Hello everyone, I need to perform concrete and reinforced concrete element analysis in the field of building structural analysis. For this, it would be very interesting to be able to visualize the directions of the principal stresses since both the intensity and direction of stresses indicate the need and proportion of reinforcement bars or reinforcement bands. I know it can be done in Paraview [attached image], and it works relatively well, but it would be fantastic to be able to do it directly in Prepomax.
I have no idea about the difficulty of implementing this feature; it might be too complex to implement. I apologize if that’s the case. Thank you very much for such powerful software. Regards, Damian
Principal stress represent by vector is not only usable for concrete like structure to given insight the placement and direction of tension reinforcement. It’s also can be useful for thin like steel structure to clearly shown direction of compression stress path to investigate buckling and stability.
Current work around is possible in ParaView by add plugins (state) from this link, an output of CalculiX format in frd need to convert to vtk/vtu first to be readable.
Add principal stress by vectors feature in PrePoMax can be useful for these purposes.
I’m familiar with the link, but that kind of analysis, due to its complexity, is beyond my reach given my limited knowledge in FEM calculations. When I have some time, I might attempt to run some tests in that direction. Thank you very much for your assistance
It’s a solid element based reinforcement and uncommonly used in practice, shell element more convenient to apply, also been adopted by many code regulation and software developer.
i did many test and verify reinforcement design based on shell element also frequently used in practice. It’s comparable to analytical results of slab and deep beam, curved shape.
However, it’s based on classical shell element since nodal reactive or element internal force is required for designing. CalculiX have one in classical shell element, so it may be possible to implement.
Regarding to solid element based, maybe a layering by partition and section force output is more manageable instead. It does integration by the solver internally.
