In 2D, a solid can be connected to a beam by adding a Beam Connection node in the Solid Mechanics interface and a
Solid Connection node in the Beam interface. The connection can either be from a point on the beam to a boundary on the solid, or between two boundaries. The first case is intended for modeling a transition from a beam to a solid where beam theory assumptions are valid on both sides of the connection. The second case is for adding a beam on top of a solid as stiffener or cladding.
The Beam Connection node is only available with some COMSOL products (see
http://www.comsol.com/products/specifications/).
When Beam point is selected, select the name of the corresponding
Solid Connection node defined at the point level in the Beam interface to specify the connected parts.
Select an option from the Connected area defined by list:
Section height (the default),
Selected boundaries, or
Distance from beam axis. This parameter determines how much of the selected solid boundaries are actually connected to the beam. The default is that a distance from the beam point having the size of the half the beam section height in both directions is connected. Using
Selected boundaries connects the entire selected boundaries to the beam. If you select
Distance from beam axis, enter a
Distance d. This is used instead of the section height for defining the connection distance.
For Beam edge select the name of the corresponding
Solid Connection node defined at the boundary level in the Beam interface to specify the connected parts.
Select a Distance evaluation:
Section height (the default),
Geometrical distance, or
User defined. This parameter determines how the coupling treats the determination of the connection distance. The default is that a distance equal to half the section height is used. If you select
Geometrical distance, the connection distance is computed from the geometrical distance between the solid boundary and the beam boundary. For
User defined enter a
Distance d. This defines the connection distance.
