OS-V: 0700 Twisted Cantilever Beam (Implicit Results)
MacNeal-Harder Test This is a twisted cantilever beam solved with solid and shell elements. A model is made with each element's type to investigate the effect of distorted elements with a high aspect ratio.

Figure 1. FE Model of the Beam with Boundary Conditions and Loadcases
Model Files
Benchmark Model
Six types of elements are used for this problem. They are tria-shell, quad-shell, and hexa-solid elements, each with 1st and 2nd order. Two loading cases, in-plane bending and transverse bending, are used for each model. For both load cases, unit loads are applied in a consistent fashion over all of the nodes at the tip of the beam.
Load Type | Component | Value |
---|---|---|
In-plane bending | UY | 0.001754 |
Transverse bending | UZ | 0.005424 |
Linear Static Analysis Results
In-plane Bending | Transverse Bending | |
---|---|---|
QUAD4 | 0.988 | 0.992 |
QUAD8 | 1.014 | 1.062 |
TRI3 | 0.839 | 0.984 |
TRI6 | 1.161 | 1.215 |
HEX8 | 0.986 | 1.005 |
HEX20 | 1.017 | 1.052 |
Reference
MacNeal, R.H., and Harder, R.L., A Proposed Standard Set of Problems to Test Finite Element Accuracy, Finite Elements in Analysis and Design, 1 (1985) 3-20.