
Web under local loads – Nonlinear FEA
The more complex a problem is, and the higher the accuracy needed, the more it makes sense to employ Nonlinear FEA. Will it make sense to use it in solving local web loads? Let’s find out!
8 February 2021Choosing between linear buckling and nonlinear buckling in a given case can be difficult. Both approaches have positive and negative aspects. I explain here what are the differences, and when to use each analysis. I promise not to use complicated mathematics, nor highly theoretical approaches. Instead, I will use a simple example to easily describe differences.
The Linear vs nonlinear buckling dilemma got to me when I started my Ph.D. in shell stability. As a civil engineer, I wasn’t really trained in FEA during my studies (apart from obvious programs for structural design). Modeling a shell for Abaqus or NX Nastran was definitely a challenge, but one I could quickly overcome. Problems started when I had to actually define an analysis type for my problem.
I quickly realized that there are far too many possibilities I have never heard about to choose from. The analysis called “buckling” obviously looked promising, and was my first bet 🙂 Later I realized that such an approach was frown upon by some of the “scientific” crowd, so I have searched for an alternative. That way (and thanks to Cornelia Doerich Ph.D. thesis!) I managed to learn about nonlinear buckling! It was then when something “clicked” for me, and I simply never looked at any engineering problem in the same way as before. If you have no experience with nonlinear analysis, I would greatly advise you to take a look – you will be surprised how incredible it may be!
Below, you will see a short video, where I describe what are the differences in linear and nonlinear buckling on a simple shell example. If you have missed it, you can read on my blog about both linear buckling, and nonlinear buckling.
Happy watching 🙂
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10 Lessons I’ve Learned in 10 Years!
10 Lessons I’ve learned in 10 Years!