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To begin the problem click the 'Geometry' button to enable the textboxes. As in many finite element packages, you do not specify units, only numbers for all physical quantities. The program will interpret the quantities in terms of a consistent set of units. For example, length and height are interpreted as, say, meters or inches.
Enter the size of the beam in the textboxes. This program is limited to rectangular shapes. The thickness into the screen is assumed to be one.
Click 'Done' when you have entered the length and height of the beam
The modeling is now done. The output screen should look like this:
The material properties you can define are Elastic Modulus (E) and Poisson ratio (v). To enter material properties, click the 'Material' button to enable the textboxes. Enter the values of E and v. Click 'Done' to set these values.
Although no units are specified, the Elastic Modulus will be interpreted as having units consistent with other quantities, say, Newtons/square meter or pounds/square inch. Poisson ratio is unit-less.
Setting material properties does not change the output screen
To create a mesh, click the 'Meshing' button to enable the textboxes and buttons.
Select either the linear (4-node) element (actually a pair of triangular elements) or the quad (9-node) element using the circular buttons.
Enter the mesh size in the textboxes. Click 'Done' when you have entered the required data
the output screen will now look like this:
To enable loads click the 'Loads' button
Single Point Force/Displacement
Select the 'Node' button to assign a force or displacement to a single node. Then select the Fx and Fy buttons to assign a force to the node. Enter the force components into the respective textboxes. The force is interpreted in terms of, say, Newtons or pounds.
To assign this force to a node, use your mouse to select (single-click) a node on the output screen. A small blue arrow will appear after you click a node, indicating the force has been set.
The same procedure can be repeated for other nodes. You can assign displacements instead of forces. Displacements are interpreted as say, meters or inches. You can also combine forces and displacements. For example, you could assign an X displacement of 0.3 and a Y force of 5 to a single node.
Multiple Forces/Displacements
To assign a force to multiple nodes, select the 'Area' button. Then select the Ux and Uy buttons to assign the displacement to multiple nodes. Enter the displacement components into the respective textboxes. In this example we will assign zero X and Y displacement to all the nodes on the left edge of the beam.
The displacements will be assigned to all the nodes in the area between two selected nodes. To select this area, click the first node once, then click the second load once. The displacements will be assigned to all nodes between these two points.
Select first node:
Select second node:
The same procedure can be repeated for other areas. You can assign forces instead of displacements. You can also combine forces and displacements. For example, you could assign an X displacement of 0.3 and a Y force of 5 to any area of nodes.
Once geometry, material properties, meshing, and loadings are set, the problem can be solved. To solve the problem simply click the 'Solve' button.
The output screen will now display the solution in the form of a deformed mesh.
Data from any node is available simply by moving the mouse over the node. For example, move your mouse over the right-most node and you will see the following data in the post-processing menu. Displacements are interpreted as, say meters or inches, stresses as Newtons/square meter or pounds/square inch, and strains are unitless. By clicking on the buttons Boundary and Mesh you can turn off and on whether the original boundary and mesh are shown. By clicking on the button Loads you can turn off and on whether the loads are shown.
