Patran: Replacing parts of FEM with resulting forces & moments

[JohanSoeder]

Hi,

I have a rather complex model with a number of load cases. Only nodal forces and moments are applied. The structure is basically the same (elem/node ids), but parts of it are moved in space between the load cases. What I need to do is remove these parts, and replace them with the resulting loads at their connection points, such that I obtain a single model fixed in space for all load cases.

Ultimately I would like to find a way of scripting this (pcl/matlab/shell) beginning with the model and results as bdf's and xdb's, a list of element id's and connecting node id's; and ending up with a bdf of the reduced model with all the load cases applied.

I've been looking into Patran's freebody functionalities, but maybe it would be easier just to extract nodal loads from the Grid Point Force Balance, remove the unwanted elements and nodes, and apply the nodal loads.

Any suggestions?

 

[shaun8567]

If I understand what you want to do correctly, then this sounds like an ideal candidate for sub-modeling. With sub-modeling, you map the nodal displacement field results as enforced nodal displacements along the cut-faces.