fcFEM - FEA from start to finish

About the development of the FEM module/workbench.

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HarryvL
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Re: fcFEM - FEA from start to finish

Post by HarryvL »

I spent some time quality checking the Mohr Coulomb model with tension cut off. Here the results for a challenging analysis of a thin simply supported concrete plate (10x10x0.15m) loaded by a uniform load of 10kPa (1.0Te/m2).

An elastic analysis gives a reinforcement ratio of approximately 4% at the center of the plate. This is high but still realistic. The elastic deformation of the plate under the design load is 41mm, which is L/250 and therefore on the high side of what is allowable.


fcFEM_Simply_Supported_Plate_Stn_Conc_Elastic_Deformation.png
fcFEM_Simply_Supported_Plate_Stn_Conc_Elastic_Deformation.png (112.72 KiB) Viewed 2053 times


Next I used fcFEM to load the plate to collapse. The material parameters are as follows (including the tough assumptions of full non-associated plasticity, psi=phi-30, and zero allowable tension):

Code: Select all

yield strength steel = 315.0 MPa
compressive strength concrete = 15.75 MPa
friction angle (phi) = 30.0 degrees           		
dilation angle (psi) = 0.0 degrees         		
material: Mohr-Coulomb
tension cut off: principal stress
tension strength concrete = 0.0 MPa
reinforcement ratio: automatic from elastic analysis
minimum reinforcement ratio = 0.001

The load-deflection curve shows a 10% margin between the elastic design load and the collapse load of the plate:


fcFEM_Simply_Supported_Plate_Standard_Concrete_L_u.png
fcFEM_Simply_Supported_Plate_Standard_Concrete_L_u.png (32.69 KiB) Viewed 2053 times


Note that the much larger elastic deformations are a result of assuming zero tension in the concrete from the start. The analysis should only be used to judge collapse load. When the incremental deformation of the plate at collapse (below) is compared to the elastic deformation (above) then it is clear that a collapse mechanism has developed (straight vs curved plate segments plus a small zone of rotation ... a plastic hinge):


fcFEM_Simply_Supported_Plate_Stn_Conc_Deformation.png
fcFEM_Simply_Supported_Plate_Stn_Conc_Deformation.png (157.24 KiB) Viewed 2053 times


and another representation of the same facts:


fcFEM_Simply_Supported_Plate_Stn_Conc_Deformation_PV.png
fcFEM_Simply_Supported_Plate_Stn_Conc_Deformation_PV.png (97.64 KiB) Viewed 2053 times


Although its still early days and much more testing and (speed and memory) optimising is required I think fcFEM holds promise as a robust (conceptual) design tool.

Next I will work on an idea for an alternative material model that should be faster and more stable. Stay tuned in.
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HarryvL
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Re: fcFEM - FEA from start to finish

Post by HarryvL »

... meanwhile, somewhere on a Thai beach 🏝 ... if only they had used FEM work bench they would have known to put the rafter upside down.
CD795816-C1E0-4814-A381-5AA4A90771C4.jpeg
CD795816-C1E0-4814-A381-5AA4A90771C4.jpeg (491.05 KiB) Viewed 1975 times
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PrzemoF
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Re: fcFEM - FEA from start to finish

Post by PrzemoF »

HarryvL wrote: Mon Jul 01, 2019 7:34 am ... meanwhile, somewhere on a Thai beach 🏝 ... if only they had used FEM work bench they would have known to put the rafter upside down.
[..]
For me this will be the post of the month!!! :lol:
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Re: fcFEM - FEA from start to finish

Post by bernd »

you never know ... they might have no snow but strong wind suction and FreeCAD FEM did gave them the result to put it upside down ... :mrgreen:
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HarryvL
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Re: fcFEM - FEA from start to finish

Post by HarryvL »

Ah yes of course. I will go back and ask them :lol:
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Re: fcFEM - FEA from start to finish

Post by bernd »

bernd wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 6:50 pm
HarryvL wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 5:12 pm Something else ... I just pulled and built the latest FC source from femconcrete and it broke my fcFEM macro :shock: It looks like an additional parameter was added to the FemInputWriter constructor? I simply put another None at the initiation call of the relevant object and now it works again, but it makes me worry that any call to FC API is vulnerable? Also, it would mean that the macro would either work with 0.17/0.18 or 0.19, but not both. Any suggestions on how to manage this? Thanks, Harry
This is some new problem we gone face in FEM. On one side we still do a lot devellopment, but on the other side people start to use FEM API. I will change it in a way it still runs and you need not to adapt it. But we need to think about this. As soon as a new FEM constraint object arises, we will brake it again. The funny thing is we are compatible with 0.17 just because there was no new object in 0.18 ...
No change has been made so far because still there was no new object. But now we have new ones. I changed the signature of FemInputWriter. See topic https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=43092 especially post https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic. ... 10#p370183 But from now we gone have a stable API for this class which I do not intend to change anymore.

BTW: collecting all analysis member is just one line of code :D
cadcam
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Re: fcFEM - FEA from start to finish

Post by cadcam »

I have just been reading this interesting thread, which seems
to have stopped. Is there a direct follow-on thread?

Many Thanks
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johnwang
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Re: fcFEM - FEA from start to finish

Post by johnwang »

cadcam wrote: Sat Nov 07, 2020 11:13 am I have just been reading this interesting thread, which seems
to have stopped. Is there a direct follow-on thread?

Many Thanks
It's not compatible with current FC.
hfc series CAE workbenches for FreeCAD (hfcNastran95, hfcMystran, hfcFrame3DD, hfcSU2 and more)
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bernd
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Re: fcFEM - FEA from start to finish

Post by bernd »

Harry has stopped development. It would only need a few files here and there to make it run again, but only Harry is able to do it in a reasonable amount of time. I would give hands.
HarryvL wrote: :bell:
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Re: fcFEM - FEA from start to finish

Post by Kunda1 »

Yea, it would be awesome if this code doesn't rot, but actually gets in to master.
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