OS-E: 0100 Nonlinear Analysis of Cantilever Beam

A cantilever beam undergoing large deflections is conducted and compared with 2D shell and 3D solids elements here, using OptiStruct.



Figure 1. FE Model

Model Files

Before you begin, copy the file(s) used in this example to your working directory.

Model Description

The beam cross-section is modeled as an idealized section to compare with the assumptions of the analytical solution.

The loading is assumed to be applied through the centroid of the element cross-section (the neutral axis). This model also has 2D Shell and 3D hexa beam for comparison purpose only. The objective is to find the maximum magnitude of the displacement of the cantilever beam undergoing moment load of 100 lb*in z-axis, as shown in Figure 1.

The linear material properties are:
Young's Modulus
30E6 MPa
Poisson's Ratio
0.3

Results



Figure 2. Deformation
The plot of the deformations of the cantilever beams are shown in Figure 3. The cantilever behavior can be observed of different types of beams (1D beam, 2D shells, 3D solids) solved for nonlinear large displacement analysis.


Figure 3. Displacement Contour