Thermal expansion with applied moments at reference point

General Questions
1

Hi There,

I am putting a model together of a carbon steel vessel that is subject to thermal expansion and a moment. Up until this point I have been applying the moment to a reference point which is connected at the centre of a flanged opening by using a rigid body connector.

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I am obtaining inflated stresses in the flange as the rigid body constraint is inhibiting deformation. Is there another way of remotely applying a moment to the flange that will allow for thermal expansion?

Thanks,

Danny

2

Pretty much only distributing coupling constraints. They are not currently supported in PrePoMax but you could add them via Keyword Editor: RBE3 integration in PrepoMax (Kinematic & Distributing Coupling)

Check the *COUPLING and *DISTRIBUTING keywords syntax in the CalculiX manual.

3

Thank you for your quick response. Would like to add that I have used a lot of the big commercial FEM software packages in the past but after a year of using Prepomax I would recommend it to anyone. It is a superb product

4

Please do!

Thank you. All of you, users, are making it better by actively posting equations and reporting bugs.