The Solid Mechanics (solid) interface (
), found under the
Structural Mechanics branch (
) when adding a physics interface, is intended for general structural analysis of 3D, 2D, 1D, or axisymmetric bodies. In 2D, 1D, and 1D axisymmetry, plane stress or plane strain assumptions can be used. The Solid Mechanics interface is based on solving the equations of motion together with a constitutive model for a solid material. Results such as displacements, stresses, and strains are computed.
When this physics interface is added, these default nodes are also added to the Model Builder —
Linear Elastic Material,
Free (a boundary condition where boundaries are free, with no loads or constraints), and
Initial Values. Then, from the
Physics toolbar, you can add other nodes that implement, for example, solid mechanics material models, boundary conditions, and loads. You can also right-click
Solid Mechanics to select physics features from the context menu.
The Label is the default physics interface name.
The Name is used primarily as a scope prefix for variables defined by the physics interface. Refer to such physics interface variables in expressions using the pattern
<name>.<variable_name>. In order to distinguish between variables belonging to different physics interfaces, the
name string must be unique. Only letters, numbers, and underscores (_) are permitted in the
Name field. The first character must be a letter.
The default Name (for the first physics interface in the model) is
solid.
From the Structural transient behavior list, select
Include inertial terms (the default) or
Quasistatic. Use
Quasistatic to treat the elastic behavior as quasi static (with no mass effects; that is, no second-order time derivatives). Selecting this option gives a more efficient solution for problems where the variation in time is slow when compared to the natural frequencies of the system. The default solver for the time stepping is changed from Generalized alpha to BDF when
Quasistatic is selected.
In the Solid Mechanics interface, you can choose not only the order of the discretization, but also the type of shape functions: Lagrange or
serendipity. For highly distorted elements, Lagrange shape functions provide better accuracy than serendipity shape functions of the same order. The serendipity shape functions will however give significant reductions of the model size for a given mesh containing hexahedral, prism, or quadrilateral elements. In 1D components there is no difference between Lagrange and serendipity shape functions.
The default is to use Quadratic serendipity shape functions for the
Displacement field. Using
Linear shape functions will give what is sometimes called
constant stress elements. Such a formulation will for many problems make the model overly stiff, and many elements may be needed for an accurate resolution of the stresses.
The physics interface uses the global spatial components of the Displacement field u as dependent variables. The default names for the components are (
u,
v,
w) in 3D. In 2D the component names are (
u,
v), and in 2D axisymmetry they are (
u,
w). In 1D and 1D axisymmetry the default component name is (
u). You can however not use the ‘missing’ component names in the 2D or 1D cases as a parameter or variable name, since they are used internally.