PCONTEC

Bulk Data Entry Defines Contact Electric Conductance Coefficient (CECC) for CONTACT elements in electrical analysis.

Format

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
PCONTEC PID KCECC KOECC TPID TCID

Examples

Manual specification of KCECC:
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
PCONTEC 2 200.0
Automatic determination of KCECC:
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
PCONTEC 2 AUTO
Request pressure-based contact ECC:
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
PCONTEC 2 10
Clearance and pressure-based contact ECC (3, 4):
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
PCONTEC 2 150 10 20

Definitions

Field Contents SI Unit Example
PID Property identification number. 1

No default (Integer > 0)
KCECC Contact Electric Conductance Coefficient (CECC) for the closed contact. 2
Real ≥ 0.0
AUTO

No default
KOECC Contact Electric Conductance Coefficient (CECC) for the open contact. 2

Default = 0.0 (Real ≥ 0.0)
TPID Identification number of a TABLED# entry. This table specifies conductance per unit contact area (Contact ECC) based on contact pressure. 3, 4

Default = 0 (Integer > 0)
TCID Identification number of a TABLED# entry. This table specifies conductance per unit contact area (Contact ECC) based on contact clearance. 3, 4, 5

Default = 0 (Integer > 0)
Note: Starting from OptiStruct version 2024.0, field 3 on the PCONTEC entry (KCECC) defines the Contact Electric Conductance Coefficient (CECC). Prior to OptiStruct 2024.0, the same field (previously named KCERC) defined the Contact Electric Resistance Coefficient (CERC).

Comments

  1. PCONTEC provides conductance per unit area for CONTACT elements. The PID of a PCONTEC Bulk Data Entry must match that of an existing PCONT Bulk Data Entry.

    If the secondary side is specified as grid set, then you can assume that a unit area is assigned to each grid in this set.

  2. KCECC represents contact electrical conductance values for closed contacts. Theoretically, while higher contact electric conductance values enforce a perfect conductor, excessively high values may cause poor conditioning of the conductance matrix. If such symptoms are observed, you may need to decrease the value of contact electrical conductance.

    To facilitate reasonable values for KCECC, automatic calculation (KCECC=AUTO) is supported. This determines the value of KCECC for each contact element using the contact electric conductance values of surrounding elements.

  3. TPID points to a TABLED# entry that specifies conductance per unit contact area (Contact ECC) based on contact pressure. Total conductance is the product of table value and actual contact area. TPID is used when Electric Contact Analysis uses STATSUB(STRUCTURE) to reference the Contact status from a static subcase. TPID overrides KCECC for coupled electric contact analysis.
  4. TCID points to a TABLED# entry that specifies conductance per unit contact area based on contact clearance. TPID can be specified together with TCID. When TPID is specified together with TCID, contact electrical conductance is determined from the table with TCID for open contact, and from the table with TPID for closed contact (overrides KCECC). TCID overrides KCECC for closed contact if TPID is not present.
  5. For clearance-based Contact ECC table lookup, Contact ECC is linearly interpolated within the table range (which should start from zero clearance), and it becomes zero when extrapolated outside the table range.
  6. For CONTACT interfaces without PCONT, PCONTEC is not required. Contact Electrical Conductance values based on KCECC=AUTO is utilized in such cases.
  7. For Electrical contact with FREEZE status, the actual contact status is considered closed in electrical conduction analysis.
  8. If FREEZE is set in the PCONT card, and the main and secondary side of the contact is electrically conductive, FREEZE status is automatically assigned to the contact.
  9. Electrical Contact Analysis via PCONTEC and PGAPEC is supported for Steady-State Electric Analysis and Multi-Steady Electric Analysis.
  10. This card is represented as a property in HyperMesh.