to a PENTA15 element is not allowed. Elements with missing
midside grid points are not allowed.
2. For midside-noded elements, avoid using the RSSCON where shells connect to triangular
solid faces.
3. Do not mix coordinate systems when using midside nodes. In other words, when using
midside nodes, do not define a local coordinate system containing all the shell grid points and
the basic coordinate system to define the solid grid points. Otherwise, incorrect answers will
be generated.
4. Only one edge of a single shell element may connect to a solid surface.
5. Do not connect more than one shell element to one solid element when using the ELEM
option.

6. Do not attempt solid-shell connections to severely warped (greater than 20%) midside-noded
solid elements.
7. The plane of the shell element should not be parallel to the plane of the connecting face
of the solid element.
8. The connecting edge of the shell element must lie in the face of the solid element. In addition,
the vertex grid points of the shell edge connecting to a quadrilateral solid face must line up
with its opposite edges; for triangular solid faces, the connections may be made between
any of the edges. The tolerance in the geometry may be modified; see PARAM,TOLRSC,ε
described above.
9. When using the ELEM option in the case of partitioned superelement Bulk Data, you
must ensure that the solid element, RSSCON connector, and shell element which define a
shell-solid connection are all contained within the same superelement.
Example - Cantilever Clamped to a Wall
A cantilever (4.1 in long, 0.1 in thick, 0.5 in wide) is clamped to a wall and loaded at the tip. This
example demonstrates how accurate the local stress distribution is when a RSSCON entry is
used to model the clamped condition. Four different finite element models are used, and their
results are compared with classical beam theory. The deflection and bending stress from beam
theory are 0.1103 in and 9,840 psi, respectively, at the clamped end of the cantilever.
1. The first model is a plate model consisting of all CQUAD4s. The stress contours of this
model are shown in Figure 14-26.
2. The second model is a plate model consisting of all CHEXAs. The stress contours of this
model are shown in Figure 14-28.
3. The third model is a plate-solid model using MPCs to transition between the plate and
solid model. The input file and stress contours of this model are shown in Listing 14-1 and
Figure 14-29, respectively.
4. The fourth model is a plate-solid model using RSSCONs to transition between the plate and
solid model. The input file and stress contours of this model are shown in Listing 14-2 and
Figure 14-31, respectively.
An exploded view of the transition used in the third and fourth models are shown in Figure
14-26. Both the deflections and stress contours of the four models are in good agreement with the
theoretical results, as shown in Table 14-3.

Modeling Guidelines
Figure 14-26. Stress Distribution for CQUAD4 Model
Table 14-3. Tip Displacements and Maximum Stresses at the Clamped End
Cantilever Clamped to Wall Displacement at Tip Stress at Clamped End (psi)
Beam Theory (Rigid Wall) 0.1103 9840.
All CQUAD4s 0.1103 9720.
All CHEXAs 0.1087 9720.
Plate-to-Solid Transition Using
0.1103 9720.
MPCs
Plate-to-Solid Transition Using
0.1103 9720.
RSSCONs

$
$ mpc1.dat
$
TIME 100
SOL 101
CEND
TITLE= cant cantilever clamped with HEXA
$
ECHO=BOTH
$SEALL=ALL
DISPLACEMENT =ALL
stress(corner) = all
OLOAD =ALL
spc= 100
mpc= 200
$
SUBCASE 10
LOAD = 100
BEGIN BULK
$
param,post,-1
$
grid,1,, 0., 0., 0.
grid,2,,0.1, 0.,0.
grid,3,,0.1,0.5,0.
grid,4,,0.,0.5,0.
grid,5,,0.,0.,0.1
grid,6,,0.1,0.,0.1
grid,7,,0.1,0.5,0.1
grid,8,,0.,0.5,0.1
grid,9,,0.1,0.,0.05
grid,10,,0.1,0.5,0.05
grid,11,,1.1,0.,0.05
grid,12,,1.1,0.5,0.05
grid,13,,2.1,0.,0.05
grid,14,,2.1,0.5,0.05
grid,15,,3.1,0.,0.05
grid,16,,3.1,0.5,0.05
grid,17,,4.1,0.,0.05
grid,18,,4.1,0.5,0.05
$
spc1, 100, 123, 1, 4, 5, 8
$
MPC, 200, 9,5, 1., 6, 1, -10.,,+MP01
+MP01, , 2,1, 10.
MPC, 200,10,5, 1., 7, 1, -10.,,+MP02
+MP02, , 3,1, 10.
MPC, 200, 9,4, 1., 2, 2, -10.,,+MP03
+MP03, , 6,2, 10.
MPC, 200,10,4, 1., 3, 2, -10.,,+MP04
+MP04, , 7,2, 10.
MPC, 200, 9,1, 1., 6, 1, -0.5,,+MP05
+MP05, , 2,1, -0.5
MPC, 200, 9,2, 1., 6, 2, -0.5,,+MP06
+MP06, , 2,2, -0.5
MPC, 200, 9,3, 1., 6, 3, -0.5,,+MP07
+MP07, , 2,3, -0.5
MPC, 200,10,1, 1., 7, 1, -0.5,,+MP08
+MP08, , 3,1, -0.5
MPC, 200,10,2, 1., 7, 2, -0.5,,+MP09
+MP09, , 3,2, -0.5
MPC, 200,10,3, 1., 7, 3, -0.5,,+MP10
+MP10, , 3,3, -0.5
$
chexa, 200, 210, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, +HX1
+HX1, 7, 8

Modeling Guidelines
CQUAD4, 300, 310, 9, 11, 12, 10

CQUAD4, 301, 310,11, 13, 14, 12
CQUAD4, 302, 310,13, 15, 16, 14
CQUAD4, 303, 310,15, 17, 18, 16
$
PSOLID 210 100
PSHELL 310 100 .1 100 1. 100
MAT1 100 1.+7 0.
$
FORCE 100 17 1. 0. 0.0 -1.
FORCE 100 18 1. 0. 0.0 -1.
$
ENDDATA
Listing 14-1. Input File for Solid-Plate Model Using MPCs for Transition

$ rsscon1.dat
$
TIME 100
SOL 101
CEND
TITLE = CANTILEVER CLAMPED WITH HEXA
$
ECHO=BOTH
DISPLACEMENT = ALL
stress(corner) = all
OLOAD = ALL
SPC = 100
$
SUBCASE 10
LOAD = 100
$
BEGIN BULK
$
param,post,-1
$
GRID,1,,0.0,0.0,0.0
GRID,2,,0.1,0.0,0.0
GRID,3,,0.1,0.5,0.0
GRID,4,,0.0,0.5,0.0
GRID,5,,0.0,0.0,0.1
GRID,6,,0.1,0.0,0.1
GRID,7,,0.1,0.5,0.1
GRID,8,,0.0,0.5,0.1
GRID,9,,0.1,0.0,0.05
GRID,10,,0.1,0.5,0.05
GRID,11,,1.1,0.0,0.05
GRID,12,,1.1,0.5,0.05
GRID,13,,2.1,0.0,0.05
GRID,14,,2.1,0.5,0.05
GRID,15,,3.1,0.0,0.05
GRID,16,,3.1,0.5,0.05
GRID,17,,4.1,0.0,0.05
GRID,18,,4.1,0.5,0.05
$
SPC1, 100, 123, 1, 4, 5, 8
$
RSSCON, 200, elem, 300, 200
$
CHEXA, 200, 210, 2, 3, 7, 6, 1, 4, +HX1
+HX1, 8, 5
CQUAD4, 300, 310, 9, 11, 12, 10
CQUAD4, 301, 310,11, 13, 14, 12
CQUAD4, 302, 310,13, 15, 16, 14
CQUAD4, 303, 310,15, 17, 18, 16
$
PSOLID 210 100
$
PSHELL 310 100 .1 100 1. 100
MAT1 100 1.+7 0.
$
FORCE 100 17 1. 0. 0.0 -1.
FORCE 100 18 1. 0. 0.0 -1.
$
ENDDATA
Listing 14-2. Input File for Solid-Plate Model Using RSSCONS for Transition

Modeling Guidelines
Figure 14-27. Stress Distribution for CQUAD4 Model

Figure 14-28. Stress Distribution for CHEXA Model

Modeling Guidelines
Figure 14-29. Stress Distribution for Solid-Plate ModelUsing MPCs for Transition

Figure 14-30. Stress Distribution for Solid-Plate ModelUsing RSSCONs for Transition
14.5 Reviewing Grid Point Stresses

When you’re working with a structure that’s modeled with either plate or solid elements, you will
generally want to review the element component stresses. If this is the case, extra care must
be taken on your part to ensure that the component stresses, which you are evaluating, are
output in some consistent manner.
Consider a simple problem as shown in Figure 14-31. This plate, which is 0.1 inch thick, is
subjected to a uniaxial tensile load of 1 lb/in, and the boundary condition is as shown in Figure
14-31. This model is represented with a 3 x 3 mesh of CQUAD4 elements. If the elements are
connected in a manner as shown in Figure 14-32, then all the element σx values are in the
direction of the applied loads. In this case, σx = 10 psi for all nine elements. On the other hand, if
you were to change, for instance, the connectivity order for element 5 from grid points 6-7-11-10
to 7-11-10-6, the component stresses and would be swapped. Note that this is the only difference
betweenFigure 14-32 and Figure 14-33. However, if you are not aware of it and you are making a
contour plot of σx, the results will be quite different for the two cases.

Modeling Guidelines
Figure 14-31. Uniaxial Load for a 3 x 3 Mesh
Figure 14-32. Element Component Stresses

Figure 14-33. Element Component Stresses

To avoid this type of surprise, it may be easier and more meaningful to look at the invariant
stress quantities, such as Hencky-von Mises stresses, rather than the component stresses. The
grid point stress (GPSTRESS) option in NX Nastran offers you another alternative. The grid
point stress option calculates the stresses at the grid points from the adjoining plate and solid
elements in a coordinate system defined by you.
This option enables you to request the output of stresses at grid points in surfaces of
two-dimensional plate elements—namely, the CQUAD4, CQUADR, CQUAD8, CTRIA3, CTRIAR,
and CTRIA6 elements—and in volumes containing CHEXA, CPENTA, and CTETRA solid
elements.
See also
• “Element Data Recovery Resolved at Grid Points” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
14.6 Defining Consistent Loading

In finite element analysis, you often apply loads to the elements rather than to the grid points.
Examples of such loadings include the edge load on a CQUAD4 element or a pressure load on
one of the faces of a solid element.
When you convert these element loads to grid point loads, a common tendency is to spread them
equally at the connected grid points. Let us look at an example of a typical plate element with
uniform in-plane loading at one of the edges as shown in Figure 14-34. The total load (P) is to
be uniformly distributed along the edge of the element with an intensity of P/l, where l is the
length of the edge. This same load is to be applied to six different elements-CQUAD4, CTRIA3,
CQUAD8, CTRIA6, CQUADR, and CTRIAR. If you lump these loads equally to the grid points,
the load at each node is P/2 for the CQUAD4, CTRIA3, CQUADR and CTRIAR, and P/3 for the
CQUAD8 and CTRIA6. Since the geometry and boundary condition are identical for the six
models, and the loads are “seemingly equivalent,” you will expect the results (displacements,
stresses, etc.) to be identical. However, in general, this is not the case. The results for the cases
using CQUAD8, CTRIA6, CQUADR, and CTRIAR are different from the results using CQUAD4
and CTRIA3. The reason for this is because these “seemingly equivalent” loads are actually not

Modeling Guidelines
quite equivalent. They are considered as lumped loads. In order to obtain the correct load
distribution, these loads need to be converted to consistent loads.
The equivalent loads at the grid points computed from the element loads are known as consistent
loads, and they are calculated by applying the principle of virtual work. The same shape function
that is used in deriving the element stiffness is used for arriving at this load-and hence the word
consistent load. They are a function of the element types and the applied loads.
Depending on the element, these lumped loads in general are not equal to the consistent loads.
The consistent loads for each of these elements for a uniform in-plane edge load of P/l are shown
next to each element. In this case, the lumped loads and consistent loads are the same for the
CQUAD4 and CTRIA3. They are not the same for the CQUAD8, CTRIA6, CQUADR and CTRIAR.
As you can see, they are substantially different from the lumped loads that were discussed in
the previous paragraph. It is interesting to note that the loads are distributed as 1/6, 4/6, and
1/6 along the edge for the CQUAD8 and CTRIA6, which is quite different from the lumped load
approach. For the CQUADR and CTRIAR, an additional moment Pl/12 is needed to arrive at the
consistent loads. When the corresponding consistent loads shown in Figure 14-34 are applied to
each of the respective elements, the force distributions are then equivalent for all the elements.

Figure 14-34. Consistent Loads Due to Uniform In-Plane Element Edge Load
Consider another example with solid elements. A load P is to be applied evenly as an outward
pressure load (P/A) to a surface of each of the four solid elements shown in Figure 14-35. Again,
if you lump these loads equally to the grid points, the lumped load at each node is P/4 for the
CHEXA (with eight nodes) and CPENTA (with six nodes), and P/8 for the CHEXA (with 20
nodes) and CPENTA (with 15 nodes). The consistent loads are shown in Figure 14-35. The
consistent and lumped loads are the same for the CHEXA (with eight nodes) and the CPENTA
(with six nodes) for this case. The consistent loads for the CHEXA (with 20 nodes) and CPENTA
(with 15 nodes) are shown in Figure 14-35(c) and Figure 14-35(d), respectively. The load
distribution along each edge is –.0833P, .3333P and –.08333P, or a –1/4/–1 ratio, which is quite
counter intuitive, especially for the sign change. Fortunately, you do not have to calculate this
consistent load for the pressure load. This consistent load is generated automatically inside NX
Nastran by using the PLOAD4 entry.

Modeling Guidelines
Figure 14-35. Consistent Loads Due to Uniform Loads on a Solid Element Face
As you can see, consistent loads are functions of the element types and applied loads.
14.7 Symmetry
When you think of a symmetrical structure, you most likely think of a structure that has one or
more planes of reflective symmetry. Although there are other kinds of symmetry available in
NX Nastran, reflective symmetry is the only type that is discussed in this section. NX Nastran
also provides a series of special solution sequences that automates some of these other types of
analyses. They are known as the cyclic symmetry features. If a structure is symmetric, then the
size of your finite element model can be reduced, which, in turn, reduces the time and cost of your
analysis. For each plane of symmetry that you have in your model, the model size can be reduced
by a factor of approximately two. Figure 14-36(a) and Figure 14-36(b) illustrate structures that
contain one and two planes of symmetry, respectively. In the first case, only half the model needs
to be represented. In the second case, only a quarter of the model needs to be represented.

Figure 14-36. Structures with Planes of Symmetry

If the loads applied to the structure are symmetric relative to the plane of symmetry, then the
full model can be replaced with half the model by applying a symmetric boundary condition. On
the other hand, if the loads are antisymmetric, the same simplification can be achieved by
applying the antisymmetric boundary condition.
A symmetric boundary condition implies that the displacements normal to the plane of symmetry
and rotations about the axes in the plane of symmetry are zero at the plane of symmetry. An
antisymmetric boundary condition implies that the displacements in the plane of symmetry and
rotations normal to the plane of symmetry are zero at the plane of symmetry.
Any general loading condition can be broken into a combination of symmetric and antisymmetric
loads relative to the plane of symmetry. You can work through an example of applying symmetry
using the model in Figure 14-37(a). This load can be broken into two separate loads as shown in
Figure 14-37(b) and Figure 14-37(c).
Figure 14-37. Decomposing a General Loading into Symmetric and Antisymmetric

Loadings

Modeling Guidelines
Note that Figure 14-37(a) is a case of a general loading applied to a structure with one plane
of symmetry. Figure 14-37(b) and Figure 14-37(c) represent a symmetric loading and an
antisymmetric loading, respectively, applied to the same structure. By using symmetry, only
one-half of the structure, as shown in Figure 14-37(b), needs to be modeled by applying the
symmetric boundary condition at the plane of symmetry (see Figure 14-38).
Figure 14-38. Symmetric Model

Similarly, only one-half of the structure shown in Figure 14-37(c) needs to be modeled by applying
the antisymmetric boundary condition as shown in Figure 14-39.
Figure 14-39. Antisymmetric Model
User Interface
No special user interaction is required in the Executive Control Section or Bulk Data Section.
Depending on the number of planes of symmetry, approximately one-half or less of the structure
needs to be modeled. For the above frame model, only one-half of the model needs to be analyzed.

This feature is basically activated by Case Control commands. The above frame example is
used to illustrate the required Case Control commands. Listing 14-3 contains the input file
for this problem.

Modeling Guidelines
$
$ FILENAME - symbar.dat
$
ID SYM ANTI
TIME 5
SOL 101
CEND
$
TITLE = SYMMETRIC AND ANTISYMMETRIC
SUBCASE 1
LABEL = SYMMETRIC CONSTRAINTS - Y LOAD
SPC = 1
LOAD = 2
$
SUBCASE 2
LABEL = ANTISYMMETRIC CONSTRAINTS - Y LOAD
SPC = 2
LOAD = 2
$
SUBCOM 3
LABEL = LEFT SIDE OF MODEL - Y LOAD
SUBSEQ 1.0, 1.0
DISP=ALL
$
SUBCOM 4
LABEL = RIGHT SIDE OF MODEL - Y LOAD
SUBSEQ 1.0, -1.0
DISP=ALL
$
BEGIN BULK
CBAR 1 100 1 2 -1.0 0.0 0.0
CBAR 2 100 2 3 0.0 1.0 0.0
FORCE 2 2 2500. 0.0 -1. 0.0
GRID 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 123456
GRID 2 0.0 10.0 0.0
GRID 3 5.0 10.0 0.0
MAT1 1 3.+7 0.3
PBAR 100 1 5.0 5.0 5.0 10.
SPC1 1 156 3
SPC1 2 234 3
ENDDATA
Listing 14-3. Input File for Using Symmetric and Antisymmetric Boundary Conditions
The first subcase calls out the symmetric boundary condition and load as shown in Figure
14-38(b). The second subcase calls out the antisymmetric boundary condition and load as
shown in Figure 14-39(b).
The third subcase is a “results combination” subcase. No boundary or load conditions need to be
applied for this loading condition (see “Modeling Guidelines”). This subcase produces results
for the portion of the structure that you have modeled (the left-hand side of the frame in this
case) by performing a linear combination of the first two subcases. This combination is achieved
by adding 100% of the results for the first subcase to 100% of the second subcase using the
SUBSEQ command. Note that in this case of results combination, the SUBCOM instead of
the SUBCASE command is used.
The fourth subcase is also a “results combination” subcase. It produces results for the portion
of the structure that you did not model (the right-hand side of the frame in this case). These
results are achieved by subtracting 100% of the results of the second subcase from 100% of the
results from the first subcase. As in Subcase 3, the SUBCOM command instead of the SUBCASE
command is used in this case. Once again, no load or boundary condition is needed for this
subcase; this is an optional subcase. It is not required if you do not want to obtain results for the
other half of the structure that you did not model.

The displacements for SUBCOM 3 and SUBCOM 4 are shown in Figure 14-40 along with the
results obtained from a full model run. The results for SUBCOM 3 (left-hand side of the frame)
correlate with the full model results. The results for SUBCOM 4 (right-hand side of the frame)
correlate with the full model results except for the sign changes for components x, θy, and θz. The
sign changes occur because the results of the right half (reflected half) are produced in terms
of its left half using the left-hand coordinate system. Note that these are the same degrees of
freedom that are constrained for the symmetric boundary condition.
Figure 14-40. Results Comparison Using Symmetry Versus a Full Model

In the past, when computers were not as fast as they are now, the use of symmetry to reduce the
finite element model size was more popular than it is today. The advantage of using symmetry is
obviously the reduction in model size. The disadvantage is that it requires more effort on your
part and it is more prone to errors since you have to provide equivalent symmetric/antisymmetric
boundaries and loading conditions to your model. In NX Nastran, the use of symmetry is built
into some of the solution sequences-they are known as the cyclic symmetry solution sequences.
Similar approaches can be used with superelement analysis.
The SYM/SYMCOM Case Control command combination can be used instead of the
SUBCASE/SUBCOM combination. If you use this combination, the only changes you have to
make is to replace the SUBCASE and SUBCOM Case Control commands with the SYM and
SYMCOM Case Control commands, respectively. When the SUBCASE/SUBCOM combination
is used, output is available in both the SUBCASE and SUBCOM subcases. On the other
hand, when the SYM/SYMCOM combination is used, output requests are only available in
the SYMCOM subcases. There is no real advantage to using the SYM/SYMCOM command as
compared to the SUBCASE/SUBCOM command.

Chapter
15 Model Verification
• Introduction to Model Verification
• Preprocessor Checks
• Strain Energy Output
• Diagnostic Tools
• Stress Error Estimators
• Postprocessor Checks

Chapter 15 Model Verification
15.1 Introduction to Model Verification

This chapter is dedicated to various tools that are available for verifying and improving the
quality of your models. They are broken into five different categories:
• Preprocessor checks.
• Strain energy output.
• Diagnostic tools.
• Stress error estimators.
• Postprocessor checks.
Some of these categories overlap each other. Most of these checks provide you with a tremendous
amount of information, but yet their usages are quite straightforward and require very little
effort on your part.
15.2 Preprocessor Checks

Preprocessors are used extensively for the generation of finite element models. They also contain
features that can help you to improve the quality of your model and detect errors in your
model prior to analysis. These features can result in substantial savings in terms of time and
money. Depending on the graphics package that you use, some of these features may or may not
be available to you.
Creating a Shrink Plot of the Elements

The shrink option allows you to shrink your elements by a specified percentage. This feature is
an excellent tool for identifying missing elements. As an example, let us look at a plate model
with 12 CQUAD4 elements surrounded by 31 CBAR elements as shown in Figure 15-1. (A) shows
the regular plot, while (B) shows the plot with the shrink option turned on. The CBAR elements
aren’t visible since they lie on top of the edges of the CQUAD4 elements.
If you turn on the shrink option, as shown in Figure 15-1(b), you can easily see that you’re missing
a CBAR element at the top and a CQUAD4 element close to the center. You may argue that had
the element labels been turned on, the missing elements would probably have been noticed. This
is certainly a valid argument in this case since the model is a simple one. However, for complex
models, the picture would have become too crowded to be useful had all the labels been turned
on. This same shrink feature can also be applied to solid elements in a similar manner.

Model Verification
Figure 15-1. Shrink Plot
Hidden Line/Shaded Plots

For a complicated model, looking at a wireframe model by itself can be quite confusing since
you lose the depth of field. However, hidden line and shaded plots can serve as the perfect
complement to the wireframe plots. The box model in Figure 15-2 is a perfect example. This
model is made of CHEXA elements and has a hole in the front. By looking at the wireframe plot
on the top left-hand corner of Figure 15-2, you may not notice that there is a hole in the front.
However, the hidden line (top right), shaded (bottom left), and shaded with shrink option (bottom
right) plots all reveal the hole in front of the box. Furthermore, when using these features, you
can see the structure being plotted from back to front, which gives you a better perspective of
what the structure looks like. As the structure becomes more complicated, you will appreciate
these features even more.

Figure 15-2. Wireframe, Hiddenline, and Shaded Plots
Free Edge/Face
A free edge is an edge that is connected by one single two-dimensional element (e.g., CQUAD4).
The existence of free edges does not necessarily indicate a modeling problem. Figure 15-3
represents a crude wing model. The bold lines around the outside are examples of legitimate free
edges. On the other hand, whether the internal vertical bold line is a legitimate free edge or
not depends on your design intent. This free edge indicates that elements 12 and 14, 11, and
13 are not connected to each other. If this is not your intention, then this free edge indicates a
potential modeling error.
This can happen, for example, if you create this wing with four separate surfaces as shown in
Figure 15-4. Most preprocessors typically create geometric surfaces and then generate the
finite element mesh for each of these surfaces. Since elements 12 and 14 are created from two
separate geometric surfaces, their connecting grid points have distinct IDs. After these elements
are generated, if you want them to share the same edge, then you must perform some sort of
equivalencing operation. The exact operation depends on the graphics package itself. This free
edge indicates that you have either forgotten to perform this equivalencing operation or the
equivalencing tolerance level is not tight enough for the program to perform this task.

Model Verification
Figure 15-3. Wing Free Edge Check
Figure 15-4. Wing Geometric Surfaces

The free face concept is similar to the free edge concept except that it applies to three-dimensional
elements instead of two-dimensional elements. A free face is a face that is occupied by one single
three-dimensional element (e.g., CHEXA). The example in Figure 15-5 contains two volumes.
After these two volumes are meshed with solid elements (e.g., CHEXAs), a free face check is
performed. The outside surfaces of these two volumes indicate that they are free faces that are
legitimate. In addition, it indicates that the adjoining surface (hashed area) is also a free surface.
This indicates that the two volumes are not connected, which may or may not be your intention.
If it is not your intention, there is probably a modeling error.

Figure 15-5. Possible Modeling Error as Indicated by Free Face
Zipper Effect
When adjoining surfaces are connected at very few points, the interface has a tendency to open
up when it is loaded. This looks similar to a zipper and hence is classified as the “zipper effect.”
Use the surfaces in Figure 15-4 and create new meshes. Surfaces 1, 2, 3, and 4 contain meshes
of 4X2, 4X2, 3X2, and 3X2, respectively. As you can see in Figure 15-6 the interface between
surfaces 2 and 3 is only connected at two grid points—grid points A and B. The loads can only be
transferred between these two portions of the structure through these two locations. In other
words, the load path may be quite different from what the actual structure does.
Figure 15-6. Model with Zipper Effect

The “zipper effect” can occur in both plate and solid element models. Therefore, when generating
meshes for a structure with multiple surfaces and/or volumes, you should keep this in mind so
that the interfaces are connected properly. You should always perform a quick check by zooming
in at all the interface locations.

Model Verification
CBAR/CBEAM Orientation and Offset Check

One common error that many users make is the incorrect orientation of the CBAR/CBEAM
inertia properties. If the graphics package that you are using plots these orientation vectors, you
should take advantage of this feature to ensure that you have oriented these elements properly.
You should also check the CBAR/CBEAM element offset plots, if they are available.
See also
• “CBAR Element” in the NX Nastran Element Library
• “CBEAM Element” in the NX Nastran Element Library
Duplicate Grid Points/Elements

The “duplicate grid point check” feature highlights grid points that occupy the same location.
Having grid points occupy the same space may or may not be your intention. An example of
unintentional grid points occupying the same location can be a result of not performing an
equivalencing operation after meshing more than one curve, surface, or volume. An application
of intentional duplicate grid points can be a model used to simulate a bolted joint. This effect can
be achieved by connecting a stiff spring between these two points that occupy the same location
but are connected to different portions of the structure.
The “duplicate element check” feature is similar to the “duplicate grid check” except the check is
done on the elements rather than the grid points. These errors are often due to unintentionally
meshing the same line, surface, or volume more than once.
Properties/Material Plots
You can also assign different colors to elements based on their property IDs (e.g., PSHELL
IDs). If you have assigned an incorrect property, graphically this becomes quite obvious.
Differentiating by color can also be used to highlight material properties (e.g., MATi IDs).
Using Consistent Normals

When you create a model, you should always generate the elements in a consistent manner. In
some cases, if you don’t generate your model in a consistent manner, you might inadvertently
apply the loads in the wrong directions.
An example of such a case is when the applied load is a pressure load The plate model, consisting
of four CQUAD4s as shown in Figure 15-7, is used to illustrate this point. As mentioned in
Chapter 4, each CQUAD4 has a positive normal direction associated with it. This direction is
defined by the way you connect the element using the right-hand rule. The symbols used to
denote the directions of the normals are shown in Figure 15-8.

Figure 15-7. CQUAD4 Model

Now apply a 100 psi pressure load to these four elements. The direction of the pressure load is
pointing into the paper. Listing 15-1 contains the relevant partial input file for this job. In this
case, the grid points for each element are defined in a consistent manner. They are connected
in a clockwise direction. Therefore, the positive normals are all pointing into the paper as
indicated by Figure 15-8(a).
ID RUN1 PLOAD4
SOL 101
CEND
TITLE = CONSISTENT ELEMENT NORMAL DIRECTIONS
LOAD = 100
.
.
BEGIN BULK
$
CQUAD4,1,10,1,4,5,2
CQUAD4,2,10,2,5,6,3
CQUAD4,3,10,4,7,8,5
CQUAD4,4,10,5,8,9,6
$
PLOAD4,100,1,100.0,,,,THRU,2
PLOAD4,100,3,100.0
PLOAD4,100,4,100.0
.
.
ENDDATA
Listing 15-1. Consistent CQUAD4 Connectivity

Model Verification
Figure 15-8. CQUAD4s with Pressure Loads

On the other hand, perhaps for some reason, you connect element 3 in a counterclockwise
direction (Figure 15-8(b)) instead of a clockwise direction like the other three elements. If this is
the case, you then need to change the sign of the pressure load for element number 3 in order
to have identical loads for both cases (see Listing 15-2). Determining the positive direction of
the pressure load for the CQUAD4 element can be achieved by checking the connectivity order
using the right-hand rule. If the sign for the pressure load applied to element number 3 is not
switched, then you have three elements with the pressure load pointing into the paper and the
fourth element with the pressure load pointing out of the paper.
ID RUN1 PLOAD4
SOL 101
CEND
TITLE = INCONSISTENT ELEMENT NORMAL DIRECTIONS
LOAD = 100
.
.
BEGIN BULK
$
CQUAD4,1,10,1,4,5,2
CQUAD4,2,10,2,5,6,3
CQUAD4,3,10,4,5,8,7
CQUAD4,4,10,5,8,9,6
$
PLOAD4,100,1,100.0,,,,THRU,2
PLOAD4,100,3,-100.0
PLOAD4,100,4,100.0
.
.
ENDDATA
Listing 15-2. Inconsistent CQUAD4 Connectivity

This type of inconsistency can occur if the whole model is generated with a preprocessor using
multiple surfaces and the consistency of the connectivity direction is not retained. This problem
is also likely to occur if you edit some of the elements manually and forget to account for the sign
change in the pressure load. Many graphics packages offer this element normal check feature.

This type of check requires very little effort, and in many cases the graphics processor may also
allow you to reverse the direction of the normals.
The CQUAD4 element outputs are in the element coordinate system. Different connectivity
orders affect the way the results are printed. If you are not aware of this fact, you may interpret
the results improperly (see the example in “Stress Error Estimators”).
15.3 Strain Energy Output

Frequently you are faced with the decision of modifying your structure in order to meet
stringent design criteria. In most instances, your objective is to maximize the benefits with
minimal changes. The element strain energy output is an excellent tool for identifying areas of
modification that will reap the most benefits for design changes.
The element strain energy is basically the elastic energy stored in the structural element. As an
example, if you hold onto one end of the spring and push slowly on the other end starting from
rest, the load deflection curve looks something like Figure 15-9 for small deflections.
Figure 15-9. Load Deflection Curve

This energy is defined as
Since F = k < d,
Equation 15-1.
By working through a couple of examples, you can see how the element strain energy output is
used to identify areas to be modified in order to reduce deflections.
The problem of interest is shown in Figure 15-10. It consists of two springs in a series with a tip
load applied at grid point 2. The stiffnesses of the springs and the load applied are as shown in
Figure 15-10. The goal is to reduce the tip deflection at grid point 2. Without performing any

Model Verification
calculation, it is quite obvious that stiffening K2 is more efficient than stiffening K1. The next
step is to calculate the strain energy and see if it also guides you in the same direction.
Figure 15-10. Spring Sample Problem

The deflections at grid points 1 and 2 can be calculated as follows:
Equation 15-2.
From Eq. 15-1 and Eq. 15-2,
As you can see, U2 is an order of magnitude larger than U1. Therefore, it concurs with our
intuition that stiffening K2 is more effective than stiffening K1 for reducing the deflection
at the tip.
The second example is a classic cantilever beam with a vertical tip load applied at the end as
shown in Figure 15-11. This finite element model is made up of five bar elements of equal length
with square cross-sectional properties (0.05m x 0.05m) as shown in Table 15-1.
Table 15-1. Cross-Sectional Properties of a Cantilever Beam

Elem.
L(m) W(m) D(m) A(m2) I1(m4) I2(m4) J(m4)
No.
1 1.0 0.05 0.05 2.5E-3 5.208E-7 5.208E-7 8.789E-7
2 1.0 0.05 0.05 2.5E-3 5.208E-7 5.208E-7 8.789E-7
3 1.0 0.05 0.05 2.5E-3 5.208E-7 5.208E-7 8.789E-7
4 1.0 0.05 0.05 2.5E-3 5.208E-7 5.208E-7 8.789E-7
5 1.0 0.05 0.05 2.5E-3 5.208E-7 5.208E-7 8.789E-7

Figure 15-11. Cantilever Beam

As is commonly known, the largest deflection occurs at the tip of the cantilever beam. The
vertical deflection at grid point 6 is equal to 1.126833 · 10−3 meters. The goal is to minimize this
deflection at grid point 6. To make the problem more interesting, hypothetically impose the
following constraint such that all that is available is one structural member that is 0.06m ·
0.06m and 1m long. In other words, you can only replace one of the existing five CBAR elements
with this new CBAR element. Which one should you replace to minimize the deflection at grid
point 6? Since grid point 6 has the largest deflection, combined with our experience with the
spring problem, you may be tempted to replace CBAR element number 5 with this new element.
If you do this, the vertical displacement at grid point 6 is then reduced from 1.126833 · 10−3
meters down to 1.122165 · 10−3 meters, a reduction of only 0.414%. Now run this problem using
NX Nastran and see what the element strain energy output suggests. Listing 15-3 contains a
listing of the NX Nastran input file used for this purpose. Note that the only additional request
required is the following command in the Case Control Section:
ESE = ALL
or
SET a = x,y,......ESE = a
or
ESE(PLOT) = ALL
For large models, the element strain energy request can potentially generate a large amount
of printout. If this is not desired, you can use the “plot” option shown above to create a
postprocessing file containing element strain energy data without generating printed output (see
Section ). The rest of the input file is standard NX Nastran input.

Model Verification
$
$ FILENAME - secant.dat
$
ID CANT ESE
SOL 101
TIME 10
CEND
$
TITLE = BASELINE MODEL
SUBTITLE =
$
SPC = 10
LOAD = 10
$
SUBCASE 1
SET 1 = 6
DISP = 1
ESE = ALL
$
BEGIN BULK
$
CBAR 1 10 1 2 10
CBAR 2 100 2 3 10
CBAR 3 100 3 4 10
CBAR 4 100 4 5 10
CBAR 5 20 5 6 10
FORCE 10 6 1. 0. 0. 1.
GRID 1 0. 0. 0.
GRID 2 1. 0. 0.
GRID 3 2. 0. 0.
GRID 4 3. 0. 0.
GRID 5 4. 0. 0.
GRID 6 5. 0. 0.
GRID 10 0. 0. 10.
MAT1 1 7.1+10 .33 2700.
PBAR 10 1 2.5-3 5.208-7 5.208-7 8.789-7
PBAR 20 1 2.5-3 5.208-7 5.208-7 8.789-7
$
$ REPLACE PBAR,10,...
$ WITH THE FOLLOWING FOR .06 X .06 CROSS SECTION
$
$PBAR,10,1,3.6-3,1.08-6,1.08-6,1.823-6
$
PBAR 100 1 2.5-3 5.208-7 5.208-7 8.789-7
SPC1 10 123456 1
$
ENDDATA
Listing 15-3. Input File for the Strain Energy of a Cantilever Beam
The NX Nastran element strain energy output for this run is summarized in Figure 15-12. As it
turns out, element number 1 has the highest element strain energy among the five elements.
In fact, it contains 48.8% of the total strain energy of the whole structure. On the other hand,
element number 5 contains the lowest element strain energy among the five elements—only
0.8%. In other words, element number 5 is the least effective element to modify if you wish to
increase the stiffness of the structure for the same amount of weight increase.
This job is now rerun by replacing element number 1 with the new 0.06 × 0.06 element. The
deflection at grid point 6 is now reduced from 1.126833 × 10−3 meters down to 8.421097 × 10−4
meters, or a reduction of 25.27% as compared to a mere 0.414% reduction if you had replaced
element number 5 instead.

Figure 15-12. Element Strain Energy Output for a Cantilever Beam Model
As you can see, the element strain energy output is an extremely useful tool in helping you to
identify the most efficient locations for modification. The same concept used for the previous
two simple examples can be applied to complex models in the same manner. Again, the only
additional input needed is the “ESE” request in the Case Control Section. The output format is
identical to that of Table 15-2. Furthermore, most modern plot packages also support element
strain energy output. For plate and solid elements, these strain energy plots look similar to
stress contour plots.
A car model (courtesy of Lapcad Engineering), containing CQUAD4 and CTRIA3 elements, is
used to illustrate the element strain energy contour plot. The Executive Control and Case
Control Sections are shown in Listing 15-4. As you can see, the amount of user input required is
quite small. The Bulk Data for this model is inserted into the input file using the INCLUDE
statement. A 1g loading is applied to each of the three orthogonal axes. The element strain
energy contour plot for a 1g loading in the z-direction is shown on a deformed plot in Figure 15-13.
$ FILENAME - secar.dat
$
$ MODEL COURTESTY OF LAPCAD ENGINEERING
$
ID LSUG, CAR
SOL 101
TIME 60
CEND
TITLE = CAR MODEL WITHOUT SUSPENSION SPRINGS
ECHO = UNSORT
SPC = 10
DISP(PLOT) = all
ESE(PLOT) = all
$
SUBCASE 10
LABEL = 1G LOAD IN X-DIRECTION
LOAD = 1
$
SUBCASE 20
LABEL = 1G LOAD IN Y-DIRECTION
LOAD = 2
$
SUBCASE 30
LABEL = 1G LOAD IN Z-DIRECTION
LOAD = 3
$
BEGIN BULK
$
INCLUDE ’carbulk.dat’
$
ENDDATA
Listing 15-4. Input File for the Strain Energy of a Car Model

Model Verification
Figure 15-13. Element Strain Energy Contour Plot of an Automobile Model

(Geometry model courtesy of LAP CAD Engineering)
15.4 Diagnostic Tools

There are numerous diagnostic tools available in NX Nastran for debugging and understanding
the solution process. Some of them are standard output; others are available with requests in the
Executive Control Section, Case Control Section, and/or Bulk Data Section.
This section covers many of these tools. Whenever possible, the problem in Listing 15-5 is used
to demonstrate these features. The problem in Listing 15-5 is similar to the cantilever beam
shown in Figure 15-5 (Listing 15-3) with the exception of an additional load case (gravity load)
and output request. The modifications and additions are indicated by the shaded regions.

$ FILENAME - diag.dat
SOL 101
TIME 10
CEND
$
TITLE = DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS
$
SPC = 10
DISP = ALL
SPCF = ALL
OLOAD = ALL
$
SUBCASE 1
LABEL = VERTICAL TIP LOAD
LOAD = 10
$
SUBCASE 2
LABEL = GRAVITY LOADS
LOAD = 20
$
BEGIN BULK
$
PARAM,GRDPNT,0
$
CBAR 1 10 1 2 10
CBAR 2 10 2 3 10
CBAR 3 10 3 4 10
CBAR 4 10 4 5 10
CBAR 5 10 5 6 10
FORCE 10 6 100. 0. 0. 1.
GRAV 20 9.8 0. 0. 1.
GRID 1 0. 0. 0.
GRID 2 1. 0. 0.
GRID 3 2. 0. 0.
GRID 4 3. 0. 0.
GRID 5 4. 0. 0.
GRID 6 5. 0. 0.
GRID 10 0. 0. 10.
$ 2 3 4 5 6
MAT1 1 7.1+10 .33 2700.
PBAR 10 1 2.5-3 5.208-7 5.208-7 8.789-7
SPC1 10 123456 1
$
ENDDATA
Listing 15-5. Input File for Illustrating Diagnostic Checks
Element Summary Output

The ELSUM Case Control command provides a quick summary table of properties for the
elements in the model. These properties include element-id, material-id, length (or thickness),
area, volume, structural mass, non-structural mass, total mass, and weight (weight mass *
total mass). ELSUM provides an extension of the element summaries previously obtained
with PARAM,EST,1.
The following examples highlight some of the new features available via the ELSUM command.
Note that the ELSUM command on line 11 in subcase 100 requests summary information for
those elements defined in SET 1. The corresponding rod element output follows.

Model Verification
0
0 C A S E C O N T R O L E C H O
COMMAND
COUNT
1 $
2 SET 1 = 401 THRU 403
3 DISP(PRINT,PUNCH)=ALL
4 ELST(PRINT,PUNCH)=ALL
5 ELFO(PRINT,PUNCH)=ALL
6 SPCF(PRINT,PUNCH)=ALL
7 ESE(PRINT,PUNCH)=ALL
8 SPC=50
9 $
10 SUBCASE 100
11 ELSUM=1
12 LOAD=100
13 ESE(PRINT)=ALL
14 $
15 BEGIN BULK
See also
• “ELSUM” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Element Geometry Checks

Mathematical models are usually composed of several different types of finite elements
depending upon the simulation being performed and the type of structure being investigated.
For each of these finite element formulations, thorough evaluations of the geometry presented
are performed prior to and during element matrix generation operations.
These geometry tests are typically used to determine whether (1) the element geometry is
adequate for finite element matrix generation at all, and if so, (2) how close the geometry could
be to producing poor formulations. Taking a beam element for example, a fatal geometry
condition would be locations of the two end points that result in an element with zero length.
An example of the second type of geometry check for a beam would be an excessive ratio of the
length of the beam with offset vectors to the length of the beam without them. In the first
case, the geometry check is fatal because the finite element cannot be formulated from the
given geometry and the simulation cannot be done. In the second case, the geometry check is
informational and the simulation analysis can proceed. It is your responsibility to inspect these
informational messages and determine if the results are acceptable.
Several different basic geometry tests are performed; for example, duplicate grid point location
tests, mid-side node location tests, warped element tests, and aspect ratio tests. One or more of
these types of tests is performed using the geometry supplied for each finite element. Obviously,
not all tests apply to every element type. Each one of the geometry tests is accompanied by a
message that can generate up to four lines of informational output for an element if the test
tolerance is violated. For models that employ a small number of elements, this amount of output
is not overwhelming. However, the size and complexity of mathematical simulation models
have continued to grow over time.

NX Nastran reports the results for all tests for a single element are reported on a single line
together with a visual indication of which tests have exceeded their tolerances and the severity
of the failure. Default values for all test tolerances are defined such that geometry tests result
in the same type of pass/fail decision as previous releases. In a few cases, additional tests are
performed. You can also use GEOMCHECK executive statement to have more control over the
test tolerances, their severity levels, and the number of messages output.
Using the GEOMCHECK Statement
The GEOMCHECK statement lets you override the default values supplied for all tests.
Except for a very few isolated instances, bad geometry that doesn’t allow the formulation of finite
element matrix data is always fatal and isn’t under user control. In these cases, every test that
fails produces a message for every element.
For the cases where geometry doesn’t prevent finite element matrix generation, NX Nastran
performs additional tests that evaluate various geometry parameters and reports the results.
For these tests, you can control both the test tolerance and the severity level of test failure.
Using the BAR element as an example, there is a test performed that evaluates the ratio of the
BAR’s length with offset effects to the length without offset effects. The tolerance for this test
is 15%, meaning that if the length with offset is different from the length without the offset
by more than fifteen percent, an informational message is issued and element processing
continues. The user can change the tolerance if desired. The severity of the test failure can also
be changed from informational to fatal if desired. In that case, any BAR element that exceeds the
offset ratio test tolerance will cause the job to stop after element matrix generation has been
attempted for all elements.
You can use the GEOMCHECK statement to modify geometry test activities for the following
types of elements:
• QUAD4 and QUADR
• TRIA3 and TRIAR
• BAR
• BEAM
• HEXA
• PENTA
• TETRA
As stated previously, only informational tests can be affected using the GEOMCHECK statement.
Results of geometry generated by NX Nastran that prevent the generation of a finite element
matrix cannot be modified using the GEOMCHECK statement.
There are several keywords for GEOMCHECK that let you control the number of messages to be
generated (MSGLIMIT) as well as the severity of the message (MSGTYPE) and its associated
effect on the job. Only a severity of FATAL causes the job to abort after the element matrix
generation module has executed. In this case, the identifier associated with failed tests is FAIL
and the run will also terminate.

Model Verification
See also
• “GEOMCHECK” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Geometry Test Descriptions
NX Nastran performs several different types of geometry tests. For each finite element type, the
geometry must be tested to ensure that it is adequate to allow generation of element matrices.
Those tests are not described here. This section only describes optional tests that certain
characteristics of the geometry. These tests fall into several categories depending upon the
element type. Thus, not all tests are applicable to every element type.
Optional Tests for BAR and BEAM Elements
The only optional test available for these element types is the offset test. The length of the
element offset is compared to the original length of the element. If the ratio of these lengths is
greater than the tolerance, an informational message is issued identifying the element and its
length with and without the effects of offset.
Optional Tests for CQUAD4 and CQUADR Elements
Four optional tests are performed on the quadrilateral shaped elements. These tests are:
1. Interior Angle test: This test evaluates the interior angles measured at each of the four
corner grid points. If any one of the four angles exceeds minimum or maximum tolerance
levels, an informational message is produced.
2. Taper test: The QUAD4 taper ratio test compares the area of the triangles formed at the four
corner nodes (the corner node and the two nodes attached to it via the two element edges) to
the total area of the QUAD4. The minimum of the four values is taken as the taper ratio. If
the ratio exceeds the tolerance, an informational message is produced.
Figure 15-14. CQUAD4 Taper

3. Skew test: This test evaluates the distortion or “parallelogram shape effect” by measuring
the angle between lines that join the midpoints of opposite sides of the element. If the angle
exceeds the tolerance, an informational message is produced.
Figure 15-15. CQUAD4 Skew
4. Warp test: This test evaluates how far out of plane the four corner grid points are by
measuring the distance of each point from a “mean” plane passing through the locations of
the four points. The corner points are alternately H units above and H units below this
mean plane. If the lengths of the diagonals of the element are denoted by D1 and D2, the
warping coefficient is obtained from the equation WC = H / 2(D1+D2). If this value exceeds
the tolerance, an informational message is produced.
Optional Tests for CTRIA3 and CTRIAR Elements

Only one optional test is performed on the triangular shaped planar elements. It is the same as
the interior angle test discussed previously under the CQUAD4 and CQUADR test description.
Optional Tests for CHEXA, CPENTA and CTETRA Elements

There are several different optional tests that you can perform on solid elements. Not all tests
are applicable to every element type. These tests are:
• Aspect Ratio test: This test evaluates the ratio of the longest length (edge or height) to
the shortest length (edge or height) encountered in the element. If the ratio exceeds the
tolerance, an informational message is produced.
• Edge Point Length Ratio test: This test evaluates the location of the “mid-side” nodes if any
are present. The node should be located on the line connecting the two adjacent corner
grid points at approximately the mid-way point. This determination is made in two ways.
First, the distance of the node from the two corner nodes is measured and if the ratio of the
distance from one node to the other exceeds the tolerance, an informational message is
issued. Next, the angles between the lines connecting the mid-side node to its two adjacent
corner nodes, and the line connecting the corner nodes themselves, is evaluated. If either of
the angles exceeds 30 degrees, an informational message is issued.
• Integration Point Jacobian Determinant test: This test evaluates the determinant of the
Jacobian at each integration point. If it is zero, or changes sign from integration point to
integration point, an informational message is issued. Note that detection of a zero value
should always be fatal because element matrices calculated from such geometry rarely
produce satisfactory analysis results.

Model Verification
• Warped Face test: This test is applicable to CHEXA and CPENTA elements. It evaluates the
warping coefficient of the quadrilateral faces of such elements in a manner similar to that
discussed previously under the CQUAD4 element warping test description. If the warping
coefficient exceeds the tolerance, an informational message is issued.
Figure 15-16. CHEXA - Warping
• Grid Point Jacobian Determinant test: This test is applicable to CTETRA elements only. The
test is the same as that done for the integration point test discussed previously except it uses
the location of the corner grid points to perform the test. If any determinant is zero or
changes sign, an informational message is produced.
User Interface
The geometry check is requested by the GEOMCHECK Executive Control Statement and the
format is as follows:

The following table summarizes the acceptable specifications for the test_keyword:
Name Value Type Default Comment

Q4_SKEW Real ≥ 0.0 30.0 Skew angle in degrees
Q4_TAPER Real ≥ 0.0 0.50 Taper ratio
Q4_WARP Real ≥ 0.0 0.05 Surface warping factor
Q4_IAMIN Real ≥ 0.0 30.0 Minimum Interior Angle in degrees
Q4_IAMAX Real ≥ 0.0 150.0 Maximum Interior Angle in degrees
T3_SKEW Real ≥ 0.0 10.0 Skew angle in degrees
T3_IAMAX Real ≥ 0.0 160.0 Maximum Interior Angle in degrees
TET_AR Real ≥ 0.0 100.0 Longest edge to shortest edge aspect ratio
TET_EPLR Real ≥ 0.0 0.50 Edge point length ratio
TET_DETJ Real 0.0 | J | minimum value
TET_DETG Real 0.0 | J | minimum value at vertex point
HEX_AR Real ≥ 0.0 100.0 Longest edge to shortest edge aspect ratio
HEX_EPLR Real ≥ 0.0 0.50 Edge point length ratio
HEX_DETJ Real 0.0 | J | minimum value
HEX_WARP Real ≥ 0.0 0.707 Face warp coefficient
PEN_AR Real ≥ 0.0 100.0 Longest edge to shortest edge aspect ratio
PEN_EPLR Real ≥ 0.0 0.50 Edge point length ratio
PEN_DETJ Real 0.0 | J | minimum value
PEN_WARP Real ≥ 0.0 0.707 Quadrilateral face warp coefficient
BEAM_OFF Real ≥ 0.0 0.15 CBEAM element offset length ratio
BAR_OFF Real ≥ 0.0 0.15 CBAR element offset length ratio
Examples
GEOMCHECK Q4_SKEW=15.0,MSGLIMIT=50
Set the tolerance for the CQUAD4 element skew angle test to 15.0 degrees and limit the number
of messages to 50.
GEOMCHECK SUMMARY
Requests summary table output only using the default tolerance values.
Sample Output
The following output from a small example provides a sample of the message formats that are
produced for geometry tests that can be controlled using the GEOMCHECK statement. For this
output, most of the default test tolerances were modified so that the effect could be observed in
the tolerance information lines of the messages that were produced.
Note that a small table is generated at the end of all messages that summarizes the number of
tests that actually exceeded the tolerance value for each element type as well as a list of the
elements that produced the worst violations. The summary table itself can be produced by using
the keyword SUMMARY on the GEOMCHECK statement.

Model Verification

Weight Center of Gravity and Moment of Inertia Check

You can use the Grid Point Weight Generator (GPWG) to check whether the weight of your model
is correct. To turn on the Grid Point Weight Generator, include the parameter GRDPNT in the
Bulk Data or Case Control Section of your input file.
The data entry format is
PARAM,GRDPNT,i
where “i” is an integer value defining a reference point. The value of “i” can be any grid point in
the model, or if it is set to zero, the reference point is the origin of the basic coordinate system.
The output from the GPWG includes a rigid body mass matrix, various coordinate
transformations, and the location of the center of mass. The output from the GPWG is generally
more than what you need. The mass and center of gravity (CG) location is typically all that is
used. A partial output for the problem in Listing 15-5 is shown in Figure 15-17.
Figure 15-17. Partial Output from the Grid Point Weight Generator

Model Verification
NX Nastran does not keep track of your units. Therefore, you must input all of your properties
using a consistent set of units. For example, if you are using meters (m) for defining locations on
your grid entries, then your properties, such as areas (A), should be in terms of m2. NX Nastran
expects your mass input (MATi, CONMi, etc.) to be in terms of mass units. However, if you
would rather input your mass in terms of weight units, then you must add the following entry
to your Bulk Data Section:
PARAM,WTMASS,x
In the parameter statement above, x is the appropriate conversion factor based on the units
that you are using with a default value of 1.0. In other words, the weight density is related to
the mass density by the relationship
where:
ρw = weight density
ρm = mass density
g = gravitational acceleration constant
In the example below, the mass came from the density entered on the MAT1 entry associated
with the CBAR elements. In this case, the density is in terms of mass units. Since the grid point
locations are defined in terms of meters, the density should then be in units of kg/m3. Using a
consistent set of units, the Young’s modulus (E) and density (ρ) are 7.1E10 N/m2 and 2700 kg/m3
as indicated by Fields 3 and 6, respectively, on the following MAT1 entry.
$ MASS DENSITY (kg/m3)
$
MAT1 1 7.1+10 .33 2700.
On the other hand, if you want to input your density in weight units, then you should replace the
above MAT1 entry with the following two entries.
$ WEIGHT DENSITY (N/m3)
$ ACCELERATION (m/sec2)
$
MAT1 1 7.1+10 .33 2.65+4
PARAM WTMASS 0.1019
This density and all the other masses (excluding M2PP or M2GG input) are multiplied by this
scale factor. In this case, (0.1019 · 2.65E4) = 2700. The results (e.g., displacements, stresses, etc.)
are the same using either of the above mass or weight units.
The only difference is in the grid point weight generator output. The GPWG output is in the
same units of your density or point masses. In other words, if your input is in mass units,
then the GPWG output is also in mass units. If your input is in weight units, then the GPWG
output is also in weight units.
If you are using English units, then the following two sets of entries yield the same results. Of
course, other units in your model must also be consistent, e.g., the grid point locations and
cross-sectional properties.
$ MASS DENSITY (lb-sec2/in4)
$
MAT1 1 1.0 +7 .33 2.51-4

$ WEIGHT DENSITY (lb/in3)

$ ACCELERATION (in/sec2)
$
MAT1 1 1.0 +7 .33 0.097
PARAM WTMASS 0.002588
The output from GPWG is for informational purposes only and is not used in any subsequent
steps in the solution process.
See also
• “Grid Point Weight Generator” in the NX Nastran Basic Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide
Mechanisms and Singularities

When performing the solution to a system of linear equations, singularities lead to conditions in
which a unique solution is not possible. NX Nastran considers two types of singularities:
• Grid point singularity that is identified by considering the stiffness terms of only one grid
point.
• A mechanism type of singularity that requires the consideration of the stiffness terms of
more than one grid point.
Singularities cause ill-conditioned matrices that can be detected in several phases of the NX
Nastran execution.
After matrix assembly, the grid point singularities are detected. At each grid point, a 3X3
partition of the stiffness matrix for each of the three translational and three rotational DOFs is
solved as an eigenvalue problem to determine the principal stiffnesses. Each stiffness term is
compared to the principal stiffness using the formula
where Kii is the term in the i-th row and i-th column of the matrix and Kmax is the principal
stiffness. If is less than the value of PARAM,EPZERO, the global direction nearest i is
considered singular. The default value for EPZERO is 10–8. A list of potential singularities is
printed in the grid point singularity table (see “Strain Energy Output” for further details).
PARAM,AUTOSPC. If PARAM,AUTOSPC,YES is specified (this is the default in the Structured
Solution Sequences, except SOLs 106 and 129), the potential singularities are automatically
constrained if possible.

Model Verification
During decomposition, mechanisms can be detected based on the maximum ratio of the matrix
diagonal to the factor diagonal
where Kii is the i-th diagonal term of the original stiffness matrix and Dii is the i-th diagonal
term of the factor diagonal matrix. For a symmetric matrix K it can be represented as
where:
[L] = lower triangular factor

[D] = factor diagonal matrix
PARAM,MAXRATIO. Refer to the NX Nastran Numerical Methods User’s Guide for further
details on the subject of system of linear equations. All terms whose ratio exceed the value of
PARAM,MAXRATIO are printed. The default for MAXRATIO is 107. UIM 4158 prints the
statistics for the decomposition that include the number of negative terms on the factor diagonal
and the maximum ratio of matrix diagonal to factor diagonal at a specified row number and its
corresponding grid point. User Warning Message (UWM) 4698 prints the degrees of freedom that
have a factor diagonal ratio greater than the MAXRATIO value or have negative terms on the
factor diagonal. Both of these messages are issued by the DECOMP module and are shown below:
*** USER INFORMATION MESSAGE 4158---STATISTICS FOR SYMMETRIC DECOMPOSITION OF DATA BLOCK KLL FOLLOW
NUMBER OF NEGATIVE TERMS ON FACTOR DIAGONAL = 1
MAXIMUM RATIO OF MATRIX DIAGONAL TO FACTOR DIAGONAL = 7.2E+15 AT ROW NUMBER 16
*** USER WARNING MESSAGE 4698. STATISTICS FOR DECOMPOSITION OF MATRIX KLL
.
THE FOLLOWING DEGREES OF FREEDOM HAVE FACTOR DIAGONAL RATIOS GREATER THAN 1.00000E+05 OR HAVE
NEGATIVE TERMS ON THE FACTOR DIAGONAL.
GRID POINT ID DEGREE OF FREEDOM MATRIX/FACTOR DIAGONAL RATIO MATRIX DIAGONAL
6714 T1 -7.19297E+15 6.02908E+07
^^^ DMAP FATAL MESSAGE 9050 (SEKRRS) - RUN TERMINATED DUE TO EXCESSIVE PIVOT RATIOS
IN MATRIX KLL. USER PARAMETER BAILOUT MAY BE USED TO CONTINUE THE RUN.
If the MAXRATIO value is exceeded, your job terminates with DMAP Fatal Message 9050. You
can override this fatal message by inserting “PARAM,BAILOUT,–1" in your input file. You
should, however, be aware that a large value of the MATRIX/FACTOR DIAGONAL may be an
indication of a potential modeling problem. Taking the log10 of MAXRATIO indicates how many
significant digits may have been lost during the decomposition. The MAXRATIO may change
slightly if a different sequencer is used. This change is due to the fact that the order of operation
may change with a different sequencer that yields a different numerical roundoff.
After decomposition, a singularity may lead to an incorrect solution. In static analysis, NX
Nastran solves
to obtain u (displacements). Using these displacements, NX Nastran then calculates a “residual”

loading vector as follows:

This residual vector should theoretically be null but may not be null due to numeric roundoff. To
obtain a normalized value of the residual loading, an error measure is calculated by
δP can be printed by including PARAM,IRES,1 in your Bulk Data Section. The value (epsilon) is
printed in User Information Message (UIM) 5293 as shown below. Epsilon values that are greater
than 0.001 are flagged for a possible loss of accuracy due to numeric conditioning as shown below:
*** USER INFORMATION MESSAGE 5293 FOR DATA BLOCK KLL
LOAD SEQ. NO. EPSILON EXTERNAL WORK EPSILONS LARGER THAN .001 ARE FLAGGED WITH ASTERISKS
1 -4.5961966E-14 5.6341639E+00
2 -9.2748066E-15 9.4523830E+00
One is generated for each loading condition. An acceptable value of depends on the model
complexity and the machine that it runs on. An epsilon value of | | in the neighborhood of less
than 10-9 is generally considered acceptable.
Some general causes for singularity can include:
• Degrees of freedom without stiffness because of missing elements.
• A 2-dimensional plate problem with the normal rotation unconstrained.
• A solid model with rotational DOFs at the corners unconstrained.
• Incorrect modeling of offset beams.
• Incorrect multipoint constraints.
• Mechanisms and free bodies, such as sloped plates, beam to plate connections, beam to solid
connections, and plate-to-solid connections.
• Low stiffness in rotation.
• A stiff element adjacent to a very flexible element.
Applied Loads Check

There are two checks in NX Nastran to let you verify that loads are being applied correctly to
the structure. The first one is the summation of the total loads applied to the structure about
the reference point x as specified on the PARAM,GRDPNT,x entry. If PARAM,GRDPNT,x is not
specified, this summation is performed about the origin of the basic coordinate system. This
quantity is known as the OLOAD RESULTANT output and is part of the standard NX Nastran
output. It consists of seven lines of output per load case. The OLOAD RESULTANT output for
the problem in Listing 15-5 is shown in Figure 15-17. Note that loads from scalar points are not
included in the OLOAD RESULTANT output.

Model Verification
Figure 15-18. OLOAD Resultant

Look at Subcase 1 with a vertical tip load applied to grid point 6 in the +z direction. Since there
are no loads applied to the structure in the x- or y-direction, the loads in those two directions are
also equal to zero. The total z-load is equal to 100 Newtons contributed solely by the applied load
at grid point 6, which is the only applied load for the whole structure. The total moment about
the origin of the basic coordinate system is −5 · (100 N) = −500 NM about the y-axis. This R2
moment is contributed by the Z load as indicated by the -500 in row FZ, column R2. There is no
moment about the other two axes. The next seven lines in the OLOAD RESULTANT output is
due to the gravity load, the seconding loading condition.
So far, only the resultant applied load was discussed. You can also request more detailed
information regarding the exact location on the structure where loads are applied. This can be
done with the OLOAD request in the Case Control Section. The format is as follows:
OLOAD = All
or
SET 10 = x,y,z
OLOAD = 10
In this particular case, a printout of all the applied loads is requested. As shown in Figure 15-19,
there is one load applied to grid point 6 in the +z direction for Subcase 1. However, for the
gravity load in Subcase 2, each grid point that has mass associated with it has a 1g load applied
to it. Each CBAR element contributes {(2700)(1.0)(2.5E-3)(9.8)/2} = 33.075 N to each end of its
connecting grid points. Therefore, a 33.075 N load is applied to the end points and a 66.15 N load
is applied to each of the intermediate points since there are two CBAR elements connected to
each of these intermediate grid points. As you can see, for a large model, OLOAD output for
gravity loads can potentially generate many lines of output.

Figure 15-19. OLOAD Output
Verifying Reaction Loads

There are two checks available in NX Nastran to let you check whether the reaction loads are
correct. The first one is the summation of the total reaction loads about the reference point
specified on the PARAM,GRDPNTx entry. If PARAM,GRDPNT,x is not specified, this summation
is performed about the origin of the basic coordinate system. This operation is known as the
SPCFORCE RESULTANT output and this output is obtained if the SPCFORCE output is
requested. It consists of seven lines of output per load case. The SPCFORCE RESULTANT
output for the above problem (Listing 15-5) is shown below:
Figure 15-20. SPCFORCE RESULTANT

Since the SPCFORCE RESULTANT and OLOAD RESULTANT are summed about the same
reference point, you would expect the total applied loads and total reaction loads to be equal and
opposite of each other. As indicated by Figure 15-18 and Figure 15-20, this is indeed the case.

Model Verification
Similar to the applied loads, you can also request more detailed information regarding where
exactly on the structure is reacting to these applied loads (grid point locations and directions).
These are also known as boundary loads. This operation can be done with the SPCFORCE
request in the Case Control Section. The format is as follows:
SPCFORCE = All
or
SET 10 = 15, 16, 18, 25
SPCFORCE = 10
Figure 15-21. Single-Point Constraint Forces

In this case, since there is only one reaction point (fixed at grid point 1) in the model, the
SPCFORCE output only contains one line of output per subcase (see Figure 15-21). Some
guidelines to consider when examining the reaction loads include:
1. Are they equal to the applied loads? Is the structure in equilibrium?
2. Are the boundary loads coming out in the directions and magnitudes that you are expecting?
As an example, if one of your reaction loads is to simulate a shear bolt and you are getting a
tension reaction load at that location, the chances are that you have modeled the boundary
condition incorrectly.
3. Is the load distribution over the structure what you expect? If not, you may want to go
back and check your modeling of your reaction points to make sure that they are what
you intended.
4. Grid points with reaction force equal to 0.0 on all six components are suppressed from the
printed output.
1g Load
A 1g gravitation load applied separately in each of the three orthogonal directions is suggested
for model checkout. This check is accomplished with three separate subcases. This is a basic
check to determine grid points on the structure that are either loosely connected or have very
small stiffnesses. A displacement output indicates that these points are moving excessively as
compared to other parts of the model, especially if you are using a postprocessor. To use this
feature, you must ensure that your structure contains masses-either by direct masses (e.g.,
CONM2) or indirect masses (e.g., from the density on the MATi entries), or nonstructural mass
(e.g., a nonzero value on the NSM field on the PBAR entry).

Output of Maximum, Minimum Grid Point-based Responses

Documenting the validation of a mathematical simulation model can be a very tedious and
time consuming process. A portion of this process usually requires the generation of reports to
completely describe the results of the performed analysis. Although a substantial amount of
the reporting requirements can be satisfied using graphical results plots, tabular data that
summarizes the information depicted in the graphics are often required. Also, during the
validation process itself, many tools are employed that assist users in evaluating the results
produced by the simulation. Maximum/minimum surveys of output quantities are one such tool
provided by the MAXMIN Case Control command.
Historically, NX Nastran users have been able to obtain simple surveys of grid point related
results output such as displacements, applied loads, and forces of single point constraint. The
output consists of a summary that identifies the grid point at which the maximum and minimum
values occurred in each of the six output directions. This information is provided for each subcase.
The max/min information appears as typical grid point related output. You can request a number
of the highest and lowest values for a particular component. All components of the grid related
quantities are output together with the one component that is being surveyed. For example,
if 10 maximum and 10 minimum values of T3 displacements are requested, the output will
also contain the T1, T2, R1, R2, and R3 displacement values associated with the grid points
identified in the T3 component survey. The output heading clearly identifies the component
being surveyed. Output can be surveyed for SUBCASEs and SUBCOMs. You can also specify
sets of points to be surveyed and coordinate system to be used for the survey output. Only
SORT1 output is available.
If output coordinate systems are specified for any of the grid points being surveyed, the user
has the option of specifying one of several coordinate system views of the max/min output. The
data can be displayed in the basic system, a local system, or even the global system. Any grid
point that is output in the max/min survey will have its output presented in both the survey
coordinate frame of reference and its original frame of reference if they are different. In this
way, the user can see both the relative position of the grid point component in the max/min
output as well as the original output quantities without having to research other portions of the
displacement output produced by the analysis.
See also
• “MAXMIN” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Example: Using the MAXMIN Command

The following sample output demonstrates some features available with the MAXMIN Case
Control command.
Inspection of the Case Control Echo reveals that the MAXMIN command at line 7 requests
print and punch of max/min survey results for all available output quantities generated (via
keywords PRINT, PUNCH and ALL). It also specifies that survey results be limited to component
directions T1 and T2 for grid points defined in case control set 100. Because the command has
been placed above the subcase level, it applies to all subcases and subcoms.
The MAXMIN command at line 11 requests a survey of the forces of single point constraint
output (keyword SPCF) for component direction T1 only (keyword T1) in the basic coordinate
system frame of reference (keyword CID selects BASIC). It also requests that the highest and
lowest 15 values be output considering ALL grid points. Because it has been placed within
subcase 1000, it only pertains to that subcase.

Model Verification
The MAXMIN command at line 14 requests print and punch of max/min survey results for single
point forces of constraint. A vector magnitude survey is requested (keyword VMAG) for the
four highest and lowest values. The results for these types of surveys appear in the columns
of output normally containing component directions T1 and R1. Note that the specification of
component directions to be surveyed (keyword COMP) has no effect in this case. All grid points
will be included in the survey.
C A S E C O N T R O L E C H O
COMMAND
COUNT
1 TITLE = EXAMPLE OUTPUT FROM THE NEW MAXMIN CASE CONTROL COMMAND
2 SUBTITLE = ONLY GRID POINT RELATED OUTPUT QUANTITIES CAN BE PROCESSED
3 LABEL = COMPONENT DOF SPECIFICATIONS ARE POSSIBLE
4 SPC=100
5 SET 100 = 2,51,59
6 DISP=100
7 MAXMIN (PUNCH,PRINT,ALL ,COMP=T1/T2) = 100 $
8 SPCF=ALL
9 OLOAD=ALL
10 SUBCASE 1000
11 MAXMIN (SPCF,CID=BASIC,COMP=T1,BOTH=15) = ALL
12 LOAD=1000
13 SUBCASE 2000
14 MAXMIN (PUNCH,PRINT,SPCF,VMAG=4,COMP=T1/T3) = ALL
15 LOAD=1000
16 SUBCOM 3000
17 SUBSEQ = 0.5,0.5
18 BEGIN BULK
Examination of the following actual MAXMIN survey output results reveals that the three
heading lines contain important information that describe the options used to produce the
results. The first line identifies the component direction that was searched, the type of output
being searched, and the SUBCASE/SUBCOM identification number. The second line summarizes
the options specified on the MAXMIN Case Control command used to perform the search. The
third line contains column headings for the data values that follow in the output listing. Note
that the field, TYPE, identifies whether it is a grid point (G) or scalar point (S) and the field,
POINT ID, identifies the grid point or scalar ID number. In addition, the coordinate system
reference frame for the output values is identified. If data values for a point were transformed to
a reference frame different from the one originally defined in the output, then the data values
for both frames of reference are output. This is shown in the output for the first grid point (ID
= 2) in the sample output. Here it is seen that values for the forces of single point constraint
are provided for the point in the basic and CID 100 systems. This occurs because the output for
the point has been specified in CID=100, but the max/min survey was requested in the basic
coordinate system. See the MAXMIN Case Control command for further details.


Model Verification


Model Verification
Performing an Unconstrained Equilibrium Check

If a structure is truly unconstrained, then movement at one point of this structure should cause
the whole structure to move as a rigid body. The following procedure can be used to perform
this check.
1. Remove all the constraints.
2. Apply a unit enforced displacement in the x-direction at one selected grid point while
constraining the other five components at this selected grid point to zero. This grid point
should be close to the center of gravity (C.G.) of the structure, although this is not a
requirement. The x-displacements at all the other grid points should also be equal to unity if
the structure is truly unconstrained. If the displacement at a certain grid point is not equal
to unity in the x-direction, it is very likely that it overstrained. The likely causes for this can
include incorrect modeling of rigid elements, offset beams, non-colinear CELASi, etc. See
“Constraints” for details regarding enforced displacement.
3. Repeat the same procedure for the other two orthogonal directions. You can perform similar
checks for rotations; however, it is more difficult to interpret the results.
At the conclusion of this check, you should remember to put your original constraints back
into your model.
Automatic Identification of Unintentional Grounding

In addition to the unconstrained equilibrium check mentioned above, you may also request
a more robust and more automatic grounding check of the stiffness matrix. This grounding
check is also referred to as rigid body check because the stiffness matrix is multiplied by the
rigid body transformation matrix. The grounding check identifies unintentional constraints
and ill-conditioning in the stiffness matrix.
The grounding check is requested with the GROUNDCHECK Case Control command.
For example, the following command

GROUNDCHECK=YES
will request a grounding check of the g-set. The following command

GROUNDCHECK(SET=ALL)=YES
will request a grounding check of all DOF sets.

The check may be performed at any or all stages of the stiffness reduction based on the
specification of the SET keyword.

SET
DOF Set Description
Keyword
before single point, multipoint constraints, and rigid elements
G g-set
are applied
N n-set after multipoint constraints and rigid elements are applied
same as the n-set with the rows/columns in the stiffness
n-set with matrix corresponding to degrees-of-freedom constrained by the
N+AUTO
AUTOSPC PARAM,AUTOSPC operation zeroed out
after single point, multipoint constraints, and rigid elements
F f-set
are applied
A a-set after static condensation
The THRESH keyword specifies the maximum strain energy that passes the grounding check.
DATAREC=YES requests data recovery of grounding forces. The RTHRESH=r keyword prints
the grounding forces larger than r percent of the largest grounding force if DATAREC is set to
YES.
User Information Message 7570 is issued by GROUNDCHECK for each DOF set requested. The
strain energy is computed in each direction of the rigid body motion and by default, if the strain
energy exceeds the tolerance, then “FAIL” is printed out for that directory. The tolerance is set
by dividing the largest stiffness term by 1.E10. The THRESH keyword can be used to further
control the amount of output (see Appendix A). Possible reasons for failure are also printed after
the strain energies. Here is an example for the g-set that indicates the stiffness matrix passes
the grounding check in all six rigid body directions:
RESULTS OF RIGID BODY CHECKS OF MATRIX KGG (G-SET) FOLLOW:
PRINT RESULTS IN ALL SIX DIRECTIONS AGAINST THE LIMIT OF 2.725275E-04
DIRECTION STRAIN ENERGY PASS/FAIL
--------- ------------- ---------
1 1.484295E-09 PASS
2 2.182787E-10 PASS
3 1.637090E-11 PASS
4 1.619810E-10 PASS
5 2.727802E-10 PASS
6 1.054841E-07 PASS
SOME POSSIBLE REASONS MAY LEAD TO THE FAILURE:
1. CELASI ELEMENTS CONNECTING TO ONLY ONE GRID POINT;
2. CELASI ELEMENTS CONNECTING TO NON-COINCIDENT POINTS;
3. CELASI ELEMENTS CONNECTING TO NON-COLINEAR DOF;
4. IMPROPERLY DEFINED DMIG MATRICES;
Here is an example for the f-set that indicates the stiffness matrix fails the grounding check in
all six rigid body directions:
*** USER INFORMATION MESSAGE 7570 (GPWG1D)
RESULTS OF RIGID BODY CHECKS OF MATRIX KFF (F-SET) FOLLOW:
PRINT RESULTS IN ALL SIX DIRECTIONS AGAINST THE LIMIT OF 1.464858E-04
DIRECTION STRAIN ENERGY PASS/FAIL
--------- ------------- ---------
1 2.564102E+05 FAIL
2 7.326008E+05 FAIL
3 2.237437E+03 FAIL
4 6.057062E+02 FAIL
5 4.015165E+03 FAIL
6 8.747863E+04 FAIL
SOME POSSIBLE REASONS MAY LEAD TO THE FAILURE:
1. CONSTRAINTS WHICH PREVENT RIGID-BODY MOTION.
If the DATAREC keyword is specified and the rigid body check fails then data recovery will be
performed to compute and print the grounding forces to make it easy to locate the source of the

Model Verification
failure. By default, only those grounding forces larger than 10 percent of the largest grounding
force will be printed (see RTHRESH keyword). Here is an example of grounding forces created
by moving the model in rigid body direction 1 associated with the f-set failure shown above:
DIRECTION 1
G R O U N D C H E C K F O R C E S ( F - S E T )
3 G 2.564102E+05 -2.884615E+05 .0 .0 .0 .0
4 G 2.564102E+05 2.884615E+05 .0 .0 .0 .0
Thermal Equilibrium Check

The following procedure can also be used to check for unconstrained thermal expansion if the
structure is going to be subjected to thermal loads.
1. Remove the actual boundary conditions and apply a set of statically determinate constraints.
Typically this procedure is done by constraining all six DOFs at a single grid point. If a
single grid point is used, make sure this single grid point contains six degrees of freedom. A
single grid point of a model consisting of all solid elements, for example, cannot satisfy this
requirement since each grid point of a solid element contains only three degrees of freedom.
2. Change all the thermal coefficients of expansion to a single value.
3. Apply a uniform ΔT to the structure.
If the model is “clean,” then the structure should be strain free; in other words, there should
be no reaction loads, element forces, or stresses. If this is not the case, then you may want to
investigate around the vicinity where the element forces or stresses are nonzero. Incorrect
modeling of rigid elements or offsets is a common cause of these types of errors. Once you are
satisfied with your model, remember to change the boundary condition, thermal coefficients of
expansion, and ΔT back to their original values.
Grid Point Force Balance

Frequently, there are several elements connected to a single grid point. When this happens, you
may want to know how the loads are distributed among these elements at the common grid point.
In other words, you want to understand the load path. Is the load path correct? These questions
can be answered by using the GPFORCE (grid point force) option in NX Nastran.
Grid point force balance is computed only from linear stiffness elements, the sum of applied
loads and thermal loads, and SPC forces. Effects not accounted for include those from mass
elements in dynamic analysis (inertia loads), rigid elements and MPCs, general elements,
DMIG entries, and boundary loads from upstream superelements. These effects may lead to an
apparent lack of equilibrium at the grid point level. Table 15-2 summarizes those effects that
are considered and those effects that are ignored in the calculation of grid point forces in the
global coordinate system.
Table 15-2. Contributions Used for the Grid Point Force Balance
Contributions Included Contributions Ignored
Applied Loads Boundary Loads from Upstream Superelements
SPC Forces GENEL Forces
Element Elastic Forces DMIG and DMI Forces
Thermal Loads

The model in Figure 15-22 illustrates this feature. This model consists of nine CQUAD4 and
six CBAR elements and is subjected to vertical loads applied at the free end. The input file
is shown in Listing 15-6.
EXAMPLE
Figure 15-22. Clamped Plate with Stiffeners

Model Verification
$ FILENAME - q4bargpf.dat
$
SOL 101
TIME 5
CEND
TITLE = ILLUSTRATE USE OF GPFORCE
SUBTITLE = INCORRECT PROPERTIES
DISP = ALL
GPFORCE = ALL
STRESS(CORNER) = ALL
SPC = 1
LOAD = 1
PARAM AUTOSPC YES
PARAM POST 0
$
$ THIS SECTION CONTAINS BULK DATA
$
GRID 1 0.0 0.0 0.0
GRID 2 10. 0.0 0.0
GRID 3 20. 0.0 0.0
GRID 4 30. 0.0 0.0
GRID 5 0.0 10. 0.0
GRID 6 10. 10. 0.0
GRID 7 20. 10. 0.0
GRID 8 30. 10. 0.0
GRID 9 0.0 20. 0.0
GRID 10 10. 20. 0.0
GRID 11 20. 20. 0.0
GRID 12 30. 20. 0.0
GRID 13 0.0 30. 0.0
GRID 14 10. 30. 0.0
GRID 15 20. 30. 0.0
GRID 16 30. 30. 0.0
$
CBAR 101 100 5 6 0.0 0.0 1.
+C101 0. 0. .55 0. 0. .55
CBAR 102 100 6 7 0.0 0.0 1.
+C102 0. 0. .55 0. 0. .55
CBAR 103 100 7 8 0.0 0.0
+C103 0. 0. .55 0. 0. .55
CBAR 104 200 9 10 0.0 0.0
+C104 0. 0. .55 0. 0. .55
CBAR 105 200 10 11 0.0 0.0
+C105 0. 0. .55 0. 0. .55
CBAR 106 200 11 12 0.0 0.0
+C106 0. 0. .55 0. 0. .55
$
Listing 15-6. Input File for the Demonstration of Grid Point Force Balance (Continued)

CQUAD4 1 1 1 2 6 5
CQUAD4 2 1 2 3 7 6
CQUAD4 3 1 3 4 8 7
CQUAD4 4 1 5 6 10 9
CQUAD4 5 1 6 7 11 10
CQUAD4 6 1 7 8 12 11
CQUAD4 7 1 9 10 14 13
CQUAD4 8 1 10 11 15 14
CQUAD4 9 1 11 12 16 15
$
$ THIS SECTION CONTAINS THE LOADS and CONSTRAINTS
$
$
FORCE 1 4 0 50. 0. 0. -1.
FORCE 1 8 0 100. 0. 0. -1.
FORCE 1 12 0 100. 0. 0. -1.
FORCE 1 16 0 50. 0. 0. -1.
$
SPC1 1 123456 1 5 9 13
$
$ THIS SECTION CONTAINS THE PROPERTY AND MATERIAL BULK DATA ENTRIES
$
PSHELL 1 1 .1 1
$
PBAR 100 1 .50 .0417 .01042 .0286
+P100 .5 .25 -.5 .25 -.5 -.25 .5 -.25
PBAR 200 1 .01042 .0286
+P200 .5 .25 -.5 .25 -.5 -.25 .5 -.25
$
$ CORRECT PBAR ENTRY WITH A AND I1
$
$PBAR 200 1 .50 .0417 .01042 .0286
$
$
MAT1 1 1.+7 .3
ENDDATA
Listing 15-6. Input File for the Demonstration of Grid Point Force Balance
If everything is done correctly, expect the stress contour plot to look something like Figure
15-23(a). However, say that you made a modeling mistake somewhere, and the stress contour
plot is coming out as shown in Figure 15-23(b). You know that something is wrong because
the stress contour plot is not symmetrical. Since the structure, boundary conditions, and
applied loads are all symmetrical, you also expect the stress contour plot to be symmetrical. By
inspecting the grid point force balance output (Figure 15-24), you notice that the stiffeners
(CBAR 104, 105, and 106) are not picking up any axial, vertical, or out-of-plane bending loads at
grid points 9, 10, 11, and 12.
A review of the input file explains the reason for this result. The area (A) and the out-of-plane
bending moment of inertia (I1) were "accidentally" left out for CBAR elements 104, 105, and 106
(PBAR 200). Hence, all the axial and out-of-plane bending loads at grid points 9, 10, 11, and
12 were picked up completely by the surrounding CQUAD4 elements. By correcting the PBAR
element properties, note that CBAR elements 104, 105, and 106 now pick up the correct loads
as shown in Figure 15-25.

Model Verification
Figure 15-23. Stress Contour Plots of a Cantilever Plate
Figure 15-24. Grid Point Force Balance Output for a Model with Incorrect CBAR
Properties

Figure 15-25. Grid Point Force Balance Output for a Model with Correct CBAR
Properties
Both Figure 15-24 and Figure 15-25 are reduced versions of the full output. Only the grid point
force balance output as related to grid points 1, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 16 are shown in these two
figures for clarity. Notice that for grid points 1 and 9, in addition to the elastic element forces,
the SPC forces are also printed. Similarly, for grid points 12 and 16, the applied loads are also
printed. As you can see, the grid point force balance feature can provide you with a tremendous
insight regarding the load path of your structure.
15.5 Stress Error Estimators

“Reviewing Grid Point Stresses” is devoted to a discussion of the averaging procedures utilized to
provide meaningful stresses at the grid points of finite element models in NX Nastran. However,
when you look at a stress distribution, frequently you may not be sure of whether further model
refinement is necessary. This section focuses upon the description of error estimators that help
you identify regions of your model that may require refinement.
The essence of the averaging procedures used to obtain grid point stress data are to:
1. Convert these local element stress components into a common coordinate system defined
by you.
2. Average several values of each stress component to obtain a unique value of the stress
component that is to be associated with the grid point in question.
3. Compute the stress invariants at the grid points from the stress components at the grid
points.
In the general case, the stress components are σx, σy, σz, τxy, τxz, and τyz.

Model Verification
For discussion purposes, the averaging process used to compute the stress components at the
grid points can be represented in the form
Equation 15-3.
where:
σg = the weighted mean value of the stress component computed at the grid point.
the value of the stress component in the i-th element i = 1, 2, ..., Ne connected to the
σei =
grid point. σei is in the same coordinate system as σg.
the weighting factor assigned to the i-th element. The sum of the values of must equal
1. This requirement assures that all computed statistics are unbiased. The attribute
Wi =
of being unbiased implies that the variance is equal to the mean square error. Equal
weighting, i.e., Wi = 1/Ne, is assumed in NX Nastran.
An estimate of the error in a particular component of stress at a grid point can then be computed
by assuming that the values of the corresponding stress components computed by NX Nastran
for the elements in the neighborhood of the grid point are data points with uncorrelated random
errors. It then follows that an estimate of the probable error in the stress component δg at
the grid point is
Equation 15-4.
where δei = σei − σg. Thus, the probable error δg is the root mean square error in δei divided by
.
It should be noted that the root mean square error is a reasonable measure of precision in many
practical cases, but it is easy to provide examples in which this value is a poor measure of the
concentration of the distribution about the mean. This subject is discussed further in the section
"Discussion of Error Measures." Eq. 15-4 is assumed to provide an approximate error estimator
for the grid point stress data output by NX Nastran.
This stress error assessment is often referred to as stress discontinuity, and it is evaluated in two
different ways in NX Nastran: as grid point and element stress discontinuities.

Grid Point Stress Discontinuities

To illustrate the computations described in the previous section, consider the following portion of
a finite element model consisting of CQUAD4 elements. For clarity, only a portion of the model is
plotted. These elements lie on a surface (defined as surface 91 in this case).
Figure 15-26. Partial Model for the Stress Discontinuity Calculations

The following data is extracted from the NX Nastran output. Table 15-3 and Table 15-4 contain
partial listings of the element stresses and grid point stresses for the above model. The grid point
stresses are obtained following the procedures described in “Reviewing Grid Point Stresses”.
Table 15-3. Element Stresses for CQUAD4

Stresses in the Element Coordinate System
Element ID
NORMAL-X NORMAL-Y SHEAR-XY
19 –4.006485E+03 –8.949428E-09 –1.045506E+02
20 –3.820136E+03 2.255547E-09 –1.045506E+02
.
.
59 –1.335495E+03 8.658390E-09 –2.287827E+02
60 –1.273379E+03 –1.818989E-09 –2.287827E+02

Model Verification
Table 15-4. Grid Point Stresses for Surface 91

Stresses in the Element System
Grid ID
NORMAL-X NORMAL-Y SHEAR-XY
20 –5.218E+03 –6.730E–09 –4.243E+01
21 –4.969E+03 1.692E–09 –4.243E+01
.
.
.
60 –2.733E+03 –3.274E–10 –1.667E+02
61 –2.609E+03 –3.638E–11 –1.667E+02
62 –2.485E+03 1.273E–10 –1.667E+02
63 –2.360E+03 –5.457E–11 –1.667E+02
.
.
.
102 –6.104E–05 6.803E-09 –2.909E+02
103 –9.155E–05 –1.437E–09 –2.909E+02
The probable error for stresses at both grid points 20 and 61 can be computed using Eq. 15-4.
The probable error δg is expected to provide some measure of the error in the magnitude of
the grid point stress values. You must first compute the values δei = σei − σg for each stress
component and then compute the probable error, δg. This calculation is done for both grid points
20 and 61. The symbols “GID” and “EID”, which represent grid point ID and element ID,
respectively, are used extensively throughout this section. Consider an example calculation using
the NORMAL-X stress component.
NORMAL-X Stress
GID = 20
EID σei σg δei
19 –4.006485E+03 –5.218E+03 1.212E+03
20 –3.820136E+03 –5.218E+03 1.398E+03
Using Eq. 15-4,

GID = 61
EID σei σg δei
19 –4.006485E+03 –2.609E+03 -1.397E+03
20 –3.820136E+03 –2.609E+03 -1.211E+03
59 –1.335495E+03 –2.609E+03 1.274E+03
60 –1.273379E+03 –2.609E+03 1.336E+03
Again, using Eq. 15-4,
The other stress components (σy and τxy) can then be obtained in a similar manner.
This same finite element model is then remodeled using different element types—CQUAD8,
CHEXA(8) as well as CQUAD4 elements with the corner output option. The values of δg for each
of the three stress components are then calculated at two locations: x = 28.5 and y = 0.0, as
well as x = 28.5 and y = 1.5. Note that these two locations correspond to GID 20 and GID 61,
respectively, for the above CQUAD4 model. This process is then repeated for each of the above
element types. The results (δg and ERROR ESTIMATE) from NX Nastran are summarized in
Table 15-5. Note that these values may be slightly different than the hand-calculated values
since the computer provides more precision than the hand calculation.
The probable error δg provides an estimated error for each of the three stress components at
each of the two grid point locations considered. It is probably more useful and more desirable to
combine these three estimated errors into a single representative error measure at each grid
point. An approximate root mean square value of the three estimated errors for each of the three
stress components offers such a representative error measure. That is,
Equation 15-5.
where Nc, which is the number of stress components, is equal to three for plate elements and
six for solid elements.

Model Verification
g
Table 15-5. The Values of δ and ERROR ESTIMATE for Different Element Types(X =
28.5, Y = 0.0)
X = 28.5 Y = 1.5
Element Type NORMAL-X NORMAL-Y SHEAR-XY ERROR
(δg) (δg) (δg) ESTIMATE
CQUAD4 9.247E+02 4.628E–09 4.392E+01 5.345E+02
CQUAD8 0.000E+00 1.204E–09 0.000E+00 9.840E–10
CHEXA (8) 8.839E+01 2.841E+01 0.000E+00 5.729E+01
CQUAD4 (CORNER) 9.653E+01 2.896E+01 3.548E+02 2.129E+02
g
Table 15-6. The Values of δ and ERROR ESTIMATE for Different Element Types
(X = 28.5, Y = 1.5)
X = 28.5 Y = 1.5
Element Type NORMAL-X NORMAL-Y ERROR
SHEAR-XY (δg)
(δg) (δg) ESTIMATE
CQUAD4 6.531E+02 3.196E-09 3.106E+01 3.775E+02
CQUAD8 0.000E+00 3.634E-09 0.000E+00 2.098E-09
CHEXA (8) 3.125E+01 1.497E+01 3.125E+01 2.148E+01
The following remarks should be noted in regard to Table 15-5 and Table 15-6.
1. By default, the stress components for the CQUAD4 elements are only output at the element
centroids, while the stress components for the CQUAD8, and CHEXA(8) elements are output
at the element centroids as well as the element vertices.
2. If vertex stresses are also desired for the CQUAD4 elements, then use the STRESS(CORNER)
= x option in the Case Control Section. This output corresponds to the last rows of Table
15-5 and Table 15-6.
3. The calculation of δg for the CQUAD8 and CHEXA(8) elements involves grid point and
element vertex stresses that are defined at the same points.
4. The calculation of δg for the CQUAD4 elements involve grid point stresses and element
stresses provided at a different geometric location if the default center option is requested.
They are evaluated at the same location when using the corner option.
5. The ERROR ESTIMATE for the CHEXA(8) also includes the contribution of σz, σxz, and σyz.
These three values are not listed in Table 15-5 and Table 15-6. The procedure is identical
to that of the plate element with the exception that it includes six instead of three stress
components.
Table 15-5 and Table 15-6 indicate that the smaller values of δg and the ERROR ESTIMATE are
obtained from the models composed of elements for which vertex stresses are computed by NX
Nastran. A detailed discussion of the error estimator used by NX Nastran is presented later in
the section “Discussion of Error Measures.”
In addition to values of δg for each stress component and the ERROR ESTIMATE of Eq. 15-5 NX
Nastran output also contains values of δg for each of the stress invariants. These quantities are
output for each grid point in the defined SURFACE (plate elements) or VOLUME (solid elements).

Element Stress Discontinuities
Other statistical error estimates may be generated by associating the estimates with the
elements rather than with the grid points. For example, root mean square errors for each stress
component of an element may be computed from the values of δei that are computed for each
of the Ng connected vertex grid points where δei = (σe − σgi). This computation is done for each
stress component for all of the elements of interest.
Next is an example calculating the NORMAL-X stress components for elements 20 and 60
in Figure 15-26.
NORMAL-X Stress
EID=20
GID σe σgi δei
20 –3.820136E+03 –5.218E+03 1.398E+03
21 –3.820136E+03 –4.969E+03 1.149E+03
62 –3.820136E+03 –2.485E+03 –1.335E+03
61 –3.820136E+03 –2.609E+03 –1.211E+03
Equation 15-6.
EID = 60
GID σe σgi δei
61 -1.273379E+03 -2.609E+03 1.336E+03
62 -1.273379E+03 -2.485E+03 1.212E+03
103 -1.273379E+03 -9.155E-05 -1.273E+03
102 -1.273379E+03 -6.104E-05 -1.273E+03
The other two components (σy and τxy) can be calculated in a similar manner.

Model Verification
The above data provides an estimated error for each of the three stress components for each of
the two elements considered. As discussed in the previous section, it is desirable to combine
these three estimated errors into a single representative error estimate for each element. The
root mean square value of the three error estimates for each of the three stress components
offers such a representative error measure. In other words,
Equation 15-7.
(The results (δe and ERROR ESTIMATE) from NX Nastran for this model, using CQUAD4,
CQUAD8, and CQUAD4 with the corner option, are summarized in Table 15-7 and Table 15-8.
e
Table 15-7. The Values of δ and ERROR ESTIMATE for Different Plate Element Types
Location at EID = 20
Element Type NORMAL-X NORMAL-Y ERROR
SHEAR-XY (δe)
(δe) (δe) ESTIMATE
CQUAD4 1.277E+03 4.757E–09 6.212E+01 7.382E+02
CQUAD8 0.000E+00 4.014E–09 0.000E+00 2.318E-09
e
Table 15-8. The Values of δ and ERROR ESTIMATE for Different Plate Element Types
Location at EID = 60
Element Type NORMAL-X NORMAL-Y SHEAR-XY ERROR
(δe) (δe) (δe) ESTIMATE
CQUAD4 1.274E+03 4.520E–09 6.212E+01 7.365E+02
CQUAD8 5.038E-10 3.362E–09 0.000E+00 2.020E-09
The CHEXA(8) element is not included in the above tables; however, the calculations are similar
with the exception that six rather than three components of stress need to be considered. In
addition to values of δe for each stress component and the ERROR ESTIMATE of Eq. 15-7, NX
Nastran output also contains values of for each of the stress invariants. For plate elements, all
of these quantities are output at the neutral plane and at fiber distances Z1 and Z2 for each
element in the defined SURFACE.
Discussion of Error Measures

An examination of Table 15-5 through Table 15-8 clearly shows that the error estimates for
CQUAD4 elements without vertex stress data are substantially larger than the corresponding
error estimates for those elements that provide vertex stress data as a default. In view of the
fact that the finite model under discussion was constructed with a rather high mesh density to
produce results that agreed very closely with theory, you may perhaps be surprised by the large

values of the error estimates for those elements that only provide stress data at the element
centroid.
These seemingly large values of error estimators for CQUAD4 elements are not uncommon
occurrences in statistical error measures. For example, the mean and variance have direct
analogies in engineering mechanics. The mean is analogous to the centroid of a body and is thus
a measure of where the mass is centered. The variance is the second moment about the mean,
and it tends to be small if the majority of the mass is concentrated about the centroid. As the
mass is dispersed further from the centroid, the moment of inertia tends to increase. If the
mass is concentrated at the centroid (as it might be in some idealized lumped mass models),
the moment of inertia becomes zero.
Thus, the error estimates for CQUAD4 elements tend toward larger values because the data
used to compute the estimators is dispersed relatively far from the mean. For those elements
that provide stress data at vertices, the estimators tend toward smaller values because the stress
data tends to be concentrated about the mean in well-designed finite element models.
Generally, you should design a finite element mesh for static analysis so that all important
stress gradients are adequately represented. If the mesh is not of sufficient detail, the stress
data whether available at element vertices or at element centroids results in the relatively large
values of the error estimators discussed here.
You are cautioned that very inaccurate values of these error estimators may occur at the edges of
defined SURFACEs and on the faces of defined VOLUMEs. In summary, the error estimators
under discussion can, in some cases, be highly inaccurate. Nevertheless, these data are quite
useful when interpreted properly.
User Interface
The element and grid point stress discontinuity output can only be obtained if the grid point
stress output is requested via the STRFIELD Case Control Command. The STRFIELD Case
Control command is also used for graphical postprocessing of grid point stress, element stress
discontinuity, and grid point stress discontinuity. The STRFIELD command, however, does not
provide printed output for the grid point stress. The GPSTRESS Case Control command is
needed if printed output for the grid point stress is desired. Similar to the GPSTRESS command,
the STRFIELD command also requires that you define all applicable SURFACEs and VOLUMEs
in the OUTPUT(POST) portion of the Case Control Section. The element stresses must also be
requested for those elements that lie on the SURFACEs and/or VOLUMEs. For a more detailed
description of GPSTRESS, refer to “Reviewing Grid Point Stresses.”
Two other Case Control commands are needed–GPSDCON for grid point stress discontinuity
and ELSDCON for element stress discontinuity. Note that you can also request grid point stress
discontinuity without requesting element stress discontinuity, and vice versa, by omitting the
appropriate Case Control command (ELSDON or GPSDCON).

Model Verification
The following remarks should be noted relative to the use of the GPSDCON and/or ELSDCON
commands.
1. The GPSDCON and ELSDCON commands are supported only in Solution Sequence101.
2. The GPSDCON and ELSDCON commands may be placed above the SUBCASE level
or in individual SUBCASEs and/or SUBCOMs. The use of these commands above the
SUBCASE level causes the stress discontinuity data to be output for all SUBCASEs in
the NX Nastran input file. If you wish to restrict stress discontinuity output to specific
SUBCASEs, GPSDCON and/or ELSDCON commands should appear only under these
specific SUBCASEs.
3. You are cautioned that these commands can produce a substantial amount of data. Therefore,
you should be judicious in their use.
4. Stress continuity data is not provided when both plate and solid elements are connected to a
grid point that is involved in stress discontinuity calculations.
The following is a listing of the input file used to generate the results for the CQUAD4 element
model used in Table 15-5 through Table 15-8. The example problem in Listing 15-7 contains the
full list of Case Control commands required to obtain Grid Point/Element Stress Discontinuity
output.

$
$ FILENAME - q4sdcon.dat
$
ID STRESS DISCON
TIME 25
SOL 101
CEND
TITLE = CANTILEVER BEAM WITH PLATES
$
SPC=1
LOAD=1000
$
$
$ ELEMENT OUTPUT REQUIRED
$
SET 22 = 19,20,21,59,60,61
$
ELSTRESS = 22
$
$ FOLLOWING REFERENCES SURFACE 91
$
SET 21 = 91
GPSTRESS=21
STRFIELD=21
$
$ FOLLOWING ARE FOR STRESS DISCONTINUITIES
$
GPSDCON=21 $ FOR GRID POINT DISCONTINUITIES
ELSDCON=21 $ FOR ELEMENT DISCONTINUITIES
$
$ FOLLOWING REQUIRED FOR GRID POINT STRESS
$
OUTPUT(POST)
SET 95 = 19,20,21,59,60,61
$
SURFACE 91 SET 95 NORMAL Z SYSTEM ELEMENT
$
BEGIN BULK
$
$ BRING IN THE REST OF THE BULK DATA FILE
$
INCLUDE ’q4sdcon.blk’
$
$
ENDDATA
Listing 15-7. Input File for the Error Estimators for CQUAD4
15.6 Postprocessor Checks

Once you have completed your NX Nastran job, you must interpret the results. For a large
model, it is impractical to go through every page of your output to look at the results. Graphical
postprocessors can help you more easily examine and interpret large amounts of output data.
This section describes some of the basic output quantities that you may want to consider when
using a postprocessor.
Examining Displacements
When you post process your model, you should create a displacement plot for each of your loading
conditions. If there are abrupt changes in the displacements at a certain region, you may want to

Model Verification
zoom in to inspect that local region and see if they are justifiable. One possible cause can be
improper modeling at that location or certain elements not being connected.
Examining Stress Contours

Stress contour plots are calculated using a stress averaging technique of neighboring elements.
Once these average stresses are calculated, the postprocessor assigns different colors to these
stresses based on the stress ranges. These stresses can then be plotted as stress contour plots
with various colors designating different stress ranges. This feature is probably the most
frequently used postprocessing option. When used properly, it can help you quickly identify high
stress regions and provide you with insight regarding your model.
When you create stress contour plots of component stresses, you should ensure that the
component that you are plotting is in a consistent direction for all the elements that are
included in your plot. The default component direction may be a function of element type. Some
postprocessing packages may also transform them into a common coordinate system. The
following example problem in Figure 15-27 illustrates the importance of consistent direction.
The stresses in a CQUAD4 element are in terms of the element coordinate system.
Figure 15-27. CQUAD4 Model

The complete input file used for this problem is sown in Listing 15-8.

$
$ FILENAME - (q4consc.dat)
$
SOL 101
TIME 5
CEND
TITLE = CONSISTENT CQUAD4 CONNECTIVITIES
SPC =1
LOAD =1
STRESS = ALL
BEGIN BULK
$
$
PARAM,POST,0
$
$ THIS SECTION CONTAINS GRID POINT LOCATIONS
$
GRID 1 0.0 0.0 0.0
GRID 2 10. 0.0 0.0
GRID 3 20. 0.0 0.0
GRID 4 0.0 10. 0.0
GRID 5 10. 10. 0.0
GRID 6 20. 10. 0.0
$
$ THIS SECTION CONTAINS ELEMENT CONNECTIVITIES
$
CQUAD4 1 10 1 2 5 4
CQUAD4 2 10 2 3 6 5
$
$CQUAD4 2 10 3 6 5 2
$
$ LOADS
$
FORCE 1 3 100. 1.
FORCE 1 6 100. 1.
$
$ CONSTRAINTS
$
SPC 1 1 12345 0.0
SPC 1 4 1345 0.0
$
$ SECTION AND MATERIAL PROPERTIES
$
PSHELL 10 10 .1 10
MAT1 10 1.+7 .32
$
ENDDATA
Listing 15-8. Input File for CQUAD4 Stress Contour Plotswith Consistent Connectivity
In this example, the connectivities for both CQUAD4 elements are described in a consistent
manner as shown in Figure 15-28. Due to this consistency, the corresponding component stresses
(e.g., ) point in the same direction for both elements. Note that for this model is equal to zero for
both elements.

Model Verification
Figure 15-28. Consistent Connectivity

If you perform a stress contour on this model using σx, the contour plot for σx across the two
elements can be calculated as follows:
The contour plot for σvon across the two elements can be calculated as follows:
On the other hand, if the two elements are not connected in a consistent matter as shown in
Figure 15-29, then the corresponding component stresses (e.g. σx, ) do not necessarily point in
the same directions for both elements. As shown in Figure 15-29, the σx component stresses point
in the directions of the x- and y-axis for elements 1 and 2, respectively.

Figure 15-29. Inconsistent Connectivity

Once again, if you perform a stress contour on this model using , the value used in the contour
plot for across the two elements in this case is as follows:
As you can see, the σx value used in the contour plot for this case is basically meaningless
and could lead you to an erroneous conclusion.
The von Mises stresses used for the contour plot can be calculated as follows:
As you can see, σvon remains the same since it is an invariant quantity and is independent of
the order of connectivity. Note that the input file used for Figure 15-29 is identical to Listing
15-8 with the exception of the shaded CQUAD4 entry. In other words, replace the following
CQUAD4 entry:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CQUAD4 2 10 2 3 6 5
with the following:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CQUAD4 2 10 3 6 5 2
and the two input files are then identical.

As you have probably observed by now, using contour plots of component stresses can lead to
misleading results unless they are transformed into a common coordinate system. Therefore,
in most instances, it is generally easier and more meaningful to look at the invariant stress

Model Verification
quantities, such as von Mises stresses, instead of the component stresses. However, there are
situations where you may want to look at component stresses. An example is a cylindrical model
whereby you are interested in looking at the hoop stress. In this case, you should be aware
of the consequences if your model is not created in a consistent manner. Alternate invariant
stress quantities are the principal stresses.
See also
• “CQUAD4 and CTRIA3 Elements” in the NX Nastran Element Library
Creating Grid Point Stress and Stress Discontinuity Plots

The grid point stress feature enables you to obtain stress output at the grid points instead of the
elements. If the contour plot using grid point stress is substantially different from the contour
plot using element stress, it is probably an indication that the model needs to be refined or that
you may have inconsistent element orientations as described in the previous section.
Stress discontinuity is a measure of the probable error of the stresses across the grid points or
elements. This type of plot assists you in the identification of regions of your model that may
require refinement. This feature is discussed in detail in “Stress Error Estimators.”
See also
• “Reviewing Grid Point Stresses”
Viewing Element Strain Energy Plots

The element strain energy plot is an excellent tool for identifying areas that are most effective in
influencing your design. For a large model, this output request can generate a large amount of
printed output. The plot option can be used to generate plots without generating printed output.
This feature is discussed in detail in “Strain Energy Output.”

Chapter
16 Restarts
• Introduction to Restarts
• Types of Restarts
• Read-write Restarts
• Read-only Restarts
• Mini-database Restarts
• Determining the Version for a Restart

Chapter 16 Restarts
16.1 Introduction to Restarts

A restart is a logical way of continuing from a previous run without having to start from the
beginning. The savings can be in terms of both time and money. In the case of a static analysis,
the most expensive and time consuming part of the run is the decomposition of the stiffness
matrix, especially with large models. Now suppose after completing the original run, you want
to obtain additional output (e.g., stresses, displacements, etc.) or add more load cases. You can
always start from the beginning and redo the whole problem, or you can perform a restart at a
fraction of the time and cost. In the case of additional output requests and additional load
conditions, the decomposition of the stiffness matrix, which was performed in the previous run,
is not redone if you use the restart feature.
However, a restart may not always be the best option compared to rerunning the job.
Determining whether to save the database for restarting or rerun the analysis is based on:
• The amount of available disk space
• Computer speed
• The types of restarts
• The size of your model
For conventional static analysis runs (i.e, those not involving superelements), if a restart involves
model changes, the savings is probably minimal. However, in the case of additional output
requests or additional load cases, the savings can be substantial as indicated by Table 16-1.
In addition to needing to rerun a job, you may also want to use NX Nastran’s restart capabilities
if you need to access data from an old file and the input file is no longer available. If you still
have the database archive for that solve, the following sample run ( Listing 16-1) shows how you
can use restart to either print or punch a copy of the Bulk Data from the database that you can
subsequently use to create a new input file.
$ FILE - bulklist.dat
$
restart
assign master=’archive1.MASTER’
sol 101
time 10
cend
title = run to get listing of bulk data
echo = sort
$
$ replace echo=sort with echo=punch if a
$ punched output is desired instead of a listing
$
param,serst,semi
begin bulk
$
enddata
Listing 16-1. Input File for Printing/Punching a Listing of Bulk Data File from the
Database
See also
• “Restart Procedures” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide

Restarts
16.2 Types of Restarts

There are two types of restarts available in NX Nastran:
• Automatic
• Manual
With automatic restarts, NX Nastran automatically determines which operations need to

be performed during the current run based on the changes that are made in your input file.
Automatic restarts are easy to use, and they can potentially save you a substantial amount of
time—both CPU and elapsed time—by not having to resolve a problem from the beginning.
With manual restarts, in addition to providing the necessary input file changes, you are also
responsible for telling NX Nastran which major operations need to be performed. Manual
restarts are more difficult to use and are more prone to user error.
Restarts can use the same solution sequence or a different solution sequence. Restarting from
a statics run and requesting stress output is an example of a restart using the same solution
sequence. Restarting from a statics run into a normal modes run is an example of a restart
across solution sequences.
Within automatic restart, there are two different options:
• A read-write restart
• A read-only restart
Each of these is described below.
Understanding Restart Terminology

When you’re performing restart analyses in NX Nastran, your analyses are categorized into
cold start and restart runs.
Cold Start Runs
Your initial run is known as a “cold start” run and is identical to a regular NX Nastran job,
except that you must save your database. In addition to your normal output files (e.g., the .F06
file), NX Nastran creates four database files as a result of this run. The naming convention for
the filenames is machine dependent-you should refer to NX Nastran Installation and Operations
Guide for the exact syntax for your machine. For a typical UNIX machine with an NX Nastran
input file called “stat1.dat”, the following sample submittal command can be used:
nastran stat1 scr=no
In this case, nastran is the name of the shell script for executing NX Nastran. The “scr=no”
option in the above submittal command is not required if you have not modified the default value
of the submittal command as provided on the delivery media. By default, the following two
database files are created as a result of the above command:
• stat1.DBALL
• stat1.MASTER

Chapter 16 Restarts
Restart Runs
Once you’ve performed the cold start run and saved the database, subsequent runs are referred
to as “restart” runs.
16.3 Read-write Restarts

The following sections describe the changes you’ll need to make to your input file to restart
the analysis for a read-write restart.
NASTRAN Statement Section

This section is normally the same as your cold start run. You shouldn’t change the BUFFSIZE
in a restart run.
File Management Section (FMS)

This section tells NX Nastran that you are performing a restart run. In the FMS Section, only
two statements are needed: the “restart” statement to tell NX Nastran that this current run
is a restart run and the “assign” statement that tells NX Nastran the name of the database
you want to attach.
The RESTART statement is required in any restart run. The general format for the RESTART
statement is:
RESTART VERSION=a,b
where, “a” is the version from which you restart (the default value for “a” is LAST), and “b”
indicates whether version “a” will be kept (KEEP) or deleted (NOKEEP) at the end of the run.
The default value for “b” is NOKEEP. Due to the default values, the following two restart
statements are identical:
RESTART VERSION=LAST,NOKEEP
RESTART
Whenever you perform, the software automatically creates a new version number in the
database. For each restart, the current version number is incremented by one, regardless of
whether the job ran successfully or not. However, there are two exceptions to this rule (which are
discussed later on in the chapter).

Restarts
Restart–Method 1
You also need to tell NX Nastran the database that you want to attach to your current run.
There are two ways of accomplishing this goal. One way is to use the ASSIGN statement.
For example, if you are restarting from the database created by stat1.dat, the following FMS
statements can be used in your current run
RESTART
assign master= ’stat1.MASTER’
$
$ the following statement is optional
$
assign dball=’stat1.DBALL’
For UNIX machines, the filenames are case sensitive. They should be entered exactly as they
were created in the cold start run and enclosed with a single quotes as shown above. Note that
the use of the second ASSIGN statement is optional since the “master” DBset can find the
associated DBALL database.
Restart–Method 2
An alternate way to attach a restart database is to use the DBS keyword on the submittal
command instead of the ASSIGN statement. Assuming the current run is called stat2.dat, then
the equivalent submittal command is as follows:
nastran stat2 dbs=stat1
The ASSIGN statement is not needed in this case; however, the RESTART statement is needed
using either option. While the first method requires more input than the second method, it
also provides you with information about the database used for the restart run although this
information is also provided in the Execution Summary Table (.F04 for most machines).
Executive Control Section

In a restart analysis, the executive control section is identical to one in a cold start analysis.
Case Control Section

When you’re performing a restart analysis, the software’s automatic restart logic compares
the modifications you made to the Case Control and Bulk Data Sections to determine which
operations need to be processed upon restart. Therefore, you must be very careful in the changes
that you make in your restart run. Adhering to the following rules will avoid unnecessary
reprocessing of previously completed operations:
1. You must include in your restart run all solution-type related Case Control commands that
are unchanged as compared to the cold start run. In other words, do not make unnecessary
load, SPC, or MPC command changes or remove them from the Case Control Section unless
these are actual changes. This process is clarified later on with the example problems.
2. Output requests can be modified. A typical example can be a request of the element stress
output that was not requested in the cold start run.
Bulk Data Section

The software stores a copy of the Bulk Data for each version. Your restart run must not contain
any Bulk Data entries that were included with the previous version that you are restarting from
since they are already saved in the database for that particular version. The Bulk Data section

Chapter 16 Restarts
in the current restart run should only contain the addition of new entries, the modification of old
entries, or the deletion of old entries from the database. The following is a series of three runs
illustrating an application of a restart. The first run (Listing 16-2) is a sample statics run with
one loading condition, and it requests displacement output.
$
$ filename - stat1.dat
$
ID ROD,TEST
SOL 101
TIME 20
DIAG 8
CEND
TITLE= COLD START RUN
$
SPC = 1
$
SUBCASE 1
LOAD = 1
DISP = ALL
$
BEGIN BULK
$
GRID,1,,0.,0.,0.
GRID,2,,5.,0.,0.
GRID,3,,10.,0.,0.
CROD,1,1,1,2
CROD,2,1,2,3
PROD,1,1,.2
MAT1,1,1.+7,,.32
FORCE,1,2,,1000.,1.,0.,0.
SPC1,1,123456,1
PARAM,AUTOSPC,YES
$
ENDDATA
Listing 16-2. Input File for a Cold Start Run

The second run (Listing 16-3) is a restart run with an additional load condition. Displacement
and stress outputs are desired for this new loading condition. Furthermore, stress output for all
the elements is desired for Subcase 1. However, since you already printed the displacement for
Subcase 1 in your original run, you may elect not to reprint this information by removing the
displacement request from Subcase 1. There are no model changes as compared to the original
run. Note that the Bulk Data entries that were present in the original run must not be included
in the current run. The only entry in the Bulk Data Section is the new FORCE entry for Subcase
2, which was not included in the original run. Since this load is a new loading condition, the
FORCE entry must have an unique ID (2 in this case) as compared to the existing FORCE entry
ID (1 in this case) that is stored in the database.
This type of restart run constitutes an efficient restart since the re-decomposition of the stiffness
matrix is not performed; for a large problem, this can result in substantial CPU savings.

Restarts
$
restart
assign master=’stat1.MASTER’
ID ROD,TEST
SOL 101
TIME 20
DIAG 8
CEND
TITLE= RESTART RUN
$
SPC = 1
$
SUBCASE 1
LABEL = ADDITIONAL STRESS OUTPUT REQUEST
LOAD = 1
STRESS = ALL
$
SUBCASE 2
LABEL = ADDITIONAL LOAD CASE
LOAD = 2
DISP = ALL
STRESS = ALL
$
BEGIN BULK
$
$
$ NOTE THAT THE FORCE ID IS UNIQUE
$ WITH RESPECT TO EXISTING LOAD ID IN
$ THE DATABASE.
$
FORCE,2,2,,-500.,1.,0.,0.
$
ENDDATA
Listing 16-3. Input File for a Restart Runwith an Additional Load Case
The third run (Listing 16-4) is a restart run with a modification in the material property. The
same two loading conditions are used as run number two. A new material entry is added in this
run and the old material entry (the eighth sorted Bulk Data from the stat2.dat run) is deleted.
The general format for deleting a range of entries from the database is
/,x,y
where x and y are the range of the first and last sorted Bulk Data count to be deleted from the
database, respectively. You can have as many of these entries as you need. If you are only
deleting one entry (y=x), then either one of the following two formats can be used:
/,x,x
/,x
The sorted Bulk Data is output by default. If the ECHO Case Control command is specified in
the cold start run, it should be set to output the sorted Bulk Data (e.g., ECHO=SORT).
There may be times when you may be making substantial changes to the model. In this case, it
may be easier to delete the whole Bulk Data listing from the database and insert a complete
new Bulk Data file as shown below:
/,1,z
$ include a complete new bulk data listing
$
In this case, z stands for an integer larger than the total number of Bulk Data entries (e.g.,
999999). Alternatively, you could delete the database files and run the problem as a cold start run.

Chapter 16 Restarts
restart
assign master=’stat1.MASTER’
ID ROD,TEST
SOL 101
TIME 20
DIAG 8
CEND
TITLE= RESTART RUN
$
SPC = 1
$
SUBCASE 1
LABEL = DISPLACEMENT AND STRESS OUTPUT REQUEST
LOAD = 1
DISP = ALL
STRESS = ALL
$
SUBCASE 2
LABEL = ADDITIONAL LOAD CASE
LOAD = 2
DISP = ALL
STRESS = ALL
$
BEGIN BULK
$
/,8
mat1,1,3.+7,,.32
$
ENDDATA
Listing 16-4. Input File for a Restart Runwith Modified Material Property Entry
In this example, the old MAT1 entry is the eighth sorted Bulk Data (from run stat2.dat) as
shown by the following partial output:
CARD
COUNT . 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. 4 .. 5 .. 6 .. 7
1- CROD 1 1 1 2
2- CROD 2 1 2 3
3- FORCE 1 2 1000. 1. 0.
4- FORCE 2 2 -500. 1. 0.
5- GRID 1 0. 0. 0.
6- GRID 2 5. 0. 0.
7- GRID 3 10. 0. 0.
8- MAT1 1 1.+7 .32
9- PARAM AUTOSPC YES
10- PROD 1 1 .2
11- SPC1 1 123456 1
ENDDATA
TOTAL COUNT= 12
Listing 16-5. Sorted Bulk Data Listing from a Cold Start Run
This type of restart (run number 3) requires the reformulation of the stiffness matrix since the
material was changed. For a nonsuperelement run, this type of restart does not save you much in
terms of runtime, if any. This run (run number 3) is included merely to show you how to delete
information from the database. However, for superelement type runs, this type of restart can
still save you time since you may only be resolving a portion of the structure.
The model used in the above series of runs is quite simple. In most cases, such simple models do
not warrant the use of a restart since the savings are insignificant for such a small model. This

Restarts
simple example is chosen to illustrate the mechanics of how simple the restart feature is without
being distracted by the details of a complex model.
The same restart procedure can now be applied to a larger model. The model used is “BCLL16".
“BCLL16" is one of the standard test problems that is run for each new version of NX Nastran.
It is basically a 16 × 16 × 16 cube of CHEXA elements overlaid with a CQUAD4 elements on
the face of each CHEXA element to simulate a relatively dense stiffness matrix. The model
consists of 29,400 degrees of freedom. The following table illustrates the benefit of using restarts
for large models.
Table 16-1. BCLL16 Performance Summary

Run
Description CPU Time (Sec)
Number
Static analysis with one load case and the following output
1 372.1
request:
SET n = a,b,c,d
DISP = n
STRESS (PLOT) = All
After the completion of run number 1, you now decide that
you want additional printed stress output for a few selective
elements. One option is to rerun the same job from the
beginning with the following modified output request in the
2 Case Control Section: 364.5
SET m = x,y,z
STRESS = m
The second option is to restart from run number 1 with the
following modified output request in the Case Control Section:
3 5.0
SET m = x,y,z
STRESS = m
Note the tremendous savings in the CPU time (364.5 versus 5 seconds) between the run
numbers 2 and 3 with both runs accomplishing the same goal.
The cold start and restart input files used for run numbers 1 and 3 are shown in Listing 16-6
and Listing 16-7.
See “Mini-Database Restarts for efficient method of restarts when only data recovery is desired.”

Chapter 16 Restarts
$ FILENAME - BCLL16A.DAT
INIT DBALL,LOGICAL=(DBALL(200000))
INIT SCRATCH,LOGICAL=(SCRATCH(200000))
ID NXN, BCLL16A
TIME 300
SOL 101
CEND
TITLE = STATIC ANALYSIS OF A CELLULAR CUBE BCLL16A
SUBTITLE = 16 X 16 X 16 CUBE
ECHO=NONE
STRESS(PLOT)=ALL
SET 100 = 30080,40088,70880,80888
DISP = 100
LOAD=100
SPC=10
BEGIN BULK
$ BRING IN THE REST OF THE BULK DATA FILE
$
include ’bcllblk.dat’
ENDDATA
Listing 16-6. Input File for a BCELL16 Cold Start Run
$ FILENAME - RBCLL16A.DAT
$
RESTART
ASSIGN MASTER=’bcll16a.MASTER’
$
$ THE ABOVE STATEMENT ASSUMES THAT YOUR
$ COLDSTART INPUT FILENAME AS
$
$ bcll16a.dat
$
ID NXN, BCLL16A
TIME 100
SOL 101
CEND
TITLE = STATIC ALALYSIS OF A CELLULAR CUBE BCLL16A
SUBTITLE = 16 X 16 X 16 CUBE
ECHO=NOSORT
SET 100 = 30080,40088,70880,80888
set 200 = 1001,2001,3001,4001
$DISP = 100
stress = 200
LOAD=100
SPC=10
BEGIN BULK
$
$ SINCE THERE IS NO MODEL CHANGES, NO BULK
$ DATA ENTRIES ARE NEEDED
$
ENDDATA
Listing 16-7. Input File for a BCELL16 Restart Run

Note the user interface is quite straightforward considering the tremendous benefits in terms of
CPU reduction.

Restarts
16.4 Read-only Restarts

Read-only restart is very similar to read-write restart, except that original database is accessed
in a read-only mode. No new data is added to the existing database. Instead, all new data
is written to the new database, leaving the original database intact. You can delete the new
database or save it for another restart. The new database created during the restart run retains
an internal link to the original database.
To use read-only restart for the same example problem as in Listing 16-3, all you need to do is
modify the FMS statements from:
Restart
Assign master=’stat1.MASTER’
to:
Restart logical=run2
Assign run2=’stat1.MASTER’
In this case, run2 is an arbitrary logical name.
16.5 Mini-database Restarts

You can save on the database only those data blocks that are required for data recovery. The size
of the database, called a mini-database, is on average about 25% the size of a full database. For
pure data recovery run (no SPC or loading changes), this type of restart is very efficient.
To use this feature, use the following submittal command in the cold start run:
nastran jobname scr=mini
In the restart run, no special input is required because NX Nastran automatically detects a
mini-database and will process any output request from the table below.
The mini-database restart processes the following Case Control commands and user parameters
in SOL 101:
DISPLACEMENT
STRAIN
ELSDCON
STRFIELD
ESE
STRESS
FORCE
SUBCOM
GPFORCE
SUBSEQ
GPSDCON
SURFACE
GPSTRESS
SYMCOM
MPCFORCES
SYMSEQ
PARAM,POST
THERMAL
REPCASE
VOLUME
SPCFORCES
For cyclic symmetry analysis, you can’t change the HOUTPUT and NOUTPUT in the restart run.

Chapter 16 Restarts
16.6 Determining the Version for a Restart

Not all versions in the database are restartable. For each run, NX Nastran prints a message
near the top of the .F04 file indicating the version number of the current job. In general, if a job
completes without any fatal messages, and the database is saved, then that particular version
is restartable. It is a good idea to keep a brief log of all the restartable versions since this is
probably the most reliable source of information regarding whether a version is restartable. If a
restart job fails, e.g., due to Bulk Data error, then this newly created version is not restartable,
and it is indicated as such by the following error message at the bottom of the .F06 file.
*** USER WARNING MESSAGE 784 (XCLNUP)
VERSION = yyy PROJECT = “zzz” OF THIS DATA BASE IS NOT VALID FOR RESTART
PURPOSES.
USER ACTION:
SUBSEQUENT RESTARTS SHOULD REFERENCE VERSION = xxx OR A PRIOR VALID VERSION
In this case, you must restart from a previous valid version. The “xxx” and “yyy” above
denote version numbers. The “zzz” denotes a project description provided by you. This project
description is alphanumeric and can contain up to 40 characters with the default being blank.
The project description is rarely used and is an optional statement.
If for some reason the records for the old runs are no longer available, then the DBDIR FMS
statement can be used to query the database contents to find out which versions are stored in the
database. The following simple setup is all that is required for this purpose:
ASSIGN MASTER=’ddddd.MASTER’
DBDIR VERSION=*,PROJECT=*
ENDJOB
Neither the Executive, Case Control, nor Bulk Data Section is required in this case.
Furthermore, a new version is not created because the ENDJOB statement is present. Near the
top of the .F06 output, a PROJECT VERSION DIRECTORY TABLE is printed listing all the
versions in the database. A “**” next to a version number indicates that this particular version
was deleted from the database. This deletion may be due to the “NOKEEP” option or the use of
the DBCLEAN statement when performing a restart run. A version number with a “**” next to
it is not restartable. A version number without a “**” next to it is restartable if the run that
created the version did not terminate with UFM 784. This DBDIR FMS statement can also be
used to check the database directory for the existence of data blocks (e.g., UG). If the job fails
very early in the run (e.g., error in the FMS section), then a new version may not be created.
Always back up your database on a regular basis. If the system aborts the run, then your
database may get corrupted. Another good practice, which ensures that only good models are
retained in the database, is to perform the following:
1. Use RESTART VERSION=a,KEEP
where “a” is a version number.
2. If a version contains errors, or is no longer of interest, then you can use the FMS statement
DBCLEAN to remove obsolete or incorrect versions of the model from the database. Using
DBCLEAN allows the Executive System to reuse some of this space for new versions.

Chapter
17 Database Concepts
• Introduction to Database Concepts
• Understanding DBsets
• Delivery Database
• Deleting DBsets
• Database Autoassignment
• Database Project and Version
• Migrating Databases
• Database Archival, Compression, and Transfer
• Using the File Management Section with Databases
• Guidelines for Large Problems

Chapter 17 Database Concepts
17.1 Introduction to Database Concepts

All NX Nastran runs require a database. A database allows for the storage and retrieval of data:
data blocks, parameters, scratch files, and DMAP object and source files.
During a run, data may be written onto only one database. This is called the primary database
which is attached automatically or by the INIT MASTER statement. Additional databases
may be attached for “read-only” purposes. This includes a “delivery” database and one or more
“located” databases.
• The delivery database contains solution sequences and is automatically attached by the SOL
Executive statement or the ACQUIRE FMS statement.
• “Located” databases are attached by the DBLOCATE statement.
Before presenting the details of the database structure, the definitions for some of the basic
terms that are used throughout this chapter need to be presented.
Database set. DBset consists of an NX Nastran logical name, such as

DBset MASTER, DBALL, etc., which refers to an entity within the NX Nastran
database. It consists of a collection of physical files.
Database The collection of all DBsets assigned to a run.
Data block A matrix or table (e.g., KAA, LAMA) that is stored in the database.
The local internal name (log-name) used by NX Nastran for a file or
Logical name
DBset.
For 32- and 64-bit machines, each word is equivalent to four and eight
Word
bytes, respectively.
The length of an NX Nastran buffer in terms of words (32- or 64-bit
words). It controls the physical record size for data storage/transfer
that is contained in many NX Nastran logical units. The default and
BUFFSIZE
maximum allowable BUFFSIZE is machine dependent. The default
value is recommended except for large problems. It can be modified by
using the following NASTRAN statement:
NASTRAN BUFFSIZE = xxxxx
A block is often referred to as an NX Nastran GINO block. Each GINO

Block block contains one NX Nastran buffer. The size of each block is equal to
BUFFSIZE-1 words. (GINO is an acronym for general input/output.)
A brace indicates that the quantity within this bracket is mandatory.
{}
The underlined item within { } is the default value.
A square bracket indicates that the quantity within this bracket is
[]
optional.
_____ The underlined value is the default value for a particular option.

Database Concepts
17.2 Understanding DBsets

A database is divided into several DBsets which are initialized by the INIT file management
statement. There are two types of DBsets:
• Permanent DBsets, which you can save at the end of the run and reuse in a restart run
• Scratch DBsets, which are automatically deleted at the end of the run
A DBset may be composed of up to twenty concatenated physical files or DBset members. Each
member is assigned to a physical file by the ASSIGN statement.
For a typical UNIX-based workstation with an NX Nastran input file called “stat1.dat”, the
following sample submittal command can be used:
nastran stat1 scr=no
In the command above, nastran is the name of the shell script used to execute NX Nastran. The
following two permanent physical database files are created as a result of the above command.
• stat1.MASTER
• stat1.DBALL
Note that the temporary scratch files are allocated and used by NX Nastran during the solve
and are deleted at the end. Unless otherwise stated, the input filename is assumed to be
“stat1.dat” in this chapter.
By default, there are four DBsets—two permanent and two scratch—which are predefined and
automatically assigned by the program. The DBset names of the predefined permanent DBsets
are: MASTER and DBALL. The DBset-names of the predefined scratch DBsets are: SCRATCH
and OBJSCR. The DBsets are briefly described below:
• The MASTER DBset is the directory of the database. It contains the names of all DBsets,
DBset members and their physical file names, and a directory of projects, versions, data
blocks, parameters, DMAP source and object files. It also contains the NDDL scheme used to
describe the database. The default maximum size for MASTER is 5,000 blocks.
• The DBALL DBset contains all the DMAP data blocks which may be saved permanently for
reuse in a subsequent run. In the solution sequences in which restarts are not possible,
(e.g., SOL 1) this DBset is empty.
• The SCRATCH DBset is a temporary DBset for all scratch data blocks and files. It has two
partitions: one for DMAP data blocks and one for DMAP module internal scratch files.
• The SCR300 DBset is used as the temporary workspace for the modules. This space is
released at the end of the module execution to be reused by subsequent modules. The default
size is 250,000 blocks
• The OBJSCR DBset is a temporary DBset for DMAP compilation.
• If you want to create your own DMAP source and object files, you need to allocate the
USROBJ and USRSOU DBsets. They contain DMAP source and object files that may be
saved permanently for execution in a subsequent run. See the COMPILE Executive Control
statement.
If an INIT and ASSIGN statement aren’t specified for one or more of the predefined DBsets, then
the corresponding statement(s) are provided by default.

ASSIGN MASTER=’dbs-name.MASTER’
INIT MASTER(RAM) LOGICAL=(MASTER(5000))
ASSIGN DBALL=’dbs-name.DBALL’
INIT DBALL LOGICAL=(DBALL(25000))
ASSIGN USROBJ=’dbs-name.USROBJ’
INIT USROBJ LOGICAL=(USROBJ(5000))
ASSIGN USRSOU=’dbs-name.USRSOU’
INIT USRSOU LOGICAL=(USRSOU(5000))
ASSIGN SCRATCH=’temp-name.SCRATCH’
ASSIGN SCR300=’temp-name.SCR300’
INIT SCRATCH(MEM) LOGICAL=(SCRATCH(175000)),
SCR300=(SCR300(175000))
ASSIGN OBJSCR=’temp-name.OBJSCR’
INIT OBJSCR LOGICAL=(OBJSCR(5000))
The numbers inside the parentheses are the maximum sizes of the DBsets in GINO blocks. By
default, one member with the same log-name as the DBset-name is assigned to each DBset. (For
a description of a GINO block, DBset-name and log-name, see the INIT statement). For example,
the DBALL DBset has one member also called DBALL. The dbs-name is determined from the dbs
keyword on the nastran command and temp-name is generated by the command procedure. The
scratch DBsets are assigned special names on a scratch disk. (For a description of the dbs-name
and temp-name, see the NX Nastran Installation and Operations Guide).
The filenames above are those that would be generated on UNIX-type computers. For example, if
the name of the input file is called MYJOB.DAT and the dbs keyword isn’t specified, then the
default filenames for the permanent DBsets would be:
• MYJOB.MASTER
• MYJOB.DBALL
Also, they would have the same directory or path as the input file.
A physical filename is automatically created for any new DBsets specified by an INIT statement.
For example, to create a new DBset called DBUP for split database operations, specify:
INIT DBUP
The physical filename will then be: MYJOB.DBUP. For another example, to create two members
for DBALL, specify
INIT DBALL LOGI=(DB1 ,DB2)
Their physical filenames will be MYJOB.DB1 and MYJOB.DB2.

You can use the ASSIGN statement o override these default names. For example, to rename
MYJOB.DBUP to FENDER.DBUP, specify
ASSIGN DBUP=’FENDER.DBUP’
INIT DBUP
To rename MYJOB.DB1 and MYJOB.DB2, specify

ASSIGN DB1 =’FENDER.DBALL1’
ASSIGN DB2=’FENDER.DBALL2’
INIT DBALL LOGI=(DB1,DB2)

Database Concepts
The INIT statement may be used to change the maximum size of the predefined DBsets. (The
size may be specified in blocks, kilowords, megawords, kilobytes, or megabytes.) For example,
to specify a size of 50,000 blocks for DBALL,
or 50,000 bytes,
INIT DBALL LOGICAL=(DBALL(50KB))
The INIT and ASSIGN statement may be used to specify more than one member for a DBset
which may exist on different physical devices.
ASSIGN DB1 =’physical file name of DB1 on disk 1’
ASSIGN DB2=’physical file name of DB2 on disk 2’
INIT DBALL LOGICAL=(DB1(5000),DB2(5000))
17.3 Delivery Database

The Delivery Database contains the solution sequences. This database, in addition to the
primary database, is automatically assigned in order to execute an NX Nastran solution
sequence. For example, on UNIX-type computers, the filenames of the database are
SSS.MASTERA
SSS.MSCOBJ
SSS.MSCSOU
If the solution sequence is not an NX Nastran solution sequence, as in the case of a user’s
solution sequence; then the ACQUIRE FMS statement may be used to select the appropriate
database. ACQUIRE NDDL selects the SSS database. The ACQUIRE statement is required
when the DBLOAD FMS statement is used with the ENDJOB FMS statement.
17.4 Deleting DBsets

There are several different ways that you can control what happens to permanent DBSets in
the primary database at the end of a solve.
• If scr=yes is specified on the nastran command or the INIT MASTER(S) statement appears
in the FMS Section, then NX Nastran deletes all DBsets in the primary database.
• An individual DBset member is automatically deleted at the end of the run by specifying
the TEMP keyword on the ASSIGN statement. For example, to delete the USROBJ and
USRSOU DBsets at the end of the run, specify:
ASSIGN USROBJ=’A’ TEMP
ASSIGN USROBJ=’B’ TEMP
Note: If you use this method to delete a DBset, you can’t recreate it for a future run.
• The DBSETDEL FMS statement provides a better method than the TEMP keyword on the
ASSIGN statement except that the DBsets are deleted at the beginning of the run. The
deleted DBsets may be recreated in a future run. For example:
DBSETDEL USROBJ,USRSOU

17.5 Database Autoassignment

When a database is created, the physical filenames of all DBset members are loaded into the
MASTER DBset. Therefore, when using DBLOCATE or RESTART, it is sufficient to assign the
MASTER DBset member. All other DBset members previously initialized, i.e., DBALL, DBUP,
etc., are automatically assigned by the program. For example, on restart, the following input will
automatically assign the DBALL, USROBJ, and USRSOU DBsets:
ASSIGN MASTER=’filename of the MASTER DBset member’
RESTART
If DBLOCATE is used, then:

ASSIGN MSTR1 =’filename of the MASTER DBset member’
DBLOCATE LOGI=MSTR1
The autoassignment feature cannot assign the physical file of a DBset member that has been
renamed. This is because the MASTER DBset member contains the old physical filename.
Therefore, an additional ASSIGN statement is required to specify the new filename of the DBset
member. If in the previous restart example DBALL is renamed, then the following input is
required:
ASSIGN MASTER=’filename of the MASTER DBset member’
ASSIGN DBALL=’new filename of the DBALL DBset member’
RESTART
In split database operations, it is often necessary to assign only some of the DBsets because
the others are “offline.” The NASTRAN AUTOASGN statement is used to specify the types of
databases that will be autoassigned:
1. AUTOASGN = 0: No databases will be autoassigned. This includes the primary database,
Delivery Database, and any located databases.
2. AUTOASGN = 1: All databases will be autoassigned. This is the default.
3. AUTOASGN = 2: Only the Delivery Database will be autoassigned.
4. AUTOASGN = 4: Only located databases will be autoassigned.
If some combination of the options above is desired, then sum their values. For example, if the
delivery and located databases are to be autoassigned, then specify NASTRAN AUTOASGN = 6.
17.6 Database Project and Version

All data stored on the primary database is assigned to a particular project identification string
(ID) and version identification number (ID). The current project ID is specified on the PROJECT
FMS statement. The current version ID is an integer value assigned by the program each time
the database is attached as the primary database. When a primary database is initialized or a
new project is specified, then all items stored on the database during the run are stored under a
version ID of integer 1. Then, in subsequent runs a new version is created with an ID equal to
the last version ID incremented by one. If the RESTART FMS statement is specified, then a new
version of data is created which is equivalent to the last version. In other words, all items in the
old version are made available for reuse in the new version.

Database Concepts
17.7 Migrating Databases

Databases between versions in general aren’t compatible and must be converted, or migrated,
before you can use them in a higher version of the software. This is required primarily because
NDDL sequences change. For example, some qualifiers may have been added to the paths of
some data blocks in order to support new capabilities in the solution sequences. Also, NDDL
description of some data blocks change.
Importantly, a database created in nonlinear analysis, heat transfer analysis, or optimization
analysis cannot be fully migrated. This is because of changes in Bulk Data entry formats and/or
data blocks. Also, it would be inefficient to recreate because it is created by modules which
perform the bulk of a nonlinear analysis.
You can migrate a database in a single run which consists of two phases.
• In the first phase, the DBLOCATE FMS statement with the CONVERT and COPY keywords
is used to copy most of the data blocks and all of the parameters from the earlier version
database to the current version primary database.
• In the second phase, the remaining data blocks which cannot simply be copied into the
current version have to be regenerated. This involves the execution of a short solution
sequence that regenerates those data blocks: specify SOL DBTRANS (or SOL 190).
For example, the input file necessary to migrate a database created by one of the structured
solution sequences (SOLs 100 through 200) is:
ASSIGN MIG=’physical filename of the MASTER DBset’
RFINCL DBTRANS
SOL DBTRANS
CEND
With the DBTRANS solution sequence, it is assumed that the early version database contains all
of the data from a completed and successful analysis. If not, then the solution sequences may fail
and the migration may not be successful. In this case, it is possible to alter DBTRANS with the
ALTER statement to obtain the appropriate data.
If the earlier version database wasn’t created by an NX Nastran solution sequence, then it may
be necessary to develop new DBLOCATE statements and a new migration solution sequence.
17.8 Database Archival, Compression, and Transfer

Database archival, compression and transfers are performed using the DBUNLOAD and
DBLOAD FMS statements. You can select all items on the database or selected items according
to the WHERE clause.

Database Archival and Retrieval

The DBUNLOAD FMS statement is used to archive the primary database. It writes out the data
blocks and parameters stored in the database to a sequential file in a binary format which
is similar to that of the OUTPUT2 module (see NX Nastran DMAP Programmer’s Guide). A
database can only be unloaded in a run separate from the run in which it is created or modified.
The default action is to archive all data blocks and parameters under all projects and versions in
the database. The ASSIGN FMS statement is also required to assign a FORTRAN unit on which
to unload the database. The default unit number is 50. This unit number and other default
attributes are predefined under the logical keyword DBUNLOAD. For example, a simple request
to unload or archive a database is as follows:
ASSIGN DBUNLOAD=’physical filename of archive file’
DBUNLOAD
ENDJOB
The DBLOAD FMS statement is used to read an archived database and copy it to the primary
database. The ACQUIRE statement is required to select the appropriate NDDL sequence. The
ASSIGN FMS statement is also required to assign a FORTRAN unit to the unloaded database.
The default unit number is 51. This unit number and other default attributes are predefined
under the logical keyword DBLOAD. For example, a simple request to reload the archived
database above is as follows:
ACQUIRE NDDL
ASSIGN DBLOAD=’physical filename of archive file’
DBLOAD
ENDJOB
The example above makes use of the ENDJOB statement, which means that only the FMS
statements will be processed in the run. A new BUFFSIZE may be assigned to the retrieved
database with the NASTRAN statement. SOL DBTRANS or DBTRANU must also be executed:
NASTRAN BUFFSIZE=xxxx
ASSIGN DBLOAD=’physical filename of archive file’
DBLOAD
SOL DBTRANS
CEND
By default, the DBLOAD and DBUNLOAD statements will load and unload all the data under
all projects and versions found in the database. The WHERE clause may be used to be more
selective according to the project ID, version ID, item name, qualifier values, and/or DBset. Also,
the CONVERT clause may be used to modify the project ID, version ID, item name, qualifier
values, and/or DBset.
Database Compression
When data is deleted from the database, its space is released for the storage of new data. This
old space will be reused before any new space is used. However, even if the space is not reused,
the size of the database is not reduced. After several restarts or the execution of the DBCLEAN
FMS statement, the database may contain a significant amount of released or “dead” space.
There are two methods of removing dead space or “compressing” the database. The first method
involves the DBUNLOAD and DBLOAD FMS statements, and the examples shown above will
also perform a database compression. The second and simplest method involves the DBLOCATE
statement specified with the COPY keyword. For example, if the database was created with
SOLs 100 through 200, then the input file is:
ACQUIRE NDDL
ASSIGN MYDB=’physical file name of the MASTER DBset’
DBLOCATE LOGI=MYDB COPY
ENDJOB

Database Concepts
It is also possible to compress an individual DBset and change its maximum size. For example,
the input file is:
ACQUIRE NDDL
ASSIGN MYDB=’physical file name of the MASTER DBset’
DBLOCATE LOGI=MYDB COPY WHERE(DBSET=’DBALL’)
ENDJOB
Transferring Databases Across Different Platforms

You can also use the DBUNLOAD and DBLOAD statements to copy a database from one
computer platform to another.
• On the first computer, the DBUNLOAD statement converts the database to a “neutral” file on
the first computer. This neutral file is now suitable for a simple copy to the second computer
or may be accessed through a network if the two computers are so connected.
• On the second computer, the DBLOAD statement converts the neutral file back to a database.
It is also necessary to execute the solution sequence DBTRANS (or 190) as described under
Database Migration, because some data blocks cannot be converted to a neutral format. (In
SOL DBTRANS; data blocks EST, EMAP, ETT, PTELEM, SLT, KDICT, KELM, MDICT,
MELM, BDICT, BELM, and ACPT are regenerated.)
The ASSIGN statement is also required to assign the physical filename of the neutral file and
specify that the file is formatted since the default format (UNFORMATTED) is not transferable
across dissimilar computers.
The following example unloads a database created by one of the unstructured solution sequences
on the first computer to a neutral file:
ASSIGN DBUNLOAD=’physical filename of neutral file’ FORMATTED
DBUNLOAD FORMAT=NEUTRAL
ENDJOB
Then the neutral file is copied to, or accessed through a network by, the second computer:
ASSIGN DBLOAD=’physical filename of neutral file’ FORMATTED
DBLOAD FORMAT=NEUTRAL
SOL DBTRANU
CEND
With the DBTRANS solution sequence it is assumed that the neutral file contains all of the data
from a completed and successful analysis. If not, then the solution sequences may fail and the
transfer may not be successful. In this case, it is possible to alter DBTRANS with the ALTER
statement to obtain the appropriate data.
If the database was created in a heat transfer analysis then NASTRAN HEAT = 1 must be
specified.
If the database on the first computer was not created by a NX Nastran solution sequence, then it
may be necessary to develop a new transfer solution sequence.

17.9 Using the File Management Section with Databases

The File Management Section (FMS) is intended primarily for the attachment and initialization
of NX Nastran database sets (DBsets) and FORTRAN files. For many problems due to the
default values, the FMS is handled automatically and is not required to be specified by you.
You can allocate the database file size in any of the following units:
• Bytes
• Words
• Megabytes (1,000,000 bytes)
• Megawords (1,000,000 words)
• Kilobytes (1,000 bytes)
• Kilowords (1,000 words)
• NX Nastran GINO blocks (default)
• Mixture of the above units
Internally, NX Nastran converts these units to GINO blocks. If an FMS statement is longer than
72 characters, it must be continued on the next line. You can have a maximum of 200 files
(FORTRAN and DBsets) assigned (online) at a time. This limit may be less for some machines
due to their operating system limit.
Using the INIT Statement

INIT creates/initializes permanent and/or temporary DBsets. The INIT statement has two basic
formats: one for all the DBsets and one specifically for the SCRATCH DBsets.
Format (Simplified) for All DBsets Except SCRATCH DBsets

INIT DBset-name [LOGICAL=(log-name1(max-size1) ,
log-name2(max-size2),...log-namei(max-sizei) ,
...log-namen(max-sizen))]
DBset-name The logical name of the DBset being used (e.g., DBALL).
The i-th logical name for the DBset-name referenced in this INIT
statement. You can have up to 20 logical names for each DBset (1
log-namei
≤ n ≤ 20 ). An ASSIGN statement may be used to attach a physical
file to the i-th logical file.
max-sizei The maximum allowable size that may be written to the i-th file.

Database Concepts
Example A
The following statement creates the DBALL DBset with a logical name of DBALL and the
maximum size of 50,000 NX Nastran blocks instead of 250,000 blocks, which is the default
value for DBALL:
Assuming that your input file is called “stat1.dat”, the physical file has the name stat1.DBALL
unless an ASSIGN statement is also used.
The following statement creates the DBALL DBset with logical names of DB1 and DBTWO:
INIT DBALL LOGICAL=(DB1(35000),DBTWO(60000))
The two physical files stat1.DB1 and stat1.DBTWO are created with a maximum of 35,000
and 60,000 NX Nastran blocks, respectively.
Format (Simplified) for the SCRATCH DBset

INIT SCRATCH [LOGICAL=(log-name1(max-size1) ,
log-name2(max-size2),...log-namei(max-sizei)) ,
SCR300=(log-namei+1(max-sizei+1),...log-namen(max-sizen))]
Log-name1 through log-namei are allocated for regular scratch files as temporary workspace.
This space is not released until the end of the job. SCR300 is a special keyword that indicates the
log-names are members reserved for DMAP module internal scratch files. The space occupied
by these files is for the duration of the execution of the module. This space is released at the
end of the module execution. You can have up to a combined total of 20 logical names for the
SCRATCH DBset (1 ≤ n ≤ 20).
Example B
The following statement creates the SCRATCH DBset with logical names of SCR1, SCR2, SCRA,
and SCRB:
INIT SCRATCH LOGICAL=(SCR1(150MW),SCR2(100MW)) ,
SCR300=(SCRA(250MW),SCRB(300MW))
The two physical files stat1.SCR1 and stat1.SCR2 are created with maximum sizes of 150 and
100 megawords, respectively. These two files are regular scratch files. Two additional physical
files stat1.SCRA and stat1.SCRB are created with maximum sizes of 250 and 300 megawords,
respectively. These last two files are SCR300-type files.
Using the ASSIGN Statement

Use ASSIGN to assign a physical filenames to logical filenames or special FORTRAN files that
are used by other FMS statements or DMAP modules.

Format (Simplified) to Assign Logical Files

ASSIGN log-namei=’filenamei’ [TEMP DELETE]
log-namei The i-th logical name for the DBset created by the INIT statement.
TEMP Requests that filenamei be deleted at the end of the job.
Requests that filenamei be deleted if it exists before the start of the
run. This is optional; however, if this option is not used and the file
DELETE
exists prior to the current run, then the job may fail with the following
messages:
*** USER FATAL MESSAGE 773 (DBDEF)

THE FOLLOWING PHYSICAL FILE ALREADY EXISTS.
LOGICAL NAME = xxxx
PHYSICAL FILE = yyyy
USER INFORMATION: NO ASSOCIATED DEFAULT FILES OR ASSIGNED DBSETS CAN
EXIST PRIOR TO THE DATA BASE INITIALIZATION RUN.
USER ACTION: DELETE THIS FILE AND RESUBMIT THE JOB.
DELETE is not a suggested option if you are using RESTART since you can delete your database
inadvertently. Manual deletion of unwanted databases is a safer approach.
Example C
The following statements create a logical name DB1 for the DBset DBALL in the current
directory:
ASSIGN DB1=’sample.DB1’
INIT DBALL LOGICAL=(DB1(50000))
The physical file sample.DB1 is created in this case. Without the ASSIGN statement, the physical
filename created is called stat1.DB1, assuming once again that your input file is called stat1.dat.
The following statements create the two logical names DB1 and DB2 for the DBset DBALL:
ASSIGN DB1=’/mydisk1/se/sample.DB1’
ASSIGN DB2=’/mydisk2/sample.DB2’
INIT DBALL LOGICAL=(DB1(50000),DB2(40000))
DB1 points to a physical file called sample.DB1 that resides in the file system (directory)
/mydisk1/se. DB2 points to a physical file called sample.DB2 that resides in the file system
(directory) /mydisk2.
Format (Simplified) to Assign FORTRAN Files

ASSIGN log-key=’filenamef’ [STATUS={new,old},UNIT=u ,
FORM={FORMATTED,UNFORMATTED},DELETE]
This is the logical keyword for the FORTRAN file being assigned. This file
may already exist. The default value depends on the keyword. Acceptable
log-key keywords are
DBC,DBMIG,INPUTT2,INPUTT4,OUTPUT2,OUTPUT4,
DBUNLOAD,DBLOAD, and USERFILE.
See the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide for detailed descriptions of these keywords and
their default values.

Database Concepts
filenamef The physical name of the FORTRAN file.

Specifies whether the FORTRAN file is created (STATUS = new) or is an
STATUS
existing file (STATUS = old).
UNIT Specifies the FORTRAN unit (e.g., UNIT = 12).
Specifies whether the file written is in ASCII (FORM = FORMATTED)
FORM or binary (FORM = UNFORMATTED) format. Note that if the log-key is
OUTPUT2, the FORMATTED output is in compressed ASCII format.
DELETE Requests that filenamef be deleted, if it exists before the start of the run.
Example D
The following example creates a new FORTRAN file to be used for OUTPUT2 operations:
ASSIGN OUTPUT2=’sample.out’,STATUS=NEW,UNIT=11,FORM=FORMATTED
This FORTRAN file is in compressed ASCII format with a filename of sample.out and is assigned
to unit 11. Note that a compressed ASCII file can be transferred directly across machines,
but it should not be edited.
Using the EXPAND Statement

Expand concatenates files into an existing DBset in order to increase the allowable disk space
available for NX Nastran. The EXPAND statement is normally used in a restart run when you
exceed the disk space allocation in your previous run.
Format
EXPAND DBset-name LOGICAL=(log-namei(max-sizei),... )
The logical name of the DBset to be expanded by the addition of new

DBset-name
members to an existing DBset previously defined with an INIT statement.
The logical name of the i-th member of the DBset. An ASSIGN statement
log-namei
should be used to point this logical name to a physical file.
max-sizei The maximum size of the i-th member.
Only one EXPAND statement is allowed per run.

Example E
The original run creates a database with the name stat1.DBALL. However, this database was
filled and the job failed with the following error messages in the .F06 file:
*** USER FATAL MESSAGE 1012 (GALLOC)
DBSET DBALL IS FULL AND NEEDS TO BE EXPANDED.
For small to medium problems, it is best to rerun the job from the beginning with a larger file
allocation. For large problems, if rerunning the job is not practical, then the database can be
expanded with the following FMS statements:
RESTART
ASSIGN MASTER=’stat1.MASTER’
ASSIGN DBADD=’morespace.DB’
EXPAND DBALL LOGICAL=(DBADD(50000))
These statements assign an additional member, with a logical name of DBADD, to the existing
DBset DBALL. This member points to a new physical file called morespace.DB, which may
contain up to a maximum of 50,000 NX Nastran blocks. You are restarting from “stat1.MASTER”
in this case.
The EXPAND statement cannot be used for the scratch files since they are deleted at the end
of each job.
Using the RESTART Statement

RESTART allows you to continue from the end of the previous run without solving the problem
from the beginning.
Format
RESTART [PROJECT=’proj-ID’, VERSION={version-ID,LAST},{KEEP,NOKEEP}]
Project identifier used in the original run. It can have up to 40 characters.

proj-ID This option is optional and is normally not used. The default proj-ID
is blank.
version-ID The version number that you are restarting from.
If this option is used, then the version that you are restarting from is also
KEEP
saved at the end of the current run.
If this option is used, then the version that you are restarting from is
NOKEEP
deleted at the end of the current run.

Database Concepts
Example F
The following statement causes the current run to use the last version in the database for the
restart:
RESTART
At the end of the run, this last version that you are restarting from is deleted from the database.
This is probably the most commonly used form for RESTART.
The following statement instructs the current run (version 6 or higher) to use version 5 in the
database for restart:
RESTART VERSION=5,KEEP
At the end of the run, version 5 is also retained in the database. This format is used most often
when you want to ensure that a specific version is saved in the database (e.g., a large run from
which you may want to request additional data recovery in the future).
The following statement specifies that the current run (version 4 or higher with a proj-ID of xyz)
uses version 3 with a proj-ID of xyz in the database for restart:
RESTART PROJ=’xyz’ VERSION=3
At the end of the run, version 3 with a proj-ID of xyz is deleted from the database.
Using the DBCLEAN Statement

DBCLEAN deletes unwanted versions from the database. The DBCLEAN statement does not
reduce the size of the database. This statement deletes the data blocks for the specified versions
to allow other data blocks to reuse this space for subsequent restarts without potentially
increasing the database size. Up to ten DBCLEAN statements can be used in the FMS for
each run.
Format
DBCLEAN VERSION={version-ID,*} [PROJECT={’project-ID’,*}]
version-ID The version number that you want to remove from the database.
The identifier of the project to be deleted. The default is blank, which
project-ID
is the most commonly used form.
This is a wildcard command. It removes all versions or projects from
*
the database.
Example G
The following statements delete versions 3 and 6 with a blank proj-ID from the database in
the current run:
DBCLEAN VERSION=3
DBCLEAN VERSION=6

Using the DBDIR Statement

The DBDIR statement prints the database directory.
Format
DBDIR [VERSION={version-ID,*}] [PROJECT={proj-ID,*}][FORMAT={format-no}]
version-ID Version number.

proj-ID Project number.
* This is a wildcard command. It refers to all versions or projects.
This controls the type of directory information printed. The value is the
sum of the desired types listed below. The default value is 63 (sum of
first six values), which means the first six types will be printed.
1 = Project version table
format-no 2 = NDDL data blocks
4 = NDDL parameters
8 = NDDL empty data blocks
16 = NDDL data block trailers
32 = NDDL path value table for NDDL entries
64 = Scratch data blocks
Example H
The following statement causes the printing of the database directory for all versions of the
current project-ID in the database:
DBDIR

Database Concepts
Using the INCLUDE Statement

The INCLUDE statement inserts an external file at the location where the INCLUDE statement
is used.
Inserts an external file at the location where this INCLUDE statement is used. It is not a pure
FMS statement because it can be used anywhere in the input file, not just in the FMS section.
Format
Include ’filename’
filename Physical filename of external file to be inserted at this location.
The following run reads a file called sub1.dat with all the Case Control commands contained in it:
Sol 101
cend
include ’sub1.dat’
begin bulk
$
include ’bulk1.dat’
include ’bulk2.dat’
$
$ rest of bulk data file
$
.
.
enddata
This run also brings two additional files (bulk1.dat and bulk2.dat) into the Bulk Data Section.
You may, for example, want to include all your grid entries in file bulk1.dat and all your element
connectivities in bulk2.dat. As you can see, the INCLUDE statement can be a handy tool. For
parametric studies, you can potentially save a tremendous amount of disk space by using the
INCLUDE statement instead of having multiple files with duplicate input data.
17.10 Guidelines for Large Problems

In general, you can solve small to medium sized problems in NX Nastran with very little
knowledge of FMS statements and database structure. However, when you’re solving large
problems, knowledge of FMS statements and database structure can help you to allocate and
optimize your computer resources.
When running large problems, you should have some idea of the resource requirements—both
disk space and computer time—prior to engaging in the actual analysis. A utility program called
ESTIMATE provides a set of recommended resource values for running a particular job.
For most small to medium problems, the default values for all the file assignments should be
more than adequate. However, for a large problem, larger disk space allocation may be necessary.
Several examples are shown in this section that illustrate various options and consequences with
each option. The submittal command for each example is shown followed by a partial listing of
the corresponding input file. In each case, it is assumed that you are running on a UNIX machine
with “nastran” as the name of the shell script executing NX Nastran.
See also
• “ESTIMATE” in the NX Nastran Installation and Operations Guide

Example I
The following submittal command and FMS statements allocate 300,000 and 5,000 NX Nastran
GINO blocks for DBALL and MASTER, respectively:
nastran runa scr=no
$
$ filename - runa.dat
$
INIT SCRATCH,LOGICAL=(SCRATCH(200000)) ,
SCR300=(SCR300(200000))
$
$ THE REST OF YOUR INPUT FILE
$
Furthermore, the following physical files are created and saved in your current directory:
• runa.DBALL
• runa.MASTER
These statements also allocate 200,000 and 200,000 NX Nastran GINO blocks for SCRATCH and
SCR300, respectively. These two files are allocated to the default scratch directory during the
course of the run and are deleted at the end of the run. Since the database is saved, this job is
restartable. Other than the allocation size of the databases, this is identical to the default setup.
When using the “scr = yes” option on the submittal command, the permanent data blocks that
are normally written to the DBALL DBset are now written to the SCRATCH DBset.
Example J
The submittal command and FMS statements below allocate 50, 500, and 800 megabytes for
DBALL, SCRATCH, and SCR300, respectively. Furthermore, by default, 5,000 NX Nastran
GINO blocks are allocated each for the MASTER dbset. During the course of the run, all of these
files are allocated to your default scratch directory. Because you are using the “scr=yes” option on
the submittal command, the permanent data blocks that are normally written to the DBALL
DBset are now written to the SCRATCH DBset. In other words, you must allocate the disk space
to the SCRATCH DBset, which you would normally allocate to the DBALL DBset, when you
use the “scr=yes” option on the submittal command. At the end of the run, all of these files are
deleted automatically; this action is different from the previous versions of NX Nastran. Since
the database is not saved, this job is not restartable.
nastran runb scr=yes
$
$ filename - runb.dat
$
INIT DBALL,LOGICAL=(DBALL(50MB))
INIT SCRATCH,LOGICAL=(SCRATCH(500MB)) ,
SCR300=(SCR300(800MB))
$
$

Database Concepts
Example K
If you have sufficient disk space in your current and default scratch file systems (disk packs), the
method shown in “Example A” or “Example B” is the preferred procedure since it is the simplest
method. However, if you do not have sufficient disk space in these two file systems, but have
other file systems (e.g., /disk2, /disk3, and /disk4) mounted to your system, then the procedure
listed below can be used. You must have read and write privileges in order to use these file
systems. For this example, the three new file systems are /disk2, /disk3, and /disk4.
nastran runc scr=no
$
$ filename - runc.dat
$
ASSIGN DBALL1=’runc.db1’
ASSIGN DBALL2=’/disk2/user_guide/statics/runc.db2’
ASSIGN SCRATCH2=’/disk3/user_guide/statics/runc.scrtch2’
ASSIGN SC3B=’/disk4/user_guide/statics/runc.sc3b’
$
INIT DBALL,LOGICAL=(DBALL1(200000KB),DBALL2(100000KB))
INIT SCRATCH,LOGICAL=(SCRATCH1(100000),SCRATCH2(100000)) ,
SCR300=(SC3A(150000),SC3B(50000))
$
$
The permanent database is broken up into two separate logical files (DBALL1 and DBALL2).
The above run allocates 200,000 and 100,000 kilobytes for DBALL1 and DBALL2, respectively.
The run also allocates 5,000 GINO blocks for the MASTER dbset. DBALL1 is allocated to the
current directory that you are running on with the physical filename of “runc.db1". DBALL2 is
allocated to the “/disk2/user_guide/statics” directory with a physical filename of “runc.db2". The
following additional physical file is also created in your current directory:
runc.MASTER
These three files are saved at the end of the run and the job is restartable.
The regular SCRATCH and SCR300 files are each divided into two separate files. Two logical
files (SCRATCH1 and SCRATCH2) are assigned to the regular SCRATCH file. SCRATCH1
is assigned to the default scratch directory requesting 100,000 GINO blocks. SCRATCH2 is
assigned to the “/disk3/user_guide/statics” directory with a filename of “runc.scrtch2" and
requesting 100,000 GINO blocks. The SCR300 file is also divided into two files (SC3A and SC3B).
SC3A requests 150,000 blocks and assigns this disk space to the default scratch directory. SC3B
requests 50,000 blocks and assigns this disk space to the “/disk4/user_guide/statics” directory
with a filename of “runc.sc3b”. All four of these scratch files are deleted at the end of the run.
nastran rund scr=yes

Example L
Even though the setup in “Example D” looks virtually the same as that in “Example C,” the
“scr=yes” keyword causes the permanent data blocks-that are normally written to the DBALL
DBset-to be written to the SCRATCH DBset. In other words, except for the amount used for
overhead, the space that you have allocated to DBALL1 and DBALL2 is not used at all. You
must adjust the disk space allocation to the SCRATCH DBset that you normally would allocate
to the DBALL DBset when you use the “scr=yes” option on the submittal command. The correct
action in this case is to increase the disk space allocation for SCRATCH1 and SCRATCH2, and
decrease the disk space allocation for DBALL1 and DBALL2. Once again, since the database is
not saved, this job is not restartable.
$
$ filename - rund.dat
$
ASSIGN DBALL1=’rund.db1’
ASSIGN DBALL2=’/disk2/user_guide/statics/runc.db2’
ASSIGN SCRATCH2=’/disk3/user_guide/statics/runc.scrtch2’
ASSIGN SC3B=’/disk4/user_guide/statics/runc.sc3b’
$
INIT DBALL,LOGICAL=(DBALL1(200000KB),DBALL2(100000KB))
INIT SCRATCH,LOGICAL=(SCRATCH1(100000),SCRATCH2(100000)) ,
SCR300=(SC3A(150000),SC3B(50000))
$
$
BUFFSIZE
BUFFSIZE is the length of an NX Nastran buffer in terms of words (32- or 64-bit words). It
controls the physical record size for data storage/transfer that is contained in many NX Nastran
logical units. The default and maximum allowable BUFFSIZE is machine dependent. The
default value is recommended except for large problems. Each 32-, and 64-bit word contains
4 and 8 bytes, respectively. This feature can be invoked by including the following NASTRAN
statement in your input file.
NASTRAN BUFFSIZE=xxxxx
where xxxxx = (n · disk-block-size) + 1 ≤ limit and n is a positive integer.

The acceptable values of disk-block-size and limit are machine dependent and are defined in
Table 17-1 for most machines.
A larger BUFFSIZE takes fewer requests of the computer operating system to transfer the same
amount of data, with each transfer involving a larger physical record size. This can reduce the I/O
time which, in turn, reduces the elapsed time. In general, the effect on CPU time is insignificant.
A larger BUFFSIZE decreases the number of I/O operations but may increase the database size.
Since each data block uses at least one buffer and the read/write operation requires a minimum
of one buffer, the default BUFFSIZE is recommended except for large problems. See NX Nastran
Installation and Operations Guide for the default BUFFSIZE for various machines.
Disk space allocation is affected by the BUFFSIZE if the disk space units are in terms of GINO
blocks. GINO blocks are related to words by the following equation:
Equation 17-1.
“Example E” illustrates the use of a non-default BUFFSIZE.

Database Concepts
Example M
Assume the machine that you are running on has a default BUFFSIZE of 2049. If you increase
the BUFFSIZE to 17291, using Eq. 17-1, this example allocates the same maximum amount of
physical disk space as “Example A,” which uses the default BUFFSIZE.
$
$ filename - rune.dat
$
NASTRAN BUFFSIZE=17291
INIT SCRATCH,LOGICAL=(SCRATCH(23691)),SCR300=(SCR300(23691))
$
$
Assuming you have disk space, is there any other reason why you would not want to use a
larger BUFFSIZE for a large problem? The answer is “no” for most machines, provided you
have sufficient memory available on your machine. For some machines, optimum values are
preselected, and you should use these default values. See Reference 16. for further details
regarding your particular machine. Total memory allocation can be controlled by the “mem”
keyword on the submittal line. The following example allocates 100 mb of total memory for
the run.
nastran stat1 mem=100mb
A portion of this total memory is allocated to the Executive System. The rest of the memory is
then available to the functional modules in NX Nastran. Assuming that you are using the
default SCRATCH(MEM) and BUFFERPOOL, the portion of the memory that is available for
your problem is denoted as “User OPENCORE (HICORE)”, and can be estimated by Eq. 17-2.
Equation 17-2.
As you can see from Eq. 17-2, the amount of memory allocated to the Executive System is a
function of the BUFFSIZE. As the BUFFSIZE increases, a larger portion of the total memory is
allocated to the Executive System. A summary of the NX Nastran memory utilization is printed
near the beginning of the .F04 file. Some typical examples of the memory summary tables are
shown in Listing 17-1, Listing 17-2, and Listing 17-3. You can also let NX Nastran estimate the
amount of required memory by using the following submittal command:
nastran stat1 mem=estimate

BUFFER POOL AREA (EXEC) = 76183 WORDS ( 37 BUFFERS)
Listing 17-1. Memory Summary Table(mem = 2MW, buffsize = 2049)




Chapter
18 Inertia Relief in Linear

Static Analysis
• Introduction to Inertia Relief
• Description of Inertia Relief Using PARAM,INREL,-1
• Implementation of Inertia Relief Using PARAM,INREL,-1
• Automatic Inertia Relief

Chapter 18 Inertia Relief in Linear Static Analysis
18.1 Introduction to Inertia Relief

Inertia relief is an advanced option that allows you to simulate unconstrained structures in a
static analysis. Typical applications of inertia relief include modeling an aircraft in flight, an
automobile on a test track, or a satellite in space. The inertia relief method is a tool that you may
not be familiar with. To help understand the method, the first section provides a brief description
of inertia relief. The last section shows its implementation within NX Nastran.
Although the internal processing is somewhat complex, the interface to the inertia relief option
is quite straightforward. There are two ways to invoke the inertia relief.
• The first method is to specify the SUPORT entry explicitly by including “PARAM,INREL,-1”
in the Bulk Data Section.
• The second method (recommended) is to let NX Nastran select the SUPORT degrees of
freedom automatically by including “PARAM,INREL,-2” in the Bulk Data Section.
An optional “PARAM,GRDPNT,x”— where x is a grid point ID— can be specified in the model. If
“PARAM,GRDPNT,x” is used, the loads and accelerations will be summed about this point. If
“PARAM,GRDPNT,x” is not specified, then the loads and accelerations will be summed about the
origin of the basic coordinate system.
18.2 Description of Inertia Relief Using PARAM,INREL,-1

Static analysis by the finite element method assumes that the model contains no mechanisms and
may not move as a rigid body (strain free). If either of these conditions exists in a conventional
finite element analysis, the stiffness matrix for the model becomes singular. When NX Nastran
attempts to decompose a singular matrix, a fatal message or unreasonable answers result.
Consequently, you can’t perform conventional finite element static analysis on unconstrained
structures. However, a method called inertia relief is provided in NX Nastran for analyzing these
conditions. A simple description of inertia relief is that the inertia (mass) of the structure is used
to resist the applied loadings, that is, an assumption is made that the structure is in a state of
static equilibrium even though it is not constrained. Two examples are a spacecraft in orbit or
an aircraft in flight. In these cases, the structure is in state of static equilibrium, although it is
capable of unconstrained motion.
To invoke inertia relief, you must provide a SUPORT Bulk Data entry with a list of up to six
non-redundant degrees of freedom that describe the possible unconstrained motion. The easiest
way to describe how to use the SUPORT entry in static analysis is if you hold the SUPORT
degrees of freedom constrained, there is no possible rigid body motion. If all possible rigid body
motion is not described on the SUPORT entry, then the stiffness matrix is singular, and the
problem either fails in decomposition or gives unreasonable answers.
When you specify inertia relief, NX Nastran calculates the forces that result from a rigid body
acceleration about the point specified on the “PARAM,GRDPNT,x” in the specified directions.
NX Nastran then calculates the summation of all applied loadings in the same directions.
Accelerations are applied to the structure in the appropriate directions to “balance” the applied
loadings. The structure is now in a state of static equilibrium, i.e., the summation of all applied
loads is 0.0. Since the problem is not constrained, rigid body displacement is still possible.
NX Nastran next constrains the SUPORT degrees of freedom to a displacement of 0.0 and
provide the relative motion of all other grid points with respect to that reference point. Hence,
the term “reference” degree of freedom is used to describe the SUPORT degrees of freedom in NX
Nastran. The set of degrees of freedom described on the SUPORT entry belong to the r-set or
reference set for the solution. The computed solution is the correct one, and it is relative to any

Inertia Relief in Linear Static Analysis
rigid body motion that is occurring. A simple way to think of this is that the solution coming
from NX Nastran represents the deformation of the structure you would see if you were standing
at the SUPORT degrees of freedom.
18.3 Implementation of Inertia Relief Using PARAM,INREL,-1

Solution 101 requires that the model does not contain mechanisms. You specify the reference
degrees of freedom using the SUPORT entry as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
SUPORT ID1 C1 ID2 C2 ID3 C3 ID4 C4
Field Contents
IDi Grid or scalar point identification number.
Ci Component numbers.
In addition to the PARAM,INREL,-1 entry, a SUPORT entry is also needed. If PARAM,GRDPNT,x

is specified, the rigid body mass matrix is calculated about grid point x; otherwise, the rigid body
mass is calculated about the origin of the basic coordinate system. The inertia relief method
requires that a realistic mass distribution exists, and the degrees of freedom listed on the
SUPORT entry must be connected elastically to the model in all specified degrees of freedom.
(For example, degrees of freedom 4, 5, and 6 on a grid point with only solid elements attached
cannot be used since solid elements have no stiffness in these degrees of freedom.)
Whenever a SUPORT entry is used in static analysis, the epsilon and strain energy printed in
the table from UIM 3035 should be checked. The values printed for epsilon and strain energy
in the UIM 3035 table should all be numeric zero. The strain energy printed in this table for
matrix KLR represents the strain energy in the model when the one SUPORT degree of freedom
is moved 1.0 unit, while all other SUPORT degrees of freedom are constrained. If the SUPORT
degrees of freedom are properly specified, the model should be capable of rigid body motion
(strain-free) with no strain energy.
The values printed for the strain energy indicate the ability of the model to move as a rigid body.
These values should always be checked. If the structure is not constrained, the values should be
numeric zero, but roundoff almost always results in a small nonzero value. Acceptable values
are a function of the units, size of the structure, and precision of the hardware; therefore, a
recommended value is not provided in this user’s guide.
An additional feature allowed in Solution 101 is the solution of a problem under uniform
acceleration. This problem is posed using the DMIG,UACCEL entry in addition to the previously
mentioned requirements. In this case, uniform accelerations are applied to the model, and the
solution is found. Uniform accelerations are useful for situations, such as spacecraft liftoff and
landing loadings, which are often specified as static accelerations.
As an example of inertia relief, consider the three CBEAM model shown in Figure 18-1.

Figure 18-1. Inertia Relief Analysis of a CBEAM Model

The three CBEAM structure is to be analyzed as a free-free structure with a line load acting in
the Y-direction as shown and using inertia relief. To show the effect of the SUPORT point, two
runs are made, each with a different SUPORT grid point. The input file is given in Listing 18-1.
Note that the SUPORT information is shown for both runs; however, one set is commented out.
For the first run, “inertia1.dat”, the SUPORT point is located at grid point 1. All six degrees
of freedoms for the SUPORT point are placed on one grid point as required for Solution 101.
The parameter INREL is set to –1, and the parameter GRDPNT is set to the SUPORT point,
which is grid point 1 in this case.

$ FILENAME - INERTIA1.DAT
ID LINEAR,INERTIA
SOL 101
TIME 5
CEND
TITLE = BAR WITH SUPORT ENTRY
LOAD = 1
DISP = ALL
SPCF = ALL
STRESS = ALL
BEGIN BULK
PARAM POST 0
$
$
$ SUPORT ENTRY FOR INERTIA1.DAT
$
SUPORT 1 123456
PARAM GRDPNT 1
PARAM INREL -1
$
$ SUPORT ENTRY FOR INERTIA2.DAT
$
$SUPORT 3 123456
$PARAM GRDPNT 3
$PARAM INREL -1
$
GRID 1 0.0 0.0 0.0
GRID 2 10. 0.0 0.0
GRID 3 20. 0.0 0.0
GRID 4 30. 0.0 0.0
$
CBEAM 1 1 1 2 1. 1. 0.0
CBEAM 2 1 2 3 1. 1. 0.0
CBEAM 3 1 3 4 1. 1. 0.0
$ .5 .5 .5 .5
PBEAM 1 1 1. .667 .167 .1
.5 .1 1.5 -.1 -.5 .1 -.5 -.1
PLOAD1 1 1 FY FR 0. 1000. 1. 1000.
PLOAD1 1 2 FY FR 0. 1000. 1. 1000.
PLOAD1 1 3 FY FR 0. 1000. 1. 1000.
$
MAT1 1 1.+7 .3 7.43E-3
ENDDATA
Listing 18-1. Three CBEAM Model with Inertia Relief

A partial listing of the output is shown in Figure 18-2.

Figure 18-2. Inertia Relief Output When Grid Point 1 Is the SUPORT Point

Figure 18-3. Inertia Relief Output When Grid Point 1 Is the SUPORT Point (Continued)

The GPWG (Grid Point Weight Generator) output is calculated with respect to the grid point
specified on the parameter GRDPNT. The total mass of the structure in this model is 0.229,
which is used by NX Nastran to develop the inertia loads. Inspection of the GPWG output
should be part of your routine model checkout.
The OLOAD RESULTANT contains seven sections—consisting of seven lines per section.
The first section is the resultant of the applied loads about the GRDPNT, which is the basic
coordinate system in this case. The remaining six sections are the loads necessary to impose
unit acceleration about the SUPORT point. Subcase 2 corresponds to the X-direction; Subcase

3 corresponds to Y-direction, etc. The first six lines of each section represent the detailed
contributions, whereas the seventh line represents the total.
Following the OLOAD output is User Information Message 3035 showing the strain energy and
epsilon due to the imposed unit accelerations about the SUPORT point. As discussed earlier, the
epsilons and strain energies should be small, which is the case for this example. Small epsilons
and strain energy tell you that you do not have any unwanted constraints or poorly defined
MPCs causing a constraint in your model. Always inspect User Information Message 3035 to
make sure that the epsilons and strain energies are small.
The intermediate matrix QRR is printed following the UIM 3035. The QRR matrix is the total
rigid body mass of the total structure. It is a 6 x 6 matrix measured about the PARAM,GRDPNT
point in the global coordinate system. Masses on the scalar points are not included. Following
the QRR matrix is the QRL matrix. The QRL matrix is the resultant of the “apparent reaction
loads,” measured at the SUPORT point. This resultant is equal and opposite to the OLOAD
resultant shown earlier in the output, if the SUPORT point is the same as the PARAM,GRDPNT
point. There is one column for each loading condition. The last matrix output is the URA matrix,
which is the rigid body acceleration matrix that is computed from the applied loads.
The displacement and stress output shown is the standard output as requested through the Case
Control Section. Note that the displacement at the SUPORT point is exactly 0.0. This SUPORT
point should be 0.0 since this point is constrained for the solution, and the forces of constraint
should be numeric zero. The SPC forces are shown in the output to confirm that the loads
are balanced at the SUPORT point. The displacement of all of the other points in the model
are relative to the SUPORT point.
An interesting effect occurs when the SUPORT point is changed in the previous example.
Suppose you change the location of the SUPORT point from 1 to 3 (see the commented SUPORT
entries in Listing 18-1).
The resulting displacement and stress output is shown in Figure 18-4.



Note that the displacement vector changes as the displacements are now relative to grid point 3,
which is the new SUPORT point. However, the stresses in the elements are the same because the
stresses are based on the relative displacement between the grid points, which is independent of
the grid point used for the SUPORT point.
A final comment on this simple beam model: suppose you used CBAR elements instead of
CBEAM elements for this model. The run would fail because the CBAR element does not
have any torsional inertia mass, whereas the CBEAM element does. This model is basically a
one-dimensional structure so that the rotational inertia about the X-axis is the mass inertia of
the elements. When the inertia relief method is used, the structure must have mass in all six
directions. In general, however, there are no restrictions on using a CBAR element with inertia
relief. Most structures include CBARs that are not co-linear. The example above was introduced
merely to emphasize the need to have mass in all six degrees of freedom.
Suppose you wish to impose a 10 g acceleration at grid point 2 of the beam structure shown
in Figure 18-1. This acceleration can be applied using the DMIG,UACCEL Bulk Data entry
as shown below.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
DMIG UACCEL “0" “9" TIN
DMIG UACCEL L G1 C1 X1
G2 C2 X2 G3 C3 X3
Field Contents
TIN Type of matrix being input.
L Load sequence number.
Gi Grid point identification number of a single reference point.
Ci Component number for Gi in the basic coordinate system.
Xi Value of enforced acceleration term in the basic coordinate system.
The input file for this example is shown in Listing 18-2.
$ FILENAME - UACCEL
ID LINEAR,UACCEL
SOL 101
TIME 5
CEND
TITLE = BAR WITH UACCEL INPUT
OLOAD = ALL
DISP = ALL
BEGIN BULK
PARAM POST 0
$
$
$ SUPORT INFORMATION
$
SUPORT 2 123456
PARAM GRDPNT 2
PARAM INREL -1
DMIG UACCEL 0 9 1
DMIG UACCEL 1 2 2 3864.0
$
GRID 1 0.0 0.0 0.0
GRID 2 10. 0.0 0.0
GRID 3 20. 0.0 0.0
GRID 4 30. 0.0 0.0
$
CBEAM 1 1 1 2 1. 1. 0.0
CBEAM 2 1 2 3 1. 1. 0.0
CBEAM 3 1 3 4 1. 1. 0.0
$
PBEAM 1 1 1. .667 .167 .1
.1 .1 .1 -.1 -.1 .1 -.1 -.1
$
MAT1 1 1.+7 .3 7.43E-3
ENDDATA
Listing 18-2. Imposing a 10 g Acceleration Using the PARAM,UACCEL

The acceleration of 10 g is entered on the DMIG,UACCEL entry. When a DMIG (Direct Matrix
Input) entry is used, UACCEL, the first entry is the header entry, which is denoted by the 0 in
field 3. Field 4 must be a 9, and field 5 is either a 1 for single precision input (the most common)
or a 2 for double precision input. For this example, the input is in single precision.

The second entry is where the applied acceleration is entered. Field 3 must be a 1, indicating
that this is the first load case (and the only load case in this model). The grid point component
and value of the enforced acceleration are entered in fields 6, 7, and 8. If acceleration is be
to enforced in more than one component, then the continuation entries are used. For this
example, the acceleration of 3864. in/sec2 is entered in field 8. The 3864.0 is 10 g in the English
system-you must ensure that the units are consistent.
When using the DMIG,UACCEL, the intermediate matrix URACCEL is output as shown in
Figure 18-5. This matrix is the rigid body acceleration that you input using the DMIG,UACCEL
entry. Also shown is the OLOAD output and the displacement vector. As can be seen, the
SUPORT point is constrained, which is what you would expect, and the total load applied to the
structure corresponds to the mass of the structure (see the GPWG output in Figure 18-5) times
the enforced acceleration.
Although not commonly done, you can perform multiple inertia relief analyses in a single run.
This feature can be activated with the SUPORT1 entries instead of the SUPORT entry. Unlike
the SUPORT entry, which is automatically activated, the SUPORT1 entry must be called out by
the SUPORT1 Case Control command in order for it to be applied.

Figure 18-5. Partial Output of the UACCEL Example
18.4 Automatic Inertia Relief

In the previous sections, manual inertia relief is discussed where the SUPORT entry must be
specified explicitly along with PARAM,INREL,-1. The SUPORT entry lists the DOFs in the r-set,
the reference set. Some skill is required to use this entry correctly. When the r-set is chosen
such that structure is not constrained in a statically determinate manner, or if the stiffness
attached to these points is inadequate, the rigid body mode shapes may be poor, leading to low
accuracy in inertial load calculations. A poor static analysis solution may also result from the
poor constraints, independent of the loading problems. Both effects may result in poor overall
accuracy. Poor results can occur with little warning when the SUPORT entry is misused.

The automatic inertia relief method is the recommended inertia relief method. With the
automatic method, the specification of the SUPORT entry is no longer needed. To turn it on,
simply add PARAM,INREL,-2 to the input file. The reference frame is selected automatically, in
a manner that poor solutions are unlikely because of the choice of reference frame variables.
The constraints associated with the reference frame are distributed to all points with mass.
This means that structures with modeling errors, such as a region of elements left out through
oversight, will still give reasonable results that can aid in diagnosing the modeling errors. A
model in development may contain many disjoint parts, inadvertently. Any part with three non
co-linear points with mass will be adequately constrained for solution.
In the manual support option, the free stiffness matrix Kaa is constrained by removing the r-set
DOFs from the a-set and imposing zero motion on them,
Equation 18-1.
Equation 18-2.
With the automatic inertia relief, the ur variables are no longer a subset of the ua variables. The
constraint equation (Eq. 18-2) is replaced by a more general constraint equation,
Equation 18-3.
The variables ur are a set of generalized coordinates that represent the average motion of the ua
variables, as weighted by the mass matrix. The zero value for this equation implies that the
average motion of all a-set points is zero, although the displacement variables are free to move
relative to this least-squares fit reference frame.
The manual style of inertia relief allows use of PARAM,GRDPNT to define the origin used in
determining the shape functions Da6. The presence of this parameter causes the output of
the Grid Point Weight Generator (GPWG) table, which lists the c.g. location of the model, its
moments of inertia, and other related data. This point in space is used as the reference point
when computing rigid body mass and moments of inertia, and rigid body accelerations. If the
parameter is not present, the basic origin is used, in the basic coordinate system. It is good
practice (but not required by NX Nastran) to use the same grid point on PARAM,GRDPNT
and on the SUPORT entry.
Unlike the manual option, PARAM,GRDPNT is not used as the inertia relief reference point for
the automatic support option. The basic origin is used. If the PARAM,GRDPNT is present, it
causes the generation of the GPWG table, but does not influence the inertia relief calculations
in any way.
The constraint forces caused by the distributed constraints are printed with the SPCFORCE case
control command. They are computational zeros for a well-defined model. PARAM,TINY (default
value is 1.E-3) is traditionally used to discard element strain energies with values less than
“tiny”. The same parameter requests that small SPC forces of the reference frame constraint type

be replaced with binary zeros, for the automatic support option only. This filtering is not used on
conventional SPC forces from selected SPC entries or AUTOSPC, and manual support DOFs.
Limitations for the Automatic Inertia Relief Method

The following features aren’t supported for the Automatic Inertia Relief Method:
• The DMIG,UACCEL option
• The Iterative Solver
EXAMPLE
Let’s revisit the CBEAM model in Figure 18-1 using the automatic inertia relief method.
This is accomplished by removing the SUPORT entry and replacing PARAM,INREL,–1 with
PARAM,INREL,–2. Figure 18-6 summarizes the displacements, spcforces, and element stresses
output.
The spcforces and stresses are both zeros, similar to the other two runs. As for the displacements,
the mass-weighted average motion of all a-set points must be zero. Since the mass is evenly
distributed, ur can be calculated for the T2 components as follows:
Equation 18-4.
See TAN 4002 for further details regarding the Automatic Inertia Relief Method.
Figure 18-6. Abridged Output Using the Automatic Inertia Relief Method

Chapter
19 Surface Contact for SOL 101
• Introduction
• Understanding Contact Regions — BSURF, BCPROP, BSURFS
• Understanding Contact Region Parameters — BCRPARA
• Understanding Contact Pairs — BCTSET
• Understanding Source Regions and Target Regions
• Understanding the Contact Control Parameters Used in SOL 101 — BCTPARM
• Tips for Setting PENN and PENT
• Including CGAP Elements in a Contact Solution — System Cell OLDGAPS

Chapter 19 Surface Contact for SOL 101
19.1 Introduction
NX Nastran provides a surface to surface contact capability that you can use with the SOL 101
linear statics solution. Including contact conditions in your bulk data deck allows the SOL 101
solution to search and detect when element faces come into contact. The software then creates
contact elements, thus preventing the faces from penetrating and allowing finite sliding with
optional friction effects.
The solver uses pre-defined regions of element free faces to detect contact conditions in the
model. From each element free face, it projects a normal, then checks to see if any of the normals
intersect with other element free faces. A contact element is created during the solution if:
• NX Nastran finds an intersection between element faces, and
• The distance between the two faces is equal to or less than a distance that you specify.
Note: The term contact element is used to describe a transient element created by the solver to
detect and analyze contact. You cannot manually create an NX Nastran element called a contact
element, and it is not documented in the NX Nastran Element Library.

Surface Contact for SOL 101
19.2 Understanding Contact Regions - BSURF, BCPROP, BSURFS

A contact region is a collection of element free faces in a section of the model where you expect
contact to occur. These regions can be created using shell elements (BSURF and BCPROP)
and using solid element free faces (BSURFS).
• The BSURF entry is defined by its own unique ID and is a list or range of shell element IDs
to include in the region.
• The BCPROP entry is defined by its own unique ID and is a list of shell element property
IDs. Shell elements which use any of these listed property IDs will be included in the region.
• The BSURFS entry is defined by its own unique ID and is a list of solid element IDs each
followed by 3 grid points defining which face of the 3-D element to include in the contact
region.
The IDs used in any of the region definitions above must be unique to all other BSURF, BCPROP
and BSURFS entries.
A contact surface can be defined as any type of shell or any face of a solid element. Although
parabolic faces with omitted midside nodes are permitted, their use could affect accuracy.

19.3 Understanding Contact Region Parameters - BCRPARA

Contact region parameters are defined using the BCRPARA bulk entry, which is required when
surface contact is defined with SOL 101. The CRID field on BCRPARA must match the ID used
on one of the BSURF, BCPROP and BSURFS bulk entries in order to be considered by the
solution. There are two contact region parameters which can be used with SOL 101, the SURF
and OFFSET fields.
• The SURF field is important if a region you’ve created is made of shell elements. Shell
elements have a top and bottom side associated with them. The top side is determined by the
order and direction of grid points on the element’s definition and the right-hand rule. See
chapter 15 of the NX Nastran User’s Guide for information on using consistent shell normals.
When shell elements are used as the source in a contact pair, by default, the solve will use
the top side to project the element normal while searching for the target elements. In the
case where the target is on the bottom side, you can set the SURF option to “BOT”, and the
normal will be projected from the bottom side. Understanding shell element normals, and
making sure they are consistent in the source regions is very important to ensuring that
contact elements will be created as expected.
The figure below shows examples of how the SURF option is used to modify the contact
search projection direction when the source element normals vary. The arrow on each face
shows the element’s top side. Source regions are shaded while target regions are white.
Note that the target region normals in these examples are valid regardless of their top or
bottom status, since a normal is not projected from the target side of a pair.
• Use OFFSET field to account for a rigid layer which might occur between two faces coming
into contact. For example, suppose you have a model which has two metal surfaces coming
into contact, and one of these has a ceramic coating. If the ceramic material stiffness is not
significant enough to be included in the analysis, it may not have been specifically modeled,
but the thickness it adds to the face of the metal may be important when considering the
contact problem. Add the thickness of the ceramic to the OFFSET field, and it will be
included by the contact portion of the solve.
You can also use the OFFSET field to analyze an interference fit problem if unconnected
elements are modeled coincident. The offset value in this example can represent the
theoretical interference of these faces.

19.4 Understanding Contact Pairs - BCTSET

A contact pair is a way to combine two contact regions, source and target, in which contact will
be analyzed during the solution. Each contact pair can have its own unique friction value (if
desired) and search distance.
The BCTSET bulk entry is used to define each contact pair. Its CID field will need to match the
value of ‘n’ on the BCSET case control entry for the solution to recognize this contact definition.
The SIDi and TIDi fields refer to regions created by the BSURF, BCPROP and BSURFS entries,
and are used to define source and target regions respectively for a pair. As many pairs as desired
can be included on a single BCTSET entry, and each pair can have a unique friction value
(optional), a minimum search distance, and a maximum search distance.
Enter the optional Coefficient of Friction field (FRICi) for each defined contact pair if you expect
finite sliding to occur in this region of the model. When contact is detected, the solver uses this
value to calculate any tangential contact forces by multiplying the normal contact force by FRICi.
The minimum and maximum search distance fields (MINDi and MAXDi) define a range in which
the solver can initially determine if the distance between element faces in a particular pair are
within the threshold for creating contact elements. These values are only used once, at the
beginning of SOL 101, to determine where contact elements need to be initially created. Recall
that NX Nastran projects normals from element faces and then checks to see if any of these
normals intersect with another element free face. If the projected normal intersects an element
face, and the distance between the two element faces is within the range defined in the MINDi
and MAXDi fields, a contact element is created. Since SOL 101 is used for linear problems with
small deflection, there are no geometry nonlinear updates which occur. This includes updating
the contact conditions, therefore the number of contact elements created in this initial step will
remain the same for the rest of the solution. The minimum distance can be negative if there is
an interference fit condition modeled as overlapping surfaces.
19.5 Understanding Source Regions and Target Regions

It’s important to understand how contact elements are created when selecting which region will
be the source and which the target, since the two can be interchangeable. The solver projects
vector normals from the element integration points from the source region to the target region.
It then creates contact elements when these normals intersect elements in the target region and
are within the search distance criteria for the contact pair. This means that when the two
regions of a pair do not have corresponding one-to-one elements, the number of contact elements
that the solver creates can change depending on which region it projects the elements from
and which region it projects them to.
In general, of the two contact regions you use for the pair, choose the one with the finer mesh
for the source region. When the source and target regions have different mesh densities, more
elements on the source region will mean that more contact elements are created, which will
produce a more accurate solution.

For example, the two regions below are both composed of linear shells. The source region (A)
has one element and the target region (B) has four elements.
When creating the contact elements between these regions, the software projects contact
elements from the single element on the source region to the four elements in the target region.
This results in the creation of a single contact element.
However, if you were to use the region with four elements as the source (C, below) and the region
with one element as the target (D), the solution will create 4 contact elements.
19.6 Understanding the Contact Control Parameters Used in SOL

101 - BCTPARM
The contact control parameters on the BCTPARM bulk entry (optional) can help you adjust the
contact algorithm when you are having problems getting a solution to converge and complete,
or when the contact results are not as expected (see “Tips for setting PENN and PENT” in
section 19.7). To understand these parameters and how the solution uses them, it is helpful to
understand the contact algorithm. For most solutions, the default settings are appropriate, thus
the BCTPARM entry is not required.
• MAXF: The contact algorithm iterates in an inner and outer loop. This parameter specifies
the maximum number of iterations of the inner or force loop. The inner loop forces a
condition of zero penetration between the contacting bodies. (default = 10)
• MAXS: Specifies the maximum number of iterations for the outer or status loop. This loop
determines which contact locations (or contact elements) are active. (default = 20)
• PENN: Controls the normal penetration stiffness (also called penalty factors) of the faces
coming into contact. Generally, a larger value reduces penetration and speeds convergence.
However, convergence may not occur if this value is too large. (default = 10.0) (See “Tips”
below)

• PENT: Controls the convergence of friction forces when the friction is non-zero. Generally,
this value should be 10 to 100 times smaller than the normal penalty factor (PENN). (default
= 1.0) (See “Tips” below)
• CTOL: This is a contact convergence tolerance (Euclidean norm) found by comparing

changes in traction between the two contacting bodies. When the convergence tolerance is
less than the CTOL factor that is specified here, the solve considers the contact algorithm
to be converged. (default = 0.01)
• NCHG: Specifies a number of contact elements which can be active from one iteration to the
next, yet the software will consider the solution converged. (default = 0)
• MPER: Sets the minimum percentage of contact elements considered active. If you set this
value to 0, only those contact elements initially in contact are considered active. If you set this
value to 100, all elements are considered active, even if they’re initially open. (default = 100)
• SHLTHK: This is the shell thickness offset flag. If you set this value to 0, the contact surface
is assumed to be offset t/2 from the nodes defining a shell element. If the FE mesh represents
the outer surface, set this value to 1 so the thickness offset will be ignored. (default = 0)
• RESET: This is a flag to indicate if the contact status for a specific subcase is to start
from the final status of the previous subcase. If you set this value to 0, the contact status
will start from a previous subcase. If you set it to 1, the contact status will start from an
initial state. (default = 0)
• AVGSTS: Determines the averaging method for contact pressure/traction results. If you set
this value to 0, the averaging of pressure/traction values for a contact grid will include the
results from ALL contact elements attached to the grid regardless of whether they are
active or inactive in the contact problem. If you set this value to 1, the averaging of the
pressure/traction values for a contact grid will exclude those contact elements which are not
active in the contact solution. (default = 0)
• INIPENE: Controls definition of initial gap or penetration of the generated contact elements.
If you set this value to 0 or 1, the contact solution will use the value calculated from the
grid coordinates. If you set the value to 2, it will initially work the same as above, but if
penetration is detected, the gap/penetration will be set to zero. If you set the value to 3, the
gap/penetration will be zero for all contact elements. Option 3 is very useful when the contact
surfaces are intended to be coincident but due to irregularity in the meshes, some grids are
not exactly on the surface. This can lead to contact pressures that have a few hot spots rather
than a smooth distribution. This option will ensure that a smooth distribution is obtained
and in many cases the number of iterations will be reduced along with run time. (default = 0)
• REFINE: Determines if the mesh on the source region is refined during the contact solution.
Refinement occurs when set to 1.
• INTORD: Determines the number of contact evaluation points for a single element face on
the source region. The number of contact evaluation points is dependent on the value of
INTORD, and on the type of element face. A higher number of contact evaluation points can
be used to increase the accuracy of a contact solution. Inaccuracies sometimes appear in the
form of nonuniform contact pressure and stress results. There may be a penalty associated
with using more evaluation points since the time for a contact problem to converge may be
longer. The table below shows how the number of contact evaluation points is dependent on
the element type, and how it can be adjusted using the INTORD option. The “Face Type”
column applies to shell elements, and to the solid element with the associated face type.

Number of Contact Evaluation Points

Face Type INTORD=1 INTORD=2 INTORD=3
Linear Triangle 1 3 7
Parabolic Triangle 3 7 12
Linear Quad 1 4 9
Parabolic Quad 4 9 16
19.7 Tips for Setting PENN and PENT

The penalty stiffness between contact surfaces is scaled according to the mesh size and the
average stiffness of the material in the model. It is obtained from the user input penalty factor
PENN or PENT by the following equation
K = e*E*dA
where e is the user input parameter PENN or PENT
E is an average elastic modulus for the model
and dA is the area associated with the particular contact point.
Penalty factors have units of 1/(length). A physical interpretation is that it is equivalent to the
axial stiffness of a rod with area dA, modulus E, and length 1/e. The defaults for the penalty
factors generally work well, but in the event that meshes have very large or very small edge
lengths, adjustments may be necessary.
Following are some additional guidelines:
• Very high penalty factors (in excess of 1E6) aren’t recommended and will cause numerical
problems, even for flat surfaces with very regular meshes.
• Very low penalty factors (less than 1) produce extremely slow convergence rates and aren’t
recommended.
19.8 Including CGAP Elements in a Contact Solution - System Cell

OLDGAPS
CGAP elements can be included in a model where contact is defined, and the system cell (412)
OLDGAPS can be used to control how CGAPs are treated in SOL 101.
• If a CGAP is included in a model where contact is defined, SOL 101 will treat it as a contact
element, and thus it will be included in the contact solution. If you don’t want the CGAP to
be treated as a contact element and want it handled as in previous releases as described in
the NX Nastran Element Library, set the system cell OLDGAPS = 1.
• If a CGAP is included in a model where contact is not defined (no BCSET card), it will be
treated as described in the NX Nastran Element Library, regardless of the value of the
system cell OLDGAPS. In other words, the system cell OLDGAPS is only considered when
contact is defined for SOL 101.

19.9 The Algorithm Used in SOL 101 Contact

There are several steps in the development of a surface-to-surface contact algorithm:
• Kinematic equations describe the relative motion of two contacting surfaces.
• Equilibrium equations with boundary conditions and contact constraints are the basic
equations that are solved.
• To solve the contact problem for general bodies and surfaces, the kinematic and governing
equations are converted into equivalent finite element matrix equations.
• The assembled matrix equations are solved.
Kinematic Equations
Consider the motion of a point on a hitting surface relative to a target surface. At the point on
the hitting surface, the software constructs a set of Cartesian basis vectors, e1, e2, e3. The unit
vectors, e1 and e2, are tangent to the hitting surface and the unit vector, e3, is perpendicular to
the hitting surface. The normal vector, e3, will also be designated as n.
The software assumes that the penetration of the hitting point into the target surface occurs
at the target point and is:
p = po + (uH - uT) · n
where
po is the initial penetration determined by the underlying geometry
uH is the motion of the hitting point
uT is the motion of the target point
Note that the penetration is the negative of the gap separation.
In the figure, (A) is the target surface, and (B) is the hitting surface. (C) is the target point,
and (D) is the hitting point.

For calculating Coulomb friction forces, you must compute the relative tangential displacement
increment, which is given by:
Δut = (ΔuH – ΔuT) – [n · (ΔuH – ΔuT)] · n
This is the tangential component of the relative motion from one load case to the next. The path
dependence of friction is included by applying multiple load cases in sequential order.
Normal Contact Constraints

Contact constraints are imposed at the reduced integration points on the finite element faces of
the hitting contact region. These points are computed as needed during the solution.
The normal contact constraints between the two surfaces are given by:
p≤0
tn = – n ·t ≥ 0
t np = 0
• The first equation imposes the condition that the penetration of the hitting surface into the
target surface can’t be greater than zero. Thus, surfaces can’t interpenetrate.
The contact pressure, tn, is defined as the negative of the normal component of the surface
traction.
• The second equation states that the contact pressure can’t be less than zero or tensile. Or,
normal tractions between surfaces can’t be tensile.
• The last equation imposes the condition that:

p = 0 if tn ≥ 0 and tn = 0 if p ≤ 0
Coulomb Friction Contact Constraints

For coulomb friction, additional constraint conditions are required between the hitting and
target surfaces:
• The first equation imposes the constraint that the magnitude of the inplane friction traction,
tt, can’t exceed the coefficient of friction μ, times the contact pressure. When the magnitude
of friction force reaches its maximum allowable value, the function Ф will be equal to zero.

• The second equation relates the relative tangential displacement increment between the
hitting surface and the target surface, Δut, to the magnitude of the relative slip increment,
Δξ, which must be a non-negative quantity.
• The final equation implies that if Δξ ≥ 0 (there is slipping between the surfaces) then =0
and if Δξ = 0 (the surfaces are sticking) then ≤ 0.
Therefore, for Coulomb friction:

• The maximum possible tangential traction equals the coefficient of friction times the normal
traction force.
• Contacting surfaces will "stick" if the tangential traction is less than the coefficient of friction
times the normal traction force.
• Contacting surfaces will "slide" in the direction of the tangential traction if the tangential
traction equals the coefficient of friction times the normal traction force.
Finite Element Kinematic Equations

With the finite element method, the contacting bodies are discretized into elements, and their
surfaces are finite element faces. The contact constraint conditions are imposed at selected
points on the contacting surfaces. For gap elements, the constraint conditions are enforced
at nodal points.
In NX Nastran, a contact element is defined to be a hitting point, a target point, and the
associated nodal degrees of freedom on the hitting and target finite element faces. Other data
associated with contact elements are coefficient of friction and a user defined rigid offset, if any,
at the location of the contact element. You can’t directly construct the contact elements; they’re
formed within the solver based on your input in the bulk data file.
In terms of finite element degrees of freedom, the penetration at a particular point is given by:
See the following figure:

The interpolation functions depend on the locations of the hitting and target points. Designating
the contact element nodal displacements on the hitting and target faces as the column matrix
{u}, this equation may be written as:
where the row matrix, , is composed of interpolation functions times components of the
surface normal. Similarly, the finite element matrix equation for tangential slip is:
For all contact elements, these two equations may be written globally as:
{p} = [Qn]{U} + {Po} and {Δξ} = [Qt]{U} + {ξo}
Global Solution Strategy

There are several possible methods for solving this set of equations. The two methods used by
NX Nastran are based on an augmented Lagrangian procedure, which offers some advantages
over competing methods. A penalty stiffness is added, but unlike pure penalty methods, the
satisfaction of the contact constraints may be achieved to almost any required accuracy through
a series of contact traction updates. The penalty number can, therefore, be lower than in a pure
penalty method, resulting in better conditioned equations. Pure Lagrange multiplier techniques
require that all contacting bodies be restrained without the presence of contact constraints.
For simplification, the frictionless problem will be considered. The augmented Lagrangian
potential function for the frictionless problem is:
π = 1/2 {U}T[K]{U} - {U}T{F} + {Tn}T([Qn]{U}+{Po}) + 1/2([Qn]{U} + {Po})T[ n]([Qn]{U} +Po})
where {Tn} is the vector of unknown normal tractions (or Lagrange multipliers) at the contact
points and [ n] is a diagonal matrix of normal penalty numbers. Taking the derivative of the

potential function with respect to the displacements and setting it equal to zero while holding
the vector of normal tractions constant produces:
([K]+[Qn]T[ n][Qn]){U} = {F}-[Qn]T({Tn}+[ n]{Po})
The term [Qn]T[ n][Qn] is a penalty stiffness and [Qn]T({Tn}+[ n]{Po}) is an additional force term
resulting from the contact pressure and any initial non-zero penetration. Note that if penetration
is zero, the penalty stiffness times displacement plus the force due to non-zero initial penetration
sum to zero. So when the contact constraints are exactly satisfied, the only thing added to
the global equations is the contact force. In the process of solving this set of equations, the
contact pressure is iteratively updated for each contact element to enforce the zero penetration
constraint condition to within a specified tolerance. The iterative update formula for the normal
contact traction at a particular point is given by:
where p is the current value of penetration at the point and n is the normal penalty number.
The solution of this set of equations uses a double iteration loop. The inner force loop updates
the contact tractions, {Tn}, such that a zero penetration condition is enforced for all active
contact elements (to within a specified tolerance). Once the inner loop is converged, the status
of all contact elements is determined in the outer loop. A contact element is set inactive and
removed from the global equation if a tensile traction is required to close the contact element.
If penetration occurs at an inactive contact element, it’s activated and included in the global
equations.
The overall solution procedure requires these steps:
1. Form contact elements from user input of contact regions and pairs.
2. Compute stiffness for all elements including penalty stiffness for contact elements.
3. Compute loads for the current load case.
4. Begin contact outer loop iteration. Determine contact element status, depending on
penetration and contact tractions.
5. Assemble contact stiffness for active contact elements into the global stiffness matrix.
6. Begin contact inner loop iteration.
7. Update contact tractions and compute contact forces.
8. Check traction convergence:

a. If tractions have not converged, loop back to step 6.
b. If tractions have converged, loop back to step 4.
c. If tractions have converged and the number of contact status changes is not greater than
the specified allowed number of element status changes, proceed with the next load case.
Summary of Significant Aspects of Contact

1. The software assumes that penetration of the hitting point occurs along the direction of
the hitting face normal. Therefore, wedge-type problems with finite sliding may be poorly
simulated using linear contact analysis because contact elements are created only once
using the initial geometry of the problem.

For example, in the figure, (A) is the assumed contact point; (B) is the actual contact point if
the relative motion of the hitting point with respect to the target is in direction uH.
When two surfaces are separated by an initial gap and the direction of motion is significantly
different than the surface normal, then significant errors may occur (for example, wrong
location for target face stresses). If the initial gap is zero (or very small), the error may be
negligible.
2. The initial penetration, po, is computed from the FE geometry (isoparametric shape
functions) which can result in kinks or bumps at element edges. These bumps usually cause
local stress concentrations in a contact analysis. If possible, use the INIPENE parameter on
the BCTPARM Bulk Entry to minimize these effects.
3. Gaps may be mixed with surface-surface contact, thus letting you include beams and bars
in contact models. The gap element analysis has been reformulated as an augmented
Lagrangian procedure so that the same solution strategy is used for both contact and gaps.
4. The behavior of the iterative solution is influenced by the penalty numbers (normal and
friction). The defaults provide rapidly converging solutions for most problems. However,
when the iterations don’t converge, you may need to adjust the penalty numbers. Some
general trends are:
a. The softer the hitting or target surface(s), the smaller the normal penalty number, Pn
b. Larger penalty numbers usually speed convergence, but if penalty members are too large,
ill conditioned equations may result in MAXRATIO failures.
c. The friction penalty number is usually 10 to 100 times smaller than the normal penalty.
When many elements are sliding or sticking, a smaller penalty factor may speed convergence.
d. If an unrestrained portion of the model exhibits rigid body motions about a contact region,
reducing the penalty number may stabilize the solution.
The penalty numbers can be adjusted on the BCTPARM Bulk Entry.
5. Contact can remove rigid body motions from the structure. However, use caution because
tensile contact elements are removed as the solution progresses. Therefore, if an insufficient

number of active contact elements are present to prevent rigid body motion, the stiffness
matrix will become singular and the solution will fail (or provide incorrect results).

Chapter
20 Plotting
• Overview of Plotting in NX Nastran
• Superelement Plotting
• Post Processors

Chapter 20 Plotting
20.1 Overview of Plotting in NX Nastran

NX Nastran can generate the following types of plots:
• Structural plots
• X-Y graphs of transient response or frequency response.
• V-F and V-G graphs for flutter analysis.
• Contour plots of displacements, temperature and stress on the structure.
Structural Plots
NX Nastran can generate the following types of structural plots:
• Undeformed geometric projections of the structural model.
• Static deformations of the structural model by either displaying the deformed shape (alone or
superimposed on the undeformed shape), or displaying the displacement vectors at the grid
points (superimposed on either the deformed or undeformed shape).
• Modal deformations resulting from real or complex eigenvalue analysis by the same options
stated in 2 above. Complex modes for flutter analysis may be plotted for any user-chosen
phase lag.
• Deformations of the structural model for transient response or frequency response by

displaying either vectors or the deformed shape for specified times or frequencies.
See also
• “OUTPUT(PLOT) Commands” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
X-Y Plots
Requests for structure plots or X-Y plots are made in the Case Control Section by submitting a
structure plot request or an X-Y output request.
The optional PLOTID command is considered to be part of the plot request although it must
precede any OUTPUT(PLOT), OUTPUT(XYOUT) or OUTPUT(XYPLOT) commands.
Plot requests are separated from Case Control by the OUTPUT(PLOT), OUTPUT(XYPLOT) or
OUTPUT(XYOUT) commands. Data above this command (except PLOTID) will not be recognized
by the plotter, even though it may have the same name (for example, the SET command).
See also
• “X-Y PLOT Commands” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “PLOTID” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Plotting
Flutter Analysis Plots

In NX Nastran, you can use the aeroelasticity capabilities to perform a flutter analysis to
determine the stability of an aeroelastic system. You can then create graphs of your results.
See also
• “Flutter Analysis” in the NX Nastran Aeroelastic Analysis User’s Guide
20.2 Superelement Plotting

Plotting can occur at four different places in the superelement solution sequences. There are two
plot commands, SEPLOT and SEUPPLOT, used with other Case Control and PARAM commands
to control the type of plot to be prepared. A flow chart of the solution process is given in Figure
20-1, Figure 20-2, and Figure 20-3.
Undeformed structure plots are made early during Phase 0 in the structured solution sequences
and during Phase l in the unstructured solution sequences. They can be made for either one
superelement only, or for a superelement and all of its upstream members, as controlled by
PARAM,PLOTSUP (see Figure 20-1 or Figure 20-2). Plots are made for superelements selected
by the SEMG command (see Figure 20-2, block I), and listed in a plot request headed by SEPLOT
SElD, where SEID is the superelement identification number. In the structured solution
sequences, the SEMG command is not required and all superelements which appear on SEPLOT
commands will be plotted (see Figure 20-1, block 0). Undeformed plots can be used to check
geometry and connectivity, and do not require the presence of property or material commands. In
the unstructured solution sequences, a branch to the end of the loop immediately after the plot
module can be made by using the PARAM,PLOT,-1 command.
In dynamic analysis, solution set XY-plots are requested by use of SEPLOT 0 (see Figure 20-3,
block II). In the data recovery phase, XY-plots and deformed structure plots for elements in
one superelement only are requested by the SEPLOT command (see Figure 20-3, block III).
Deformed structure plots for a superelement and all its upstream plots are requested with the
SEUPPLOT command (see Figure 20-3, block IV).
XY-plots and deformed structure plots are regarded as output requests and will result in
automatic execution of the data recovery loop as is required to produce the plots requested.
For example, the command SEUPPLOT 0 will result in data recovery being performed on the
entire model, even in the absence of any other output requests. For SEUPPLOT requests, if
SUBCOM or SYMCOM subcases are used, each superelement must have identical SUBCOM
and SYMCOM structure.

Chapter 20 Plotting
Figure 20-1. Phase 0 and I Superelement Plot Control In the Structured Solution
Sequences

Plotting
Figure 20-2. Phase l Superelement Plot Control In the Unstructured Solution

Sequences

Chapter 20 Plotting
Figure 20-3. Phase II, Ill, and IV Superelement Plot Control in All Solution Sequences

Plotting
20.3 Post Processors

The plotps post processor reads plotting commands from a single NX Nastran binary or neutral
format plot file and produces a file which can be printed or viewed on a PostScript device. Each
image will be oriented to best correlate the plot’s page size with the printable page size (assumed
to be 7.5 inches wide and 10.0 inches tall). Command line arguments can be specified in any
order, command keywords can be abbreviated by truncation.
On UNIX systems, you can omit the plot file type(‘.plt’ for binary files and ‘.neu’ for neutral files).
Examples
• Translate a binary format plot file into PostScript:
plotps example.plt
• Translate a neutral format plot file into PostScript:

plotps example.neu
See also
• “PLOTPS” in the NX Nastran Installation and Operations Guide

Chapter
21 Linear Buckling
• Introduction to Linear Buckling
• Finite Element Approach
• Eigenvalue Extraction Methods
• Linear Buckling Assumptions and Limitations
• Buckling Examples

Chapter 21 Linear Buckling
21.1 Introduction to Linear Buckling

In linear static analysis, a structure is normally considered to be in a state of stable equilibrium.
As the applied load is removed, the structure is assumed to return to its original position.
However, under certain combinations of loadings, the structure may become unstable. When this
loading is reached, the structure continues to deflect without an increase in the magnitude of the
loading. In this case, the structure has actually buckled or has become unstable; hence, the term
“instability” is often used interchangeably with the term “buckling.”
Only linear buckling or elastic stability is considered in this user’s guide; in other words,
assume there is no yielding of the structure and the direction of the forces do not change (i.e.,
follower force effects are ignored). Other assumptions of elastic stability are discussed in “Linear
Buckling Assumptions and Limitations.”
This chapter is organized into the following sections:
• Finite element approach
• Eigenvalue extraction method
• Assumptions and limitations of linear buckling analysis
• Examples
21.2 Finite Element Approach

In finite element analysis, the problem of linear buckling is addressed by including the effect of
the differential stiffness to the linear stiffness matrix. The differential stiffness results from
including the higher-order terms of the strain-displacement relationships. From a physical
standpoint, the differential stiffness matrix represents the linear approximation of softening
(reducing) the linear stiffness matrix in the case of a compressive axial load, and stiffening
(increasing) the linear stiffness matrix in the case of a tensile axial load. Since the differential
stiffness either adds or subtracts from the linear stiffness, often it is also called the incremental
stiffness. The element linear and differential stiffness matrices are denoted as [ka]i and [kd]i ,
respectively.
The differential stiffness matrix is a function of the geometry, element type, and applied loads. A
look at the differential stiffness matrix of a single planar bar element as shown in Figure 21-1
shows how a linear buckling analysis is handled using a finite element approach. For clarity,
only the y and θz degrees of freedom at each end are retained for this example.
Figure 21-1. Single Planar Bar Element

Linear Buckling
From The Nastran Theoretical Manual, the differential stiffness for this planar bar element
can be represented as
Equation 21-1.
where Fxi is the axial force in the CBAR element. In this case, Pa (applied load) = Fxi since there
is only one element in the model and the applied load is in line with the element axis. In the
general case, Fxi is proportional to Paas long as the structure remains linear; in other words, if
Pa is increased by scale factor ai , then Fxi also increases by the same scale factor. The value “i”
stands for the i-th element. Note also that the differential stiffness matrix is dependent only on
the element type, the applied forces, and the geometry of the structure. This is the reason why
the differential stiffness is also often called the geometric stiffness matrix.
Eq. 21-1 can, therefore, be rewritten as follows:
Equation 21-2.
One can view αi as the distribution factor of the applied load to the i-th element. Each element
in the structure that supports differential stiffness (see “Linear Buckling Assumptions and
Limitations”) has an element differential stiffness matrix associated with it. Each of these
differential stiffness matrices has a scale factor similar to Eq. 21-2. In general, each αi is

different for each element in the structure. The value of each αi depends on the element type, the
orientation of the element relative to the overall structure, and the applied load.
The system linear stiffness matrix can then be represented as
Similarly, the system differential stiffness matrix can be represented as
In general, the individual [kd]i is more complicated than Eq. 21-1; however, the concept is the
same. The overall system stiffness matrix is represented by Eq. 21-3.
Equation 21-3.
The total potential energy is equal to
Equation 21-4.
In order for the system to achieve static equilibrium, the total potential must have a stationary
value; in other words, the relationship in Eq. 21-5 must be satisfied:
Equation 21-5.
where ui is the displacement of the i-th degree of freedom.

Linear Buckling
It is convenient to rewrite Eq. 21-5 as
Equation 21-6.
where and Pa is the applied load. In order for Eq. 21-6 to have a non-trivial
solution, the following relationship must be true:
Equation 21-7.
where || stands for the determinant of the matrix. Eq. 21-7 is only satisfied for certain values of
Pa. These values of are the critical buckling loads.
A real structure has an infinite number of degrees of freedom. The finite element model
approximates the behavior of the structure with a finite number of degrees of freedom. The
number of buckling loads obtainable for your finite element model is equal to the number of
degrees of freedom of your model. In other words,
Equation 21-8.
Eq. 21-7 can, therefore, be rewritten as
Equation 21-9.
Eq. 21-9 is in the form of an eigenvalue problem. Once you obtain the eigenvalues λi, the
buckling loads can then be obtained using Eq. 21-8. The values λi are the scale factors by which
the applied load Pa is multiplied to produce the critical buckling loads Pcri. As you can see from
Eq. 21-8, the magnitude of the applied load Pa is arbitrary for arriving at the correct Pcri . As an
example, if Pa is increased by a factor of 10, then the calculated λi values in Eq. 21-9 are reduced
by a factor of 10; in other words, their resulting products Pcri remain the same.
In general, only the lowest buckling load is of any practical interest. The structure will fail prior
to reaching any of the higher buckling loads.

Solution 105
In NX Nastran you can solve a linear buckling problem by using Solution 105 and following
the procedure listed below.
1. Apply the static loads to the first n subcases (n is usually equal to one) and treat them as
static analysis. The distribution of element forces due to these applied loads is generated
internally. The actual magnitude of these applied loads is not critical.
2. You can perform buckling analysis on any or all of the loading conditions used in Step 1. One
additional subcase is needed for each buckling analysis.
3. The n+1 to the n+m subcases must each request an eigenvalue method from the Bulk Data
Section to solve the eigenvalue problem shown in Eq. 21-9. In this case, m is equal to the
number of buckling analyses that you want to perform. Each buckling subcase may call
out a unique eigenvalue solution.
4. The differential stiffness matrix is automatically generated for each element that supports
differential stiffness. See “Linear Buckling Assumptions and Limitations” for a list of
elements that support differential stiffness.
5. You must then multiply the eigenvalues obtained in Step 3 by the appropriate applied loads
to obtain the buckling loads (Eq. 21-8) for each buckling analysis.
6. Each subcase may have a different boundary condition.
A typical input file used to calculate the buckling loads is shown in Listing 21-1. In most
applications, only one static and one buckling analysis is performed per run. Example 6 in
“Buckling Examples” contains an application of multiple static and buckling analyses.

Linear Buckling
$
SOL 105
TIME 10
CEND
TITLE = SAMPLE INPUT FOR BUCKLING ANALYSIS
SPC = 10
DISP = ALL
$
$ STATIC SUBCASE TO GENERATE INTERNAL ELEMENT FORCES
$
SUBCASE 1
LOAD = 10
$
$ EIGENVALUE CALCULATION TO OBTAIN SCALE FACTORS BY WHICH
$ THE APPLIED LOAD(S) IS MULTIPLIED BY
$
SUBCASE 2
METHOD = 20
$
BEGIN BULK
$
$ APPLIED LOAD IN THE STATIC SUBCASE - SUBCASE ONE
$
FORCE,10,100,,-100.,1.0,0.,0.
$
$ LANCZOS EIGENVALUE METHOD REQUESTING THE LOWEST EIGENVALUE
$
EIGRL,20,,,1
$
$ BRING IN THE REST OF THE BULK DATA ENTRIES
$
include ’bulk.dat’
$
ENDDATA
Listing 21-1. Input File for a Typical Buckling Analysis

You should also adhere to the following guidelines when solving a linear buckling problem
in NX Nastran.
• The Case Control Section must contain at least two subcases.
• A METHOD command must appear in each buckling subcase to select the appropriate
eigenvalue extraction method (EIGRL or EIGB entry) from the Bulk Data Section. If there
are two or more buckling subcases, then a STATSUB = x command must be placed in each
buckling subcase to select the appropriate static subcase. If there is only one buckling
subcase, then the STATSUB = x command is optional if x references the first static subcase
ID.
• A static loading condition must be defined with a LOAD, TEMP(LOAD), or DEFORM

selection unless all loading is specified by grid point displacements on SPC entries. All static
subcases must be placed before the first buckling subcase.
• Correct SPC sets must be selected for all subcases.
• Output requests that apply to only a particular subcase must be placed inside that subcase.
• Output requests that apply to all subcases may be placed above the subcase level.
• Some type of output request (e.g., disp(plot) = all) must be requested for at least one subcase.
“Buckling Examples” contains six example problems that illustrate some of these guidelines.

21.3 Eigenvalue Extraction Methods

Seven methods of real eigenvalue extraction are available in NX Nastran:
• Givens
• Modified Givens
• Householder
• Modified Householder
• Inverse power
• Enhanced inverse power
• Lanczos
Three out of these seven methods can be used for linear buckling analysis:
• Inverse power
• Enhanced inverse power
• Lanczos
A brief description of each eigenvalue method is presented in the following sections. For further
details, see the NX Nastran Numerical Methods User’s Guide.
Inverse Power Method (INV)

The inverse power method is a tracking method since it attempts to extract the lowest eigenvalue
and eigenvector in the desired range first. Their effects are then “swept” out. The next higher
mode is then found, and its effects are “swept” out, and so on—hence, the term “tracking,”
which means that one root at a time is found. Furthermore, each root is found via an iterative
process. (The classical literature often refers to this method as the “inverse iteration method
with sweeping.”)
Unfortunately, depending on your selection of the eigenvalue range, the inverse power method can
miss modes, which makes it unreliable. For this reason, the inverse method is not recommended.
The enhanced inverse power method is, in general, a more reliable tracking method.
Enhanced Inverse Power Method (SINV)

This method is similar to the inverse power method except that it uses Sturm sequence logic
to ensure that all modes are found within the specified eigenvalue range. The Sturm sequence
informs you of the number of modes below each trial eigenvalue. See the NX Nastran Numerical
Methods User’s Guide and the NX Nastran Basic Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide for further
details regarding the Sturm sequence check.

Linear Buckling
Lanczos Method
The Lanczos method overcomes the limitations and combines the best features of the other
methods. It is efficient, and if an eigenvalue cannot be extracted within the range that you specify,
a diagnostic message is issued. This method computes accurate eigenvalues and eigenvectors.
Furthermore, it prints meaningful user diagnostics and supports parallel processing computers.
Comparison of Methods
The best method for a particular model depends on four factors:
• The size of the model (the total number of degrees of freedom)
• The number of eigenvalues desired
• The available real memory on your computer
• How well you can estimate the range of your eigenvalues
The enhanced inverse power method (SINV) can be a good choice if the model is too large to fit
into memory, only a few modes are needed, and you have a reasonable idea of your eigenvalue
range of interest. It is useful for models in which only the lowest few modes are desired. This
method is also useful as a backup method to verify the accuracy of other methods.
For medium to large models, the Lanczos method is the recommended method. Furthermore, the
Lanczos method takes full advantage of sparse matrix methods that can substantially increase
computational speed and reduce disk space usage. For overall robustness, the Lanczos method is
the recommended method.
User Interface
A METHOD command is required in a subcase of the Case Control Section to select the
appropriate eigenvalue extraction method in the Bulk Data Section. The Bulk Data entry is
different depending on whether you are using the inverse power (INV), enhanced inverse power
(SINV), or Lanczos method. The EIGRL entry is used for the Lanczos method, and the EIGB
entry is used for the INV and SINV methods.
EIGRL Format
The EIGRL entry has the following format:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
EIGRL SID V1 V2 ND
The SID field is the set identification number, which is referenced by the METHOD command in
the Case Control Section. The V1 field defines the lower eigenvalue bound λl, and the V2 field
defines the upper eigenvalue bound λu. The ND field specifies the number of roots desired.
Table 21-1 summarizes the action NX Nastran takes depending on the values specified for
V1, V2, and ND.

Table 21-1. Number and Type of Roots Found with EIGRL Entry
Case V1 V2 ND Number and Type of Roots Found
1 x x x Lowest ND or all in range, whichever is smaller
2 x x All in range
3 x x Lowest ND in range [V1, + ∞]
4 x Lowest root in range [V1, + ∞]
5 x Lowest ND roots in [-∞, +∞]
6 Lowest root
7 x x Lowest ND roots below V2
8 x All below V2
EIGRL Example
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
EIGRL 10 1
The above example selects the Lanczos method requesting the lowest root for your model.
In order for this entry to be used, the METHOD = 10 command must be specified in the Case
Control Section.
EIGB Format
The EIGB entry has the following format:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
EIGB SID METHOD L1 L2 NEP
The SID field is the set identification number, which is referenced by the METHOD command in
the Case Control Section. The METHOD field selects the desired eigenvalue extraction method
(SINV or INV). The L1 field defines the lower eigenvalue bound λl, and the L2 field defines
the upper eigenvalue bound λμ. The NEP field estimates the number of positive roots in the
range and is used only for the INV method.
EIGB Example
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
EIGB 10 SINV 0.5 1.2
The above example selects the enhanced inverse power method. All eigenvalues between 0.5
and 1.2 are desired. In order for this entry be used, the METHOD = 10 command must be
specified in the Case Control Section.

Linear Buckling
EIGB Example
EIGB 20 INV 0.5 1.2 2
The above example selects the inverse power method. There are two estimated roots in this
eigenvalue range. In order for this entry be used, the METHOD = 20 command must be specified
in the Case Control Section.
21.4 Linear Buckling Assumptions and Limitations

The following assumptions and limitations apply to linear buckling analysis:
1. The deflections must be small.
2. The element stresses must be elastic.
3. The differential stiffness is supported for the following elements: CONROD, CROD, CTUBE,
CBAR, CBEAM, CBEND, CQUAD4, CQUAD8, CTRIA3, CTRIA6, CSHEAR, CHEXA,
CPENTA, and CTETRA.
4. A minimum of five grid points per half sine wave (buckled shape) is recommended.
5. The distribution of the internal element forces due to the applied loads remains constant.
6. Offsets should not be used in beam, plate, or shell elements for buckling analysis.
7. For 3-D buckling problems, the use of PARAM,K6ROT is recommended for CQUAD4 and
CTRIA3 elements. A value of 100 is recommended.
8. For structures that exhibit nonlinear material or large deflection deformations, the linear
buckling load obtained from Solution 105 may be different than the actual buckling load. For
structures with significant nonlinearities, it is recommended that you perform a nonlinear
buckling analysis using Solution 106.
See also
• “Performing Nonlinear Buckling Analysis” in the NX Nastran Basic Nonlinear Analysis
User’s Guide

21.5 Buckling Examples

This section contains six example problems pertaining to buckling. Each problem is chosen to
illustrate either a particular type of failure mode, the effect of an element type, the effect of a
structural configuration, or the method of performing multiple buckling analyses in a single
run. The examples are as follows:
1. Classical Euler beam buckling.
2. Lateral buckling.
3. Planar frame buckling.
4. Buckling of a stiffened panel with transverse shear flexibility.
5. Buckling of a cylinder under uniform axial load.
6. Multiple buckling analyses in a single run.
In each example, the results produced by NX Nastran are compared with known theoretical
solutions.
Example 1 – Classical Euler Beam Buckling

Consider a classical Euler buckling problem. This problem is shown in Figure 21-2.
Figure 21-2. Euler Beam

The initial buckling occurs in the xz plane since I1 is smaller than I2.

Linear Buckling
NX Nastran Results for Example 1
The input file used for this problem is shown in Listing 21-2. In this case, a 1000 N compressive
load is applied at the roller end to generate internal loads for the structure. The Lanczos
eigenvalue extraction method is used to request the first five modes. Either the CBAR or CBEAM
elements can be chosen for this problem; the CBAR elements are used in this case.

$ FILENAME - bukeuler.dat
ID EULER BEAM
SOL 105
TIME 10
CEND
$
TITLE = EULER BEAM
SUBTITLE = METRIC UNITS
SPC = 10
DISP = ALL
$
SUBCASE 1
LOAD = 10
$
SUBCASE 2
METHOD = 10
$
BEGIN BULK
$
PARAM POST 0
EIGRL 10 5
FORCE 10 11 -1000. 1. 0. 0.
$
CBAR 1 1 1 2 100
CBAR 2 1 2 3 100
CBAR 3 1 3 4 100
CBAR 4 1 4 5 100
CBAR 5 1 5 6 100
CBAR 6 1 6 7 100
CBAR 7 1 7 8 100
CBAR 8 1 8 9 100
CBAR 9 1 9 10 100
CBAR 10 1 10 11 100
$
GRID 1 0. 0. 0.
GRID 2 1. 0. 0.
GRID 3 2. 0. 0.
GRID 4 3. 0. 0.
GRID 5 4. 0. 0.
GRID 6 5. 0. 0.
GRID 7 6. 0. 0.
GRID 8 7. 0. 0.
GRID 9 8. 0. 0.
GRID 10 9. 0. 0.
GRID 11 10. 0. 0.
GRID 100 0. 0. 10.
$
MAT1 1 7.1+10 .33 2700.
$
$ RECTANGULAR SECTION OF DIMENSION .1m x .02m
$
PBAR 1 1 .002 6.667-8 1.667-6 2.332-7
$
SPC1 10 123 1
SPC1 10 23 11
SPC 10 1 4
ENDDATA
Listing 21-2. Input File for Euler Beam

Linear Buckling
As indicated on the EIGRL entry, the first five modes are requested for this problem, and the
eigenvalue table is shown in Figure 21-3. The first eigenvalue λ1 in this case is equal to 0.4672,
while the applied load in SUBCASE 1 is equal to –1000 N. Therefore, the lowest buckling load
is equal to
Figure 21-3. Eigenvalue Table for a Euler Beam

A partial output that contains the first, second, and fifth eigenvectors is shown in Figure 21-4.
The mode shapes for the first five modes are plotted in Figure 21-5.

Figure 21-4. Eigenvectors for an Euler Beam

Linear Buckling
Figure 21-5. Mode Shapes for an Euler Beam

Note that the first four system buckling modes are in the xz plane and the first buckling mode
in the xy plane is the fifth overall system mode. The lowest buckling load in the xy plane
is, therefore, equal to
Equation 21-10.

Theoretical Results for Example 1
This Euler buckling load is calculated as follows (S.P. Timoshenko and J.M. Gere, Theory of
Elastic Stability, Engineering Societies Monograph Series, Second Ed., 1961):
For this particular problem, the buckling load in the xy plane is equal to
Table 21-2 compares the NX Nastran results with theoretical results.
Table 21-2. Euler Beam Results Comparison

Mode Number NX Nastran (N) Theoretical (N) % Difference
1 (XZ Plane) 467.2 467.2 0
5 (XY Plane) 11681.5 11681.4 0.001
As you approach the higher modes, the mode shapes become less smooth. This effect occurs
because for the same mesh density, the higher modes have fewer grid points per buckled sine
wave than the lower modes. If you are interested in these mode shapes, you should increase
your model mesh density to follow the general guideline of maintaining a minimum of five
grid points per half sine wave. However, these higher failure modes are seldom of interest
in real world applications.
Example 2 – Lateral Buckling

The problem shown in Figure 21-6 illustrates an interesting case of lateral buckling. The model
consists of a cantilever beam with a vertical tip load applied at the free end. The dimensions
of the beam are identical to Example 1. In this example, the structure buckles in the lateral
direction (xz plane) perpendicular to the applied load rather than in the plane of the applied
load (xy plane).

Linear Buckling
Figure 21-6. Lateral Buckling
Listing 21-3 contains the corresponding NX Nastran model for this lateral buckling problem.
The CBEAM element is used in this case, although the CBAR element can also be used since
this beam consists of a constant cross section. A vertical 1000 N load is applied in the negative
y-direction to generate the element internal loads in Subcase 1. Once again, the Lanczos
eigenvalue extraction method is employed requesting two modes. Figure 21-8 contains the
eigenvalue table and corresponding eigenvectors. The static deflection and buckling mode shapes
are shown in Figure 21-10.
It is interesting to note that the static deflection is in the plane of the applied load (xy plane),
while the buckling mode shape is in the plane perpendicular to the applied load (xz plane). Two
modes were requested on the EIGRL entry to illustrate another subtle point for this problem.
The two eigenvalues are identical in magnitude but different in sign. What is the significance of
a negative eigenvalue in a buckling analysis? In buckling analysis, a negative eigenvalue implies
that the load that causes the structure to buckle is opposite to the direction of the applied load.
Since both the structure and loading are symmetric, it does not matter whether the applied load
is in the +y or –y direction. This fact brings up another subtle point. If you specify V2 only on
the EIGRL entry, then NX Nastran attempts to extract all the roots below V2. In this case,
these roots include all the negative eigenvalues. For a large model, calculating a large number
of modes can be expensive especially when you are only interested in the lowest modes. Note
that these negative roots are legitimate both from a physical and mathematical standpoint. In
general, this situation only occurs if the applied buckling load is in the opposite direction of the
buckling load. For this particular problem, there is no right or wrong direction. Therefore, in
order to avoid this type of surprise, it is best to request the lowest number of desired roots (ND)
on the EIGRL entry when you are not sure of the buckling load direction.

$ FILENAME - bucklat.dat
SOL 105
TIME 10
CEND
$
TITLE = LATERAL BUCKLING OF CANTILEVER BEAM
SPC = 10
DISP = ALL
$
SUBCASE 1
LOAD = 10
$
SUBCASE 2
METHOD = 10
$
BEGIN BULK
$
EIGRL 10 2
$
FORCE 10 11 -1000. 0. 1. 0.
$
CBEAM 1 1 1 2 100
CBEAM 2 1 2 3 100
CBEAM 3 1 3 4 100
CBEAM 4 1 4 5 100
CBEAM 5 1 5 6 100
CBEAM 6 1 6 7 100
CBEAM 7 1 7 8 100
CBEAM 8 1 8 9 100
CBEAM 9 1 9 10 100
CBEAM 10 1 10 11 100
$
GRID 1 0. 0. 0.
GRID 2 1. 0. 0.
GRID 3 2. 0. 0.
GRID 4 3. 0. 0.
GRID 5 4. 0. 0.
GRID 6 5. 0. 0.
GRID 7 6. 0. 0.
GRID 8 7. 0. 0.
GRID 9 8. 0. 0.
GRID 10 9. 0. 0.
GRID 11 10. 0. 0.
GRID 100 0. 0. 10.
$
MAT1 1 7.1+10 .33 2700.
$
PBEAM 1 1 .002 6.667-8 1.667-6 2.332-7
$
SPC1 10 123456 1
ENDDATA
Listing 21-3. Input File for Lateral Buckling

Linear Buckling
Figure 21-7. Eigenvalue Table and Eigenvectors for Lateral Beam Buckling

Figure 21-8. Static and Buckling Shapes

The lowest buckling load calculated by NX Nastran is

Linear Buckling
The theoretical buckling load can be calculated as follows (S.P. Timoshenko and J.M. Gere,
Theory of Elastic Stability, Engineering Societies Monograph Series, Second Ed., 1961):
Table 21-3 compares the NX Nastran results to the theoretical results.
Table 21-3. Lateral Buckling Results Comparison

NX Nastran (N) Theoretical (N) % Difference
218 218 0
Example 3 – Planar Frame Buckling

This example is a planar frame subjected to a compressive load at the top as shown in Figure
21-9. At first glance, since both the structure and loading are symmetrical, you may be tempted
to conclude that the structure will buckle in a symmetric mode. As illustrated in Figure 21-10(a)
(from NX Nastran) and S. P. Timoshenko and J. M. Gere, Theory of Elastic Stability, 1961,
this isn’t the case. The lowest buckling mode is actually antisymmetric. The second buckling
mode is symmetric (Figure 21-10(b)).
Figure 21-9. Planar Frame Buckling

Figure 21-10. Frame Buckling

Linear Buckling
Listing 21-4 shows a portion of the input file for this problem.
$
$ INPUT FILE - bukframe.dat
$
SOL 105 $
TIME 5
CEND
TITLE = FRAME BUCKLING PROBLEM
SUBTITLE = PLANAR MODEL
DISP = ALL
SPC = 1
$
SUBCASE 1
LABEL = STATIC LOAD CASE
LOAD = 1
$
SUBCASE 2
LABEL = BUCKLING CASE
METHOD = 10
$
BEGIN BULK
$
$ BRING IN REST OF BULK DATA FILE
$
INCLUDE ’bucklat.dat’
$
$ LOADS BULK DATA ENTRIES
$
FORCE 1 11 0 5000. -1.
FORCE 1 22 0 5000. -1.
$
$ CONSTRAINTS BULK DATA ENTRIES
$
SPC1 1 123456 1 33
$
$ PROPERTY AND MATERIAL BULK DATA ENTRIES
$
PBAR 1 1 3.46 1. 1.
MAT1 1 1.+7 .3
$
$ FOR CALCULATING BUCKLING MODES
$
EIGRL 10 3
ENDDATA
Listing 21-4. Input File for Frame Buckling


From Theory of Elastic Stability, the buckling load Pcr can be calculated as
Equation 21-11.
where the value of k can be obtained by solving the following transcendental equation
Equation 21-12.
Solving Eq. 21-12, the lowest value of k is equal to
Equation 21-13.
Note that all the roots from the above transcendental equation only yield the antisymmetrical
modes. In this case, the lowest buckling load is
Table 21-4 compares the theoretical results to the NX Nastran results for the antisymmetric
frame buckling.
Table 21-4. Frame Buckling Results Comparison

NX Nastran (lb) Theoretical (lb) % Difference
7378 7377 0.01
Example 4 – Buckling of a Stiffened Panel with Transverse Shear Flexibility

This problem is selected to illustrate the effect of the transverse shear flexibility in the buckling
failure of a stiffened panel. Figure 21-11 consists of a panel reinforced with stiffeners at both the
top and bottom. The panel is subjected to a distributed compressive load at the right edge. The
failure mode of interest in this case is the in-plane (xy plane) buckling of the stiffened panel.

Linear Buckling
Figure 21-11. Buckling of a Stiffened Panel
The corresponding NX Nastran input file for this problem is shown in Listing 21-5. The panel is
modeled with CQUAD4s. Since only the in-plane buckling failure mode is of interest, only the
membrane stiffness is requested for the CQUAD4s (MID1 only). The stiffeners are modeled with
CRODs. Since this is a planar model, the out-of-plane motion is constrained (3, 4, 5, and 6 DOFs).
The panel is subjected to a distributed compressive load at the right end. As an alternative
modeling technique, an RBE3 element is connected to the grid points at the right edge so that
the load can be applied to a single grid point with the RBE3 spreading the loads to the other
grid points.
The SINV method of eigenvalue extraction method is used for this problem. Therefore, the EIGB
entry instead of the EIGRL entry is used. Field 3 of the EIGB entry designates the selected
method. Fields 4 and 5 provide the range of the eigenvalue of interest. A reduced output showing
the eigenvalue table and lowest buckling mode shape is included in Figure 21-13 and Figure
21-14, respectively.

$
$ FILENAME - stffqud4.dat
$
SOL 105
TIME 10
CEND
TITLE = PANEL WITH STIFFENERS
DISP = ALL
STRESS = ALL
SPC = 1
$
SUBCASE 1
LABEL = COMPRESSIVE LOAD
LOAD = 1
$
SUBCASE 2
LABEL = BUCKLING SUBCASE
METHOD = 10
$
BEGIN BULK
$
$EIGRL 10 1
EIGB 10 SINV .7 .9
PARAM POST 0
$
RBE3 1000 1000 123456 2. 12 82 123 +
+ 164 205 287 328 369 410 2. 12345 +
+ 246 1.0 12 41 451
$
FORCE 1 1000 -1.0 100000.
$
$ THIS SECTION CONTAINS THE LOADS, CONSTRAINTS, AND CONTROL BULK DATA ENTRIES
$
PSHELL 1 1 .2
PROD 2 1 .6
$
MAT1 1 1.+7 .32
$
$ BRING IN THE REST OF THE MODEL
$
include ’stffqud4.blk’
$
ENDDATA
Listing 21-5. Input File for the Buckling of Stiffened Panels
Figure 21-12. Eigenvalues for a Stiffened Panel

Linear Buckling
Figure 21-13. Stiffened Panel Buckling Mode


If this problem is treated as an Euler beam, the critical buckling load Pe is equal to
Equation 21-14.

If the effect of the transverse shear flexibility is included, then it can be calculated as follows
(Timoshenko and Gere, Theory of Elastic Stability, 1961):
Equation 21-15.
If the transverse shear flexibility is ignored, then the buckling load deviates by 5.2%.
Table 21-5 contains a comparison between the theoretical results versus the NX Nastran results
for the buckling of the stiffened panel. Note that the transverse shear flexibility of this structure
is automatically included when you are performing a buckling analysis in NX Nastran. There
is no additional input required on your part.
Table 21-5. Stiffened Panel Buckling Results Comparison

NX Nastran (lb) Theoretical (lb) % Difference
78,118 78,210 0.1
A review of the stresses also indicates that the structure will yield prior to reaching the linear
buckling load level. In other words, the critical failure mode may be due to yielding rather than
to the linear buckling of the structure. The knowledge of this linear buckling load level can still
be of design significance. If you are interested in detailed stresses for this problem, then a
nonlinear analysis using Solution 106 may be more appropriate in this case.
Example 5 – Buckling of a Cylinder Under Uniform Axial Load

The next example is the buckling of a cylinder subjected to a distributed compressive load at
one end and simply supported at the other end. The cylinder has a diameter of 20 inches and a
length of 20 inches with a wall thickness of 0.03 inches as shown in Figure 21-14. This problem
illustrates the phenomenon of the buckling of a thin curved shell structure.

Linear Buckling
Figure 21-14. Buckling of a Cylinder Under a Compressive Load

The CQUAD4 elements are used for the NX Nastran model. A mesh of 20 elements along the
length and 72 elements around the circumference is used for this problem. The corresponding
input file containing the pertinent entries is shown in Listing 21-6.
$ FILENAME - buckcy20r.dat
$
ID CYLIN BUCKLING
SOL 105
TIME 200
CEND
TITLE = BUCKLING OF CYLINDER - SIMPLY SUPPORTED
SUBTITLE = 20" x 20" - t=.03" - CP IN CYL COORD SYSTEM - K6ROT = 100.
DISP = ALL
SPC = 1
$
SUBCASE 1
LABEL = STATIC LOAD
LOAD = 1
SPCF = ALL
STRESS = ALL
$
SUBCASE 2
LABEL = EIGENVALUE CALCULATION
METHOD = 1
$
BEGIN BULK
$
PARAM K6ROT 100.
PARAM POST -1
EIGRL 1 2
$
PSHELL 1 1 .03 1
$
MAT1 1 1.+7 .3
$
include ’full_cp1.blk’
$
$ THIS SECTION CONTAINS ALL DEFINED COORDINATE SYSTEMS
$
CORD2C 1 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1. +
1. 0.0 0.0
$
RBE3 5000 5000 123456 1. 123 381 382 +
+ 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 +
+ 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 +
+ 399 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 +
+ 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 +
+ 796 797 798 1180 1181 1182 1183 1184 +
+ 1185 1186 1187 1188 1189 1190 1191 1192 +
+ 1193 1194 1195 1196 1197 1579 1580 1581 +
+ 1582 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 +
+ 1590 1591 1592 1593 1594 1595
$
FORCE 1 5000 0 100000. -1.
$
ENDDATA
Listing 21-6. Input File for a Cylindrical Buckling Problem

Once again, an RBE3 element is used to distribute the load from a single grid point to the
circumference of the cylinder.

Linear Buckling
A static load of –100,000 lb is applied in Subcase 1 to generate the internal forces for the
structure. This load is applied to the RBE3, which, in turn, distributes the loads around the
circumference of the cylinder. The static deflection is shown in Figure 21-15.
The Lanczos eigenvalue extraction method is used in this case to request the lowest mode. The
lowest calculated eigenvalue is equal to 0.35986. The buckling load is, therefore, equal to
The corresponding buckling mode shape is shown in Figure 21-16. As you can see from the plots,
there are two grid points per half sine wave (four grid points per sine wave), which is below the
recommended value of a minimum of five grid points per half sine wave.
This problem is then remeshed with 40 elements along the z-direction keeping the same mesh
density in the circumferential direction. The new eigenvalue calculated in this case is equal to
0.34914. The revised buckling load is, therefore, equal to
The corresponding mode shape is shown in Figure 21-17. In this case, there are three grid
points per half sine wave (six grid points per sine wave), which is still below the minimum
requirement. To obtain better accuracy, you can certainly further refine this model until you
meet the minimum number of grid points requirement. However, this mesh is sufficient for
demonstrating the basic linear buckling features of NX Nastran.
Figure 21-15. Static Deflection of a Cylinder Due to a Compressive Load

Figure 21-16. Buckling Shapes of a Cylinder with 20 Elements Along the z-Direction
Figure 21-17. Buckling Shape of a Cylinder with 40 Elements Along the z-Direction

Linear Buckling

The first buckling load (Timoshenko and Gere, Theory of Elastic Stability, 1961) can be
calculated as follows:
Table 21-6 contains a comparison between the results obtained with NX Nastran versus the
theoretical results.
Table 21-6. Thin Cylinder Buckling Results Comparison

Mesh Density NX Nastran (N) Theoretical (N) % Difference
72 x 20 34,262 34,225 .11
72 x 40 34,234 34,225 .03
Example 6 – Multiple Buckling Analyses in a Single Run

So far, a single static analysis was considered followed by a single buckling analysis. Example
6 shows you how to run multiple static and buckling analyses in a single run. In fact, what is
done in this example is to combine the Euler beam buckling (Example 1) and lateral buckling
(Example 2) problem into a single run. The corresponding input file is shown in Listing 21-7.
The model used is the same geometric beam model used in Examples 1 and 2. The first subcase
(Subcase 2) is a static subcase consisting of a cantilever beam with a vertical tip load applied
to the free end (see Figure 21-6). The second subcase (Subcase 5) is a static subcase consisting
of a simply supported beam with an axial load applied to the roller end (see Figure 21-2). The
third subcase (Subcase 11) is for a lateral buckling analysis. The Case Control command
(STATSUB = 2 in Subcase 11) tells NX Nastran that you want to generate the differential
stiffness matrix from the first static subcase (Subcase 2). The fourth subcase (Subcase 21) is
for a Euler beam buckling analysis. The Case Control command (STATSUB = 5 in Subcase 21)
tells NX Nastran that you want to generate the differential stiffness matrix from the second
static subcase (Subcase 5). The Bulk Data entries are similar to Examples 1 and 2. Note that
different boundary conditions are allowed for different subcases.

$ FILENAME - MULTBUCK.DAT
$
SOL 105
TIME 10
CEND
$
TITLE = LATERAL BUCKLING OF CANTILEVER BEAM
DISP = ALL
$
SUBCASE 2
LABEL = CANTILEVER BEAM
LOAD = 10
SPC = 10
$
SUBCASE 5
LABEL = SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM
LOAD = 20
SPC = 20
$
SUBCASE 11
LABEL = LATERAL BUCKLING OF CANTILEVER BEAM
METHOD = 10
SPC = 10
STATSUB = 2
$
SUBCASE 21
LABEL = EULER BUCKLING OF SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM
METHOD = 10
SPC = 20
STATSUB = 5
$
Listing 21-7. Input File for Multiple Buckling Analyses (Continued)

Linear Buckling
BEGIN BULK
$
EIGRL 10 2
$
FORCE 10 11 -1000. 0. 1. 0.
FORCE 20 11 -1000. 1. 0. 0.
$
CBEAM 1 1 1 2 100
CBEAM 2 1 2 3 100
CBEAM 3 1 3 4 100
CBEAM 4 1 4 5 100
CBEAM 5 1 5 6 100
CBEAM 6 1 6 7 100
CBEAM 7 1 7 8 100
CBEAM 8 1 8 9 100
CBEAM 9 1 9 10 100
CBEAM 10 1 10 11 100
$
GRID 1 0. 0. 0.
GRID 2 1. 0. 0.
GRID 3 2. 0. 0.
GRID 4 3. 0. 0.
GRID 5 4. 0. 0.
GRID 6 5. 0. 0.
GRID 7 6. 0. 0.
GRID 8 7. 0. 0.
GRID 9 8. 0. 0.
GRID 10 9. 0. 0.
GRID 11 10. 0. 0.
GRID 100 0. 0. 10.
$
MAT1 1 7.1+10 .33 2700.
$
$
PBEAM 1 1 .002 6.667-8 1.667-6 2.332-7
$
SPC1 10 123456 1
$
SPC1 20 123 1
SPC1 20 23 11
SPC 20 1 4
$
ENDDATA
Listing 21-7. Input File for Multiple Buckling Analyses

Chapter
22 Laminates
• Overview of Laminated Composite Materials
• Understanding Classical Lamination Theory
• Understanding Laminate Failure Indices
• Calculating Interlaminar Shear Stress and Strains
• Examples: Defining Laminate Material Properties

Chapter 22 Laminates
22.1 Overview of Laminated Composite Materials

The term composite refers to an engineering material that is made up of more than one material.
Classical lamination theory takes the term composite another step to mean a material that
is composed of stacks of ply layers or lamina, with each lamina having its own orthotropic
properties. A laminate is a stack of these individual lamina arranged with the individual lamina
having different orientations of the principal material directions. The laminae are bonded
together with a thin layer of bonding material that is considered to be of zero thickness.
Figure 22-1. Laminae Arranged to Form a Laminate

Each ply or lamina may be considered as a group of unidirectional fibers. The ability to orient the
fibers in particular directions lets you tailor the mechanical properties of a composite material to
match the loading environment. The principal material axes for the lamina are parallel and
perpendicular to the fiber directions. The principal directions are referred to as:
• “Longitudinal” or the 1-direction of the fiber
• “Transverse” or the 2-direction for the perpendicular direction (matrix direction)
Figure 22-2 shows an exploded view of three cross-ply laminated plate. The n-laminae (n =
1,2,3,4) of each of the three configurations are normal to the z-axis of the indicated coordinate
system and the 1- and 2-axes appended to the individual lamina denote principal material axis

Laminates
directions. The directions of the principal material axes of each lamina alternate as implied by
the use of the word "cross-ply" to describe the configuration. The xy-plane of the coordinate axes
is defined in the geometric middle plane of the laminae.
Figure 22-2. Exploded View of Three Cross-Ply Laminated Plates

Plies are typically made of fibers glued in place by a matrix. If the ply is a tape, all the fibers are
oriented in the same direction. Cloth plies have fibers woven in two directions. Many different
materials can be used as fibers or matrices. Examples of fibers include graphite, glass, boron,
silicon carbide, and tungsten. Examples of matrices include epoxy and aluminum.
Modeling Laminates in NX Nastran

In NX Nastran, you can use the CQUAD4, CQUAD8, CTRIA3, and CTRIA6 elements to model
composite and nonuniform materials. This lets you model plates with coupled membrane and
bending elastic behavior. NX Nastran uses the assumptions of classical lamination theory in
formulating shell behavior for nonuniform and composite laminate element properties.
You can model an entire stack of laminae with a single plate or shell element because the
material properties of the stack are completely reflected in the matrices of elastic moduli for the
element. The software automatically calculates these matrices from user-supplied definitions of
the thickness, the material properties, and the relative orientation of these properties for the
individual lamina. Once the software calculates the matrices of elastic moduli, the analysis
proceeds.

Because the material properties of the laminated composite plate are completely contained in the
matrices of elastic moduli, you can use standard data recovery methods to have the software
calculate stresses in individual laminae and the forces sustained by the laminate.You can have
NX Nastran:
• Evaluate stresses or strains and appropriate failure indices in individual laminae
• Calculate interlaminar shear stresses and strains and a bonding failure index
If the loading on a structure is sufficient to exceed the linear elastic limit of the material, then
nonlinear methods are required to predict the nature of the plastically (permanently) deformed
state. Nonlinear methods are also required if the material is nonlinear in its elastic range.
For a two-dimensional analysis involving composite material properties, there are two different
methods you can use to define a laminate.
• You can use the PSHELL bulk data entry to directly input membrane, bending,
membrane-bending coupling and transverse shear constitutive relationships.
• You can use the PCOMP entry to define the composite laminate on a ply-by-ply basis. When
you use PCOMP, NX Nastran computes the equivalent PSHELL and MAT2 entries for you.
Both the PSHELL and PCOMP methods are described in the following sections.
Note: For three-dimensional composite analyses, you must develop the anisotropic material
matrix yourself. Typically, you would use the MAT9 bulk data entry to define this material
matrix.
See also
• “Understanding MAT9” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
Using the PSHELL Method

With the PSHELL method, you use the PSHELL entry with the appropriate material definitions
and geometric parameters to directly define a laminate. For example, you can use PSHELL to
define properties such as membrane thickness, material properties, and bending and transverse
shear parameters.
On the PSHELL entry, there are different four material ID (MID) fields as shown in Table 22-1.
Table 22-1. Material Properties on the PSHELL Entry
ID PSHELL Field Purpose

MID1 3 Membrane material property.
MID2 5 Bending material property.
MID3 7 Transverse shear stiffness material property.
Material property used to define coupling between the
MID4 4 (cont.)
membrane and the bending deformation.

Laminates
You can specify MAT1, MAT2, or MAT8 as the material type for any of the material (MIDi)
fields. For isotropic materials, use the same MAT1 identification for MID1 and MID2, and leave
the MID3 and MID4 fields blank.
• Use MID1 if you want to include membranes only.
• Use MID2 (and optionally, MID3) if you want to include bending only.
• Use MID3 to have the software use thick plate theory, which includes the transverse shear
flexibility, to develop the element stiffness matrix. In general, for thin or curved surfaces,
you shouldn’t use MID3.
• Use MID4 to input a coupling relationship between the in-plane forces and bending moments.
This coupling only occurs in plates that are nonsymmetric about the neutral plane or where
the neutral plane is offset from the grid points. Typical applications include reinforced skins
and aluminum bonded to fiberglass. You should leave the MID4 field blank if the element
cross section is symmetric.
While the PSHELL method is sufficient for defining simple composites, determining the
appropriate material definitions can be difficult for more complex composites. Additionally, when
you use the PSHELL method, you can only recover smeared element data (running loads and
moments, and equivalent strains and curvatures).
See also
• “PSHELL” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using the PCOMP Method

The PCOMP entry provides a convenient way of entering appropriate material properties for a
plate consisting of layers of unidirectional fibers. The input on the PCOMP entry consists of the
layer-by-layer material definition. You can use PCOMP to define the thickness, orientation, and
the material identification number of each of the individual lamina.
When you solve your model, NX Nastran calculates the membrane, bending, transverse shear,
and coupled membrane-bending material properties of the laminate as a whole from the data you
specified on the PCOMP entry. The software outputs these calculated properties in the form of
one equivalent PSHELL and four MAT2 entries, as shown in Figure 22-3. If you specify ECHO
= PUNCH in the Case Control section, the software prints the generated PSHELL and MAT2
entries in the PUNCH file after the sorted bulk data echo
Since the MIDi fields use more than eight digits, the software uses the large field format for
the generated PSHELL and MAT2 entries. You can then modify your input file with these
new entries and proceed with your analysis.

Figure 22-3. Equivalent PSHELL and MAT2 Entries Are Generated

The ID numbers of the generated MAT2 entries are important.
• The MID1 material has an ID in the range of 100000000 to 199999999.
• The MID2 material has an ID in the range of 200000000 to 299999999, etc.
These MIDi ranges alert NX Nastran that the material is part of a composite analysis. Therefore,
if you’re using the equivalent properties in a future analysis instead of using the PCOMP entry,
and you’re entering a thermal coefficient of expansion, don’t change the ID numbers.
Selecting a Failure Theory
When you use the PCOMP method, you can use the FT field (field 6) to specify a failure theory
for the laminate.
See also
• “Understanding Laminate Failure Indices” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide

Laminates
Selecting Output Options
The output you may request for a composite analysis includes:
• Stresses and strains for the equivalent plate
• Force resultants
• Stresses and/or strains in the individual laminate including approximate interlaminar

shear stresses in the bonding material output
• A failure index table
Note that if you want NX Nastran to calculate stress and/or the failure indices for the composite
elements, you must use the ELSTRESS Case Control command to request stress output for
the appropriate composite elements.
One benefit of the PCOMP entry is that it gives you more output options than the equivalent
PSHELL and MAT2 entries. For example, PCOMP lets you obtain:
• Individual layer stresses and strains, interlaminar stress, and failure indices in Solution
Sequences 101, 103, 105, 106, 114, 144, and 200
• Element force and equivalent strain output in the other solution sequences
If you use the equivalent PSHELL and MAT2 entries, you won’t be able to obtain the laminae
stress or the failure index table.
You can use PARAM,NOCOMPS to control the computation and printout of composite element
ply stresses and failure indices.
See also
• “PCOMP” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “STRESS” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “NOCOMPS” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
22.2 Understanding Classical Lamination Theory

Classical lamination theory makes the following assumptions regarding the behavior of the
laminae:
• The laminate consists of perfectly bonded laminae.
• The bonds are infinitesimally thin and nonshear-deformable; i.e., displacements are
continuous across laminae boundaries so that no lamina can slip relative to another.
• There is linear variation of strain through the laminate thickness.

Deformation in the X-Y plan of the plate at any point C at a distance z in the normal direction
to plate middle surface is
Equation 22-1.
Equation 22-2.
where U, V, and W are the displacements along the X, Y, and Z directions in the element
coordinate system, and θx, θy are the rotations.
The strain-displacement-middle surface strain and curvatures relationship is given by:
Equation 22-3.
where the ε0’s and χ’s are the middle surface strains and curvatures, respectively.

Laminates
The stress resultants for an N-layer laminate are obtained by integration of the stresses in each
lamina through the laminate thickness as:
Equation 22-4.
Equation 22-5.
The stress resultant to strain relationship is:
Equation 22-6.
Equation 22-7.
where [G]k is the material matrix transformed from the laminate coordinate system into the
lamina coordinate system.

These relations can be written in the following form used to describe composite elements:
Equation 22-8.
where:
[A] =
[B] =
[D] =
are named in composite element literature as the membrane, membrane-coupling, and bending
matrices, respectively.

Laminates
In the shell element formulation in NX Nastran (CQUAD4, CQUAD8, CTRIA3, and CTRIA6),
these relationships take the following form:
where:
Equation 22-9.
[A] = TG1 (3x3 matrix)

[B] = −T2G4 (3x3 matrix)
[D] =
{Q} =
{γ} =
T nominal plate thickness

Ts = effective transverse shear material thickness
G3 = effective transverse shear material matrix
If you use the PSHELL entry, you can directly input G1, G2, G4, T, G3, and Ts (G1=MID1,
G2=MID2, G3=MID3, G4=MID4 on the PSHELL entry) If you use the PCOMP entry, you can
have NX Nastran calculate the composite equivalent material matrices from the data you supply.
Equivalent thermal properties are determined as follows:
Equation 22-10.

The following coefficients are used to determine equivalent thermal properties:
These coefficients are used to calculate the equivalent thermal properties as follows:
and
where {αξ0} and {αx} are the membrane and bending equivalent thermal properties. Note that
{αε0} is not directly calculated, but is determined from {Gαε0} when the PCOMP input is used
when the MID4 field on the PSHELL is > 400,000,000. Note that {Gxξ0} cannot be input directly
using PSHELL and {αε0} can be input only if [B] is invertible (which is generally not true).
The thermal expansion relationships in the shell element formulation take the following form:
where α1, α2, and α3 are the thermal expansion inputs on the materials referenced by the MID1,
MID2, and MID4 fields on the PSHELL entry. If you use PCOMP, NX Nastran automatically
calculates these relationships.

Laminates
The terms G1, G2, and G4 are defined by the following integrals:
Equation 22-11.
The limits on the integration are from the bottom surface to the top surface of the laminated
composite. The matrix of material moduli, [Ge], has the following form for isotropic materials:
Equation 22-12.
For orthotropic materials, the matrix, [Ge], is written as follows:
Equation 22-13.

Here, ν1E2 = ν2E1 to satisfy the requirement that the matrix of elastic moduli be symmetric.
In general, the analyst may supply element properties with respect to a particular orientation
which does not necessarily correspond to the principal material axes. In this case, the analyst
must also supply the value of the angle, θ or material coordinate system that orients the element
material axis relative to the side G1-G2 of the element. The material elastic modulus matrix is
then transformed by the program into the element modulus matrix through the relation
Equation 22-14.
where:
Equation 22-15.
The finite element model for a structure composed of composite materials requires the evaluation
of the matrix of elastic moduli for each plate element of the model. The characteristics of the
composite media are totally contained in these matrices.

Laminates
To illustrate evaluation of these matrices, consider the cross-ply laminates shown in Figure 22-2.
Here, all three configurations are represented by a single quadrilateral plate element. The
coordinate axes are coincident with the element coordinate axes. Then, if we assume that each
lamina of the n-ply laminates is of thickness T/n, where T is the total thickness of each of three
configurations, the matrices of elastic moduli may be evaluated from the following relations:
Equation 22-16.
Equation 22-17.
Equation 22-18.
These relations reflect the assumption that the xy-plane of the element coordinate system
is coincident with the geometric middle plane of the laminate. The xy-plane of the element
coordinate system is defined in the mean plane of the element so that any offset between the
mean plane of the connected grid points and the geometric middle plane of the laminate would be
reflected in the integration limits of the preceding relations.
Note that I = T3/12 in the evaluation of [G2], i.e., the value (12I)/ 2, will be assigned the default
value of 1.0 on the plate element property entry.

The matrix of elastic moduli for transverse shear, [G3]m is defined as a two-by-two matrix of the
form
Equation 22-19.
and the corresponding matrix transformed into an element coordinate system is given by
Equation 22-20.
where
The mean value of the transverse shear modulus for the laminated composite is defined in
terms of the transverse shear strain energy, U, through the depth
Equation 22-21.
A unique mean value of the transverse shear strain is assumed to exist for both the x and y
components of the element coordinate system, but for ease of discussion, only the evaluation of
an uncoupled x component of the shear moduli will be illustrated here. From Eq. 22-21 the mean
value of transverse shear modulus may be written in the following form
Equation 22-22.
where G is an “average” transverse shear coefficient used by the element code and (Gx)i is the
local shear coefficient for layer . To evaluate Eq. 22-13, it is necessary to obtain an expression
for (τzx(z)). This can be accomplished by assuming that the x- and y-components of stress are
decoupled from one another. This assumption allows the desired equation to be deduced through
an examination of a beam unit cross-sectional width.

Laminates
The equilibrium conditions in the horizontal direction and for total moment are
Equation 22-23.
Equation 22-24.
Now, if the location of the neutral surface is denoted by and ρ is the radius of curvature of the
beam, the axial stress Ex may be expressed in the form
Equation 22-25.
Relation 20 may be differentiated with respect to x combined with Eq. 22-23 and Eq. 22-24. In a
region of constant Ex the result may be integrated to yield the following expression
Equation 22-26.

Eq. 22-30 is particularly convenient to use in the analysis of n-ply laminates because sufficient
conditions exist to determine the constants Ci (i = 1,2,...,n) and the “directional bending center”
. For example, consider the following laminated configuration
At the bottom surface (i = 1, z = z0, and τxz = 0)
Equation 22-27.
and for the first ply at the interface between plies i = 1 and i = 2 (z = z1)
Equation 22-28.
At this interface between plies i = 1 and i = 2,
Equation 22-29.
and as (τxz)2 = (τxz)1 at z = z1,
Equation 22-30.

Laminates
Then, in the ply z1<z<z2 the shear is
Equation 22-31.
In general, for any ply, Zi − 1 < z <zi, the shear is
Equation 22-32.
At any ply interface, zi, the shear is therefore
Equation 22-33.
where Tj = zj − (zj − 1).
Note that the shear at the top face, (τxz)n, is zero and therefore
Equation 22-34.
Eq. 22-34 proves that if is the bending center, the shear at the top surface must be zero.

Eq. 22-32 could be substituted into Eq. 22-23 and integrated. A better form of Eq. 22-34, for
this purpose is
Equation 22-35.
where
Equation 22-36.
Substituting Eq. 22-35 into Eq. 22-26 and integrating the results, we obtain
Equation 22-37.
where
Equation 22-38.

Laminates
This expression for the inverse shear modulus for the x-direction may be generalized to provide
for the calculation of each term in the two-by-two matrix of shear moduli.
Equation 22-39.
where:
k = 1,2
l = 1,2
Note that if no shear is given, [Gi]−1, and also that in Eq. 22-32
where [G2]* is calculated in the same manner as [G2] except that Poisson’s Ratio is set to zero.
The moduli for individual plies are provided through user input because, in general, G12 ≠ G21
will be used for the coupling terms. Finally,
Equation 22-40.
As an example, consider a single layer element. For this case let zi − 1 = −T/2, , fo = 0, and
EI = ET3/12. Evaluating Eq. 22-39 we obtain
Equation 22-41.
and
Equation 22-42.
which provides the correct factor for a nonuniform shear distribution in a plate.

The coefficients of thermal expansion derived for membrane-bending coupling, which appear in
the A1, A2, and A12 fields of MAT2 entry and correspond to the MID4 Field on the PSHELL,
require special interpretation. They are given by:
Equation 22-43.
To obtain the actual values of A1, A2, and A12 {αMAT2}, you must solve Eq. 22-43.
22.3 Understanding Laminate Failure Indices and Strength Ratios

When you use the PCOMP entry, you can optionally output a failure index and strength ratio for
individual laminae.
Failure indices assume a value of one on the periphery of a failure surface in stress space.
• If the failure index is < 1, the lamina stress is interior to the periphery of the failure surface
and the lamina is assumed to be safe.
• If the failure index is > 1, the lamina stress is exterior to the periphery of the failure surface
and the lamina is assumed to have failed.
These failure indices represent a phenomenological failure criterion in that only an occurrence of
a failure is indicated and not the mode of failure. In the present context, concern is with the
analytical definition of a failure surface in stress or strain space for use with laminae under
biaxial loading. NX Nastran provides four commonly used definitions of the failure surface: Hill’s
Theory, Hoffman’s Theory, Tsai-Wu Theory, and maximum strain theory.
Strength ratio is a more direct indicator of failure than failure index since it demonstrates the
percentage of applied load to the failure criteria. Strength ratio is defined as:
Strength Ratio (SR) = Allowable Stress / Calculated Stress
For example, a SR = .75 not only indicates that a failure has occurred, but also indicates that the
applied load is 25% beyond the allowable. A FI = 1.25 on the other hand does not represent a
percentage of failure; only that a failure condition exists.
NX Nastran provides strength ratio output for the same four commonly used definitions of the
failure surface: Hill’s Theory, Hoffman’s Theory, Tsai-Wu Theory, and maximum strain theory.

Laminates
Selecting a Failure Criterion or Strength Ratio

If requested, NX Nastran will calculate a failure index and a strength ratio for each ply. This
failure index is obtained by considering the failure criteria for unidirectional fiber composites
as in the commonly used failure theories. You can select one of the following failure criteria
for composites:
• Hill’s Theory
• Hoffman’s Theory
• Tsai-Wu Theory
• Maximum Strain
Note: If you specify a failure theory (using the FT option in field 6 of the PCOMP entry), you must
also specify the allowable shear stress of the bonding material (using the SB option in field 5).
In the analysis of isotropic materials, strength is independent of the orientation of the body under
load and one may compare the largest computed principal stress with an allowable stress to
establish the integrity of the structure. Laminated composites, on the other hand, are orthotropic
materials and may exhibit unequal properties in tension and compression. Thus, the strength of
these orthotropic laminae is a function of body orientation relative to the imposed stresses.
As the evaluation of the matrices of material moduli for laminated composites provides sufficient
information to determine the actual stress field sustained by the material, the determination
of structural integrity will depend on the definition of an allowable stress field. The basic
ingredient of this definition is the establishment of a set of allowable stresses or strengths in
the principal material directions.
Xt = Allowable tensile stress in the principal x (or 1) direction of the material.

Xc = Allowable compressive stress in the principal x (or 1) direction of the material.
Yt = Allowable tensile stress in the principal y (or 2) direction of the material.
Yc = Allowable compressive stress in the principal y (or 2) direction of the material.
S = Allowable shear stress in the principal material system.
The strength ratio (SR) is calculated for each of the four failure theories by solving the quadratic
equation with FI =1, and replacing the applied stress with (SR · applied stress). The SR
calculation detail is discussed below for each theory.

Hill’s Theory (HILL)

Hill’s failure theory for orthotropic materials that have the same strength in tension and
compression, i.e., xt = xc and yt = yc can be expressed as:
Equation 22-44.
X is allowable stress in 1-direction

Y is allowable stress in 2-direction
S is allowable stress in shear
and X = Xt if σ1 is positive or X = Xc if σ1 is negative and similarly for Y and σ2. For the
interaction term σ1σ2/X2, X = Xt if σ1σ2 is positive or X = Xc if σ1σ2 is negative.
A plot of the above equation obtained by setting the failure index to 1 on the σ1-σ2 plane yields
an ellipse and is the anisotropic yield criterion of Hill (modified later by Tsai, and hence also
sometimes known as the Tsai-Hill theory). Therefore, if the failure index so calculated is less
than 1, the ply stresses are inside the yield ellipse and the ply is said to be “safe”; conversely, if the
failure index is greater than 1, the ply stresses are outside the yield ellipse and the ply has failed.
Replacing the applied stress with (SR · applied stress), the Hill Failure Criteria can be rewritten
in terms of a strength ratio:
The above equation can be rearranged into quadratic equation format:
giving:
The value of a in the quadratic equation format matches the value for the Hill failure index (FI).
Substituting the values of a = FI, b = 0, and c = -1 into the general quadratic equation solution:
gives the Hill strength ratio:

Laminates
Hoffman’s Failure Theory (HOFF)

Hoffman’s theory for an orthotropic lamina in a general state of plane stress with unequal
tensile and compressive strengths is given by
Equation 22-45.
The failure index is obtained by evaluating the left-hand side of the above equation.
Note that this theory takes into account the difference in tensile and compressive allowable
stresses by using linear terms in the equation.
To calculate the strength ratio, the following terms are defined:
F1 =
F2 =
F11 =
F22 =
F66 =
Substituting above terms into Hoffman FI equation and setting FI = 1:
Replacing the applied stress with (SR · applied stress), the Hoffman Failure Criteria can be
rewritten in terms of a strength ratio:
Rearranging into quadratic equation format:
Using the general quadratic equation solution:
The Hoffman strength ratio is calculated using the following roots:

Tensor Polynomial Theory of Tsai-Wu (TSAI)

The theory of strength for anisotropic materials proposed by Tsai and Wu specialized to the case
of an orthotropic lamina in a general state of plane stress with unequal tensile and compressive
strengths is
Equation 22-46.
where:
F1 =
F2 =
F11 =
F22 =
F66 =
and F12 is to be evaluated experimentally.

The magnitude of F12 is, however, constrained by the following inequality called a “stability
criterion”:
Equation 22-47.
The necessity of satisfying the stability criterion, together with the requirement that F12 be
determined experimentally from a combined stress state, poses difficulties in the use of this
theory. Narayanaswami and Adelman1 have suggested that F12 be set to zero and that use of
Hoffman’s theory or Tensor Polynomial theory with F12 = 0 is a preferred alternative to the
experimental determination of F12. If you have a value for use with F12 in the theory, you can
input that value in the MAT8 Bulk Data entry; otherwise, with this failure theory, NX Nastran
sets F12 to 0.0. The left-hand side of the above equation will be evaluated as the failure index
by this theory.
NX Nastran calculates the failure index of bonding material as the maximum interlaminar shear
stress divided by the allowable bonding stress. NX Nastran writes the failure indices for all the
1. Narayanaswami, R., and H. M. Adelman, “Evaluation of the Tensor Polynomial and Hoffman Strength Theories for Composite
Materials,” Journal of Composite Materials, Vol. II, 1977, p. 366.

Laminates
plies into the OEFIT (Output Element failure index Table) output if stresses are requested. The
failure index for the element is the largest value of the failure indices for all plies of the element.
Replacing the applied stress with (SR · applied stress), the Hoffman Failure Criteria can be
rewritten in terms of a strength ratio:
Rearranging into quadratic equation format:
Using the general quadratic equation solution:
The TSAI-Wu strength ratio is calculated using the following roots:
Maximum Strain Theory (STRN)
The midplane strains and curvatures are available in the element coordinate system. From
these, the stresses and strains in each individual lamina along the fiber direction and transverse
direction can be easily calculated. You can use the STRAIN case control command to request the
output of lamina strains.
The maximum strain criteria has no strain interaction terms. The strain allowables specified
on the MAT8 entry for each lamina include
Allowable strains in tension and compression, respectively, in the

Xt,Xc
longitudinal direction.
Allowable strains in tension and compression, respectively, in the
Yt,Yc
transverse direction.
S Allowable strain for inplane shear.

The failure index is calculated using
and
i.e., where 1, 2,γ12 are the elastic strains (total

strains minus thermal strains).
Because you must understand which mode of failure index is critical; i.e., longitudinal (1),
transverse (2), or shear (12), NX Nastran prints the mnemonic 1, 2 or 12 alongside the FP
value to indicate the critical direction.
Note: There is no change in the way the failure index is calculated for interlaminar shear stresses.
When you use the maximum strain theory, you may want to specify lamina stress allowables
instead of strain allowables on the MAT8. To do this, leave the STRN field on the MAT8 entry
blank.
For this case, NX Nastran calculates the failure indices using
and
that is,
To calculate the Maximum Stress (Strain) strength ratio, the failure index which is defined as
FI = Calculated Stress / Allowable Stress is set to unity, and the applied stress is replaced with
(SR · applied stress). The result is:

Laminates
22.4 Calculating Interlaminar Shear Stress and Strains

The two-dimensional plate theory used in the CQUAD4, CQUAD8, CTRIA3 or CTRIA6 elements
doesn’t allow for the exact calculation of interlaminar stresses. High values of these interlaminar
stresses can lead to failures that are unique to composite materials.
NX Nastran uses an approximate technique to determine the interlaminar shear stresses. The
basic assumption in this approximate technique is that the x- and y-components of stress are
decoupled from one another. The approximation consists of neglecting the effects of twisting
moments in the computation of interlaminar shear stresses. For the majority of composite
material structural analyses, this approximation generally yields satisfactory results for all
elements in the model except those at the edges of the structure.
Eq. 22-33 is used to calculate (τxz)i for the i-th lamina and is calculated from Eq. 22-34.
Similar expressions are used to calculate (τyz) and .
The interlaminar shear strains are calculated by
and
22.5 Examples: Defining Laminate Material Properties

The following examples demonstrate how to use PSHELL and PCOMP to model a composite
honeycomb section.
Example: Using PCOMP to Model a Honeycomb Plate

As an example of the PCOMP entry, consider the cantilevered honeycomb plate shown in Figure
22-4. Although the honeycomb structure is not considered a composite layup, it can be analyzed
effectively using the PCOMP entry.

Figure 22-4. Honeycomb Cantilever Plate

The material properties of the honeycomb section are listed in Table 22-2. Note that the face
sheets are not of the same thickness. The result is a nonsymmetric plate (Figure 22-5), which
can be noted by the MAT2 entry for the MID4 field of the equivalent PSHELL.
Table 22-2. Honeycomb Material Properties

Modulus of Tensile Compression Shea rLimit
Material Elasticity (106 psi) Limit(103 psi) Limit (103 psi) (103 psi)
Aluminum Face
10.0 35 35 23
Sheets
Core 0.0001 0.05 0.3 0.2
Bonding Material – – – 0.1
Part of the input file for the honeycomb plate is shown in Listing 22-1. The load on the plate
is a 4000-pound uniform load acting in the plane of the plate. The output requests include the
element force, laminae stress, laminae strain, and failure index table.
A selected portion of the output is shown in Figure 22-5.

Laminates
$
$ FILENAME - PCOMP1.DAT
$
CQUAD4 1 100 1 2 6 5
CQUAD4 2 100 2 3 7 6
CQUAD4 3 100 3 4 8 7
CQUAD4 4 100 5 6 10 9
CQUAD4 5 100 6 7 11 10
CQUAD4 6 100 7 8 12 11
$
FORCE 1 12 0 1. 1000.0 0.0 0.0
FORCE 1 4 0 1. 1000.0 0.0 0.0
FORCE 1 8 0 1. 2000.0 0.0 0.0
$
SPC1 1 123456 1 5 9
$
PCOMP 100 100. STRN
120 0.05 0. YES 130 0.35 0.0 YES
120 0.02 0. YES
$
MAT1 120 10.+6 0.3
35.E3 35.E3 23.E3
MAT1 130 100. 0.3
50. 300. 200.
Listing 22-1. Honeycomb Plate

Figure 22-5. Composite Output of the Honeycomb Plate

The plate results indicate that the plates are bending downward due to the axial load, which is
expected from a nonsymmetric cross section. The laminae stresses show that the face sheets are
highly stressed while the core has virtually no stress. The failure index table shows the failure
for each laminae and the bonding material to be less than 1, indicating that the structure will
not fail. Note, however, that since each lamina is assumed to be in a state of plane stress, the
failure index doesn’t take into account the crushing of the core.
As a final example showing the use of the PCOMP entry, consider the model shown in Figure 22-6.

Laminates
Figure 22-6 shows an example of the data entries required to define a five layer composite
material. A typical element (with grid points 101, 102, 103, and 104) in the model is magnified
to illustrate the individual layers.

Figure 22-6. Typical Composite Layup

Laminates
In the example above, the direction of the x-axis of the material coordinate system (xm) is defined
by the projection of the x-axis of coordinate system 5 onto the element. Using this technique, the
direction of material coordinate system is independent of the shape of the element.
The material direction of all the elements in the model can be defined by referencing a single
coordinate system. The MCID field on the CQUAD4 Bulk Data entry defines the ID of this
coordinate system. The coordinate system is shown in the figure as the x5-, y5-, z5-axis and
is defined on the CORD2R Bulk Data entry.
• The x-axis of the material coordinate system can also be defined with an angle. If the THETA
or MCID field on the CQUAD4 Bulk Data entry is an integer, then the value is taken as a
coordinate system. If it is a real number , then the value is taken as an angle.
• The z-axis (zm) of the material coordinate system is in the direction of the z-axis of the
element coordinate system (ze).
• The direction of the y-axis (ym) follows the right-hand rule.
The CQUAD4 entry references the PCOMP entry, which defines the following layup:
Ply Material Thickness Angle

1 2 0.003 0.0
2 1 0.005 45.0
3 1 0.005 0.0
4 1 0.005 -45.0
5 3 0.007 90.0
The composite material is made of 5 plies. Ply number 1 is at the most negative zm. Note that
since zm is in the direction of ze, the element grid point connectivity order determines which is
the top and bottom surface of the composite and thus, the stacking direction. Ply angle 0 is in
the direction of xm. The positive sense of the ply angle is in the direction from xm to ym. The
PCOMP entry references the MAT8 data entries by the MID field.
The example uses three different materials. Note that strain allowables are specified on the
MAT8 entry. To let NX Nastran know that these values are strain allowable, the STRN field
must be set equal to 1.0.
• Material 1 is typical of a graphite epoxy tape. A tape has continuous fibers that all point in
the same direction. Note that E1 is ten times the value of E2.
• Material 2 is also a tape.
• Material 3 is a cloth since E1 equals E2. A cloth made of woven fibers has approximately the
same number of fibers going in the 1 direction as in the 2 direction.
Directions 1 and 2 refer to the ply coordinate system. The ply material properties on the
MAT8 entry are in the ply coordinate system.
– The 1-axis of the ply coordinate system is in the direction of the ply angle.
– The 3-axis is in the direction of zm (or ze).
– The 2-axis follows the right-hand rule.

Ply results are output in the ply coordinate system.

Example: Using PSHELL to Model a Honeycomb Section

If you’re only interested in the overall behavior of the honeycomb composite section, then you can
use an equivalent PSHELL/MAT2 or PSHELL/MAT1 combination to model the PCOMP/MAT8
effect. This representation yields the correct equivalent stiffness and, consequently, the correct
displacements. However, the stresses in general are meaningless since the information regarding
the individual layers are not available to NX Nastran with the PSHELL/MATi combination. If
you want to obtain the stresses, you should use the PCOMP/MAT8 combination.
This example shows how to model the honeycomb section shown in Figure 22-7 using
PSHELL/MAT1. The assumptions are that the membrane and bending loads are carried by the
facesheets and the transverse shear loads are carried by the honeycomb core. The cross section
consists of two 0.01 in thick aluminum facesheets sandwiching a 0.75 in thick honeycomb core.
The properties of the section are shown in Figure 22-7.
Figure 22-7. Honeycomb Cantilever Plate Represented by PSHELL/MAT1

Laminates
The calculation of the equivalent properties is shown below:
The transverse shear moduli (G13 and G23) are different in the two transverse directions,
which is typical of honeycomb core. Since the MAT1 entry only allows a single shear modulus,
an average Gcore is used.
A more accurate representation of G13 and G23 is to use the MAT2 entry instead of the
MAT1 entry. Listing 22-2 and Listing 22-3 show the input files using the PCOMP/MAT8 and
PSHELL/MAT1 entries, respectively. As shown in the corresponding abridged output files
in Figure 22-8 and Figure 22-9, the displacements calculated by using the PSHELL/MAT1
combination are comparable with the displacements obtained using the PCOMP/MAT8
combination.

$ filename - pcomp2.dat
ID LINEAR,PCOMP2
SOL 101
TIME 5
CEND
TITLE = HONEYCOMB COMPOSITE CANTLEVER PLATE
SUBTITLE = SYMMETRIC - .01/.75/.01
$
SPC = 1
DISP = ALL
$
SUBCASE 1
LABEL = AXIAL LOAD
LOAD = 1
$
SUBCASE 2
LABEL = VERTICAL SHEAR LOAD
LOAD = 2
$
SUBCASE 3
LABEL = VERTICAL TWIST LOAD
LOAD = 3
$
BEGIN BULK
$
PARAM POST -1
$
GRDSET 6
GRID 1 0.0 -10. 0.0
GRID 2 10. -10. 0.0
GRID 3 20. -10. 0.0
GRID 4 30. -10. 0.0
GRID 5 0.0 0.0 0.0
GRID 6 10. 0.0 0.0
GRID 7 20. 0.0 0.0
GRID 8 30. 0.0 0.0
GRID 9 0.0 10. 0.0
GRID 10 10. 10. 0.0
GRID 11 20. 10. 0.0
GRID 12 30. 10. 0.0
$
Listing 22-2. Honeycomb Sandwich Using PCOMP (Continued)

Laminates
CQUAD4 1 100 1 2 6 5
CQUAD4 2 100 2 3 7 6
CQUAD4 3 100 3 4 8 7
CQUAD4 4 100 5 6 10 9
CQUAD4 5 100 6 7 11 10
CQUAD4 6 100 7 8 12 11
$
FORCE 1 12 0 1. 1000.0 0.0 0.0
FORCE 1 4 0 1. 1000.0 0.0 0.0
FORCE 1 8 0 1. 2000.0 0.0 0.0
$
FORCE 2 12 0 1. 0. 0. 1.
FORCE 2 4 0 1. 0. 0. 1.
FORCE 2 8 0 1. 0. 0. 2.
$
FORCE 3 12 0 1. 0. 0. 1.
FORCE 3 4 0 1. 0. 0. -1.
$
SPC1 1 123456 1 5 9
$
PCOMP 100
120 0.01 0. YES 130 0.75 0.0 YES
120 0.01 0. YES
$
MAT8 120 10.+6 10.+6 0.3 3.85+6
MAT8 130 1000. 1000. 100. 1.+5 0.5+5
ENDDATA
Listing 22-2. Honeycomb Sandwich Using PCOMP
$ pshell2.dat
ID LINEAR,PSHELL2
SOL 101
TIME 5
CEND
TITLE = EQUIVALENT HONEYCOMB COMPOSITE CANTLEVER PLATE
SUBTITLE = SYMMETRIC - .01/.75/.01
$
SPC = 1
DISP = ALL
$
SUBCASE 1
LABEL = AXIAL LOAD
LOAD = 1
$
SUBCASE 2
LABEL = VERTICAL SHEAR LOAD
LOAD = 2
$
SUBCASE 3
LABEL = TWIST LOAD
LOAD = 3
$
Listing 22-3. Honeycomb Sandwich Using PSHELL/MAT1 (Continued)

BEGIN BULK
PARAM POST -1
$
GRDSET 6
GRID 1 0.0 -10. 0.0
GRID 2 10. -10. 0.0
GRID 3 20. -10. 0.0
GRID 4 30. -10. 0.0
GRID 5 0.0 0.0 0.0
GRID 6 10. 0.0 0.0
GRID 7 20. 0.0 0.0
GRID 8 30. 0.0 0.0
GRID 9 0.0 10. 0.0
GRID 10 10. 10. 0.0
GRID 11 20. 10. 0.0
GRID 12 30. 10. 0.0
$
CQUAD4 1 100 1 2 6 5
CQUAD4 2 100 2 3 7 6
CQUAD4 3 100 3 4 8 7
CQUAD4 4 100 5 6 10 9
CQUAD4 5 100 6 7 11 10
CQUAD4 6 100 7 8 12 11
$
FORCE 1 12 0 1. 1000.0 0.0 0.0
FORCE 1 4 0 1. 1000.0 0.0 0.0
FORCE 1 8 0 1. 2000.0 0.0 0.0
FORCE 2 12 0 1. 0. 0. 1.
FORCE 2 4 0 1. 0. 0. 1.
FORCE 2 8 0 1. 0. 0. 2.
FORCE 3 12 0 1. 0. 0. 1.
FORCE 3 4 0 1. 0. 0. -1.
$
SPC1 1 123456 1 5 9
PSHELL 100 100 .02 100 4332. 200 38.5 +PSLL
+PSLL -.385 .385
MAT1 100 10.+6 0.3
MAT1 200 1000. .75+5
$
ENDDATA
Listing 22-3. Honeycomb Sandwich Using PSHELL/MAT1

Laminates
Figure 22-8. Displacement Outputs for Honeycomb Sandwich Using PCOMP

Figure 22-9. Displacement Outputs for Honeycomb Sandwich Using PSHELL/MAT1

Chapter
23 Coupled Fluid-Structure
Interaction
• Overview of Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction
• Performing a Coupled Fluid-Structural Analysis
• Acoustic Cavity Modeling

Chapter 23 Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction
23.1 Overview of Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction

NX Nastran provides you with several different methods to analyze the effects of fluids upon a
structure.
• NX Nastran contains an axisymmetric hydroelastic modeling capability that lets you solve a
variety of fluid problems with small motion, compressibility, and gravity effects.
• NX Nastran allows you to compute virtual fluid mass.
• NX Nastran lets you perform a fully coupled fluid-structural analysis.
• NX Nastran lets you perform acoustic cavity modeling.
Hydroelastic modeling and analyzing virtual fluid mass are described in detail in the NX
Nastran Advanced Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide. Coupled-fluid structural analysis and
acoustic cavity modeling are described in the following sections.
See also
• “Axisymmetric Fluids in Tanks” in the NX Nastran Advanced Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide
• “Virtual Fluid Mass” in the NX Nastran Advanced Dynamic Analysis User’s Guide
23.2 Performing a Coupled Fluid-Structural Analysis

NX Nastran has lets you perform a fully coupled fluid-structure analysis. Its principal
application is in the area of acoustic and noise control analysis; for example, in the passenger
compartments of automobiles and aircraft.
The approach used in this analysis is called the Pressure Method, which is analogous to the
Displacement Method in structural analysis except that pressures, instead of displacements, are
computed at the fluid points. The velocities and accelerations of the fluid points are analogous to
forces in structural analysis.
You can model the fluid with existing three-dimensional elements: CHEXA, CPENTA, and
CTETRA. These elements can assume the properties of irrotational and compressible fluids
suitable for acoustic analysis or other types of analyses governed by the three-dimensional
wave equation. In addition, two new elements are available for acoustic analysis, the barrier
and absorber. The absorber and barrier elements may be used to analyze acoustic noise control
devices.
Optionally, you can model the interface between the fluid and the structure so that the grid
points of the fluid are coincident with those of the structure. This is called a matching mesh.
If you don’t create coincident grid points at the interface between the fluid and the structure,
then it is called a nonmatching mesh. In either case and by default, NX Nastran automatically
computes coupling for the stiffness and mass. If you don’t want the software to compute coupling,
include PARAM,ASCOUP,NO in your input file.
Coupled fluid-structural analysis is available in the dynamic solution sequences using the Direct
Method (SOLs 107 through 109 and 200 with ANALYSIS = DFREQ), and the Modal Method
(SOLs 110 through 112 and 200 with ANALYSIS = MFREQ and ANALYSIS = MTRAN). It should
be noted that in SOLutions 110 through 112 and 200, the normal modes are computed separately
for the fluid and structural parts of the model; in other words, the uncoupled modes of the fluid
and structure are used in the modal formulation of the stiffness, mass, and damping. In SOLs 110

Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction
through 112, the SDAMPING Case Control command and the parameters G and W3 are applied
only to the structural portion of the model. Design Sensitivities may be computed in SOL 200.
In SOLs 103 and 106 (PARAM,NMLOOP), normal modes are computed separately for the
fluid and structure portions of the model and then put together in the eigenvalue table and
displacement printouts in the .f06 file output. Please note that while the fluid and structure
eigenvalues and eigenvectors are printed together, they are really independent of each other and
not true combined eigenvalues. The combined normal modes computed in SOL 103 may not be
used in a restart into SOLs 110, 111, 112, or 200.
Defining the Fluid Model

You define fluid grid points on the GRID Bulk Data entry by specifying a value of -1 for CD
in field 7. You can define fluid elements on the CHEXA, CPENTA, and CTETRA Bulk Data
entries. Also, on the referenced PSOLID entry, you must specify the character value PFLUID
for FCTN in field 8 and MID, field 3, must reference a MAT10 material entry. The MAT10
entry defines the bulk modulus and the mass density properties of the fluid. If a PSOLlD entry
defines fluid elements (FCTN = PFLUID), then lSOP, field 7, defaults to 1 (FULL), resulting in
a full integration scheme.
Using the PANEL Bulk Data Entry

It is sometimes useful to find the contribution of a set of grid points to the noise level in an
acoustic cavity. For example, in an automobile the entire roof assembly contributes significantly
to the noise level inside the passenger cabin; as such it is necessary to compute and minimize the
contribution of this “panel.” A “panel” may be defined with the PANEL entry, which references a
set of structural grid points listed on a SET1 Bulk Data entry.
Acoustic Absorber
The acoustic absorber element is simulated by an assembly consisting of a mass attached to a
spring and damper which are in parallel. The element and its properties are defined by the
CHACAB and PACABS entries, respectively. The element consists of 8 to 16 structural grid
points defining two surfaces.
The PACABS entry references three TABLEDi entries which define the resistance, Y1; reactance,
Y2; and the confidence level, Y3 of the material. These properties are a function of frequency and
are measured in the Standing Wave Tube Test (ASTM Standard). This data is used to calculate
the value of the mass, spring, and damper used in the structural model that will emulate the
behavior of the absorber material.
The last field on the PACABS entry defines the cutoff frequency which determines the extent of
the data used in the least square fit operations. This is needed because finite element analysis is
not applicable to acoustic analysis in the high frequency range. In fact, it is recommended that
this methodology be restricted to frequencies with wavelengths much larger than the absorber
thickness. Nevertheless, the user may override this cutoff frequency so that the experimental
results of short wavelengths are used in the calculations.
Frequency Dependent Acoustic Absorber

The acoustic absorber element CACABSF is an element connecting 1 to 4 fluid grids at the
fluid-structure interface. Its frequency dependent impedance is specified on the PAABSF entry.
If one grid point is given, then the impedance Z(f) = ZR + i ZI is the total impedance at the point.
If two grids are specified, then the impedance is the impedance per unit length. If three or four

points are specified, then the impedance is the impedance per unit area. ZR(f) = TZREID(f) +
B and ZI(f) = TZRIMD(f) − K/(2πf).
The resistance represents a damper quantity B. The reactance represents a quantity of the type
(ωM − K/ω). The impedance is defined as where p is the pressure and is the velocity.
The scale factor S is used in computing element stiffness and damping terms as:
The absorption coefficient is calculated as:
Acoustic Barrier
The acoustic barrier element is synthesized with two masses sandwiching a spring. The element
and its properties are defined by the CHACBR and PACBAR entries, respectively. The element
consists of 8 to 16 structural grid points defining two surfaces.
The PACBAR entry defines the mass-per-unit area of the backing and the septum, and the
resonant frequency of the barrier. The resonant frequency of the sandwich is defined as the
frequency with the lowest value of transmission loss (ASTM test). This frequency will be used to
calculate the value of the spring used in the structural model that will emulate the behavior of
the barrier material.
Loading
Loads on fluid elements are, in most cases, analogous to enforced displacements on structural
elements. The types of loading available for fluid elements are:
1. Constant, frequency-dependent, or time-dependent enforced pressure at the grid points.
2. An acoustic source characterized by a volumetric flow rate and corresponding to a power

spectral density function.
Enforced Pressures
The Large Mass approach that is available for structural analysis is also used to define an
enforced pressure. This is not recommended for enforcing motion on more than one point.
Acoustic Source
An acoustic source is assumed to be a pulsating sphere in infinite space and is defined on
the ACSRCE Bulk Data entry. The ACSRCE entry is selected by the DLOAD Case Control
command and contains the material properties of the source and references a DAREA and

TABLEDi entry. The TABLEDi entry defines the power-versus-frequency curve characterizing
the acoustic source. The ACSRCE entry may also define a delay time and phase angle which is
useful whenever multiple sources are present.
Single-Point Constraints
Single-point constraints of the fluid (P = 0.0) may be enforced using the SPC entry or the PS field
on the GRID entry. However, only one degree-of-freedom per grid point may be constrained. This
type of boundary condition occurs at free surfaces.
Fluid-Structure Interface
The fluid-structure interface is determined automatically by the program.

A matching interface is defined by entering IDENT in the INTER field of the ACMODL Bulk
Data entry. This also requires that coincident grid points be defined for the structure and fluid
elements at the interface. The wetted structural elements are determined by comparing grid
point locations corresponding to structural elements that are within a tolerance specified
by FSTOL on the ACMODL entry. If no structural elements are found, a warning message
will be issued.
A nonmatching interface is defined by entering DIFF in the INTER field on the ACMODL Bulk
Data entry. You shouldn’t use an ACMODL Bulk Data entry if you want a nonmatching interface.
If ACMODL is present then 1. ≤ FSTOL ≤ 10
Normal Modes Analysis
Since the fluid portion of the model may resonate within a different frequency range than
the structural portion, it is possible to specify a different eigenvalue extraction method for
each in the residual structure only. In modal analysis (SOLs 110 through 112 and 200), this
is achieved by the specification of a keyword on the METHOD Case Control command. The
METHOD(FLUID) command references the ElGR or ElGRL entry to be used for the fluid portion;
METHOD(STRUCTURE) references the same entries for the structural portion. Either one or
both may be specified in the Case Control Section. The default is STRUCTURE.
Fluid-structure models may be defined using superelements with the following restrictions:
1. A superelement may contain either fluid or structural points, but not both. (The residual
structure may contain both.)
2. The grid points at the fluid-structure interface may be assigned to the residual structure only.
This requires the specification of q-set points using the SEQSETi and ElGR or ElGRL Bulk Data
entries and the METHOD Case Control command.

Output and Plotting
You can use the DISPLACEMENT or PRESSURE Case Control command to request:
• Pressure and peak sound pressure levels at the fluid points.
• RMS sound pressure level is requested by the PARAM,ACOUT,RMS Bulk Data entry. This
output is available in Modal and Direct Frequency Response analysis only (SOLs 111, 108,
and 200).
• Sound pressure level in dB and dBA—a peak reference pressure must be specified on the
PARAM, PREFDB Bulk Data entry. The dB level is defined as dB = 20 log(P/PREFDB) (for
air PREFDB = 20 × 10−6 Pascal).
In SOLutions 110, 111, 112, and 200, the SVECTOR, SDISPLACEMENT, SVELOCITY,
SACCELERATION Case Control commands result in separate output for the fluid and structural
portion of the model. The first output is for the structural grid points and the second for the
fluid grid points.
You can use the FORCE Case Control command to request particle velocity.
Basic Fluid Equations

In NX Nastran, the acoustic equations are based on small motion theory with negligible
convective momentum terms and locally linear pressure-density relationship. Thus Euler’s
equation is
Equation 23-1.
and the Continuity equation is
Equation 23-2.
with the compressibility β defined as
Equation 23-3.

Take the second time derivative of continuity to get
Equation 23-4.
and operate on Euler’s equation with the del operator to get
Equation 23-5.
or
Equation 23-6.
integrate this equation over the fluid volume and multiply by a virtual pressure δp to get the
integral
Equation 23-7.

This represents the virtual work expression for acoustic pressure. Integrating the second term
by parts using Green’s theorem and the identities:
we get
Equation 23-8.
The trick is to factor out the δ operator from each integral. The first term in the above equation,
however, contains which prevents a simple factoring out of δp. Thus no simple variational
statement is directly possible. Because of this, it is standard practice at this point to apply
the Galerkin method. This is equivalent to assuming that p but not is subject to variation.
This allows us to simply factor out the δp from the integral containing . Doing this and
also defining üfno as the acceleration of the fluid in the direction of the outward fluid normal,
we obtain for the integral:
Equation 23-9.
and the variational statement becomes
Equation 23-10.

Let the fluid pressure p at any point be defined as
and
where [Nf] is the row matrix of pressure shape functions and {p} is a vector of nodal pressures.
The expression for can be expressed as:
Equation 23-11.
If is the fluid outward normal at the fluid-structure and is the structure boundary normal
pointing into the fluid, then and the surface integral can be written as
where üsn is the normal acceleration of the structure.

If [C] is the direction cosine matrix for and [Ns] is the matrix of shape functions for the
structure, we can define
Equation 23-12.
where {üs} is the matrix of nodal accelerations at the boundary and Ns is the row matrix of shape
functions for the structural normal.
Equation 23-13.
We may then compute δ and define the following integrals:
Equation 23-14.
Equation 23-15.
Equation 23-16.
and arrive at the relationship
Equation 23-17.

NX Nastran allows for the effect of acoustic source density, which represents a term Q on the
right-hand side of the continuity equation. When included into the virtual work expression, this
will yield an acoustic load {Pf} on the right-hand side of Eq. 23-17. Also, NX Nastran allows for
frequency dependent wall impedance at the structure-fluid [Bf]{ }. Thus, Eq. 23-17
becomes:
Equation 23-18.
The fluid pressure on the structure boundary causes surface tractions on the structure
represented by the standard relationship
Equation 23-19.
But, the traction is related to the fluid pressure by the relation
Equation 23-20.
or
Equation 23-21.

The structure equations can now be written as:
Equation 23-22.
The fluid and structure equations can now be combined as
Equation 23-23.
This is the fluid structure equation solved in NX Nastran. Note that this equation is
nonsymmetric. By default, NX Nastran solves a symmetric version of this equation developed by
Everstine as follows:
Let the velocity potential q be defined as
Equation 23-24.
and note the following:
and define G as
Equation 23-25.

Substitute for p in the structure equation and for the fluid equation replace the vector terms
with their derivative equivalents. Then multiplying the fluid equation by -1 and integrating with
respect to time and recombing, we get the symmetric equation
Equation 23-26.
The output from the solution is, however, expressed in terms of us and p.
In the frequency domain, we assume a harmonic function of the form q = Q0eiωt as a solution.
Then the load integral becomes . The pressure is recovered from the
relationship p = iωq.

Participation Factor Equations
Following Sung and Nefske, the participation factors are obtained from Eq. 23-23 as follows:
Define the transformations
Equation 23-27.
Equation 23-28.
where [ s] are the uncoupled, undamped structural modes and [ f] are the uncoupled, undamped,
rigid-wall acoustic modes. The vectors {ξs} and {ξf} are the modal amplitudes. Substituting these
relations into Eq. 23-23 and pre-multiplying by the modal matrices, we get the equation
Equation 23-29.
or
Equation 23-30.

Define the following harmonic solution forcing frequency ω.
Equation 23-31.
Equation 23-32.
Equation 23-33.
For the bottom equation of Eq. 23-30, we get:
Equation 23-34.
Define [Z2] as
Equation 23-35.
then
Equation 23-36.
The fluid mode participation is defined as
Equation 23-37.
where [{ξf}] is the diagonalized vector of fluid modal amplitudes per excitation frequency.

The structure mode participation is defined as
Equation 23-38.
where [{ξs}] is the diagonalized vector of structural modal amplitudes per excitation frequency.
The fluid load participation is defined as
Equation 23-39.
The fluid-structure panel participation is defined as
Equation 23-40.
The fluid-structure panel-grid participation is defined as
Equation 23-41.
where are the columns extracted from the b-th boundary panel for panel grid i and [ s] are
the rows of the structural modal matrix corresponding to panel grid i.
23.3 Acoustic Cavity Modeling

With acoustic cavity modeling, you define a mesh over the longitudinal cross section of an
acoustic cavity. You connect finite elements are connected between these points to define the
enclosed volume.
You define the points with GRlDF data entries for the axisymmetric central fluid cavity and
by GRIDS for the radial slots. The GRlDF points are interconnected by finite elements via
the CAXlF2, CAXlF3, and CAXlF4 data entries to define a cross-sectional area of the body of
rotation. The CAXIF2 element data entry defines the area of the cross section between the axis
and two points off the axis (the GRlDF points may not have a zero radius). The CAXIF3 and
CAXlF4 data entries define triangular or quadrilateral cross sections and connect three or four
GRIDF points, respectively. The density and/or bulk modulus at each location of the enclosed
fluid may also be defined on these entries.

The GRIDS points in the slot region are interconnected by finite elements via the CSLOT3
and CSLOT4 data entries. These define finite elements with triangular and quadrilateral
cross-sectional shapes, respectively. The width of the slot and the number of slots may be defined
by default values on the AXSLOT data entry. If the width of the slots is a variable, the value
is specified on the GRIDS entries at each point. The number of slots, the density, and/or the
bulk modulus of the fluid may also be defined individually for each element on the CSLOT3
and CSLOT4 entries.
The AXSLOT Bulk Data entry is used to define the overall parameters for the system. Some of
these parameters are called the “default” values and may be selectively changed at particular
cross sections of the structure. The values specified on the AXSLOT entry will be used if the
corresponding fields on the GRIDS, CAXlFi, or CSLOTi entries are left blank. The fields RHOD
and RHO (density) and BD and B (bulk modulus) are properties of the fluid. If the value given
for bulk modulus is zero, the fluid is considered incompressible by the program. The fields MD
and M (number of slots) and WD (slot width) are properties of the geometry. The fields MD and
M define the number of equally spaced slots around the circumference, with the first slot located
at φ = 0°. The field N (harmonic number) is selected by the user to analyze a particular set of
acoustic modes. The pressure is assumed to have the following distribution:
If N = 0, the breathing and longitudinal modes will result. If N = 1, the pressure at φ = 180° will
be the negative of the pressure at φ = 0°. If N = 2, the pressures at φ = 90° and φ = 270° will be
the negative of that at φ = 0°. Values of N larger than M/2 have no significance.
The interface between the central cavity and the slots is defined with the SLBDY Bulk Data
entries. The data for each entry consist of the density of the fluid at the interface, the number of
radial slots around the circumference, and a list of GRIDS points that are listed in the sequence
in which they occur as the boundary is traversed. In order to ensure continuity between GRlDF
and GRIDS points at the interface, the GRIDF points on the boundary between the cylindrical
cavity and the slots are identified on the corresponding GRIDS data entries rather than on
GRlDF entries. Thus, the locations of the GRlDF points will be exactly the same as the locations
of the corresponding GRIDS points.
Various standard Bulk Data entries may be used for special purposes in acoustic analysis. You
can use the SPCi Bulk Data entry to constrain the pressures to zero at specified points, such
as at a free boundary. Dynamic load entries, direct input matrices, and scalar elements may
be introduced to account for special effects.
Assumptions and Limitations

The accuracy of the acoustic model depends upon the selection of the mesh of finite elements.
The assumption for each element is that the pressure field has a linear variation over the cross
section and a sinusoidal variation around the axis in the circumferential direction. In areas
where the pressure gradient changes are large, such as near a sharp corner, the points in the
mesh should be placed closer together so that large changes in flow may be defined accurately by
the finite elements.
The shape of the finite elements play an important part in the accuracy of the results. It has been
observed that long, narrow elements produce disproportionate errors. Cutting a large square
into two rectangles will not improve the results, whereas dividing the square into four smaller
squares may decrease the local error by as much as a factor of ten.
The slot portion of the cavity is limited to certain shapes because of basic assumptions in
the algorithms. The cross section of the cavity normal to the axis must have a shape that is

reasonably well defined by a central circular cavity having equally spaced, narrow slots. Various
shapes are shown in Figure 23-1 in the order of increasing expected error.
It is recommended that shapes such as the cloverleaf and square cross section be analyzed
with a full three-dimensional technique. The assumption of negligible pressure gradient in the
circumferential direction within a slot is not valid in these cases.
The harmonic orders of the solutions are also limited by the width of the slots. The harmonic
number, N, should be no greater than the number of slots divided by two. The response of the
higher harmonics is approximated by the slot width correction terms discussed in Section 17.1 of
The NASTRAN Theoretical Manual.
Figure 23-1. Modeling Errors for Various Shapes

The output data for the acoustic analysis consist of the values of pressure in the displacement
vector selected via the Case Control command PRESSURE = n. The velocity vector components
corresponding to each mode may be optionally requested by the Case Control command STRESS
= n where n is the set number indicating the element numbers to be used for output, or by
the words STRESS = ALL.
You can request plots of the finite element model and/or of the pressure field with the NX
Nastran plot commands. The central cavity cross section will be positioned in the XY plane of the

basic coordinate system. The slot elements are offset from the XY plane by the width of the slot
in the +Z direction. The radial direction corresponds to X and the axial direction corresponds
to the Y direction. Pressures will be plotted in the Z direction for both the slot points and the
central cavity points. The PLOTEL elements are used for plotting the acoustic cavity shape. The
plot request entry SET n INCLUDE PLOTEL must be used where n is a set number.
Acoustic Cavity Example Problem

Table 23-1 contains a listing of the data entries used as a simple example of acoustic cavity
analysis. The problem to be solved is illustrated in Figure 23-2. The model was subdivided into
only ten finite elements in order to limit the number of data entries. For reasonable engineering
accuracy, this model should be subdivided into at least four times that number of elements.

Figure 23-2. Description of Acoustic CavIty Example Problem

Each data entry in Table 23-1 is given a number on the left side. The format for each type of
Bulk Data entry is given in parentheses above the group of that type. The following is a brief
description of each part of the input data:
Lines Description
Each statement in the Executive Control Section has the format of a request word and a selection separated by
1-4 blanks or a comma. The CEND statement is last, but the statements above may appear in any order. Solution
Sequence 103, normal modes analysis, was chosen. A limit of 2 minutes CPU time was set (TIME2).

Lines Description
The TITLE, SUBTITLE, and LABEL commands may contain any list of letters and numbers following the (=) sign.
5-7
This list will appear on the first three lines of each output page.
The method of eigenvalue extraction is selected with the METHOD command. The number 11 refers to the
8
identification number of an EIGRL Bulk Data entry which appears below as line 32.
A simple output request is illustrated with these commands. PRES = ALL will result in the printout of all pressures
9-11 at the GRIDF and GRIDS points. STRESS = ALL will result in the printout of all velocities in the elements. This
printout will occur for all extracted eigenvectors. Selected points or elements can be printed via the SET command.
The BEGIN BULK command denotes the beginning of the Bulk Data Section. The Bulk Data entries may occur in
12
any order. Putting these entries in alphabetic sort will save sorting time in large problems, however.
In this problem, all the parameters except slot width WD are constant throughout the volume. The values on
13
AXSLOT will be used whenever a corresponding field in the following entries is blank.
The location of points on the slot are defined with these entries. Entries 14, 16, 18, and 20 serve a dual purpose by
14-20 defining a GRIDS point identification number in field 2 and a GRlDF point identification number in field 6. The two
types of points thereby are forced to have the same locations at the interface.
The location of points within the axisymmetric fluid cavity are described by the GRIDF entry. No points are
21-22
allowed to have a zero or negative radius.
These entries describe the elements shown in Figure 23-2. Each element is given a unique identification number
23-31 and a list of the connected GRIDS or GRlDF points. Since the parameters p and B are constants, these fields are
left blank, so the values on the AXSLOT entry will be used.
The ElGRL entry is used to define parameters for eigenvalue extraction (resonant frequencies). More than one of
32 these entries may appear. The method to be used is selected with the METHOD command (command 8). With this
particular command, the Lanczos method was selected with three (ND = 3) output mode shapes specified.
The SLBDY entry defines the boundary between the slot and the central cavity. Both the density (RHO and the
number of radial slots (M) are blank, so the AXSLOT defaults are used; i.e., RHOD = 1.2 x 10-7 and M = 4. Only
33
four GRIDS points are on the boundary, so a continuation entry is not necessary. Field 8 is left blank to signify
the last entry.
34 The ENDDATA entry is required to denote the end of the Bulk Data Section. Any following entries will be ignored.
Table 23-1. Acoustic Cavity Example Problem Data

Line
No.
$DEMO PROBLEM D03D92 WITH
1
SOL 103 AND LANCZOS
2
3
SOL 103 Executive Control statements
TIME 2
4
CEND
TITLE = ACOUSTIC CAVITY
5
EXAMPLE PROBLEM
6
SUBTITLE = FIRST HARMONIC
7
LABEL = NORMAL MODES (LANCZOS)
8
9
METHOD = 11 Case Control commands
OUTPUT
10
PRES = ALL
11
STRESS = ALL
12
BEGIN BULK

Table 23-1. Acoustic Cavity Example Problem Data

Line
No.
(AXSLOT, (RHOD, BD, N, WD, MD)
13
AXSLOT,1.2-7,21.0,1,,4
(GRIDS,ID,R,Z,W,ID
14
15
GRIDS,2,4.0,0.0,0.23 01,1
16
GRIDS,3,8.0,.0,1.0
17
GRIDS,5,4.0,4.0,2.0,4
18
GRIDS,6,8.0,4.0,1.0
19
GRIDS,8,4.0,8.0,2.0,7
20
GRIDS,9,8.0,8.0,1.0
GRIDS,12,4.0,1.2+1,2.0,11
(GRIDF,ID,R,Z )
GRIDF,10,2.0,12.0
21
GRIDF,13,2.0,1.4E1
22
23
(CSLOT4,1D,P1,P2,P3,P4,RHO,,M )
CSLOT4,1 ,2,3,6,5
CSLOT4,2,5,6,9,8
24
(CSLOT3,1D,P1,P2,P3,,RHO,, )
Bulk Data entries
CSLOT3,3,8,9,12
25
(CAXIF2,1D,P1,P2,,,RHO )
CAXIF2,4,1 ,4
26
CAXIF2,5,4,7
27
CAXIF2,6,7,10
28
CAXIF2,9,10,13
29
(CAXIF3,ID,P1,P2,P3,,RHO,B )
CAXIF3,7,7,10,11
30
CAXIF3,8,10,11,13
31
(EIGRL,SID,V1,V2,ND )
EIGRL,11,,,3
32
(SLBDY,RHO,M,ID1,ID2,ID4,etc. )
SLBDY,,,12,8,5,2
33
ENDDATA
34

Chapter
24 Cyclic Symmetry
• Understanding Cyclic Symmetry
• Understanding Types of Symmetry
• Cyclic Symmetry Theory
• Using Cyclic Symmetry
• Performing Axisymmetric Analysis

Chapter 24 Cyclic Symmetry
24.1 Understanding Cyclic Symmetry

Many structures, including pressure vessels, rotating machines and antennas for space
communications, are made up of virtually identical segments that are symmetrically arranged
with respect to an axis.
When you’re performing analyses on symmetrical structures, you can exploit that symmetry
to reduce greatly reduce the time needed to create and solve an FE model. One advantage is
that you will be required to provide an analytical model for only the “fundamental regional” of a
structure, and this fundamental region is generally substantially smaller than the analytical
model required by more traditional analysis techniques. Analyzing only the fundamental
region lets you:
• Reduce the input data describing the finite element model to just that of the fundamental
region
• Restrict the computation of g-size stiffness and mass matrices to just the fundamental region
• Exploit the orthogonality of symmetrical component sets, such as the symmetrical and
antisymmetrical sets in reflective symmetry, to reduce the cost of matrix operations
For example, if a body consists of N identical segments in the sense that the entire body can
be generated through reflections and/or rotations of one of these N segments (the fundamental
region) , you only have to define a finite element model for the fundamental region and provide a
list of the boundary grid points for this fundamental region. With NX Nastran’s cyclic symmetry
option (the CYSYM bulk data entry), the software performs all these tasks automatically for
each of the three supported subclasses of cyclic symmetry: rotational symmetry (ROT), dihedral
symmetry (DIH), and axisymmetry (AXI).
Supported Solution Sequences

In NX Nastran, you can use cyclic symmetry techniques in the following solution sequences:
SOLution 114 Superelement Static Analysis

SOLution 115 Superelement Normal Modes Analysis
SOLution 116 Cyclic Buckling
SOLution 118 Superelement Direct Frequency Response

Cyclic Symmetry
Comparing Cyclic Symmetry and Traditional Reflective Symmetry Techniques

The following table compares the major steps in the analysis procedures required with
traditional reflective techniques and with cyclic symmetry techniques and highlights some
of the many advantages of cyclic symmetry.
Reflective Symmetry Cyclic Symmetry

Reduces the size of the analytical Reduces the size of the model to a
Analytical
model by one-half for each plane “fundamental region,” which is generally
Model
of reflective symmetry. substantially smaller than the entire model
In the general case of p planes
You supply a list of the grid points on
of reflective symmetry, you
Boundary the boundary of the fundamental region.
must explicitly define 2p sets of
Conditions Boundary conditions are automatically
boundary conditions with SPCi
imposed by the program.
Bulk Data entries.
Applied loads are defined to act at arbitrary
You must decompose the
locations throughout the entire structure
Applied various loading conditions into
respective of whether any or all of these
Loads symmetric and antisymmetric
locations are in the explicitly defined
components.
fundamental region.
A static condensation is performed once
to reduce the size of the analysis set.
In static analysis, all but the boundary
degrees-of-freedom should be omitted. In
real eigenvalue analysis, buckling analysis,
For each set of defined boundary
and dynamic analysis, the boundary
conditions, a lengthy matrix
degrees-of-freedom and selected internal
decomposition and equation
Computer points are kept in the analysis set. The
solution are required. Static
Solution static condensation involves a lengthy
condensations aren’t generally
decomposition which should be less lengthy
economically feasible in static
than any one of the decompositions required
analysis.
by traditional techniques because it only
involves the fundamental region. Several
additional decompositions of relatively
trivial magnitude are required after the
static condensation.
You must manually combine
NX Nastran automatically provides the
the results for each boundary
response for the entire structure without
Data condition with SUBCOM or
any special user action. SUBCOM and
Recovery SYMCOM commands to obtain
SYMCOM entries aren’t necessary and
the complete response of the
shouldn’t be used.
structure.

24.2 Understanding Types of Symmetry

There are a number of different types of geometric symmetry, as shown in Figure 24-1.
Cyclic symmetry is a subclass of the general class of geometric symmetry. Cyclic symmetry is
defined by the rotation of a fundamental region about an axis. Within the category of cyclic
symmetry, there are a number of different subtypes. You can use NX Nastran to perform cyclic
symmetry analyses on the following types of geometric symmetry:
• Rotational symmetry
• Dihedral symmetry (a combination of reflective plus rotational symmetry)
• Axisymmetry (with and without skew)

Cyclic Symmetry
Figure 24-1. Types of Geometrical Symmetry

Most of the types of symmetry shown in Figure 24-1 are subclasses of cyclic symmetry. There are
inter-relationships between these different subclasses. For example, translational symmetry in
one direction, see Figure 24-1(d), can be considered to be a limiting case of rotational symmetry
in which the axis of symmetry is infinitely far away. Likewise, axisymmetry without skew is a
limiting case of dihedral symmetry as the number of segments is increased without limit, and
axisymmetry with skew is a limiting case of rotational symmetry.
The relationship of the different classes of symmetry to the general class called cyclic symmetry
is summarized in Table 24-1. With few exceptions, all important types of symmetry are
subclasses of cyclic symmetry, and they can, therefore, be analyzed with the cyclic symmetry
capability in NX Nastran.

Table 24-1. Types of Symmetry

Subclass of Cyclic
Type
Symmetry
Reflective Symmetry
One Plane Yes
Two Planes Yes
Three Planes No
Rotational Symmetry (Repetition about an axis) Yes
Dihedral Symmetry (Reflective symmetry plus rotational symmetry) Yes
Translational Symmetry
One-D Yes (special case)
Two-D No
Three-D No
Axisymmetry
With Skew Yes
Without Skew Yes
Note that in more general cases, a model may be susceptible to both dihedral and rotational
symmetry. For example, consider the three regular N-gons: the equilateral triangle, the square,
and the pentagon.
In these figures, the internal solid lines in conjunction with the edges define fundamental
regions, e.g., A0B, that may be permuted through rotational symmetry operations. The axis of
rotation is normal to the plane of the page and passes through the point 0.
In addition, the dotted internal lines such as a0 may be used to, for example, reflect A0a into
a0B. Also, a0B may be reflected through B0 to obtain B0b, and so on around each N-gon until
the identity of A0a is reached. Clearly, the fundamental region A0a for the dihedral symmetry
operations is smaller than the fundamental region A0B for rotational symmetry operations.
Importantly, both of these fundamental regions are substantially smaller than the fundamental
region required by traditional reflective symmetry techniques.

Cyclic Symmetry
24.3 Cyclic Symmetry Theory

NX Nastran’s cyclic symmetry capabilities rely on the development of transformation relations
that let you manipulate the mathematical representation of the fundamental region in
accordance with the appropriate symmetry operations. The following operations are performed:
1. You create an NX Nastran input file for the fundamental region.
2. You define the mathematical representation of the model in terms of physical quantities,
such as [K]{u} = {P}
3. The software transforms the mathematical representation of the model to cyclic quantities,
such as [K]{u} = {P}
4. The software solves the problem in terms of cyclic quantities.
5. The results are transformed from the cyclic quantities to physical quantities.
Steps 3 and 5 both depend on the existence of the necessary transformations. Step 4 is also of
interest in that it must be demonstrated that problem solution procedures in terms of cyclic
quantities are valid and require less computer time than more traditional solution procedures.
These matters are addressed in the following sections.
Symmetrical Components
Consider an arrangement of N identical objects symmetrically disposed about a normal. The
angle between these objects is
Equation 24-1.
and, in addition, let U1 (r,t) be any variable displacement, force, stress, temperature, etc. in object
1, the fundamental region. The variables r and t denote distance and time respectively. The
corresponding quantity in the n-th object is Un (r,t) and as a single valued solution is required
Equation 24-2.
The various Un’s are, in general, unsymmetrical quantities that are not related in a simple
manner.

Fortescue’s symmetrical component theory states that a general vector field on N-vectors with
arbitrary phase relationships may be resolved into N-sets of N-symmetrically phased vectors of
equal magnitude. For N = 3, the vectors may be illustrated by the following diagram.
Now, in accordance with the theory of symmetrical components, the following vector sums may
be stated.
Equation 24-3.
Here, the Un’s represent physical quantities and the xkn terms represent symmetrical
components. The superscripts k denote the order of the symmetric components. The subscripts n
are taken to be the number of a particular vector in the vector field. In the general context of
cyclic symmetry, the subscripts n denote the number applied to each of the N identical objects
under consideration. The object n = 1 is arbitrarily taken as the fundamental region.
Understanding Rotational Symmetry

In rotational symmetry, Figure 24-1(b), the structure is comprised of identical segments that
are symmetrically arranged about an axis. Common examples of structures with rotational
symmetry are skew slabs and many types of rotating machinery including gears, electric motors,
turbines, and helicopter rotors.

Cyclic Symmetry
With rotational symmetry, if the structure has only two segments, the second segment is created
by rotating the first segment through 180 about an axis A. In general, the n-th segment is
created by rotating the fundamental region (i.e., the first segment) through 360(n-1)/N degrees
about axis A where N is the total number of segments.
Mathematically, a structure has rotational symmetry if each of its relevant physical properties
Q repeats at even angular intervals around an axis A. Thus, referring to the structure shown
in Figure 24-2,
Equation 24-4.
where:
θn =
Figure 24-2. Conforming Boundaries for the ROT Option

You can apply rotational symmetry by using the following procedure:

1. Model one segment. Segment boundaries may be curved surfaces.
2. Ensure each segment has its own coordinate system that rotates with the segment. The local
displacement coordinate system must conform at the joining points.
3. Specify a paired list of points on side 1 and side 2 that are to be joined.
Transforming Physical Components to Cyclic Components (ROT)
These transformations for the cyclic symmetric components in terms of the general field vectors
may be written in summation form for the general case of N vectors.
Equation 24-5.
where a is given by Eq. 24-1.

Cyclic Symmetry
Transforming Cyclic Components Back to Physical Components (ROT)
After the solution phase of the problem, it will normally be necessary to transform the results
from cyclic components back into physical components.
Eq. 24-3 may be written in the following form.
Equation 24-6.
where,
and
If the exponentials in the bracketed terms in the above summation are replaced by the relations
e±ix = cosx ± sinx, the typical bracketed term takes the following form:

The purpose for the somewhat arbitrary introduction of Eq. 24-6 is now recognized, and the
typical bracketed term assumes the following form:
The final form of the transformation from cyclic components to physical components is therefore,
Figure 24-3.
In Eq. 24-3, Un represents physical quantities such as displacement force, stress, temperature in
the n-th segment in terms of the cyclic components in the fundamental region. The following
points should be noted:
1. and xN/21 is nonexistent when N is odd.
2. when N is even.
3. The notation for cyclic components of order k = 0 and k = N/2 is distinct from the notation
for cyclic components of order 1 ≤ k ≤ kL because of the somewhat peculiar nature of these
two components.
Boundary Conditions and Problem Solution (ROT)
The transformation equations of “Cyclic Symmetry Theory” are assumed to allow one to
transform a problem that is mathematically defined in terms of physical components into a set of
mathematical statements written in terms of cyclic components. Specifically, the mathematical
description of the n replications of the fundamental region may be written in the form
Equation 24-7.
This expression represents the mathematical description of the system in terms of physical
coordinates.

Cyclic Symmetry
The application of previously defined transform equations may now be introduced to obtain the
desired mathematical description of the system in terms of cyclic components. First, however,
consider the matrix representation of the transform Eq. 24-33 and Eq. 24-3, respectively. Eq.
24-33 assumes the form
Equation 24-8.
Eq. 24-3 assumes the form
Equation 24-9.
It is easily demonstrated that

Return now to Eq. 24-7, the mathematical representation of the system in terms of physical
coordinates, and represent the energy of the system in the form
Equation 24-10.
From Eq. 24-7, Eq. 24-9, and Eq. 24-10
Equation 24-11.
The system energy in terms of cyclic components may be written as
Equation 24-12.
Since the energy must be invariant to the transformations, Eq. 24-12 and Eq. 24-13 may
be equated
Equation 24-13.
That is, the equations of the system in terms of physical components are transformed into a set
of equations in terms of cyclic components. As there is no coupling between the N identical
objects of the system, the matrix Yn may be written so that it consists of N identical blocks
along the diagonal. These blocks represent, in general, the equations of motion of each of the
N identical objects of the system.

Cyclic Symmetry
As an example, assume N = 4 (KL = 1), and expand Eq. 24-13. Note that Y1 = Y2 = Y3 = Y4.
In general, for N objects the above equation may be written
These equations imply that the equations of motion in terms of cyclic components are either N or
N/2 times the corresponding equations written in terms of physical components. This argument
provides an explanation for the presence of the coefficients that appear in the terms of Eq. 24-8.
To this point, it has been found that except for boundary conditions, the equations for motion in
terms of cyclic components (k = 0, 1, ..., N/2) may be developed from the equations of motion of the
fundamental region (n = 1). In essence, an arbitrarily large physical system may be investigated
in terms of a fundamental region which has been transformed into a number of models defined in
terms of cyclic components. The boundary conditions between cyclic models must now be defined.
The only connection between the n identical objects in question exists along the boundaries
between adjacent segments. Specifically, consider three of the N objects as indicated in the
following figure.

These objects are displaced from one another to more clearly define the boundary conditions
between the objects. Note the designation of the two sides of each of the elements as side 1 and
side 2 as one proceeds in the counterclockwise direction. From the requirement of displacement
compatibility, it is necessary that the typical boundary degrees-of-freedom, u, satisfy the
equations
Equation 24-14.
These physical degrees-of-freedom may be transformed into cyclic components of order K through
Eq. 24-33.
Equation 24-15.

Cyclic Symmetry
A comparison of Eq. 24-15 provides the result
Equation 24-16.
for 1 ≤ k ≤ kL. For k = 0,
Equation 24-17.
and for ,
Equation 24-18.
The cyclic component of Eq. 24-18 may be written in terms of the variables Ukc and Uks in
accordance with the definitions.
Eq. 24-16 may now be introduced to yield the equations
Upon the replacement of the exponentials with Euler’s equation, the appropriate boundary
conditions may be represented as follow:
Equation 24-19.

These boundary conditions are of the form of constraint equations in which the variables on side
2 are dependent and the variables on side 1 are independent. Indeed, these equations may be
viewed as MPC equations that couple kc and ks terms of side 1 to the corresponding terms
of side 2.
The equations of motion in terms of cyclic components may be written in the following form.
Equation 24-20.
From the previous discussion on boundary conditions, the above equation may be rewritten
in terms of the following disjoint problems.
Equation 24-21.
The boundary Eq. 24-17, Eq. 24-18, and Eq. 24-19 must be introduced to remove the dependent
variables that are defined to be on side 2 of the region. If you also use the OMIT feature, the only
independent degrees-of-freedom in the above disjoint problems are the degrees-of-freedom on
side 1 that have not previously been declared dependent through MPC, SPCi, and/or OMITi Bulk
Data entries. Thus, the matrices in the above disjoint problems, although dense, are of small size
relative to, say, the matrices required to perform the same analysis by more traditional methods.
Understanding the Harmonic Index

The harmonic index k plays an important role in the analysis of structures with cyclic symmetry.
The harmonic index k has the values k = 1, 2, ..., N/2. If the number of segments is large, the
higher harmonics may contribute very little to the total solution. In NX Nastran you can select
the harmonics (values of k) to use in the analysis.

Cyclic Symmetry
If the only nonzero symmetrical load components are for a particular value of k, then the only
nonzero symmetrical response components are for the same value of k, provided only that the
structure is linear and satisfies Eq. 24-4. This fact leads directly to an efficient method of
analysis in which each symmetric load component is computed from Eq. 24-23 and applied to a
finite element model that is very much smaller than the complete structure.
The symmetrical components are evaluated from the physical components by means of the
following summations that replace the Fourier integrals used in axisymmetric analysis. The
argument (p) is dropped for convenience.
Equation 24-22.
Note that stiffness damping, and mass matrices become uncoupled for ūk.

Eq. 24-22 also applies to the expansion of applied loads into symmetrical component sets. Thus
Equation 24-23.
The implied coordinate systems in the physical segments remain fixed in the segments and are
rotated with them. To satisfy continuity between segments, the grid point on side 2 of segment
1 must coincide with the grid point on side 1 of segment 2 and their coordinate systems must
be aligned (see Figure 24-2). As a result, you must align the grid points on sides 1 and 2 of the
fundamental region so that their positions and displacement coordinate systems differ only by a
rotation through the angle a = 2π/N about the axis of symmetry. This is most easily accomplished
by using a cylindrical coordinate system for the grid points on sides 1 and 2. If this is done, the
boundary conditions are satisfied by imposing the following constraints on the symmetrical
components of displacement at corresponding points on sides 1 and 2 (indicated by subscripts).
Equation 24-24.
Rotational Symmetry Example

As an example of the application, consider the simple problem illustrated in Figure 24-4. The
skew slab is divided into two identical segments. The displacement coordinate system for the
second segment is rotated 180° from the first. A cylindrical coordinate system is used (at least

Cyclic Symmetry
along sides 1 and 2) to ensure the compatibility of displacement components at the points in
the boundaries between segments.
Figure 24-4. Example of Rotational Symmetry

Since N = 2, there are two symmetrical component sets ū0 and ūN/2 = ū1. The symmetrical load
components, as computed from Eq. 24-23, are
Equation 24-25.
and are applied to separate copies of the finite element model for the fundamental region
labeled the K = 0 model and the K = 1 model. The boundary condition linking all six degrees of
freedom at corresponding pairs of grid points on sides 1 and 2, as computed from Eq. 24-5, are
Equation 24-26.
These boundary conditions can be supplied in Solution 101 with multipoint constraints; however,
they are provided automatically in NX Nastran’s cyclic symmetry capability.
The K = 0 and K = 1 models are solved in the usual way to obtain the symmetrical response
components ū0 and ū1. As a final step, the physical responses are evaluated as follows from
Eq. 24-22
Equation 24-27.
Note: You could use the static condensation procedure in this problem. With that procedure, all
the interior degrees of freedom are placed in the uo set and eliminated, resulting in a greatly
reduced stiffness matrix for the remaining degrees of freedom on the boundary (sides 1 and 2).
Since this only needs to be done once, there is a net saving of computer time.
See also
• “Static Condensation (Guyan Reduction)” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide

Cyclic Symmetry
Dihedral Symmetry
Dihedral symmetry, Figure 24-1(c), is a special case of rotational symmetry that combines
rotational and reflective symmetry, since each segment has its own plane of reflective symmetry.
Thus, in Figure 24-1(c), half-segment 1L is the mirror image of half-segment 1R (the fundamental
region), and these two halves of segment 1 are rotated together through 120° to form segment
2 and through 240° to form segment 3. Water towers and reinforced domed roofs are familiar
examples of structures with dihedral symmetry.
Dihedral symmetry (DIH) can be useful because:
• DIH takes advantage of reflective symmetry to reduce the fundamental region by one-half
relative to the size of the fundamental region required in the ROT option.
• You can use the DIH option for analyses that would normally be handled with traditional
reflective symmetry techniques.
Figure 24-5 and Figure 24-6 show two different examples of dihedral symmetry and the notation
system used for the DIH option in NX Nastran.
Figure 24-5. Dihedral Symmetry

Figure 24-6. Dihedral Symmetry

The fundamental region, for which you create a finite element model, is the right half of the first
segment (1R). With dihedral symmetry, all segment boundaries must be planar.
• The plane that forms the boundary between the right and left halves of segment 1 is labeled
side 2.
• The other boundary of the fundamental region, which must also be planar, is labeled side 1.
Note that:
• Local displacement systems axes, associated with the inter-segment boundaries, must be in
the plane or normal to the plane.
• In the specific case of a structure with a single overall plane of reflective symmetry (i.e.,
the complete structure is represented by segments 1R and 1L) the reflective plane may be
defined as side 1 or side 2.
• The two halves of a segment that join at a reflective plane are denoted as the right, “R”, and
left, “L”, halves. The L half segments are mirror images of the R half segments.

Cyclic Symmetry
• R halves use a right-handed coordinate system and L halves use a left-handed coordinate
system. Therefore, at each boundary a degree-of-freedom is associated with its mirror image
on the adjacent segment so that compatibility always involves a left- and a right-hand
coordinate system. The degrees-of-freedom on the boundaries are further categorized into
odd and even components in accordance with the following table.
Component Degrees-of-Freedom
Displacement vectors parallel to the boundary and rotation vectors
Even
normal to the boundary.
Displacement vectors normal to the boundary and rotation vectors
Odd
parallel to the boundary.
This has important implications for how you input of loads data and interpret the output.
The coordinate systems for other half-segments in Figure 24-5 are either rotated, or rotated
and reflected as indicated in Table 24-2.
Table 24-2. Coordinate Systems for Half Segments
Rotation About the Axis

Half-Segment Type of Coordinate System
of Symmetry
1R Right-handed 0°
1L Left-handed 0°
2R Right-handed 120°
2L Left-handed 120°
3R Right-handed 240°
3L Left-handed 240°
The typical procedure that you follow when using dihedral symmetry is:
1. You model one half-segment (1R).
2. At a boundary between segments or half-segments, the displacement components must be

parallel and perpendicular to the boundary. The boundaries are planes passing through
the axis of symmetry.
3. You provide separate lists of the points on sides 1 and 2 which must be joined.

As in rotational symmetry, the response quantities at corresponding points in the physical

segments can be expressed as a truncated Fourier series with the polar angle of the n-th segment
θn as the argument where N is the number of segments. The series for response quantities in
the right half-segments is
Equation 24-28.
where kL is the largest integer less than or equal to N/2 (depending on whether n is odd or even)
and ūkc, ūkc*, ūks, and ūks* are symmetrical component sets. The series for response quantities
in the left half-segments is
Equation 24-29.
where, in addition to previously defined terms, a = 2π/N.
The symmetrical component sets are evaluated from the physical components as follows:
Equation 24-30.
Equation 24-31.
where, in addition to previously defined terms, δ = 1/2 for k = 0 and N/2, and δ = 1 for all other
values of k.
The number of symmetrical components sets is equal to the number of half-segments in the
structure (neglecting the identically null sets ūks and ūks* for k = 0, N/2). As in the case of
rotational symmetry, the symmetrical load components for a particular value of k produce only
the symmetrical response components for the same value of k, or, to put it another way, the
analyses for the different values of k are uncoupled.

Cyclic Symmetry
Furthermore, the analyses for the starred (*) and unstarred symmetrical components are
uncoupled. For K = 0 and k = N/2, the complete finite element model for the unstarred terms
consists of a single copy of the fundamental region (1 R). For 0 < k < N/2, the complete finite
element model consists of two copies of the fundamental region with coupling between their
boundaries. The boundary conditions are different for each value of k. The finite element models
for the starred (*) terms are identical to those for the unstarred terms for k > 0. Only the
symmetrical load components, which are computed by Eq. 24-30 and Eq. 24-31, are different.
As an example, consider the case of a structure with two planes of reflective symmetry as shown
in Figure 24-7. Applying dihedral symmetry to this case, you can see that
• The number of segments N = 2.
• The segment angles a = n.
• θ1 = 0.
• θ2 = π
• The harmonic indices k = 0, 1.
Substitution of these values into Eq. 24-30 and Eq. 24-31 gives
Equation 24-32.
Since all of the signs are positive in the equation for ū0c, it follows that ū0cis symmetrical with
respect to both side 1 and side 2 in Figure 24-7. The other nonzero symmetrical components are
antisymmetrical with respect to one or both of the sides as shown in Table 24-3.
Table 24-3. Symmetrical Components for Reflective Symmetry Example

Symmetry
Symmetrical Component Side 1 Side 2
ū0c S S
ū 1c S A
ū 0c* A A
ū1c* A S

Regardless of the number of segments, the starred terms are always antisymmetrical, and
the unstarred terms are always symmetrical with respect to side 1 of the fundamental region.
You can take advantage of this to reduce the amount of calculation when it can be determined
beforehand that the applied loading has a plane of symmetry or antisymmetry that coincides
with side 1 of the fundamental region, or, in other words, if the problem has an overall plane of
symmetry. The amount of computation can be reduced still further if the problem has a second
overall plane of symmetry perpendicular to the first. The second overall plane of symmetry can
exist only if there is an even number of segments.
Summary of Transformations, Boundary Conditions, and Problem Solution (DIH)
The form of the transformations between cyclic and physical components and the boundary
conditions between the segments of the object in question depend somewhat on the notation
system.
When you select the DIH option of cyclic symmetry, you can take advantage of overall planes of
symmetry when the applied loads are symmetrically and/or antisymmetrically disposed with
respect to these planes. In these cases, you only need to specify loads for segments in the first
half plane when there is one plane of overall symmetry and in the first quadrant when there
are two planes of overall symmetry.
You specify symmetrical or antisymmetrical boundary conditions on the DSYM Case Control
command. You can only include one DSYM command per subcase. A single plane of reflective
symmetry must be with respect to Side 1, and if a second plane of reflective symmetry exists,
it must be perpendicular to Side 1. In the case of two planes of symmetry, the model must
contain an even number of whole segments.
The following sections describe several of the equations of interest for the DIH option, along with
the equation number for the corresponding expression under the ROT option. In the following
equations, the starred (*) terms donate anti-symmetric motions and unstarred terms denote
symmetric motions. The subscripts R and L refer to the right and left halves respectively.
See also
• “DSYM” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Cyclic Symmetry
Transforming Physical Components to Cyclic Components (DIH)
(See Eq. 24-3 for the corresponding equations for the ROT option.)
Equation 24-33.
Here,
Equation 24-34.
and the positive sign is associated with the unstarred terms.
Transforming Cyclic Components to Back to Physical Components (DIH)

(See Eq. 24-19 for the corresponding relation for the ROT option.)
Equation 24-35.
Boundary Conditions and Problem Solution (DIH)
(See Eq. 24-3 for the corresponding boundary conditions for the ROT option.)

Side 1, EVEN
Equation 24-36.
Side 1, ODD
Equation 24-37.
Side 2, EVEN
Equation 24-38.
Side 2, ODD
Equation 24-39.

Cyclic Symmetry
In static analysis with cyclic symmetry, the equation
is solved in SSG3 (Static Solution Generator – Part 3) for {ūa}K
and
are formed in CYCLIC3 (Cyclic Symmetry Transformation – Module 3).
The symmetrical components of the loads and are subsets of which is obtained
in CYCLIC3 by multiplying the load vector formed in SSG1 by the GFORE matrix formed
in CYCLIC1 module
where {Pl} is formed in SSG2 (Static Solution Generator – Part 2) and the transformation matrix
[GFORE] is formed in CYCLIC1 module.
The cyclic component constraint data (CYCD) used in CYCLIC3 for the formulation of the
transformation matrices [Gck] and [Gsk] are generated in CYCLIC2 (Cyclic Symmetry – Module
2).
The solution {ua}K is transformed to symmetric components in CYCLIC4 as follows:
The symmetric components for each harmonic index are appended to form{ū}x in the CYCLIC4
module. The physical segment displacements are obtained as follows:
where the transformation matrix is formed in the CYCLIC1 module.

In the case of vibration analysis with cyclic symmetry the following equation is used in READ to
determine the eigenvalues and eigenvectors,
where is formed in a manner similar to in CYCLIC3. The symmetrical components

of the eigenvectors are recovered in CYCLIC4 and the physical segment data is recovered using
the GBACK1 matrix created in CYCLIC4 module.
Since all the transformation matrices are extremely sparse, none of the matrix multiplications
indicated above will require large amounts of computer time. The most significant operation
is the triple product associated with the determination of . In the usual application this
matrix is dense and approximately a-size. The computer time for the triple product can be
estimated as ten matrix packing operations on a full matrix of a-size.

Cyclic Symmetry
Reflective Symmetry
Reflective symmetry with one or two planes of symmetry is a special case of dihedral symmetry
(Figure 24-8).
• Reflective symmetry with one plane of symmetry is identical to dihedral symmetry with one
segment.
• Reflective symmetry with two planes of symmetry is identical to dihedral symmetry with
two segments.
Figure 24-7. Reflective Symmetry with One or Two Planes of Symmetry –A Special
Case of Dihedral Symmetry
Mathematically, a structure has reflective symmetry with respect to a yz plane if each of its
relevant physical properties Q (such as mass density and elastic modulus) satisfies the equation
Equation 24-40.
or in other words, if the physical properties are identical at the image points on the two sides of
the yz plane. The plane of symmetry divides the structure into two halves that are arbitrarily
called the right half and the left half. The right half is also called the fundamental region
because, in analysis, it is the half for which a finite element model is prepared, whereas the finite
element model for the left half is only implied.

The physical properties included in Q do not include the loads applied to the structure or its
responses (displacements, internal forces, or stresses). Let the symbols ur, and ul represent the
values of some particular response u at some point in the right half and at its image point in the
left half of the structure. ur and ul don’t necessarily satisfy the reflective symmetry property Eq.
24-40, but their average us clearly does. Thus,
Equation 24-41.
so that
Equation 24-42.
and
Equation 24-43.
Since the right-hand sides of Eq. 24-42 and Eq. 24-43 are equal, it follows that
Equation 24-44.
The quantity us is called the symmetrical part of the response. The antisymmetrical part of the
response ua is defined as one-half of the difference of ur, and ul. Thus,
Equation 24-45.
The antisymmetrical part of the response has the property that
Equation 24-46.

Cyclic Symmetry
Eq. 24-41 and Eq. 24-45 show how to obtain the symmetrical and antisymmetrical parts of the
response from the values of the response for the left and right halves of the structure. They
may be written more compactly in matrix form
Equation 24-47.
The vector
is called the vector of symmetrical components, and the vector
is called the vector of physical components. The physical components may be found from the
symmetrical components by solving for them from Eq. 24-47.
Equation 24-48.
Eq. 24-47 and Eq. 24-48 apply to any response quantity, and they also apply to the applied loads.
Thus, any particular applied load P has symmetrical components Ps and Pa evaluated as follows:
Equation 24-49.
In order to include vectors as well as scalars in u and P, it is necessary to select the coordinate
systems in the right and left halves to be mirror images of each other as shown in Figure 24-8.

The coordinate system in the right half is right-handed, to conform with standard NX Nastran
practice. Note, however, that the coordinate system in the implied left half is left-handed. This
means, for example, that loads applied indirectly to the left half, by listing the images of their
points of application in the right half, must be expressed in the particular left-hand coordinate
system shown in Figure 24-8.
Figure 24-8. Reflective Symmetry

If the loads applied to a symmetrical structure are symmetrical, the response is symmetrical.
The responses also include the displacements in the plane of symmetry, i.e., u, v, w, θx, θy, and θz
at x = 0. Since the positive directions of u, θy, and θz are opposite in the two halves, continuity
requires that they be zero at x = 0 in a symmetrical solution. Thus, u = 0, θy = 0, and θz = 0 are
boundary conditions that can be applied with SPCs if only the right half is represented by a finite
element model. The boundary conditions for v, w, and θx are natural, i.e., their reaction forces in
the plane of symmetry are zero by symmetry, and they may be left unconstrained.

Cyclic Symmetry
In like manner, if the loads applied to the structure are antisymmetrical, the response is
antisymmetrical. By similar reasoning it can be shown that the antisymmetrical boundary
conditions for a finite element model of the right half are v = w = θx = 0.
If the applied loads are neither symmetrical nor antisymmetrical, the response may be obtained
by the following procedure (which is only valid if the response is a linear function of the applied
loads):
1. Compute the symmetrical and antisymmetrical load sets Ps and Pa by means of Eq. 24-49.
2. Apply Ps to a finite element model of the right-hand side with symmetric boundary
conditions. The response us is obtained.
3. Apply Pa to a finite element model of the right-hand side with antisymmetric boundary
conditions. The response ua is obtained.
4. Find the physical responses ur and ul by means of Eq. 24-48.
Everything that has been said about one plane of symmetry can be extended to two or three
orthogonal planes of symmetry. The steps that were outlined are performed automatically in
NX Nastran’s cyclic symmetry capability, using the identity between reflective symmetry with
one or two planes of symmetry and dihedral symmetry with one or two segments, respectively.
The steps may also be performed using basic NX Nastran procedures but with considerable
nonautomated work.
See also
• “Symmetry” in the NX Nastran User’s Guide
Axisymmetry
In axisymmetry, Figure 24-1(e), the object is generated by rotating the fundamental region
continuously about an axis, thereby forming a solid of revolution. There are two subclasses
of axisymmetry:
• In the first subclass, the fundamental region is a plane surface. This subclass is known as
axisymmetry without skew.
• In the second subclass, the fundamental region is a skewed surface. This subclass is known
as axisymmetry with skew.
These two subclasses are distinguishable only if the mechanical properties of the fundamental
region are anisotropic. Examples of structures with skewed axisymmetry may be found in nature
(e.g., the trunks of pine trees) and in spiral-wound reinforced shells.

Mathematically, a structure is axisymmetric (axisymmetric without skew) if each of its relevant

physical properties Q (such as mass density and elastic modulus) satisfies the equation
Equation 24-50.
where r, θ, and z are the components of position in a cylindrical coordinate system. The cross
section for θ = 0 is the fundamental region whose properties are mapped into the entire structure
by Eq. 24-50.
The response of the structure and its applied loads do not necessarily satisfy Eq. 24-50. Let
u(r, θ, z) be some particular response quantity (displacement, internal force, or load). If u is a
component of a vector , let the coordinate system that expresses be the cylindrical coordinate
system used in connection with Eq. 24-50. Then the Fourier series representation of u(r, θ,
z) may be written as
Equation 24-51.
or, dropping the explicit dependence on r and z,
Equation 24-52.

Cyclic Symmetry
The harmonic response coefficients ū0, ūks, ūkc and may be regarded as symmetrical component
sets that replace u(θ) in structural analysis. They are evaluated from the physical component
u(θ) by the following Fourier integrals:
Equation 24-53.
Applied loads P(θ) can also be expanded in a Fourier series. The symmetrical component load
sets are, by analogy with Eq. 24-53,
Equation 24-54.
Fourier series are often used in the analysis of axisymmetric structures. The first step is to find
the harmonic load coefficients from Eq. 24-54. The next step is to find the harmonic response
coefficients as functions of the harmonic load coefficients. It can be shown from a consideration
of the properties of trigonometric functions that, in linear analysis, ū0 depends only on
that the harmonic response coefficients for a particular harmonic ūks and ūkc depend only on
the harmonic load coefficients and for the same harmonic index k. Computational effort
can be further reduced by noting that higher harmonics where is problem dependent do not
contribute significantly to the solution and need not be computed. Once the harmonic response
coefficients are found, the physical components can be computed by means of Eq. 24-51.

24.4 Using Cyclic Symmetry
Overview of Performing a Cyclic Symmetry Analysis

In a cyclic symmetry analysis, your total model consists of N identical segments which are
numbered consecutively from 1 to N. In your input file, you use the CYSYM bulk data entry to
specify the type of cyclic symmetry (rotational, dihedral, or axisymmetric) and the number
of segments in the model.
You then generate the model for one segment, using regular elements and standard modeling
techniques. You can use any element in the NX Nastran Element Library, except axisymmetric
elements.
NX Nastran automatically rotates all other segments and their coordinate systems to equally
spaced positions about the polar axis. The segment boundaries must be conformable; i.e., when
the segments are put together, the grid points and the displacement coordinate systems of
adjacent segments must coincide. This is easiest to ensure if you use a cylindrical or spherical
coordinate system.
The two boundaries are called Sides 1 and 2.
• In the case of rotational symmetry, Side 2 of segment n is connected to Side 1 of segment n+1,
• In the case of dihedral symmetry, Side 1 is on the boundary of the plane of overall reflective
symmetry, and Side 2 is on the midplane or reflective plane of the segment, as shown
in Figure 24-6.
When you create your input file, you specify the grid point numbers on Sides 1 and 2 on the
CYJOIN Bulk Data entry. You also list grid points that lie on the axis of symmetry on the
CYAX Bulk Data entry.
Specifying Loading and Constraints
Complete generality in the definition of loading conditions is achieved by allowing you to

independently specify loads, enforced motions, and/or temperatures on each of the N segments,
even though the fundamental region is the only segment explicitly represented in the analysis.
Output requests are handled with the same degree of generality in that solutions are provided
for each of the N segments.
If your loading has the same symmetry as the structure, only a single analysis is required for a
symmetrical subregion of the structure with symmetrical boundary conditions. If your loading is
unsymmetrical, the following additional tasks must be performed:
1. Separate applied loads into symmetry sets (e.g., symmetrical and antisymmetrical sets for
a structure with one plane of symmetry).
2. Apply separate constraint sets to a subregion of the structure in order to model the boundary
conditions corresponding to each symmetry condition.
3. Compute separate solutions for each symmetry condition.
4. Combine the results for each symmetry condition to obtain the complete solution for the
complete structure.

Cyclic Symmetry
NX Nastran also includes a way of handling the special case of unsymmetrical loads on a
structure with one or two planes of symmetry. With this method:
• Tasks 1 and 2 (listed above) you perform by hand by hand.
• Task 3 is accomplished by creating subcases for each symmetry condition, with different SPC
sets and loading conditions for each subcase.
• Task 4 is accomplished with SYMCOM and SYMSEQ Case Control commands.
In a cyclic symmetry analysis, you apply loads to the model with the following bulk data entries:
• LOADCYH (harmonic load)
• LOADCYN (physical segment load)
• LOADCYT (AXI option) Bulk Data entry
You only need to define a single subcase is needed for each loading condition. That subcase must
contain a LOAD, TEMP(LOAD), or DEFORM command that selects a LOADCYH, LOADCYN, or
LOADCYT Bulk Data entry (see Figure 24-9). The LOADCYH and LOADCYN entries in turn
reference FORCE, MOMENT, PLOAD, SLOAD, SPCD, DEFORM, and TEMP entries. The
LOADCYH entry may also reference an RFORCE or GRAV entry in order to specify centrifugal
or gravity loading, respectively. The LOADCYT entry is used only with the AXI option to specify
loads as a function of azimuth angle.
Importantly, you can’t use the SUBCOM/SUBSEQ commands to combine loads in a cyclic
symmetry analysis. To combine loads, use the LOAD Bulk Data entry.

Figure 24-9. Cyclic Symmetry Flowchart

There are no restrictions on using single-point constraints, multipoint constraints, or the
OMIT feature. The software automatically applies constraints between segments to the
degrees-of-freedom at grid points specified on CYJOIN Bulk Data entries which aren’t otherwise
constrained. You can also use the SPCD Bulk Data entry to vary the magnitude of enforced
displacements for each of the segments.
In static analyses, you can use the OMIT feature to remove all degrees-of-freedom at internal
grid points without losing accuracy. Since this reduction is applied to a single segment prior to
the symmetry transformations, it can greatly reduce the amount of subsequent calculation. In
the case of vibration analysis, you can use the OMIT feature to reduce the size of the analysis
set with the typical approximations. You can’t use the SUPORTi entries for the free bodies in a
cyclic symmetry analysis.

Cyclic Symmetry
Specifying Harmonics
You specify the harmonics to use in the cyclic symmetry analysis on the HARMONICS Case
Control command. The HARMONICS command must be present in Case Control and it must
appear above the subcase level. In buckling analysis, the program limits the static preload to
the zero harmonic and the information on the HARMONICS command is used only for the
eigenvalue analysis.
Bulk Data Entries Specific to Cyclic Symmetry

Table 24-4. lists bulk data entries that are unique to cyclic symmetry analyses
Table 24-4. Bulk Data Entries Unique to Cyclic Symmetry
Bulk Data
Function
Entry
CYJOIN Defines the grid points on sides 1 and 2 of the fundamental region.
Specifies the number of segments in the entire model and the type of
CYSYM symmetry. Allowable symmetry types are ROTational, DIHedral, and
AXIsymmetric.
CYAX List of grid points that lie on the axis of symmetry.
List of supported components at a single grid point that are “constrained”
CYSUP
in order to prevent rigid body motion for free bodies.
LOADCYN Defines applied loads in terms of physical components.
LOADCYH Defines applied loads in terms of their harmonic components.
LOADCYT Specifies loads as a function of azimuth angle for the AXI symmetry type.
These entries are described below.
Using CYSYM
The CYSYM entry lets you define important parameters for cyclic symmetry analysis. For
example, you use it to select the type (STYPE) of cyclic symmetry to perform in the analysis,
such as dihedral (DIH). The format of the CYSYM entry is:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CYSYM NSEG STYPE
Field Contents
NSEG Number of segments that comprise the total structure.
STYPE Symmetry type (“ROT”, “AXI”, “DIH”).

• For the ROT and AXI options, the polar angle θ subtended by the element model for the
fundamental region, must be such that θ = 360°/NSEG exactly. For the AXI option, the NSEG
value should be large enough (typically 360 segments) to approximate true axisymmetry.
• For the DIH option, θ must equal 180°/NSEG exactly if there are any points on side 1. In
this case, the polar angle θ is smaller because the fundamental region is the right half of
segment 1. If there are no points on side 1, θ must be less than or equal to 180°/NSEG in the
DIH option because otherwise the segments would overlap.
• To properly apply loads and interpret output data, you must be aware of the orientation
of the coordinate system associated with the individual segments. For the ROT and AXI
options, the coordinate system used to define the model of the fundamental region is rotated
through the symmetry operation that “generates” each of the other identical segments. For
the DlH option, the coordinate system used to define the model of the fundamental region
(segment 1 R) is rotated through the necessary symmetry operations that generate the R-half
of each of the identical segments. The coordinate system for the L-half of a segment is the
mirror image of the coordinate system associated with the R-half of the segment in question;
thus, the L-half of any segment has a left-handed coordinate system.
See also
• “CYSYM” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using CYJOIN
The boundary points of a segment in cyclic symmetry problems using the CYJOIN entry are
as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CYJOIN SIDE C G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6
G7 G8 G9 -etc.-
Field Contents
SIDE Side identification.
Type of coordinate system used on boundaries of dihedral or
C
axisymmetry problems.
Gi Grid or scalar point identification numbers.

Cyclic Symmetry
One CYJOIN entry plus all necessary continuation entries are used to specify the GRID and/or
scalar points (SPOINT), on side 1 of the fundamental region. A second CYJOIN entry plus all
necessary continuation entries are used to specify the GRID and/or scalar points (SPOINT) on
side 2 of the fundamental region. As will be shown, points that lie on the axis of symmetry
appear on a CYAX Bulk Data entry but not on a CYJOIN entry.
• For the ROT option, the two CYJOlN lists must be of the same length and, since the
boundary conditions for the fundamental region involve these two lists, it is required that the
two lists be ordered. That is, the n-th point on side 1 is related through boundary conditions
to the n-th point of side 2. Side 2 is related to side 1 as indicated in Figure 24-2.
Note that displacement compatibility must be maintained at the boundaries. This
requirement necessitates that the displacement coordinate systems for the boundary points
be either cylindrical or spherical.
• The AXI option is a subset of the ROT option in which all the grid points in the fundamental
region lie either on side 1 or on side 2. The rules for the CYJOIN entry are identical for both
the ROT and AXI options of cyclic symmetry.
• For the DlH option, side 1 denotes the boundary between segments, and side 2 denotes the
side that is contained in the plane of reflective symmetry of the segment. Since the boundary
conditions do not relate sides 1 and 2, it is not necessary that the two lists be of equal length.
It is, however, necessary under the DlH option to provide an entry in the third field for the
parameter C. The appropriate entries are listed in Table 24-5.
Unlike the ROT option (in which case, one and only one logical CYJOIN entry must exist for each
of side 1 and side 2), any number of CYJOIN entries may be used to define the points on a side
of the fundamental region in the DIH option. Thus, each point along a boundary may appear
on a separate CYJOIN entry if, for example, each point has a different coordinate system. For
the DIH option, the displacement coordinate systems associated with boundary points must be
oriented so that the components of motion are normal and parallel to the boundary planes.
Table 24-5. Parameter C for the DIH Option
Type of Point C Description

Grid T1 T1 component of translation motion normal to boundary.
T2, R, or C T2 component of translation motion normal to boundary.
T3 or S T3 component of translation motion normal to boundary.
If the user-defined translation is normal to the boundary or
SCALAR T1 if the user-defined rotation vector is in the plane containing
the boundary.
Blank, T2, If the user-defined translation is parallel to the boundary or
or T3 if the user-defined rotation vector is normal to the boundary.
See also
• “CYJOIN” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Using CYAX
The CYAX Bulk Data entry lets you list points on the axis of symmetry. The format of the
CYAX entry is:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CYAX G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8
G9 G10 -etc.-
Field Contents
Gi A list of grid points on the axis of symmetry.
• The coordinate system that locates points on the axis of symmetry and the displacement
coordinate system for these points must be rectangular with the z-component aligned
with the axis of symmetry. In addition, if the DlH option is selected, the y-axis must be
perpendicular to side 1 of the fundamental region.
• Grid points on the axis of symmetry may not appear on a CYJOlN Bulk Data entry.
• Grid points on the axis of symmetry may not be referenced as dependent points by MPCs
and/or rigid elements.
• Grid points on the axis of symmetry may have SPCs applied in accordance with the following
rule that is necessary to satisfy symmetry. If NSEG > 3, SPCs must be applied to both
components 1 and 2 or to neither. The same rule applies to components 4 and 5.
• Grid points listed on CYAX Bulk Data entries must be in the a-set.
See also
• “CYAX” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using CYSUP
The CYSUP bulk data entry lets you define rigid body supports for cyclic symmetry analysis.
All supported degrees-of-freedom for a rigid body must be specified at a single grid point. The
format of the CYSUP entry is:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CYSUP GID C
Field Contents
GID Grid point identification number.
C Component numbers.
The total structure can have, at most, six rigid body degrees of freedom. Supports that remove
only the rigid body motions are applied to the k = 0 and k = 1 harmonics of the components of
motion listed on this entry. These components may not be constrained by SPCs, may not be
referenced as dependent degrees of freedom by MPCs and/or rigid elements, and may not be
referenced on OMIT or OMIT1 Bulk Data entries.

Cyclic Symmetry
Rigid body motion is possible only for harmonics k = 0 and k = 1. Translation along and rotation
about the axis of symmetry are the only possible rigid body motions for k = 0, while translations
normal to the axis of symmetry and rotations about these translational directions are the only
possible rigid body motions for k = 1. The NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide lists special rules
relative to the proper support of rigid body motion for CYSUP.
See also
• “CYSUP” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using LOADCYN
The LOADCYN entry lets you identify the segments on which referenced loads, defined in terms
of physical components, are to be applied. The format of the LOADCYN entry is:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
LOADCYN SID S SEGID SEGTYPE S1 L1 S2 L2
Field Contents
S Scale factor.
SEGID Segment identification number.
SEGTYPE Segment type.
Si Scale factors.
Li Load set ID numbers.
The loads are referenced by listing the identification numbers of one or two LOAD Bulk Data
entries. Scale factors on the LOADCYN Bulk Data entry are used to form a linear combination of
the load sets referenced on the LOAD Bulk Data entries. Alternatively, the LOADCYN Bulk
Data entries may directly reference load sets comprised of the types of static load definition
entries shown in Table 24-6.
Table 24-6. Static Load Definitions for Cyclic Symmetry

Enforced
Point Loads Distributed Loads Temperature Loads
Displacement
FORCE PLOAD1 TEMP SPCD
FORCE1 PLOAD2 TEMPP1
FORCE2 PLOAD4 TEMPRB
MOMENT TEMD
MOMENT1
MOMENT2
SLOAD
The loads listed on these entries are applied at the images in the segment referenced in
field 4 of the LOADCYN entry of the grid points and elements listed on these entries. The

coordinate systems for image points are rotated and/or reflected from the coordinate system
in the fundamental region.
Note that GRAV and RFORCE Bulk Data entries are not included in the above list. These
static load entries are handled automatically in a very straightforward fashion through the
LOADCYH Bulk Data entry.
See also
• “LOADCYN” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Using LOADCYH
The LOADCYH entry provides for the identification of referenced loads that are defined in terms
of harmonic components. The format of the LOADCYH entry is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
LOADCYH SID S HID HTYPE S1 L1 S2 L2
Field Contents
S Scale factor.
HID Harmonic component.
HTYPE Harmonic type.
Si Scale factor on Li.
Li Load set identification number.
This option is particularly useful for the definition of gravity (GRAV) and centrifugal loads
(RFORCE) because you only need to specify GRAV or RFORCE under the HTYPE field on the
entry and the correct harmonic components of the specified load are automatically generated.
The component of gravity parallel to the axis of symmetry produces harmonic loads of the order k
= 0, and components of gravity perpendicular to the axis of symmetry produce loads of the order
k = 1. Components of centrifugal force produce harmonic loads of the order k = 0 if the spin axis
coincides with the axis of symmetry, and of the order k = 0, k = 1, and k = 2 if it does not.
See also
• “LOADCYH” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide

Cyclic Symmetry
Using LOADCYT
You use the LOADCYT Bulk Data entry with the AXI option to specify loads in terms of physical
components as a tabular function of the azimuth angle (measured in degrees). The format
of the LOADCYT entry is:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
LOADCYT SID TABLEID1 LOADSET1 METHOD1 TABLEID2 LOADSET2 METHOD2
Field Contents
TABLEIDi Table ID for table load input for load set Li.
LOADSETi Load set Li.
METHODi Method of interpolation.
interpolate the load with the Fourier coefficients specified in
0
the table up to the specified number of harmonics.
interpolate the magnitude of the load at corresponding grid
1
points in all segments.
This capability is implemented by referencing a set of load definition entries under the heading
LOADSET on the LOADCYT entry.
These entries define a magnitude for the load. The azimuthal variation of the applied load is
specified on the TABLEDi entry referenced under the heading TABLEID. The net applied load is
the product of the magnitude given on the load definition entry times the appropriate value on
the TABLEDi entry. The heading METHODi on the LOADCYT entry is utilized to specify the
type of interpolation to be used in assigning loads to degrees of freedom.
See also
• “LOADCYT” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Case Control Commands Specific to Cyclic Symmetry

Table 24-7 lists Case Control commands that are unique to cyclic symmetry analyses.
Table 24-7. Case Control Commands Unique to Cyclic Symmetry
Command Function
HARMONICS Specifies harmonics for which the computation is desired.
Provides for either one or two planes of overall symmetry under the
DSYM
DIH option.
NOUTPUT Controls requests for the output of physical components.
HOUTPUT Controls requests for the output of harmonic components.

With cyclic symmetry, note that:

• References to SPC and/or MPC sets in the Case Control Section must appear above the
subcase level, i.e., before the first subcase.
• You must have one subcase per loading condition. Loads, enforced deformations, and enforced
displacements are requested in the standard manner, i.e., through LOAD, TEMP(LOAD),
DEFORM and SPC set selections. As described above, loads can be input in terms of physical
components and/or harmonic components. With the AXI option, you can also specify loads
in terms of physical components that are tabulated as a function of the azimuth angle (in
degrees).
Using HARMONICS Case Control Command
A HARMONICS command must appear above the subcase level (i.e., before the commands that
describe the first subcase) to specify the harmonics for which solutions are to be computed.
The HARMONIC command cannot reference a set definition that specifies “ALL”. If you need
to use all the harmonics, specify:
HARMONICS = ALL
See also
• “HARMONICS” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Requesting Output
The NOUTPUT and HOUTPUT Case Control commands let you request output from a cyclic
symmetry analysis.
• You can use the NOUTPUT command to request physical output within a subcase for all
output quantities, such as forces and displacements, requested in the subcase.
• You can use the HOUTPUT command to request harmonic output within a subcase for all
output quantities requested in the subcase.
These commands let you specify the segments for which you want output and, with HOUTPUT,
the cyclic components for which output is desired.
In the case of thermal or deformation loading, you can only request element force and stress
output that’s consistent with the form of the loading. In other words, you can only request
physical output if you defined the loads with a LOADCYN Bulk Data entry and harmonic output
if you defined the loads with a LOADCYH Bulk Data entry.
Using a single subcase for each loading condition introduces the need to refer to “coded” subcases
for SORT2 output and plotting purposes. Since a single subcase now refers to NSEG segments
(in the case of ROT and AXI options) and two times NSEG segments (including Right and Left
halves, in the case of DIH option), you need a unique coded subcase ID to refer to a particular
segment of the structure for plotting purposes in PLOT commands wherever a subcase ID is to
be supplied. This coded ID is obtained as follows:

Cyclic Symmetry
Coded Subcase ID for a Particular Segment

= SUBCASE ID · 10000 + SEGMENT ID · 10 + zero (for ROT or AXI option)
See also
• “HOUTPUT” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
• “NOUTPUT” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide
Coded Subcase ID for a Particular Harmonic
Note:
• If a subcase contains TEMP(LOAD) and/or DEFORM commands, irrespective of the presence
of a LOAD command, element force and stress output are only correct in terms of physical
components if the TEMP(LOAD) and the DEFORM loads are defined in terms of physical
components. Similarly, if the TEMP(LOAD) and DEFORM data are provided in terms of
harmonic components, element force and stress output are only correct in terms of harmonic
components.
• If, under the DIH option of cyclic symmetry, a DSYM command is explicitly present under
a subcase, the output is, by default, limited to the segments in the first half plane if there
is one plane of overall symmetry, and to the segments in the first quadrant if there are
two planes of overall symmetry. This default applies irrespective of the segments listed
on NOUTPUT commands.
You can request undeformed and deformed plots of the fundamental region.
Typical Case Control Section Examples
To illustrate some of the rules described above, typical Case Control sections for the cylinder
(Figure 24-10) and square plate (Figure 24-11) problems are shown in Listing 24-2 and Listing
24-3, respectively.

Figure 24-10. Cylinder Example

Cyclic Symmetry
Figure 24-11. Square Plate Example
TITLE=CYCLIC SYMMETRY-STATICS
SUBTITLE=FIVE DEGREE SEGMENT OF CYLINDER
LABEL=AXISYMMETRIC LOADING
SPC=1
SET 1=0
SET 2=1
HARMONICS=1
NOUTPUT=2
DISP=ALL
STRESS=ALL
FORCE=ALL
SUBCASE 1
LABEL=BAND LOADING
LOAD=1
SUBCASE 2
LABEL=CENTRIFUGAL LOADING
LOAD=2
BEGIN BULK
Listing 24-1. ROT or AXI Symmetry Type

TITLE=CYCLIC SYMMETRY-STATICS
SUBTITLE=SIMPLY-SUPPORTED SQUARE PLATE
SPC=1
HARMONICS=ALL
DISPLACEMENT=ALL
NOUTPUT=ALL
DSYM=SS
SUBCASE 1
LABEL=LOAD AT CENTER OF PLATE
LOAD=1
SUBCASE 2
LABEL=UNIFORM PRESSURE LOAD
LOAD=2
SUBCASE 3
LABEL=TEMPERATURE LOAD
TEMP(LOAD)=3
SUBCASE 4
LABEL=INPLANE GRAVITY LOAD
LOAD=4
DSYM=SA
BEGIN BULK
Listing 24-2. DIH Symmetry Type

The following comments apply to the Case Control sections above:
• In Listing 24-1, the HARMONICS command specifies that solutions are to be computed
only for the zero harmonic. If the applied loads are axisymmetric, no higher harmonics
need to be considered. For Listing 24-2, HARMONICS = ALL specifies that solutions are to
be computed for all meaningful harmonics.
• A DSYM command appears in all four subcases of Listing 24-2. The first three subcases
specify that the boundary conditions for both side 1 and side 2 are to be symmetric. This
specification has two effects: 1) loads need only to be specified for the first quadrant of the
structure (the fundamental region in this case), and 2) output is only processed for the
segments in the first quadrant of the model irrespective of the analyst’s requests for output in
other segments. The particular lateral gravity condition considered in the fourth subcase is
symmetric with respect to side 1 of the fundamental region and antisymmetric with respect
to a plane perpendicular to side 1 of the fundamental region. It must be emphasized that
the appropriate boundary conditions for each of the symmetry conditions involved in this
example are internally applied by the program.
• Note that the specifications of loading conditions in the Case Control Section conform to the
procedural rules for static analysis in NX Nastran.
• The NOUTPUT Case Control command controls output requests for selected segments.
For Listing 24-1, output requests are limited to the first segment, i.e., the fundamental
region. For Listing 24-2, output requests for all four subcases are limited to segments in the
first quadrant because of the presence of the DSYM commands, even though output for
ALL right-handed segments is requested. The specification of requests for specific output
quantities in the Case Control Section conform with the procedural rules for static analysis
in NX Nastran.
24.5 Performing Axisymmetric Analysis

You can use NX Nastran’s cyclic symmetry capabilities to solve axisymmetric problems without
defining any special axisymmetric elements.

Cyclic Symmetry
Solving Axisymmetric Problems

Use the following procedure to solve static load problems:
1. Select the AXI symmetry option on the CYSYM Bulk Data entry.
2. Select a large number of segments (for example, 180) on the CYSYM Bulk Data entry.
3. Construct a model with two rows of grid points and a single row of elements in the meridional
direction.
4. Define a set of harmonics on a SET Case Control command. The set of harmonics should be
reasonably small for efficiency, but sufficient in size to yield reasonably accurate results.
5. Select the defined set of harmonics on the HARMONICS Case Control command.
Convergence of the harmonic output towards zero for the higher harmonics will verify that
the number of harmonics specified on the HARMONICS Case Control command and used in
the analysis is sufficient.
6. Select a static loading condition with the LOAD, TEMP(LOAD), and DEFORM Case Control
commands which reference LOADCYN, LOADCYH, or LOADCYT Bulk Data entries.
7. Place static loads only on Side 1 or on elements. The boundary conditions will take care
of loading on Side2.
8. Prepare the referenced TABLED1 entries if LOADCYT entries are used to specify loads as a
function of azimuth angle. The number of x-y pairs in a given table should be sufficient to
produce reasonably accurate results when linearly interpolated.
9. Select the physical output for a reasonably small number of segments with the NOUTPUT
Case Control command or ALL of the harmonic output with the HOUTPUT Case Control
command.
Use the following procedure to obtain the vibration modes of an axisymmetric structure:
1. Select the AXI symmetry option on the CYSYM Bulk Data entry.
2. Select a large number of segments (for example, 90) on the CYSYM Bulk Data entry.
3. Construct a model with two rows of grid points and a single row of elements in the meridional
direction.
4. Define a set of harmonics on a SET Case Control command where the number of harmonics
is reasonably small for efficiency, but sufficient to cover the frequency range of interest.
5. Select the defined set of harmonics on the HARMONICS Case Control command.
6. Select all the harmonic output with the HOUTPUT Case Control command. This will give
the eigenvectors, in a concise form, which may be interpreted by the formula
where φ is the azimuth angle measured from Side 1 of the fundamental region and K is
the harmonic index.

Axisymmetric Example
The following cyclic symmetry example problem uses the same cylinder model as “Example 5 –
Buckling of a Cylinder Under Uniform Axial Load.”
A five degrees strip, as shown in Figure 24-12, is modeled using the axisymmetric features.
Figure 24-12. A Five Degrees Strip of a Cylinder Using Axisymmetry

A copy of the input file is shown in Figure 24-8. Since only a five degrees strip is modeled,
seventy-two segments are required to generate the full cylinder model internally. The CYSYM
entry accomplishes this purpose. Furthermore, the boundary points for segment one are defined
on the CYJOIN entries—one each for side one and side two. Note that with axisymmetry, no
interior points are allowed. The applied load is a uniform compressive load applied at the
top of the cylinder, using the LOADCYT/TABLED1/FORCE combinations. The TABLED1
defines the spatial distribution around the circumference of the cylinder-which in this case is
evenly distributed. Since the structure is axisymmetric, and the load is constant around the

Cyclic Symmetry
circumference, only the zeroth harmonic is required for the analysis. The displacements at the
top of the cylinder and stresses at the top and bottom of the cylinders are shown in Figure 24-13.
The same output using the full model is shown in Figure 24-14 for comparison.

$ filename - cyclic1.dat
$
SOL 114
TIME 600
CEND
SUBCASE 1
TITLE= A 5 DEG STRIP
SET 100 = 381,382
SET 200 = 1,343
SET 1000 = 1
SET 1 = 0
HARMONICS = 1
NOUTPUT = 1000
LOAD = 1
SPC = 1
DISPLACEMENT= 100
SPCFORCES=ALL
STRESS= 200
BEGIN BULK
PARAM POST -1
PARAM
,SNORM,
20.
$ Elements and Element Properties for region : pshell.1
CYSYM,72,AXI
CYJOIN,1,T2,1,20,39,58,77,96
,115,134,153,172,191,210,229,248,
,267,286,305,324,343,362,381
$
CYJOIN,2,T2,2,21,40,59,78,97
,116,135,154,173,192,211,230,249,
,268,287,306,325,344,363,382
$
SPC1,1,123,1,2
SPC1,1,12,381,382
$
LOADCYT,1,10,11,1
TABLED1,10
,0.,1.,360.,1.,ENDT
FORCE,11,381,1,1388.889,,,-1.
$
PSHELL 1 1 .03 1 1
CQUAD4 1 1 1 2 21 20 0. 0.
CQUAD4 19 1 20 21 40 39 0. 0.
CQUAD4 37 1 39 40 59 58 0. 0.
CQUAD4 55 1 58 59 78 77 0. 0.
CQUAD4 73 1 77 78 97 96 0. 0.
CQUAD4 91 1 96 97 116 115 0. 0.
CQUAD4 109 1 115 116 135 134 0. 0.
CQUAD4 127 1 134 135 154 153 0. 0.
CQUAD4 145 1 153 154 173 172 0. 0.
CQUAD4 163 1 172 173 192 191 0. 0.
CQUAD4 181 1 191 192 211 210 0. 0.
CQUAD4 199 1 210 211 230 229 0. 0.
CQUAD4 217 1 229 230 249 248 0. 0.
CQUAD4 235 1 248 249 268 267 0. 0.
CQUAD4 253 1 267 268 287 286 0. 0.
CQUAD4 271 1 286 287 306 305 0. 0.
CQUAD4 289 1 305 306 325 324 0. 0.
CQUAD4 307 1 324 325 344 343 0. 0.
CQUAD4 325 1 343 344 363 362 0. 0.
CQUAD4 343 1 362 363 382 381 0. 0.
$
Listing 24-3. Input File for Five Degrees Strip of Cylinder (Continued)

Cyclic Symmetry
MAT1 1 1.+7 3.84+6 .3 0. 0. 0. 0.

$ Nodes of Group : group5
GRID 1 1 10. 0. 0.1
GRID 2 1 10. 5. 0.1
GRID 20 1 10. 0. 1.1
GRID 21 1 10. 5. 1.1
GRID 39 1 10. 0. 2.1
GRID 40 1 10. 5. 2.1
GRID 58 1 10. 0. 3.1
GRID 59 1 10. 5. 3.1
GRID 77 1 10. 0. 4.1
GRID 78 1 10. 5. 4.1
GRID 96 1 10. 0. 5.1
GRID 97 1 10. 5. 5.1
GRID 115 1 10. 0. 6.1
GRID 116 1 10. 5. 6.1
GRID 134 1 10. 0. 7.1
GRID 135 1 10. 5. 7.1
GRID 153 1 10. 0. 8.1
GRID 154 1 10. 5. 8.1
GRID 172 1 10. 0. 9.1
GRID 173 1 10. 5. 9.1
GRID 191 1 10. 0. 10.1
GRID 192 1 10. 5. 10.1
GRID 210 1 10. 0. 11.1
GRID 211 1 10. 5. 11.1
GRID 229 1 10. 0. 12.1
GRID 230 1 10. 5. 12.1
GRID 248 1 10. 0. 13.1
GRID 249 1 10. 5. 13.1
GRID 267 1 10. 0. 14.1
GRID 268 1 10. 5. 14.1
GRID 286 1 10. 0. 15.1
GRID 287 1 10. 5. 15.1
GRID 305 1 10. 0. 16.1
GRID 306 1 10. 5. 16.1
GRID 324 1 10. 0. 17.1
GRID 325 1 10. 5. 17.1
GRID 343 1 10. 0. 18.1
GRID 344 1 10. 5. 18.1
GRID 362 1 10. 0. 19.1
GRID 363 1 10. 5. 19.1
GRID 381 1 10. 0. 20.1
GRID 382 1 10. 5. 20.1
$
CORD2C 1 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 1.
+ A
+ A 1. 0. 0.
ENDDATA
Listing 24-3. Input File for Five Degrees Strip of Cylinder

Figure 24-13. Abridged Output Using Axisymmetry
Figure 24-14. Abridged Output Using Full Model

Chapter
25 p-Elements
• Introduction to p-Elements
• p-Version Capabilities
• p-Element Loads and Constraints
• Line and Pressure Loads in p-Element Analysis
• p-Element Example Problems
• Square Plate with a Circular Hole
• Spherical Structure Under Internal Pressure
• Motor Blades — Normal Modes
• Torsion of Elliptical Bar
• Circular Solid Model
• Clamped Rhombic Plate
• Helix Modeled with CBEAM p-Elements
• Plate with Stiffener
• Solid p-Elements in Linear Dynamic Solution Sequences
• p-Element Thermal Analysis

Chapter 25 p-Elements
25.1 Introduction to p-Elements

One of the main applications of p-version elements is detailed stress analysis. The p-elements
have higher-order polynomials, which provide better representation of complex stress fields. For
these complex stress fields, the geometry, loads, and boundary conditions must be represented
accurately. This includes modeling fillets instead of sharp corners, distributed loads and
constraints instead of point loads and constraints, etc. A more detailed model leads to more
detailed results.
p-Elements have several modeling advantages. With the higher-order polynomials, the geometry
and loads can be represented more accurately. Generally, fewer p-version elements with
curvature than h-version elements with straight edges are required.
The accuracy of the analysis is controlled primarily by the polynomial level, not by the element
size. Generally the user needs to only use the minimum number of elements necessary to
adequately model the geometry, independent of expected result characteristics. Polynomials
levels can then be assigned based on areas of the model in which the user is interested, and
areas of the model in which the user is not. (Of course the same polynomial level can be assigned
everywhere for a minimum of user involvement, but this is not as efficient.) If a more accurate
answer is necessary, the polynomial levels can be increased, either manually by the user or
automatically by the program, until the answers reach the specified accuracy, without changing
the mesh. Adding degrees-of-freedom until the error decreases to a specified level is known as
adaptivity. By adding higher-order polynomials instead of refining the mesh, a faster rate of
convergence, and therefore fewer iterations, can be achieved.
p-Elements in NX Nastran
In NX Nastran, p-elements can be used in linear static (SOL 101) and normal modes (SOL 103)
analysis only. They allow different polynomial orders in the three coordinate directions, and use
bubble functions at p= 1 and optimum integration algorithms at p≥ 2 to achieve better accuracy.
The elements will also pass the patch tests and rigid body motion at any allowable p-level. These
additional features improve the accuracy over conventional p-elements.
Compatibility with elements of different p-orders, and with the existing solid elements, is
automatically enforced. The user does not have to write constraint equations or use special
elements to provide displacement continuity. Loads and boundary conditions can be applied to
the elements themselves, or to the geometry on which they are defined.
The definition of geometry has been added to NX Nastran. This geometry can be defined with
midside points, as in the existing elements; with rational parametric cubics or equations; or even
with any external geometry. A facility has been set up to invoke remote procedure calls to any
independent program and database that provides a toolkit for geometry queries, which would
allow proprietary geometries of other pre-processors or CAD packages to be used. Associativity
has been added so that the elements are defined on the geometry, and the element geometry
calculated accordingly.
The error estimator requires only a single analysis, not the difference between two analyses.
For linear elements, it is based on the grid-point stress discontinuity; for higher polynomial
orders, it considers the contribution of the additional terms for the individual edge, face, and
body functions. Therefore it provides efficient information because of the directional sensitivity
within the elements.
The adaptivity method is very flexible, working on an element-by-element basis. Using the error
estimator, the polynomial level within each element can be varied independently in the three
directions. At the most basic level, the edges are varied, since they determine the face and body
functions. Different error criteria may be used in different regions, allowing areas of primary
interest to have lower error tolerances. Multiple subcases may be used.

p-Elements
Combining p- and h-Elements

The main advantage of implementing p-elements in NX Nastran is the ability to combine them
with the existing h-elements for global/local analysis. The mesh could consist mostly of h-version
elements, with p-version elements in the areas of interest. This method of global/local interface
is the most accurate, because it provides both stiffness and loads information, rather than
transferring just boundary displacements or tractions into the local model.
h-Version elements still have several advantages. They are better for global behavior, such as
loads analysis, where the exact geometry is not used. They are better for strongly singular
problems, such as nonlinear problems. Approximations, such as sharp corners, point loads, point
constraints, MPCs, etc. may be used. For a given iteration, they tend to have shorter solution
times and use less disk space. Finally, h-elements are a very mature technology.
Putting both approaches in the same program combines the advantages for general problems.
The p-elements may be connected directly to the existing h-elements, and continuity is
automatically enforced. This provides global/local analysis in a single run.
Most general problems have both some global and some local aspects; i.e., regions where
h-elements and p-elements, respectively, are appropriate. Therefore the best approach is
combined h- and p-adaptivity, with different criteria in different parts of the model.
25.2 p-Version Capabilities

Following is a limited description of the Bulk Data entries and Case Control commands for the
p-version elements. Table 25-1 contains a comparison with the conventional h-version elements.
A full description of the entries may be found in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide.
Solution Sequences Supported

Solution Sequences 101, 103, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, and 101 (Heat Transfer).
Geometry
With the h-version elements, geometry is determined by the addition of midside grid points
to the element definition. With the p-version elements, you can define the edges and faces of
elements to lie on curves and surfaces, which can span an arbitrary number of elements. You
don’t have to define midside grid points.
The Bulk Data entries to define the associativity between the finite element model and the
geometrical model are the FEEDGE and FEFACE entries for the edges and faces, respectively.
These entries reference the grids that make up the edges and faces, not the elements themselves,
and therefore do not have to be repeated for each element that shares the edge or face. The old
method of midside grid points is still available for the FEEDGE entry, which would reference one
or two GRIDs or POINTs. The POINT entry is very similar to the GRID entry, except that it
defines a location in space with no associated degrees-of-freedom.
The more useful way of defining the FEEDGEs and FEFACEs is to have them reference
geometrical curves and surfaces, defined by the GMCURV and GMSURF entries. GMCURVs
and GMSURFs are functions of one or two parametric variables, respectively, and can be defined
as rational parametric cubics or general equations. For instance, a hole could be defined with the
parametric equations for a cylinder, which all the element faces on the hole would then reference.
The GMCURVs and GMSURFs could also reference external geometry from a CAD or other
database, using remote procedure calls with an external programming interface. When geometry

has been specified, it is approximated as cubics for the element-level computations. Using cubics
ensures that the elements pass the rigid-body and patch tests.
The two different methods of defining the geometry are shown in Figure 25-1.
Convective coordinate systems may be defined on the FEEDGEs, FEFACEs, GMCURVs, and
GMSURFs. The directions of the systems are normal and tangent to the entities at every
point. These coordinate systems can then be used for material properties, loads, boundary
conditions, etc.
Figure 25-1. Methods of Defining Element Geometry
Elements
Only the CHEXA, CPENTA, CTETRA, CQUAD, CTRIA, and CBEAM elements may be defined
as p-elements. Midside grid points may not be specified on p-version elements; curvature is
defined by the FEEDGE or FEFACE entries, as previously described.
The standard Bulk Data entries, PSOLID, PSHELL, and PBEAM are used to defined the
element properties. The p-version properties are defined in the PVAL and ADAPT entries,
which are described later.
The p-version elements may be joined to existing h-version elements with a few considerations.
FEEDGEs and FEFACEs may not be defined on the interface, since the h-elements can not
accept them. Midside grid points may not be defined on the interface, since the p-elements can
not accept them. The polynomial levels of the p-elements will be lowered automatically so that
displacement continuity is enforced.
Materials
The standard isotropic, orthotropic, and anisotropic materials are available for p-elements.
Orthotropic and anisotropic material properties may be defined in a curvilinear material system.

p-Elements
25.3 p-Element Loads and Constraints

Defining p-Element Loads
For p-version elements in detailed stress analysis, it is important to use distributed loads.
Concentrated forces cause singularities in the stress field, and therefore should be avoided.
25.4 Line and Pressure Loads in p-Element Analysis

The GMLOAD Bulk Data entry has been defined for the p-version elements. You can use the
GMLOAD entry to specify line and pressure loads by:
• Applying directly to the finite elements entities, FEEDGEs and FEFACEs.
• Applying to the geometry entities GMCURV and GMSURF.
The load can be distributed as constant, linear, quadratic, cubic, equation, or table, and can
be given in any coordinate system.
Thermal Loads
For thermal loads, the TEMPF entry allows specification of an equation or table to describe the
variation of the temperature field over the elements. The TEMP and TEMPD entries may also be
used, but will result in linear interpolation of the temperature from the grids. The TEMPP1
entry defines a constant temperature and temperature gradient distribution in a shell element.
The TEMPRB entry defines a linear temperature and temperature gradient distribution in a
beam element.
Gravity Loads
You can use the GRAV entry to define gravity loads for p-elements.
Pressure Loads
You can use the PLOAD4 entry to define a pressure load on a p-element.
Point Loads
You can use the FORCE entry to define point loads applied to grid points. No point loads can
be applied to finite element edges or faces. You should only use FORCE where the adjacent
elements have a fixed p-level and the results aren’t of interest.
25.5 Defining p-Element Constraints

As with the loads, it is important to use distributed boundary conditions for p-version elements
in detailed stress analysis. Concentrated boundary conditions also cause singularities in the
stress field and should be avoided.
The GMSPC and GMBC Bulk Data entries have been defined for the p-version elements. These
can apply distributed boundary conditions to GRIDs, FEEDGEs, FEFACEs, GMCURVs, or
GMSURFs. Note that they should be applied to GRIDs only to prevent rigid-body motion. The

imposed boundary conditions can be distributed as constant, linear, quadratic, cubic, equation, or
table, and can be given in any coordinate system. The current SPC and SPC1 entries can be
used, but should only be used to prevent rigid-body motion or used where the adjacent elements
have a fixed p-level and the results are not of interest.
Boundary Conditions
The SPC and SPCD entries are used for the point constraints which are allowed only on corner
GRID points.
The GMSPC entry is used to define zero constraints for FEEDGEs, FEFACEs, GMCURVs,
and GMSURFs.
For non-zero constraints, the GMBC entry is used.
Resolution of Conflicting Zero Constraints

In general, the hierarchy set to resolve multiple input data (constraints and enforced
displacements) for GRID, FEEDGE, FEFACE, GMCURV, and GMSURF entities is:
1. GRIDs
2. FEEDGEs
3. GMCURVs
4. FEFACEs
5. GMSURFs
The rules for nonzero boundary constraints are:

• Displacement values specified for each component of a given GMSURF entry are applied
to the same component of all GRID, FEEDGE and FEFACE degrees-of-freedom that lie
within the GMSURF.
• Displacement values specified for each component of different GMSURF entries are averaged
and applied to the same component of all GRID, FEEDGE degrees-of-freedom which are
shared by (common to) the multiple GMSURFs.
• Displacement values specified for a given FEFACE entry are applied to all GRID, FEEDGE
and FEFACE degrees-of-freedom that lie within the FEFACE. This data overrides the
data that is specified for all the components of the given GRID, FEEDGE and FEFACE
degrees-of-freedom that lie within the FEFACE by using GMSURF entries.
• Displacement values specified for each component of different FEFACE entries are averaged
and applied to the same component of all GRID, FEEDGE degrees-of-freedom which are
shared by (common to) the multiple FEFACEs. This data overrides the data that is specified
for all the components of the given FEEDGE and GRIDs by using GMSURF entries.
• Displacement values specified for each component of a given GMCURV entry are applied to
the same component of all GRID, FEEDGE, degrees-of-freedom that lie within the GMCURV.
This data overrides the data for all components that is specified for the given FEEDGE and
GRIDs by using GMSURF and FEFACE entries.

p-Elements
• Displacement values specified for each component of different CURV entries are averaged
and applied to the same component of all GRID degrees-of-freedom which are shared by
(common to) the multiple GMCURVs. This data overrides the data for all the components
that is specified for the given FEEDGE and GRIDS by using GMSURF and FEFACE entries.
• Displacement values specified for each component of a given FEEDGE entry are applied to
the same component of all GRID, FEEDGE, degrees-of-freedom that lie within the FEEDGE.
This data overrides the data for all components that is specified for the given FEEDGE by
using GMCURV or FEFACE or GMSURF entries.
• Displacement values specified for each component of different FEEDGE entries are averaged
and applied to the same component of all GRID degrees-of-freedom which are shared by
(common to) the multiple FEEDGEs. This data overrides the data for all the components
that is specified for the given FEEDGE by using GMCURV or FEFACE or GMSURF entries.
• Grids have the highest priority, i.e., any value/property specified using a GRID entry
overrides all other information associated with that GRID. If multiple entries are used for a
given GRID, e.g., multiple SPCs, then the existing rules of NX Nastran govern (SPCs are
combined, FORCE fare added, SPCDs for the same component are not allowed).
• It is important to recall that these displacements are assumed to be in the global coordinate
system and that the interconsistency of the output coordinate systems of the various GRIDs,
FEEDGEs, FEFACEs is not checked.
25.6 p-Version Adaptivity

In order for an element to be recognized as a p-version element, it must be assigned the
polynomial values in the PVAL Bulk Data entry, which is referenced in the ADAPT Bulk Data
entry. In order for the p-element to be adaptive, the adaptivity parameters must be assigned
in the ADAPT entry.
The PVAL Bulk Data entry assigns the polynomial levels for the three directions to a single
element or a set of elements, and is referenced in the ADAPT Bulk Data entry. By default, the
three directions are along the element edges. If a coordinate system is specified, the polynomial
level of each edge is set to a weighted combination of the coordinate directions. There may be
multiple PVALs with the same ID; all of the elements do not have to use the same entry. Each
p-version element must have a starting, minimum, and maximum PVAL ID; however, these do
not need to be unique. Since the polynomial levels can not decrease, the starting and minimum
PVAL IDs can be the same. If the starting and maximum PVAL IDs are the same, the element
will have a fixed p-level.
After the p-value distribution has been defined, all of the values will be resolved to ensure
displacement continuity. This includes selecting the highest p-level specified for elements with
common edges, decreasing the p-level for p-elements adjacent to h-elements, and increasing the
p-level on curved edges to adequately map them.
The ADAPT Bulk Data entry controls the p-adaptivity. The ADAPT Bulk Data entry is
referenced with the ADAPT Case Control command, and there may only be one unique ADAPT
command in the Bulk Data file. The ADAPT entry contains the IDs for the starting, minimum,
and maximum p-value distributions and the maximum number of iterations. It also contains
the adaptivity parameters, which may be assigned differently to different sets of elements.
These sets of elements do not have to correspond with any sets used in the PVAL entries. The
adaptivity type may be element-by-element p-adaptive, uniform p-adaptive, no change, or list of
p-distributions. For each set in the ADAPT entry, the error estimator method, error tolerance,

and stress and strain tolerances are specified. If a p-version element is not included in one of
the sets, it is not adaptive.
For a non-adaptive p-version solution, the ADAPT Bulk Data entry may specify a maximum of
one iteration, or may specify an adaptivity type of no change for all the elements. A third way
is to use the PSET Bulk Data entries, which have the same format as the PVAL entry, and
reference them with the ADAPT Case Control command.
25.7 Data Recovery

Since the p-version analysis may have multiple iterations, the output control must have the
capability of differing among the iterations. For this reason, the OUTPUT Bulk Data entry was
added. For a given set of elements, the conventional displacements, stresses, and strains, as
well as the element errors and polynomial values, may be printed, plotted, or punched for the
given iteration. The OUTPUT entry is referenced by the DATAREC Case Control command.
The conventional Case Control commands still apply to all iterations, but the OUTPUT entry
has precedence.
The p-version elements also tend to be larger than h-version elements, and have higher-order
distributions of displacements, stresses, and strains. Therefore results only at the grid points are
not adequate, especially for most plotting packages, which use linear interpolation. For data
recovery, the p-version elements are divided into view-grids and view-elements in order to better
visualize the results. The OUTRCV Bulk Data entry defines the number of view-elements in
each element direction and the output coordinate system for the view-grids and view-elements.
The OUTRCV entry is referenced by the OUTRCV Case Control command. The coordinates of
the view-grids may be output using the VUGRID Case Control command.
Table 25-1. Bulk Data Entries for h-Elements and p-Elements
h-Version Elements p-Version Elements

GMCURV
Geometry
GMSURF
FEEDGE
Geometrical Associativity
FEFACE
CORDij
Coordinate Systems CORDij
GMCORD
GRID
GridsPoints GRID
POINT

p-Elements

CHEXA CHEXA
CPENTA CPENTA
CTETRA CTETRA
Elements
CQUAD CQUAD
CTRIA CTRIA
CBEAM CBEAM
PSOLID PSOLID
Element Properties PSHELL PSHELL
PBEAM PBEAM
Material Properties MATi MATi
GMLOAD
PLOAD4
Loads PLOAD4
FORCE
FORCE*
TEMPF
TEMP, TEMPD
TEMP, TEMPD
Thermal Loads TEMPP1
TEMPP1
TEMPRB
TEMPRB
Gravity Loads GRAV GRAV
GMSPC
Constraints SPC, SPC1
SPC, SPC1*
GMBC
Boundary Conditions SPCD
SPCD*
PVAL
Polynomial Values
PSET
Adaptivity Control ADAPT
OUTPUT
Data Recovery
OUTRCV
DEQATN
Miscellaneous
TABLE3D


Sets Definition SETS DEFINITION
* Should only be used under specific conditions.
25.8 p-Element Example Problems

This section demonstrates the p-element and p-adaptivity capabilities. Several examples are
included in this section to show how p-elements are used. Most of the input files of these
examples have been annotated and are included in the Test Problem Library (TLP) directory.
The detailed descriptions of the input commands and the interpretation of the results can be
found in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide.
Examples
Each example contains the following parts:
Objectives Outlines the problem objectives.

Serves as index and show what p-element related Bulk Data
Keywords
entries being used.
Problem Description Describes the geometry and data of the problem.
Theoretical Results Shows the closed form solution, if available.
Setup Describes what and how to use the Bulk Data entries.
Results Compares the calculated results with theory.
References
25.9 Square Plate with a Circular Hole
Objectives
This example computes the stress concentration factor of a square plate with a circular hole
under axial loads. The objective of this problem is to validate the stress concentration factor for a
square plate of 2.73 around the hole.

p-Elements
Problem Description
Plate size = 10 in x 10 in
Thickness = 0.1 in
Hole radius = 2.0 in
Modulus of Elasticity = 1.0E7 psi
Poisson’s ratio = 0.3
Figure 25-2 shows the quarter model that requires only two CHEXA solid p-elements.
Figure 25-2. Geometry of a Square Plate with a Circular Hole

A portion of the file which has been annotated is shown in Listing 25-1. The complete input file,
PEV0101.dat, can be found in the TPL directory.
Theoretical Results
Stress concentration factor of 2.73 around the hole as described in Reference [1].

Setup
The Bulk Data entry FEEDGE is used to describe the circular arc of the hole. The quadratic
order is used for demonstration purposes; a cubic order curve can be easily accommodated with
an additional point for each curve. The load and boundary conditions are also specified using
FEFACE.
Since the file has been heavily annotated, the description of the Bulk Data entries is not repeated
here. Please refer either to the following partial list or the complete input file in the TPL
directory for detailed descriptions.
TITLE = PLATE WITH HOLE -- QUARTER MODEL (p-element model; Point option)
SUBTITLE = p-adaptivity; maximum allowable p-value 5X5X3
$
$ p-elements Case Control commands
$
$ Select Bulk Data ADAPT ID for adaptivity control
$
ADAPT = 150
$
$ Request output destination(s) of locations (i.e. coordinates)
$ for p-element data recovery points
$
VUGRID(PLOT,PUNCH)=all
$
$ Request output (STRESS, STRAIN, DISP, PVAL) for p-elements only
$ DATAREC = n, where n refers to a Bulk Data OUTPUT ID
$
DATAREC = 301
$
$ Select output options for p-elements
$ OUTRCV = n, where n defines an OUTRCV ID in Bulk Data
$
OUTRCV = 401
$
$ Select set(s) of elements for adaptivity and stress output
$ SETS DEFINITION must be defined at the end of the Case Control
$ SET 501 defines a set of all elements
$ referenced by ELSETID in ADAPT entry for ERRTOL of 10%
$
SETS DEFINITION
set 501 = all
$
BEGIN BULK
$
$ p-elements Bulk Data
$
$ Adaptivity control
$ PSTRTID specifies the PVAL ID 120 for the starting pvalues p1, p2 and p3
$ for the element SET 501 (all elements)
$ PMINID specifies the PVAL ID 120 for the minimum pvalues p1, p2 and p3
$ PMAXID specifies the PVAL ID 150 for the maximum pvalues p1, p2 and p3
$
$ADAPT SID PSTRTID PMINID PMAXID
$ PART ELSETID
$
ADAPT 150 120 120 150
PART=ALL,ELSET=501
$
Listing 25-1. Partial Bulk Data Entries (Continued)

p-Elements
$ Specify p-levels for element SET 501 (all elements)

$ POLY1, POLY2 and POLY3 correspond to p1, p2 and p3 respectively and
$ can have different p-values
$ p-values specified by PMINID should be = PSTRTID < PMAXID
$ starting p-level p1=p2=p3=2
$ minimum p-level p1=p2=p3=2
$ maximum p-level p1=p2=5 p3=3
$
$PVAL ID POLY1 POLY2 POLY3 SETTYP ID
PVAL 120 2 2 2 SET 501
PVAL 150 5 5 3 SET 501
$
$ Select various output options;
$ Displacements, Stresses, Strains and p-values
$
$ SID
$ ELSET=n, DISP=(PRINT,PLOT,PUNCH),
$ STRESS=(PRINT,PLOT,PUNCH), STRAIN=(PRINT,PLOT,PUNCH),
$ PVAL=(PRINT,PLOT,PUNCH), BY=n
$
OUTPUT 301
ELSET=501, DISP=PRINT, STRESS=PRINT
STRAIN=PLOT, PVAL=PRINT, BY=1
$
$ Define various output options;
$ for Displacements, Stresses and Strains
$
$ SID SETID
$ CID= 0 or n (default 0; basic coordinate system)
$ VIEW=i*j*k (default 3*3*3)
$ For less output, reduce i,j and k to 2 or 1
$
OUTRCV 401 501
VIEW=2*2*2
$
CHEXA 1 1 1 25 28 4 101 125
+ 128 104
CHEXA 2 1 32 4 28 56 132 104
+ 128 156
$
Listing 25-1. Partial Bulk Data Entries (Continued)

$ The following geometry specifications demonstrate the use of

$ different options on specifying actual geometry
$ to achieve more accurate results
$
$ Define FEEDGEs and FEFACEs to specify
$ geometry, loading and constraints
$
$ Use POINT, FEEDGE to describe curves 104, 108, 204 and 208
$
POINT 3 1.7305341.0026220.0
POINT 30 1.0026221.7305340.0
POINT 103 1.7305341.0026221.0
POINT 130 1.0026221.7305341.0
$
$ EDGEID G1 G2 GEOMIN ID1
FEEDGE 104 4 1 POINT 3
FEEDGE 204 4 32 POINT 30
FEEDGE 108 104 101 POINT 103
FEEDGE 208 104 132 POINT 130
$
$ Specify FEFACE for BC and loads
$
$ FACEID G1 G2 G3 G4
FEFACE 1001 1 25 125 101
FEFACE 1002 25 28 128 125
FEFACE 2002 56 156 132 32
$
$ Use GMSPC,GMLOAD and FEFACE to specify BC and loads
$ on geometry instead of element data
$
$ Boundary Conditions
$
$ SID C ENTITY ID
GMSPC 999 2 FEFACE 1001
GMSPC 999 1 FEFACE 2002
$
$ LOADS
$
$ LID N1 N2 N3 ENTITY ID METHOD
GMLOAD 998 1.0 0.0 0.0 FEFACE 1002 CONSTANT
90.
$
ENDDATA
Listing 25-1. Partial Bulk Data Entries
Results
Table 25-2 compares NX Nastran results with the theory, and they agree very well with only two
p-elements. Closer results could have been obtained with more elements or higher p-values.
Table 25-2. Comparison of NX Nastran and Theoretical Results

Stress Concentration Factor
Percent Difference
Theory NX Nastran
2.73 2.77 1.5%
References
[1] Roark, R. J. and Young, W. C. Formulas for Stress and Strain. 5th edition. McGraw-Hill,
Inc., 1975, p. 594.

p-Elements
25.10 Spherical Structure Under Internal Pressure
Objectives
This example computes the effects of internal pressure on a spherical structure. The deflections
at the inner and the outer surfaces are compared with the theoretical results.
Problem Description
Internal pressure (P) = 3000.0 psi
Inner radius (b) = 5.0 in
Outer radius (a) = 10.0 in
Modulus of Elasticity (E) = 1.0E7 psi
Poisson ratio (ν) = 0.3
Theoretical Results
The theoretical results on radial deflections can be found in reference 1 and are listed as follows:
Setup
This example demonstrates how the higher cubic order of the geometry for a spherical structure
can be specified using the EQUATION option of the GMCURV and GMSURF Bulk Data entries.
An octant model is analyzed with four CPENTA elements. The boundaries of the CPENTA
elements are specified along the great circles. Figure 25-3 shows the geometry and the element
boundaries.
Partial Bulk Data entries are given in Listing 25-2. Equations of the inner circle along the sphere
are described using Bulk Data entries GMCURV and DEQATN. The equations (IDs 1, 2, and 3)
are the spatial locations of the curve along the great circle (circumference of a sphere) expressed
in terms of the radius and an angle (U). The first and second derivatives of the equations are
described by DEQATN entries 4 to 9. The first and second derivatives are optional inputs. If
they are missing, they will be calculated by the program.
The GMCURV entry specifies the great circle geometry on the x-y plane with equations 1 through
9 for the curve ID 1, and ranges from 0 to 90 degrees (0 to 1.57 radians). Similarly, the geometry
on the y-z and x-z planes, curves 2 and 3, can be specified using the same equations with different
orders. Note that the labels and arguments of the equations may be chosen for user convenience.

Figure 25-3. Spherical Structure

p-Elements
$
$ ************** CURVE AND SURFACE GEOMETRY *************
$
$ Inner circle equations
$
$
DEQATN 1 X(U) = 5.0*COS(U)
DEQATN 2 Y(U) = 5.0*SIN(U)
DEQATN 3 Z(U) = 0.0
DEQATN 4 XP(U) = -5.0*SIN(U)
DEQATN 5 YP(U) = 5.0*COS(U)
DEQATN 6 ZP(U) = 0.0
DEQATN 7 X2P(U) = -5.0*COS(U)
DEQATN 8 Y2P(U) = -5.0*SIN(U)
DEQATN 9 Z2P(U) = 0.0
$
$ Inner circle on x-y plane
$
GMCURV 1 MSCGRP1 0 0 +
+ EQUATION 0.0 1.570796327 +
+ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
$
$ Inner circle on y-z plane
$
+ EQUATION 0.0 1.570796327 +
+ 3 2 1 6 5 4 9 8 7
$
$ Inner circle on x-z plane
$
+ EQUATION 0.0 1.570796327 +
+ 2 3 1 5 6 4 8 9 7
$
Listing 25-2. Partial Bulk Data Entries

Geometry of the inner surface is described using GMSURF and DEQATN entries. The equations
(IDs 41, 42, and 43) are the spatial locations of the surface using a spherical coordinate system
expressed in terms of radius and two angles (U and V). The first and second derivatives of
the equations are described by DEQATNs 44 to 59. Again, the first and second derivatives
are optional inputs.
The GMSURF entry specifies the surface geometry with equations 41 through 59 for the surface
ID 1, and ranges from 0 to 90 degrees in two directions. Besides describing geometry, the
specification of this surface facilitates the application of internal pressure with the GMLOAD
command. The GMLOAD specifies a constant pressure load of 3000 psi on the surface GMSURF
1. The commands are shown below.

$
$ Inner sphere
$
DEQATN 41 SX(U,V) = 5.0*SIN(U)*COS(V)
DEQATN 42 SY(U,V) = 5.0*SIN(U)*SIN(V)
DEQATN 43 SZ(U,V) = 5.0*COS(U)
DEQATN 44 SXU(U,V) = 5.0*COS(U)*COS(V)
DEQATN 45 SYU(U,V) = 5.0*COS(U)*SIN(V)
DEQATN 46 SZU(U,V) = -5.0*SIN(U)
DEQATN 47 SXV(U,V) = -5.0*SIN(U)*SIN(V)
DEQATN 48 SYV(U,V) = 5.0*SIN(U)*COS(V)
DEQATN 49 SZV(U,V) = 0.
DEQATN 51 SXUU(U,V) = -5.0*SIN(U)*COS(V)
DEQATN 52 SYUU(U,V) = -5.0*SIN(U)*SIN(V)
DEQATN 53 SZUU(U,V) = -5.0*COS(U)
DEQATN 54 SXVV(U,V) = -5.0*SIN(U)*COS(V)
DEQATN 55 SYVV(U,V) = -5.0*SIN(U)*SIN(V)
DEQATN 56 SZVV(U,V) = 0.
DEQATN 57 SXUV(U,V) = -5.0*COS(U)*SIN(V)
DEQATN 58 SYUV(U,V) = 5.0*COS(U)*COS(V)
DEQATN 59 SZUV(U,V) = 0.
$
GMSURF 1 MSCGRP1 0 0 +
+ EQUATION 0.0 1.570796327 0.0 1.570796327 +
+ 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 +
+ 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
$
$ THIS SECTION CONTAINS LOADS
$
GMLOAD 1 1 1. 0. 0. GMSURF 1 CONST +
+ 3000.
$
Since only an octant model is analyzed, the symmetric boundary conditions are required. The
following partial commands demonstrate how GMSPC, GMSURF, and DEQATN work together.
The GMSURF 201 is expressed in terms of radius (R) and an angle (U), ranging from 5 to 10
inches and 0 to 1.57 radians. GMSPC specifies the constraint in the basic z-direction.

p-Elements
$
$ Surface on x-y plane
$
DEQATN 61 SX(R,U) = R*COS(U)
DEQATN 62 SY(R,U) = R*SIN(U)
DEQATN 63 SZ(R,U) = 0.
DEQATN 64 SXU(R,U) = COS(U)
DEQATN 65 SYU(R,U) = SIN(U)
DEQATN 66 SZU(R,U) = 0.
DEQATN 67 SXV(R,U) = -R*SIN(U)
DEQATN 68 SYV(R,U) = R*COS(U)
DEQATN 69 SZV(R,U) = 0.
DEQATN 71 SXUU(R,U) = 0.
DEQATN 72 SYUU(R,U) = 0.
DEQATN 73 SZUU(R,U) = 0.
DEQATN 74 SXVV(R,U) = -R*COS(U)
DEQATN 75 SYVV(R,U) = -R*SIN(U)
DEQATN 76 SZVV(R,U) = 0.
DEQATN 77 SXUV(R,U) = - SIN(U)
DEQATN 78 SYUV(R,U) = COS(U)
DEQATN 79 SZUV(R,U) = 0.
$
GMSURF 201 MSCGRP1 0 0 +
+ EQUATION 5.0 10.0 0.0 1.570796327 +
+ 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 +
+ 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
$
$ x-y plane in xyz basic
$
GMSPC 1 3 GMSURF 201
$
Other inputs, such as FEEDGE and FEFACE, are used to specify the geometry, the element
boundaries, loads, and boundary conditions. For example, the following FEEDGE command is
used to specify that the element edge between grids 3 and 4 will follow the geometry of GMCURV
ID 1. The complete input file has been annotated and stored in the TPL directory for review.
$
$ Inner radius x-y plane
$
FEEDGE 1 3 4 0 GMCURV 1
$
Results
The p-element model requires two adaptivity cycles to converge to the desired error tolerance of
10% at p-value of4. Table 25-3 tabulates the results with the theory.
Table 25-3. Comparison of Displacements

Results
Percent Difference
Deflections Theory NX Nastran
Inner 1.20E-03 1.19E-03 1.0%
Outer 4.50E-04 4.45E-04 1.1%
References
[1] Roark, R. J. and Young, W. C. Formulas for Stress and Strain. 5th edition. McGraw-Hill,Inc.,
1975, p. 506.

25.11 Motor Blade – Normal Modes
Objectives
A normal mode analysis of a simplified motor blade is analyzed and compared using the h- and
p-elements. The natural frequencies between 0 and 2000 Hz are computed.
Problem Description
Figure 25-4 shows the geometry of the motor blade consisting of a base and a blade. The whole
assembly part is made of aluminum.
Modulus of Elasticity = 1.0E7 psi

Poisson’s ratio = 0.3
Mass density = 2.59E-4 lb/in3
Figure 25-4. Motor Blade – p-Element Model

p-Elements
Figure 25-5. Motor Blade – Fine h-Model
Theoretical Results
There is no theoretical result. Results of three different meshes of h-elements—coarse, medium,
and fine—are compared with a p-element model.
Setup
Figure 25-4 and Figure 25-5 show the p-model and the h-model with fine mesh respectively.
Since only the natural frequencies are requested, the geometry of both the h- and p-meshes are
simplified and the boundaries are modeled with straight edges. If a detailed stress analysis is
required, the geometry should be specified more precisely with higher-order geometry.

Results
All models produce six rigid body modes, so they are not discussed here. Table 25-4 tabulates the
computed elastic natural frequencies between 0.0 to 2000.0 Hz, the number of elements, and the
number of degrees-of-freedom with respect to different models. The p-element results agree very
well with the fine meshed h-model showing the power and usefulness of the p-elements.
Table 25-4. Comparison of Natural Frequencies of a Motor Blade

Descriptions No. of No. of Elastic Modes
Mesh Elements DOFs 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
h-model Coarse 4 90 622.5 651.2 1204.9 –
Medium 80 441 604.5 954.7 1289.6 1956.2
Fine 1250 4878 659.7 1051.5 1404.8 1744.7
p-adaptive cycle=1 10 276 737.7 1064.8 1526.9 –
model cycle=2 1161 675.8 1070.8 1426.9 1796.6
cycle=3 2112 674.6 1071.2 1427.8 1765.2
25.12 Torsion of Elliptical Bar
Objectives and Problem Description

This example illustrates torsion of an elliptical bar.
Figure 25-6. Octant of the Elliptical Bar Model

p-Elements
Setup
The model is constructed from four CPENTA elements. There are two coordinate systems
used: the cylindrical coordinate system (CORD2C entry) to define grids of the model, and the
convective coordinate system (GMCORD entry) to define loads applied to the bar.
The elliptical cross section of the model is described using GMCURV and GMSURF entries, both
with the equation method. For the GMCURV entry:
The general ellipse equation:

Define x and y in polar coordinates:
Figure 25-7.

For the GMSURF entry, three different types of parameterization were used. In the first method,

In the second method,
Figure 25-8.
The third method, using hyperbolic functions,
as shown in Figure 25-9, with contours of t displayed.

p-Elements
Figure 25-9.
For the GMSURF entry, the order of the input IDs of DEQATN entries for the surface is
important. First, we input the IDs of DEQATN entries providing equations for the x, y, and z
coordinates of the surface. Then, the IDs of DEQATN entries of the first derivatives of x, y, and
z functions with respect to the surface parameter u. Then, the IDs of DEQATN entries of the
first derivatives of x, y, and z functions with respect to the surface parameter v. Then, the
IDs of DEQATN entries of the second derivatives of x, y, and z functions with respect to the
surface parameter u. Then, the IDs of DEQATN entries of the second derivatives of x, y, and
z functions with respect to the surface parameter v. Finally, the IDs of DEQATN of the mixed
second derivatives of the x, y, and z functions with respect to both surface parameters u and v.
The torsion in this example is defined by applying an edge load (GMLOAD entry) using the
convective coordinate system (GMCORD entry). The load is applied tangent to the GMCURV
3. This is illustrated in Figure 25-10. Note that an edge load on solid elements can cause
singularities, but it is used here for demonstration purposes.
Figure 25-10.
The input file of this model is listed in Listing 25-3.

ID TORSION, STATIC
TIME 500
SOL 101 $ STATIC ANALYSIS
CEND
TITLE = TORSION, ELLIPSE CSA
SUBTITLE = METHOD 2
$
$ DEFINE ANALYSIS ENTRY
$
ADAPT = 100
$
LOAD = 1
SPC = 1
$
$ DEFINE OUTPUT REQUEST OPTION
$
DATAREC = 100
OUTRCV = 200
VUGRID (PUNCH) = ALL
$
$ DEFINE THE SETS OF ELEMENTS REQUIRED FOR THE ADAPTIVITY ANALYSIS
$ THIS IS REQUIRED WHEN SETTYP=SET IN PVAL ENTRY
$ (REFER TO PVAL ENTRY ALSO)
$
SETS DEFINITION
SET 120 = ALL
$
BEGIN BULK
PARAM VUPENTA CPENTA
$
$ BOTH THE ADAPT AND PVAL ENTRY ARE USED TO
$ DEFINE ADAPTIVITY OPTION ENTRY FOR ALL ELEMENTS
$
$ FOR THE ADAPT ENTRY:
$ ID = ADAPT ENTRY ID SELECTED IN CASE CONTROL
$ ADGEN = ID OF THE FIRST PVAL ENTRY GENERATED IN THE ADAPTIVE PROCESS;
$ MUST BE LARGER THAN PSTRID,PMINID, AND PMAXID
$ MAXITER = NUMBER OF ITERATIONS REQUESTED BEFORE THE ADAPTIVE PROCESS STOPPED
$ PSTRTID = ID OF THE STARTING PVAL ENTRY
$ PMINID = ID OF THE MINIMUM PVAL ENTRY
$ PMAXID = ID OF THE MAXIMUM PVAL ENTRY
$ PART = ANY NAME CHOSEN FOR THE ELEMENTS;
$ USED FOR ERROR ESTIMATOR REFERENCE
$ ELSETID = ID OF SETS OF ELEMENTS REQUESTED FOR ADAPTIVE PROCESS
$ TYPE = EBEP : THE P-ORDER IS INCREASED ELEMENTS-BY-ELEMENT
$ ERREST = ERROR ESTIMATOR METHOD USED FOR ADAPTIVE PROCESS
$ ERRTOL = ERROR TOLERANCE (IN FRACTION), REQUIRED IF MAXITER IS NOT DEFINED
$ SIGTOL = STRESS TOLERANCE
$
Listing 25-3. Input File for the Model (Continued)

p-Elements
$ SID ADGEN MAXITER PSTRID PMINID PMAXID

ADAPT 100 1001 10 10 20 30 +000001
++000001PART=ALL,ELSET=120,TYPE=EBEP,ERREST=1,ERRTOL=0.02,SIGTOL=5.0 +000002
$
$ DEFINE THE POLYNOMIAL ORDER DISTRIBUTION:
$ PVAL ID = ID OF PVAL DEFINED IN THE ADAPT ENTRY ABOVE
$ PX = THE POLYNOMIAL ORDER DISTRIBUTION IN X-DIRECTION
$ PY = THE POLYNOMIAL ORDER DISTRIBUTION IN Y-DIRECTION
$ PZ = THE POLYNOMIAL ORDER DISTRIBUTION IN Z-DIRECTION
$ SETTYP = TYPE OF SET PROVIDED. IT CAN BE EITHER SET OR ELID
$ ID = SET ID OR ELEMENT ID, WHICHEVER IS APPROPRIATE
$
$ ID Px Py Pz SETTYP ID
PVAL 10 2 2 2 SET 120
PVAL 20 2 2 2 SET 120
PVAL 30 4 4 4 SET 120
$
$ DEFINE THE OUTPUT REQUEST OPTION
$ REQUEST DISPLACEMENT AND STRESS OUTPUT FOR SET 120 FOR THE LAST
$ ADAPTIVITY ANALYSIS
$
OUTPUT 100 +000003
++000003ELSET=120,DISP=PRINT,STRESS=PRINT,STRAIN=NONE +000004
++000004FIRST=NO,LAST=YES,BY=2 +000005
$
$ THE OUTPUT COORDINATE SYSTEM IS THE BASIC COORDINATE SYSTEM (CID=0)
$
OUTRCV 200 120 +000003
++000003CID=0,VIEW=2*2*2 +000004
$
$ DEFINE THE CYLINDRICAL COORDINATE SYSTEM FOR
$ GRID POINTS
$
CORD2C 1 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 +000005
++0000051.0 0.0 0.0 +000006
$

$ DEFINE THE CONVECTIVE COORDINATE SYSTEM FOR THE APPLIED LOAD

$ IF GMCURV IS USED AS THE ENTITY TO DEFINE THE COORDINATE SYSTEM,
$ TWO ID’S ARE REQUIRED. THE FIRST ID IS THE GMCURV ID AND THE SECOND
$ ONE IS THE CORRESPONDING GMSURF ID
$
$ CID ENTITY ID 1 ID 2
GMCORD 10 GMCURV 3 2
$
$ DEFINE PENTA ELEMENTS
$
CPENTA 1 1 12 1 2 11 4 5
CPENTA 2 1 12 2 3 11 5 6
CPENTA 3 1 11 4 5 10 7 8
CPENTA 4 1 11 5 6 10 8 9
$
$ DEFINE GRID POINTS
$
GRID 1 1 4. 0.0 0.0
GRID 2 1 2.52982245. 0.
GRID 3 1 2.0 90.0 0.0
GRID 4 1 4.0 0.0 5.0
GRID 5 1 2.52982245.0 5.0
GRID 6 1 2.0 90.0 5.0
GRID 7 1 4.0 0.0 10.0
GRID 8 1 2.52982245.0 10.0
GRID 9 1 2.0 90.0 10.0
GRID 10 0.0 0.0 10.0
GRID 11 0.0 0.0 5.0
GRID 12 0.0 0.0 0.0
$

p-Elements
$ DEFINE FEEDGES
$ FEEDGES BY DEFAULT ARE STRAIGHT LINES
$ GMCURVS ARE REQUIRED FOR FEEDGES THAT DEFINE CURVED EDGES
$
$ FEEDGE 18 AND FEEDGE 19 MAKE GMCURV 1
$
$ ID GRID 1 GRID 2 CID GEOMIN ID
FEEDGE 1 12 1 0
FEEDGE 2 12 2 0
FEEDGE 3 12 3 0
FEEDGE 4 11 4 0
FEEDGE 5 11 5 0
FEEDGE 6 11 6 0
FEEDGE 7 10 7 0
FEEDGE 8 10 8 0
FEEDGE 9 10 9 0
FEEDGE 10 12 11 0
FEEDGE 11 1 4 0
FEEDGE 12 2 5 0
FEEDGE 13 3 6 0
FEEDGE 14 11 10 0
FEEDGE 15 4 7 0
FEEDGE 16 5 8 0
FEEDGE 17 6 9 0
$
$ DEFINE CURVE GEOMETRY USING EQUATION METHOD
$
DEQATN 1 X(U) = 4.0*COS(U)/(SQRT(1.0+3.0*SIN(U)*SIN(U)))
DEQATN 2 Y(U) = 4.0*SIN(U)/(SQRT(1.0+3.0*SIN(U)*SIN(U)))
DEQATN 3 Z(U) = 0.0
DEQATN 4 Z1(U) = 5.0
DEQATN 5 Z2(U) = 10.0
DEQATN 6 XP(U) = -16.0*SIN(U)/((1.0+3.0*SIN(U)*SIN(U))**1.5)
DEQATN 7 YP(U) = 4.0*COS(U)/((1.0+3.0*SIN(U)*SIN(U))**1.5)
DEQATN 8 ZP(U) = 0.0
DEQATN 9 XPP(U) =(-16.0*COS(U)+96.0*SIN(U)*SIN(U)*COS(U))/ +000009
++000009 (1.0+3.0*SIN(U)*SIN(U))**2.5 +000010
DEQATN 10 YPP(U) =(-4.0*SIN(U)*(10.0-6.0*SIN(U)*SIN(U)))/ +000011
++000011 ((1.0+3.0*SIN(U)*SIN(U))**2.5) +000012
DEQATN 11 ZPP(U) =0.0
$
$
GMCURV 1 MSCGRP1 0 0 +000013
++000013EQUATION,0.0,1.5708,1,2,3,6,7, +000014
++0000148 9 10 11 +000015
++000016EQUATION,0.0,1.5708,1,2,4,6,7, +000017
++0000178 9 10 11 +000018
++000019EQUATION,0.0,1.5708,1,2,5,6,7, +000020
++0000208 9 10 11 +000021
$

$ DEFINE FEFACES
$
$ ID GRID 1 GRID 2 GRID 3 GRID 4 CID SURFID
FEFACE 1 12 1 2 0 1
FEFACE 2 12 2 3 0 1
FEFACE 3 11 4 5 0
FEFACE 4 11 5 6 0
FEFACE 5 10 7 8 0 2
FEFACE 6 10 8 9 0 2
FEFACE 7 12 1 4 11 0
FEFACE 8 12 3 6 11 0
FEFACE 9 11 4 7 10 0
FEFACE 10 11 6 9 10 0
$
$ DEFINE SURFACE GEOMETRY USING EQUATION METHOD
$
DEQATN 13 X(U,V) = 4.0*V*COS(U)
DEQATN 14 Y(U,V) = 2.0*V*SIN(U)
DEQATN 15 Z1(U,V) = 0.0
DEQATN 16 Z2(U,V) = 10.0
DEQATN 17 XU(U,V) = -4.0*V*SIN(U)
DEQATN 18 YU(U,V) = 2.0*V*COS(U)
DEQATN 19 ZU(U,V) = 0.0
DEQATN 20 XV(U,V) = 4.0*COS(U)
DEQATN 21 YV(U,V) = 2.0*SIN(U)
DEQATN 22 ZV(U,V) = 0.0
DEQATN 23 XUU(U,V)= -4.0*V*COS(U)
DEQATN 24 YUU(U,V)= -2.0*V*SIN(U)
DEQATN 25 ZUU(U,V)= 0.0
DEQATN 26 XVV(U,V)= 0.0
DEQATN 27 YVV(U,V)= 0.0
DEQATN 28 ZVV(U,V)= 0.0
DEQATN 29 XUV(U,V)= -4.0*SIN(U)
DEQATN 30 YUV(U,V)= 2.0*COS(U)
DEQATN 31 ZUV(U,V)= 0.0
$
$
GMSURF 1 MSCGRP1 0 0 +000022
++000022EQUATION,0.0,1.5708,0.0,1.0,13,14,15, +000023
++00002317,18,19,20,21,22,23,24, +000024
++00002425,26,27,28,29,30,31 +000025
GMSURF 2 MSCGRP1 0 0 +000026
++000026EQUATION,0.0,1.5708,0.0,1.0,13,14,16, +000027
++00002717,18,19,20,21,22,23,24, +000028
++00002825,26,27,28,29,30,31 +000029

p-Elements
$ DEFINE CONSTRAINT IN THE X-DIRECTION

$ SID C ENTITY ID
GMSPC 1 1 FEFACE 1
GMSPC 1 1 FEFACE 2
GMSPC 1 1 FEFACE 7
GMSPC 1 1 FEFACE 9
$
$ DEFINE CONSTRAINT IN THE Y-DIRECTION
$
$ SID C ENTITY ID
GMSPC 1 2 FEFACE 1
GMSPC 1 2 FEFACE 2
GMSPC 1 2 FEFACE 8
GMSPC 1 2 FEFACE 10
$
$ DEFINE CONSTRAINT IN THE Z-DIRECTION
$
$ SID C ENTITY ID
GMSPC 1 3 FEFACE 7
GMSPC 1 3 FEFACE 8
GMSPC 1 3 FEFACE 9
GMSPC 1 3 FEFACE 10
$
$ DEFINE THE MATERIAL PROPERTY (ALUMINUM)
$
MAT1 1 1.+7 0.3
PSOLID 1 1 GRID SMECH
$
$ CONSTANT LOAD OF 100 LB/INCH IS APPLIED TANGENTIALLY TO
$ GMCURV 3
$
$ LID = LOAD IDENTIFICATION NUMBER DEFINED IN CASE CONTROL SECTION
$ CID = COORDINATE SYSTEM USED TO DEFINE THE APPLIED LOAD
$ N1,N2,N3 = DIRECTION OF THE LOAD VECTOR
$ ENTITY = ENTITY AT WHICH LOAD IS APPLIED TO
$ ID = ID OF THE ENTITY
$ METHOD = METHOD USED TO DEFINE THE LOAD
$
$ LID CID N1 N2 N3 ENTITY ID METHOD
GMLOAD 1 10 1.0 0.0 0.0 GMCURV 3 CONSTANT +000007
$
$ VALUE OF LOAD DENSITY
++000007100.0 +000008
$
ENDDATA
Listing 25-3. Input File for the Model
Results
The OUTPUT entry requests the displacements and stress output solely for the last adaptivity
iteration. An abridged output for this model is shown in Figure 25-11.

Figure 25-11. Abridged Output for the Model (Continued)

p-Elements
Figure 25-11. Abridged Output for the Model

25.13 Circular Solid Model
Objectives and Problem Description

This example is a circular solid with a simply supported edge. It is made of aluminum and
has the following properties:
Equation 25-1.
It is illustrated in Figure 25-12.
Figure 25-12. The Circular Solid Model

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Theoretical Results
The behavior of this circular solid model can be compared to the theoretical circular plate model
described in Reference [1]. From Reference [1],
where:
D =
w = uniform load per unit area including own weight
where:
E = modulus of elasticity
Kn = constant, n refers to the mode of vibration
t = thickness of the plate
r = radius of the plate
ν = Poisson’s ratio
For aluminum,
E = 1.0E7 lb/in2
ν = 0.3
ρw = 0.098 lbf/in3
ρm = 2.538E-4 lbm/in3
For the circular plate, radius (r) = 5 inches and thickness (t) = 0.5 inches. The theoretical natural
frequencies for all modes:

The theoretical natural frequencies for the first several modes are calculated and tabulated in
Table 25-5.
Table 25-5. Theoretical Natural Frequency Values for Circular Plate

Mode Kn Natural Frequency (cycles/sec)
Fundamental 4.99 954.1
One Nodal Diameter 13.9 2657.7
Two Nodal Diameters 25.7 4913.9
One Nodal Circle 29.8 5697.8
Setup
The model is constructed from 8 CPENTA elements and 8 CHEXA elements. The CHEXA
elements are the boundary elements. The circular edge of the model is described using the circle
equation (GMCURV entry, method=equation). Since the GMCURV can not be a closed curve,
the full circle must be described with multiple GMCURV entries. In this model, one full circle
is defined by two GMCURV entries. The first GMCURV entry has an input range from 0.0
to 3.1416 radians, and the second GMCURV entry has an input range from 3.1415 to 6.2832
radians. Note that there is some overlap, so that both segments include π. In addition, since the
circle equation is a straightforward equation, the first and the second derivatives of the equation
are not necessarily required. In this case, the derivatives are then computed numerically.
For the boundary conditions, GMSPC entries are used. Due to the hierarchy order which places
grids as the highest priority, GMSPC entries that are imposed on grid 4 and 8 in the x-direction
will override GMSPC entries on the adjacent FEFACES in the z-direction. Thus, it is necessary
to add two more GMSPC entries for grids 4 and 8 in the z-direction to restore the constraints in
the z-direction.
For the material property, the MAT1 entry is used. In the MAT1 entry, the weight density term
ρw must be converted to the mass density ρm for consistency of units. Therefore,
The input file for this model is shown in Listing 25-4.

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ID NORMAL, MODES
TIME 200
SOL 103 $ NORMAL MODE ANALYSIS
CEND
TITLE = CIRCULAR PLATE
SUBTITLE = EDGE SIMPLY SUPPORTED
METHOD = 100
$
$ DEFINE ADAPTIVITY ANALYSIS ENTRY
$
ADAPT = 1
$
$ OUTPUT REQUEST
$
DISPLACEMENT = ALL
ECHO = BOTH
$
SPC =1
$
$ REQUEST FOR VIEW COORDINATES OF THE P-ELEMENTS TO BE
$ PRINTED IN THE PUNCH FILE. THE VIEW COORDINATES
$ ARE THE POINTS AT WHICH THE DISPLACEMENTS ARE
$ CALCULATED.
$
VUGRID(PUNCH) = ALL
$
$ DEFINE THE SETS OF ELEMENTS REQUIRED FOR THE ADAPTIVITY
$ ANALYSIS. THIS IS REQUIRED WHEN SETTYP=SET IN PVAL ENTRY
$ ( REFER TO PVAL ENTRY ALSO )
$
SETS DEFINITION
SET 10 = ALL
$
BEGIN BULK
PARAM POST 0
$
PARAM VUHEXA CHEXA
PARAM VUPENTA CPENTA
$
$ BOTH THE ADAPT AND PVAL ENTRY ARE USED TO
$ DEFINE ADAPTIVITY OPTION ENTRY FOR ALL ELEMENTS,
$
$ FOR THE ADAPT ENTRY:
$ ID = ADAPT ENTRY ID SELECTED IN CASE CONTROL
$ ADGEN = ID OF THE FIRST PVAL ENTRY GENERATED IN THE ADAPTIVE PROCESS;
$ MUST BE LARGER THAN PSTRID, PMINID, AND PMAXID
$ MAXITER = NUMBER OF ITERATIONS REQUESTED BEFORE THE ADAPTIVE PROCESS STOPPED
$ PSTRTID = ID OF THE STARTING PVAL ENTRY
$ PMINID = ID OF THE MINIMUM PVAL ENTRY
$ PMAXID = ID OF THE MAXIMUM PVAL ENTRY
$ PART = ANY NAME CHOSEN FOR THE ELEMENTS;
$ USED FOR ERROR ESTIMATOR REFERENCE
$ ELSETID = ID OF SETS OF ELEMENTS REQUESTED FOR ADAPTIVE PROCESS
$ TYPE = EBEP : THE P-ORDER WILL INCREASE ONLY IN THE ELEMENTS WHOSE ERROR
$ IS GREATER THAN ERROR TOLERANCE.
$ ERREST = ERROR ESTIMATOR METHOD USED FOR ADAPTIVE PROCESS
$ ERRTOL = ERROR TOLERANCE (IN FRACTION), REQUIRED IF MAXITER IS NOT DEFINED
$ SIGTOL = STRESS TOLERANCE
$
$ ID ADGEN MAXITER PSTRTID PMINID PMAXID
ADAPT 1 1001 5 10 20 30 +000001
$
++000001PART=ALL,ELSET=10,TYPE=EBEP,ERREST=1,ERRTOL=0.02,SIGTOL=0.0 +000002
$
Listing 25-4. Input File for the Circular Solid Model (Continued)

$ DEFINE THE POLYNOMIAL ORDER DISTRIBUTION:

$ PVAL ID = ID OF PVAL DEFINED IN THE ADAPT ENTRY ABOVE
$ Px = THE POLYNOMIAL ORDER DISTRIBUTION IN X-DIRECTION
$ Py = THE POLYNOMIAL ORDER DISTRIBUTION IN Y-DIRECTION
$ Pz = THE POLYNOMIAL ORDER DISTRIBUTION IN Z-DIRECTION
$ SETTYP = TYPE OF SET PROVIDED. IT CAN BE EITHER SET or ELID
$ ID = SET ID or ELEMENT ID WHICHEVER IS APPROPIATE
$
$ ID Px Py Pz SETTYP ID
PVAL 10 2 2 2 SET 10
PVAL 20 4 4 2 SET 10
PVAL 30 6 6 2 SET 10
$
$ DEFINE A CYLINDRICAL COORDINATE SYSTEM
$ USED IN DEFINING THE GRIDS
$
CORD2C 1 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 +000003
++0000031.0 0.0 0.0
$
$ DEFINE SOLID ELEMENTS
$ HEXA ELEMENTS ARE THE BOUNDARY ELEMENTS
$
CPENTA 1 1 1 21 22 10 29 30
CPENTA 2 1 1 22 23 10 30 31
CPENTA 3 1 1 23 24 10 31 32
CPENTA 4 1 1 24 25 10 32 33
CPENTA 5 1 1 25 26 10 33 34
CPENTA 6 1 1 26 27 10 34 35
CPENTA 7 1 1 27 28 10 35 36
CPENTA 8 1 1 28 21 10 36 29
CHEXA 9 1 2 3 22 21 11 12 +000005
++00000530 29 +000006
CHEXA 10 1 3 4 23 22 12 13 +000007
++00000731 30 +000008
CHEXA 11 1 4 5 24 23 13 14 +000009
++00000932 31 +000010
CHEXA 12 1 5 6 25 24 14 15 +000011
++00001133 32 +000012
CHEXA 13 1 6 7 26 25 15 16 +000013
++00001334 33 +000014
CHEXA 14 1 7 8 27 26 16 17 +000015
++00001535 34 +000016
CHEXA 15 1 8 9 28 27 17 18 +000017
++00001736 35 +000018
CHEXA 16 1 9 2 21 28 18 11 +000019
++00001929 36
$
$DEFINE EIGRL CARD (LANCZOS METHOD)
$
EIGRL 100 10
$
$DEFINE THE CURVE GEOMETRY, METHOD = EQUATION, U IS THE CURVE PARAMETER
$
$DEFINE THE OUTER BOTTOM CIRCLE OF RADIUS=5.0 AT Z=0.0 USING DEQATN 1,2,AND 3.
$THE OUTER BOTTOM CIRCLE IS DEFINED BY TWO GMCURV ENTRIES:
$GMCURV 1 WITH THE RANGE OF CURVE PARAMETER,U = 0.0 TO 3.1416 RADIANS
$GMCURV 2 WITH THE RANGE OF CURVE PARAMETER,U = 3.1415 TO 6.2832 RADIANS
$
DEQATN 3 Z(U) = 0.0
$

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++000021EQUATION,0.0,3.1416,1,2,3 +000022
++000025EQUATION,3.1415,6.2832,1,2,3 +000026
$
$ DEFINE THE TOP OUTER CIRCLE USING THE SAME EQUATION, DEQATN 1 AND DEQATN 2,
$ BUT WITH Z=0.5 (DEQATN 4). THIS TOP OUTER CIRCLE IS DEFINED BY TWO GMCURV
$ ENTRIES:
$ GMCURV 3 WITH THE RANGE OF CURVE PARAMETER,U = 0.0 TO 3.1416 RADIANS
$
$
++000023EQUATION,0.0,3.1416,1,2,4 +000024
++000027EQUATION,3.1415,6.2832,1,2,4 +000028
$
$ DEFINE THE BOTTOM INNER CIRCLE OF RADIUS = 4.0 AT Z=0.0 USING DEQATN 5,6,
$ AND 7. THE BOTTOM INNER CIRCLE IS DEFINED BY TWO GMCURV ENTRIES:
$ GMCURV 6 WITH THE RANGE OF CURVE PARAMETER U = 3.1415 TO 6.2832 RADIANS
$
DEQATN 7 Z(U) = 0.0
$
++000029EQUATION,0.0,3.1416,5,6,7 +000030
++000033EQUATION,3.1415,6.2832,5,6,7 +000034
$
$ DEFINE THE TOP INNER CIRCLE USING THE SAME EQUATION, DEQATN 5 AND DEQATN 6,
$ BUT WITH Z=0.5 (DEQATN 8). THIS TOP INNER CIRCLE IS DEFINED BY TWO GMCURV
$ ENTRIES:
$ GMCURV 8 WITH THE RANGE OF CURVE PARAMETER U = 3.1415 TO 6.2832 RADIANS
$
$
++000031EQUATION,0.0,3.1416,5,6,8 +000032
++000035EQUATION,3.1415,6.2832,5,6,8 +000036
$
$ DEFINE FEEDGES
$ FEEDGE BY DEFAULT IS A STRAIGHT LINE.
$ GMCURVS ARE REQUIRED FOR FEEDGES THAT DEFINE CURVED EDGES
$
$ FEEDGES 1, 2, 3 AND 4 MAKE GMCURV 1
$

$ ID GRID 1 GRID 2 CID GEOMIN ID

$
$ DEFINE FEFACES FOR BOUNDARY CONDITION
$
$ ID GRID 1 GRID 2 GRID 3 GRID 4 CID
FEFACE 1 2 3 12 11 0
FEFACE .2 3 4 13 12 0
FEFACE 3 4 5 14 13 0
FEFACE 4 5 6 15 14 0
FEFACE 5 6 7 16 15 0
FEFACE 6 7 8 17 16 0
FEFACE 7 8 9 18 17 0
FEFACE 8 9 2 11 18 0
$
$ DEFINE CONSTRAINTS IN THE Z-DIRECTION
$
$ SID = SPC ID THAT IS DEFINED IN CASE CONTROL
$ C = CONSTRAINT COMPONENT NUMBER IN GLOBAL COORDINATE SYSTEM.
$ IT HAS TO BE A SINGLE INTEGER (1 OR 2 OR 3).
$ ENTITY = ENTITY AT WHICH THE CONSTRAINT IS APPLIED
$ ID = ID OF THE ENTITY SELECTED ABOVE
$
$ SID C ENTITY ID
GMSPC 1 3 FEFACE 1
GMSPC 1 3 FEFACE 2
GMSPC 1 3 FEFACE 3
GMSPC 1 3 FEFACE 4
GMSPC 1 3 FEFACE 5
GMSPC 1 3 FEFACE 6
GMSPC 1 3 FEFACE 7
GMSPC 1 3 FEFACE 8
$

p-Elements
$ DEFINE CONSTRAINTS IN THE Y-DIRECTION

$
GMSPC 1 2 GRID 1
$
$ DEFINE CONSTRAINTS IN THE X-DIRECTION AND Z-DIRECTION
$ FOR BOTH GRID 4 AND GRID 8. MULTIPLE GMSPC ENTRIES ARE
$ REQUIRED FOR CONSTRAINING MULTIPLE COMPONENTS.
$
GMSPC 1 1 GRID 4
GMSPC 1 3 GRID 4
GMSPC 1 1 GRID 8
GMSPC 1 3 GRID 8
$
$ DEFINE CONSTRAINTS FOR ROTATION FOR ALL GRIDS
$
GRDSET 0 0 456
$
$ DEFINE GRIDS
$
GRID 1 0.0 0.0 0.0
GRID 2 1 5.0 0.0 0.0
GRID 3 1 5.0 45.0 0.0
GRID 4 1 5.0 90.0 0.0
GRID 5 1 5.0 135.0 0.0
GRID 6 1 5.0 180.0 0.0
GRID 7 1 5.0 225.0 0.0
GRID 8 1 5.0 270.0 0.0
GRID 9 1 5.0 315.0 0.0
GRID 10 0.0 0.0 0.5
GRID 11 1 5.0 0.0 0.5
GRID 12 1 5.0 45.0 0.5
GRID 13 1 5.0 90.0 0.5
GRID 14 1 5.0 135.0 0.5
GRID 15 1 5.0 180.0 0.5
GRID 16 1 5.0 225.0 0.5
GRID 17 1 5.0 270.0 0.5
GRID 18 1 5.0 315.0 0.5
GRID 21 1 4.0 0.0 0.0
GRID 22 1 4.0 45.0 0.0
GRID 23 1 4.0 90.0 0.0
GRID 24 1 4.0 135.0 0.0
GRID 25 1 4.0 180.0 0.0
GRID 26 1 4.0 225.0 0.0
GRID 27 1 4.0 270.0 0.0
GRID 28 1 4.0 315.0 0.0
GRID 29 1 4.0 0.0 0.5
GRID 30 1 4.0 45.0 0.5
GRID 31 1 4.0 90.0 0.5
GRID 32 1 4.0 135.0 0.5
GRID 33 1 4.0 180.0 0.5
GRID 34 1 4.0 225.0 0.5
GRID 35 1 4.0 270.0 0.5
GRID 36 1 4.0 315.0 0.5
$
$ DEFINE THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES (ALUMINUM)
$
MAT1 1 1.+7 0.3 2.538-4
PSOLID 1 1 GRID SMECH
$
ENDDATA
Listing 25-4. Input File for the Circular Solid Model

This example illustrates a normal modes analysis, SOL 103, using the Lanczos method (EIGRL
entry). The output requests are eigenvectors for all modes (DISPLACEMENT = ALL). Adaptivity

analysis is required for all the elements. For this purpose, both the ADAPT and PVAL entries
are used in conjunction with the ADAPT command in Case Control Section.
Results
Figure 25-13. Abridged Output from the Circular Solid Model (Continued)

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Figure 25-13. Abridged Output from the Circular Solid Model

The mode shapes for modes 1, 5, 8, and 9 are shown in Figure 25-14. Mode 1 is the fundamental
mode, mode 5 is the one nodal diameter mode, mode 8 is the two nodal diameters mode, and
mode 9 is one nodal circle mode.


p-Elements
Figure 25-14. The Mode Shapes for Modes 1, 5, 8, and 9

Figure 25-14 The Mode Shapes for Modes 1, 5, 8, and 9 (continued)
Comparison of the natural frequencies obtained from the adaptivity analysis for the solid circular
model to the theoretical natural frequencies for the circular plate is shown in Table 25-6. The
discrepancies between the two values decrease as the p-order increases.
Table 25-6. Comparison of the Natural Frequencies

Mode Theoretical (Hertz) Numerical (Hertz)
Fundamental 954.1 936.9
One Nodal Diameter 2657.7 2592.8
Two Nodal Diameters 4913.9 4679.7
One Nodal Circle 5697.8 5435.6

Further studies were performed in which the p-order was kept constant and the thickness of
the solid model was varied. Results showed that as the thickness of the circular solid model
decreases, the solid model behaves like a plate model, which is to be expected.
Reference
[1] Roark, R. J. and Young, W. C. Formulas for Stress and Strain. 5th edition. McGraw-Hill,
Inc., 1975, p. 578.
25.14 Clamped Rhombic Plate

The first eigenfrequency of a rhombic plate is calculated using SOL 103. Figure 25-15 shows
a plate clamped at the left end and the first eigenmode. Compare the convergence behavior
of three different models:
• One CHEXA p-element with p-orders varying from p = 1 to p = 8
• One CQUAD p-element with p-orders varying from p = 1 to p = 8
• Multiple CQUAD h-elements with varying meshes (1 × 2, 2 × 2, 4 × 4, 8 × 8, 16 × 16, 32 × 32)
The convergence behavior of the three models is shown in Figure 25-16. The first eigenfrequency
is normalized with 2.932 rad/sec, which is the value from a series solution using Kirchhoff plate
theory. All three models exhibit excellent convergence behavior.
The solid p-element and the shell p-element models converge when the p-level is increased. The
CQUAD4 h-element model converges when the mesh is refined. If the error rate in the first
eigenfrequency must be under 0.2%, then either: (a) a single shell or solid p-element with p = 8,
or (b) 16 × 16 shell h-elements should be used. The shell p-element needs the smallest number of
degrees-of-freedom to achieve the required accuracy. For a comparison of the degrees-of-freedom,
see Table 25-7.

p-Elements
Figure 25-15. Rhombic Plate

Figure 25-16. Normalized First Eigenfrequency for Different p-Levels and Mesh Sizes
Table 25-7. Comparison of the Number of Degrees-of-Freedom for 0.2% Accuracy in

the First Eigenfrequency
Mesh Size and Normalized
Element Degrees of Freedom
p-Level Eigenfrequency
CQUAD4 16 × 16 0.9977 1445
CQUAD4-p p = 8 1.0012 264
CHEXA-p p = 8 1.0017 510
25.15 Helix Modeled with CBEAM p-Elements

A 360° helix is modeled with nonadaptive beam h-elements and with adaptive beam p-elements.
The helix is clamped at the bottom and free at the top, with a single force applied at the top. The
undeformed and deformed helix is shown in Figure 25-17. The normalized deflection at the tip is
shown in Figure 25-18 for different mesh sizes.
Both beam h- and p-elements converge well. If the error in the deflection must be under
0.2%, then 8 beam p-elements with p = 3 (45° angle for each element) or 64 beam h-elements
should be used. A comparison of the degrees-of-freedom (see Table 25-8) shows that the beam
p-elements require a smaller number of degrees-of-freedom than the number required by the
beam h-elements in order to achieve the required accuracy.

p-Elements
Figure 25-17. Helix

Figure 25-18. Normalized Tip Displacement for Different Mesh Sizes
Table 25-8. Comparison of the Number of degrees-of-freedom for 0.2% Accuracy in the
Tip Displacement
Normalized Tip Degrees of
Element and Mesh Displacement Freedom
CBEAM h, θ = 5.6° ; 64 Elements 0.9970 390
CBEAM p, θ = 45° ; p = 3,8 Elements 0.9978 150
25.16 Plate with Stiffener

In stiffened structures, an efficient practice is to model the stiffeners using beam elements with
offsets. Typically, nonadaptive h-elements are used. The example below demonstrates the
benefits of p-elements for this class of problems.
A plate with stiffener is loaded in the middle and simply supported at the ends (see Figure
25-19). The plate is modeled with 10 × 2 shell elements and the stiffener is modeled with 10
beam elements with offsets. Compare the stress results of two models, an h-element model and a
p-element model, with a uniform p-order of p = 2 for shells and beams. The solution is compared
with the solution derived from beam theory.

p-Elements
The nonadaptive h-elements produce very inaccurate stresses with errors around 30%, as shown
in Figure 25-20. The adaptive p-elements with a uniform p-order of p = 2 yield very accurate
results—the error rate is only around 4%. In the h-element model, the normal forces in the shell
and beam elements are constant within each element, which causes the high stress error. In the
p-element model, the normal forces in each element are linear (p = 2), which improves the stress
distribution in the cross-section of the beam.
Figure 25-19. Plate with Stiffener

Figure 25-20. Stress Distribution in the Middle of the Beam

p-Elements
25.17 Solid p-Elements in Linear Dynamic Solution Sequences

Solid p-elements are available in the dynamic solution sequences SOL 107, to SOL 112. The
p-elements do not adapt; the analysis is done for a fixed p-level. Displacements, velocities,
accelerations, stresses and strains are output in SORT1 or SORT2 format. The complex output
quantities are in rectangular format (real/imaginary) or in polar format (magnitude/phase).
User Interface in NX Nastran

Output for p-elements is requested with the Case Control command DATAREC, where SORT1
or SORT2 formats can be chosen. For complex eigenvalues (SOL 107, SOL 110) and frequency
response (SOL 108, SOL 111), the default is SORT1. For transient response (SOL 109, SOL
112), the default is SORT2.
The output quantities are requested with DISP, VELO, ACCE, STRESS, or STRAIN in the
Case Control, and/or in the OUTPUT Bulk Data entry. In the complex solution sequences,
the formats are rectangular (REAL, IMAG) or polar (MAGNITUDE, PHASE); the rectangular
format is the default. REAL, IMAG or PHASE is requested in the Case Control command or
in the OUTPUT Bulk Data entry.
Limitations and Recommendations

The following limitations and recommendations apply to solid p-element usage in linear dynamic
solution sequences:
• The output request must be all in SORT1 or all in SORT2 format for a single run.
• PARAM,CURVPLOT,1 must be specified to get SORT1 output in transient response (SOL

109 and SOL 112).
• If an ADAPT entry is specified with multiple p-levels, the analysis is done with the first
p-level.
Example
The transient response of a cantilever subject to a constant step load is calculated in SOL 109
(see Figure 25-21). The following is a comparison of the results between the two different models:
• HEXA8 h-elements, 4 × 4 × 40 element mesh.
• HEXA p-elements, 1× 1 × 4 element mesh with p = 3.
The plot displacement versus time graph shown in Figure 25-22 illustrates that the results are
in good agreement.

Figure 25-21. Cantilever with Step Load

p-Elements
Figure 25-22. Tip Displacement of Cantilever
25.18 p-Element Thermal Analysis
Introduction
NX Nastran supports p-version elements for linear steady state thermal analysis (SOL 101).
The definitions of model geometry, elements, p-values, and error estimation methods follow the
general terminologies of the p-element structural analysis. A major difference exists in the
specification of thermal loads and boundary conditions, which requires new or modified Bulk
Data entries for thermal analysis.
The following sections provide usage guidelines and examples for the p-version thermal analysis.
Geometry
The geometry definitions are the same as those defined for the p-element structural analysis.
Elements
Six kinds of elements—CHEXA, CPENTA, CTETRA, CQUAD4, CTRIA3, and CBEAM—may be
defined as p-elements for thermal analysis.

Materials
The standard isotropic, orthotropic, and anisotropic materials are available for p-version thermal
elements. The only material property required is thermal conductivity which must be constant
for linear steady state analysis.
Loads and Boundary Conditions

The following thermal loads and boundary conditions are supported in p-version thermal
analysis.
• Prescribed temperatures applied on point, curve, 2D edge, surface, or 3D surface.
• Normal or directional heat fluxes applied on point, curve, 2D edge, surface, 3D surface, or
solid.
• Volumetric heat generation within conduction elements.
• Free convection applied on point, curve, 2D edge, surface, or 3D surface.
Table 25-9 summarizes the Bulk Data entries for p-version thermal loads and boundary
conditions. A full description of these entries may be found in the NX Nastran Quick Reference
Guide.
Table 25-9. Bulk Data Entries for p-Version Thermal Loads and Boundary Conditions
Load or Boundary Condition Type Bulk Data
Prescribed Temperature GMBC
Normal or Directional Heat Flux GMLOAD
Volumetric Heat Generation GMQVOL
Free Convection GMCONV
p-Version Adaptivity
p-values and error estimation methods are the same as those for p-element structural analysis.
Data Recovery
Similar to structural output, the DATAREC and OUTRCV Case Control commands as well as
the OUTPUT and OUTRCV Bulk Data entries define the output of p-version thermal analysis.
Temperatures, temperature gradients, heat fluxes, polynomial values, and element errors may be
printed, plotted, or punched. The TEMP output command of the OUTPUT Bulk Data entries
requests for calculating temperatures while the FLUX output command of the OUTPUT Bulk
Data entries requests for recovering temperature gradients and heat fluxes for conduction
elements.
Thermal Stress Analysis

The interface to input temperature results as temperature loads for thermal stress analysis is
described in the Case Control command “TSTRU” in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide.

p-Elements
Limitations and Recommendations

• Only Solution Sequence 101 (linear steady state) performs p-element thermal analysis.
• Temperature boundary conditions can be spatially varying, but must be independent or time.
• Heat fluxes and volumetric heat generation can be spatially varying, but must be
independent of temperature or time.
• The convection heat transfer coefficients and ambient temperatures of free convection
boundary conditions can be spatially varying, but must be independent of temperature or
time.
• It is important to select the appropriate entity type while applying loads and boundary
conditions. Concentrated loads or boundary conditions will cause singularities or inaccurate
results and should be avoided. For example, the entity type FEFACE or GMSURF should
be used to prescribe temperatures on a surface, rather than the entity type FEEDGE,
GMCURVE, or GRID.

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NX Nastran User’s Guide

Proprietary & Restricted Rights Notice

2 NX Nastran User’s Guide

Overview of NX Nastran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

Structure and Syntax for Input Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

Understanding the Input Data File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1

NX Nastran Output Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1

Defining Grid Points and Scalar Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1

Understanding Coordinate Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1

NX Nastran User’s Guide 3

Material Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1

Applied Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1

Understanding Sets and Matrix Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1

Direct Matrix Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1

Element Data Recovery Resolved at Grid Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1

4 NX Nastran User’s Guide

Mesh Stress Discontinuities at Grid Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13

Solution Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1

Understanding Solution Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13- 2

Modeling Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1

Model Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-1

Introduction to Model Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15- 2

Introduction to Restarts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16- 2

Database Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-1

Introduction to Database Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17- 2

Inertia Relief in Linear Static Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-1

Introduction to Inertia Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18- 2

NX Nastran User’s Guide 5

Surface Contact for SOL 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-1

Linear Buckling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-1

Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-1

Cyclic Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-1

6 NX Nastran User’s Guide

p-Element Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-10

NX Nastran User’s Guide 7

• General Overview of NX Nastran

• Overview of the NX Nastran Analysis Process

NX Nastran User’s Guide 1-1

1.1 General Overview of NX Nastran

• Normal modes and buckling

• Heat transfer (steady-state and transient)

• Response spectrum and random response

• Geometric and material nonlinear static and transient response

• Design optimization and sensitivity (including dynamic and shape optimization)

Modular Structure and DMAP

1-2 NX Nastran User’s Guide

Pre-defined Solution Sequences

Using DMAP for Programmability

1.2 Overview of the NX Nastran Analysis Process

• Examine your results

Creating the Input File

• Manually using a text editor

Input File Sections

• File Management statement (FMS)

• Executive Control statement

• Case Control command

NX Nastran User’s Guide 1-3

• Bulk Data entry

Documentation for NX Nastran Input Options

Input File Naming