Large Displacement Analysis of a Cantilever Beam

Description

Investigate large displacements of a cantilever beam shown in the figure below. The cantilever beam has a length of 10" and a square cross section of side 1".

File Name

Browse to drive letter:\Users\Public\Public Documents\SOLIDWORKS\SOLIDWORKS version\samples\Simulation Examples\Verification\Nonlinear_Static_12.SLDPRT and open the file.

Study Type

Nonlinear.

Mesh Type

Shell mesh.

Shell Parameters

Shell thickness = 1" - Thin shell formulation.

Meshing Parameters

Use 0.3 in Global Size.

Material Model

Linear elastic isotropic.

Material Properties

Modulus of elasticity = 12000 psi, Poisson's ratio = 0.2, Density = 0.2782 lb/in³.

Restraints and Loads

A fixed restraint is applied to one end of the cantilever and a pressure of magnitude 1 lb is applied incrementally (as shown in the figure) to the top and bottom edges. Translation in the normal direction and all rotations are set to zero on the side face of the cantilever.

Results

The tip vertical displacement history is shown below. X -axis is Time (sec) and Y-axis is UY displacement (in).

Reference

Holden, J. T., “On the Finite Deflections of Thin Beams,” Int. J. Solid Structure, Vol. 8, pp. 1051-1055, 1972.