Lifting Eye Analysis

In the new version of PrePoMax (v2.4.0), equation-based non-uniform load distributions can be defined and thus a proper bearing load can be applied using a formula: Bearing load distribution

But a uniform distributed load at a small area can be a sufficient initial approximation. You should just account for the 7.3 deg angle in the second case. Whether they should be analyzed separately or not depends on your requirements, operating conditions and engineering codes if any apply.

Fixed BCs can be ok if you aren’t interested in the bolt area and only want to analyze the lug ignoring the plate. You could replace them with compression-only constraint, but you would have to assume some stiffness.

Analytical calculations for lugs are quite common in literature ao it shouldn’t be a problem. At least basic hand calcs for a simplified setup should be used to make sure the numerical results make sense.

Mesh convergence study should be performed as well.

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