What is in this Article?
Terminologies
Collection | The folder containing data of an asset/model on Akselos Cloud or users’ computer |
Components | Components created by the componentization process to use with Akselos Integra |
Node port | A mesh node or beam end used to connect 1D beam elements to other component types |
Nodeset | A mesh node assigned with a certain ID number |
Model ribbon | An Akselos Modeler ribbon containing tools for model assembling and management |
Ribbons | The top-sided toolbars of Akselos Modeler |
Property Tree | A panel at the left bottom of Akselos Modeler, where shows properties of user selection |
1. Introduction
In this tutorial, we will walk through the process of simulating a beam frame using 1D beam elements. With the help of Akselos Modeler, you will learn how to create the beam frame model, apply loads, define boundary conditions, and run the simulation. This step-by-step guide will provide a clear workflow for setting up and solving the model.
Figure 1.1. The 1D beam frame analysis workflow
2. Problem Description
In this tutorial, we use the 1D beam element to simulate the beam frame model which is constrained at 4 legs, under forces applied on 4 points on top. The model schematic and beam cross-section are shown in the figure below.
Figure 2.1. The beam frame problem
The beam geometry, beam properties, and load cases used in this example model are as follows:
- Beam cross-section (m): Tubular with below dimensions:
- Diameter: 2 (m)
- Thickness: 0.06 (m)
- Material: Elasticity with the below properties:
- Mass density: 8000 kg/m3
- Poisson ratio: 0.3
- Young Modulus: 210 GPa
- Applied loads:
- Self-weight
- Point load: FV= FH = 30 MN
Figure 2.2. The beam Cross-section
3. Before We Start
To follow the instructions below, please notice the point below:
- A new collection in your Organization is required to store this model on Akselos Portal (https://dashboard.akselos.com). Don’t know how? Read more Start building your asset with a new collection.
- Akselos Modeler – our simulation is required to build this model.
- A sample collection has been prepared for you to use as a reference. Find the 1D_Beam_Frame here on Akselos Portal.
- By default, you can use Akselos Cloud (available in Akselos Modeler).
Note: ▶ If you have not installed Akselos Modeler yet, please see Akselos Modeler 2023 - Installing, Updating and Managing the Akselos Simulation Software to download and install the software. ▶ If you have trouble accessing to any of those pre-requisites. Please contact us at: support.akselos.com
Follow the steps below to import the 1D_Beam_Frame collection into Akselos Modeler:
- In Akselos Modeler, click on the Cloud tab on Ribbons → Authentication → Enter your username and (password or token) → Click on the Check button and wait for Authentication status to turn green and show Authentication successful.
Figure 3.1. Checking authentication
- On the Collections tab, click on Import Collection… → On the Import Collection window, find and select 1D_Beam_Frame collection → Click on the Import button to pull the collection into your computer. You will receive a success message on the Logs screen when the collection is successfully imported.
Figure 3.2. Importing 1D_Beam_Frame collection into the local machine
- On the File tab, click on New Model from Current Collection. The collection is ready to use after this step.
Figure 3.3. Create a new working space in the 1D_Beam_Frame collection
4. Implementation
This section outlines the step-by-step process to create, set up, and solve a beam frame model in Akselos Modeler. The workflow includes defining the geometry, assigning materials and cross-sections, applying constraints and loads, running the solver.
Figure 4.1. The 1D beam frame analysis workflow
Step 1: Create Nodes
Figure 4.2. Create Model – Create Nodes
Akselos Modeler provides an Edit Beams tool that helps users create nodes and beams. The tool also can modify beams such as split/merge or change the beam type.
- On the left panel, select the Edit Beam tool.
Figure 4.3. The Edit Beams tool interface
To build the beam frame, 13 nodes need to be created first. Akselos Modeler provides tools for manually creating nodes or quickly importing multiple nodes using a CSV file with coordinates. For this tutorial, we have prepared a CSV file available in the collection - Model_Node.csv.
- Option 1 - Create nodes manually from table: Click the + icon to add rows until there are 13 rows in the table. Enter the X, Y, Z coordinates as shown in the figure below, then click the Create Nodes button
Figure 4.4. Creating nodes manually
- Option 2 - Creating nodes from csv file: Click the Import icon shown below, select Model_Node.csv in the collection to import the file. The node coordinates will appear in the table, just like in Option 1. Finally, click the Create Nodes button to generate the nodes.
Figure 4.5. Creating nodes from the csv file
Once the above steps are completed, 13 nodes will appear in the Graphic Window.
Figure 4.6. Thirteen nodes on the Graphic Window after creating
Step 2: Create Beams Model From Nodes
Figure 4.7. Create Model – Create Beams Model From Nodes
From these nodes, you can create the beam frame. Click the Create Beam From Nodes button, then select nodes in the Graphic Window — each pair of selected nodes will form one beam. Repeat this process until all 28 beams are created, completing the model
Figure 4.8. Creating beams from nodes
Step 3: Split Beams
Figure 4.9. Create Model – Split Beams
You can skip this step but to increase the accuracy of the result, splitting the beam into many elements is also important.
- In the Edit Beams tool, navigate to the Split/Merge tab. Select all beams in the Graphic Window, enter 8 in the Number of Segments box, and choose the Equal Parts option. Then, click the Split button.
Figure 4.10. Splitting beams
Figure 4.11. The model after splitting
Step 4: Add Cross-sections
Figure 4.12. Assign Properties – Add Cross-sections
In this step, we will guide you to create and define a cross-section and then apply it to the model.
- In the Model Tree on the left panel, right-click on Model → Insert Property → Cross-Sections. The group of cross-sections will be created with one default item. You can add more Cross-sections by right-clicking on the group →Insert Property → Crosssectiongroupitem or delete them by clicking on then pressing the Delete button.
Figure 4.13. Creating CrossSectionGroup
- Click on Cross-Section 1 then see the Property Tree → Define the dimensions.
Figure 4.14. Defining Cross-section properties
After this step, the cross-section has been created but is not yet assigned to the beams. We will proceed to Step 5, and once it is completed, the software will automatically assign both the cross-section and material to the beams. At that point, we will review where to modify them if needed.
Step 5: Add Materials
Figure 4.15. Assign Properties – Add Materials
In this step, we will guide you to create and define a material and then apply it to the model.
- In the Model Tree on the left panel, right-click on Model → Add Property → Materials. The group of materials will be created with one default item. You can add more items by right-clicking on the group → Insert Property → Materialgroupitem or delete them by clicking on then pressing the Delete button.
Figure 4.16. Creating MaterialGroup
- Click on Material 1 then see the Property Tree → Define the parameters for material.
Figure 4.17. Defining material properties
As mentioned at the end of Step 4, once the material is created, the software will automatically assign both the material and cross-section to the beam. To verify this, switch to Mesh Elements Selection mode, select any element on the Graphic Window, and expand the Properties section in the Property Tree. There, you will see the assigned items for that element.
Figure 4.18. A place to check material/cross-section items that are assigned to the beam
Akselos Modeler provides a tool to visualize the beam's cross-section. In the Graphic Window, open the Configure View Settings menu and enable the Show Beam Cross-section option
Figure 4.19. Showing beam model with cross-section on the Graphic Window
Step 6: Constrain Model
Figure 4.20. Model Set-up – Constrain model
In this tutorial, four legs of the frame are constrained. We will constrain 4 nodes at the bottom of the model. Before doing it, we need to create a Node Port at these nodes and then fix them.
- Firstly, we need to turn on the Unconnected Ports and Boundary Conditions options in Configure view settings. The ports and boundaries of the model are visualized on the Graphic Window.
Figure 4.21. Turning on Unconnected Ports and Boundary Conditions options
- Select the bottom node, then right-click in the Graphic Window and choose Create Node Port. Repeat this process for the remaining three nodes. Note: Nodes must be selected one by one, as the tool does not support multiple selections.
Figure 4.22. Creating Node Port
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- To constrain them, select the four newly created node ports, then go to the Property Tree and choose (x, y, z, theta_x, theta_y, theta_z) under Constraint Type. The software will automatically apply the same constraints to all selected ports. Once completed, black points will appear at the four ports, indicating they have been successfully constrained.
Figure 4.24. Constraining node ports
Figure 4.25. The model with four constrained nodes
Step 7: Apply Loads
Figure 4.26. Model Set-up – Apply loads
In this tutorial, there are two load cases applied to the mode (Self-Weight & Point-Load). Self-Weight is applied on a subdomain selection and Point-Load is applied on four nodes. To create a load applying on the node, we need to create a Node Set and store them in Stored Selection.
- Create Node Set:
- Change to the Collection ribbon → Show component tree → Right-click on Boundary Sets → Create Boundary Set → Node.
Figure 4.27. Creating Node Set
- Click on New Node → Select four nodes on top as in the figure below.
Figure 4.28. Selecting four nodes for Node Set
- We need to turn on the PointLoad operator for this Node Set. Click on New Node → See the Property Tree and turn on PointLoad in Operators.
Figure 4.29. Turning on the PointLoad operator
- After all, we need to save the change of component. Right-click on the component → Save Changes.
Figure 4.30. Saving component
- Stored Selection for Self-Weight Load Case:
- Change to the Model ribbon → On the left panel, right-click on Stored Selections → Create Subdomains Selection.
Figure 4.31. Creating Subdomains Selection
- Click on Subdomain Selection 1 → Select the model on the Graphic Window.
Figure 4.32. Storing Subdomain for Self-Weight load case
- Stored Selection for Point-Load Load Case:
- Right-click on Stored Selections → Create Boundary Sets Selection.
Figure 4.33. Creating Boundary Set Selection
- Click on Subdomain Selection 1 → Select the node set (New Node created in the previous step) on the Graphic Window. Because the position of this node set coincides with another one, to select the right node set, move the mouse to one of its nodes, use the Tab button to change to the right name shown at the bottom of the Graphic Window then click once.
Figure 4.34. Storing node sets for Point-Load load case
- Create Self-Weight Load Case:
- Right-click on Load Cases → Create Load Case.
Figure 4.35. Creating Load Case
- Right-click on Load Case 1 → Create Load.
Figure 4.36. Creating load in load case
- Click on Load 1 → see the Property Tree and set them as in the figure below.
Figure 4.37. Defining Self-Weight load
Figure 4.38. The load vector of self-weight appeared after applying
- Create Point-Load Load Case:
- Right-click on Load Cases → Create Load Case.
Figure 4.39. Creating Load Case
- Right-click on Load Case 2 → Create Load.
Figure 4.40. Creating load in load case
- Click on Load 1 of Load Case 2 → see the Property Tree and set them as in the figure below.
Figure 4.41. Defining Point-Load
Figure 4.42. The load vectors of the point load appeared after applying
To easily manage the load case, we should rename them following the load (Right-click on it → Rename this Load Case or click on it → press F2). Load Case 1 is Self-Weight & Load Case 2 is Point-Load.
Figure 4.43. Renaming the load cases
Step 8: Create Solver Options
Figure 4.44. Solve – Create Solver Option
For the 1D beam element problem, we can only solve it with the FEA solver.
- Under Solver Options on the left panel, there is RB-FEA Options, it is the default and can be used with some changes. Click on RB-FEA Options → See the Property Tree and change Solver Strategy to FEA. After changing, the name of the default solver will automatically change to FEA Options.
Figure 4.45. The default Solver Option
Figure 4.46. Setting FEA Solver
- In the Property Tree of FEA Options, you can choose the result fields that you want to visualize. The default results of the solution are displacement in x, y, z - directions. In this example, we choose some additional fields which are Axial Force, Shear Forces and Bending Moments. Turning on two options as in the figure below.
Figure 4.47. Adding some fields in the Solver Option
Step 9: Create Scenario
Figure 4.48. Solve – Create Scenario
- Set Scenario: Under Scenario on the left panel, there is Default Scenario and we use it. Click on Default Scenario → See the Property Tree and set the coefficients of Point-Load and Self-Weight to 1.0.
Figure 4.49. Setting Scenario
- Set Solve List: Since there is only one scenario, select the default in Solve List to check that the default scenario is turned on.
Figure 4.50. Setting Solve list
Step 10: Sync Collection & Solve
Figure 4.51. Solve – Sync collection & Solve
Now we can proceed to solve the model. Firstly, we have to save the aks file to save all setting up the model → Sync the collection to Akselos Dashboard → Run solving.
- Save aks File:
- Click on the File tab → Save.
Figure 4.52. Saving aks file
- The Select destination to save the file window appears, enter the name into the File name box then click the Save button. You will receive a success message when the file is successfully saved.
Figure 4.53. Naming and saving aks file
- Sync Collection:
- Click on the Collections tab →Sync with Dashboard.
Figure 4.54. Syncing collection
- Click the Commit button when this window appears.
Figure 4.55. Committing for synchronization
- Run Solving:
- Change to the Solutions ribbon → Click on the Solve button. The solving request will be submitted to Akselos Cloud. You will see the status of this request on the Solution tree. You can see the results once the solving is done, which is usually within seconds with Akselos solver.
Figure 4.56. Solving model
Figure 4.57. The solution
5. Results
Figure 5.1. Validate – Solution Examination
There are some solution fields (visualization & results). You can review it to compare it with yours.
Figure 5.2. Axial Force result
Figure 5.3. Displacement x-direction result
Figure 5.4. Displacement y-direction result
Figure 5.5. Displacement z-direction result
Figure 5.6. Bending Moment results
Figure 5.7. Shear Force results
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