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CHAPTER 59
Summary 1155
Introduction 1156
Modeling Details 1156
Solution Procedure 1158
Results and Discussion 1159
Input File(s) 1162
Video 1162
References 1162
CHAPTER 59 1155
Shallow Cylindrical Shell Snap-through
Summary
Title Chapter 59: Shallow Cylindrical Shell Snap-Through
Features Snap-through of a shallow cylindrical shell structure
Geometry
Introduction
The purpose of this document is to demonstrate the arc-length solution capability of Nastran to solve snap-through
problems using the ARCLN option in NLSTEP entry. The example considered is a shallow cylindrical shell structure
which exhibits snap-through and snap-back behaviors under the action of a point load. This problem is widely used
by many researchers to investigate and validate various nonlinear arc-length procedures. The challenge with load
control nonlinear solution methods is that they fail to converge at limit points where the tangent stiffness matrix is
singular. Hence, these methods are not suitable for applications where the response of a structure beyond the limit point
is of interest. Although displacement control methods can capture the snap-through behavior of such problems, they
fail at the point where snap-back begins. The arc-length method which is a path following technique allows the
analysis to pass the limit points without any difficulty.
The model is analyzed in MD Nastran using the SOL 400 solution sequence. Crisfield’s arc-length scheme is
utilized for the nonlinear solution procedure. Nastran analysis results are compared with that of published solutions
(Crisfield, 1981).
Modeling Details
The geometry of the model, shown in Figure 59-1, is a cylindrical shell with radius R = 2540 mm, length 2L = 508
mm, and thickness h = 6.35 mm. The straight edges of the structure are pin supported and the curved edges are free.
The cylindrical segment subtends an angle 2 = 0.2 radians with the axis of the cylinder. A point load P is applied at
the midpoint of the shell structure.
Since the structure exhibits bi-planar symmetry, only a quadrant of the geometry is considered for the finite element
analysis. A 6 x 6 shell element mesh is used to discretize the model. The case control options used for the solution
sequence SOL 400 are
SUBCASE 1
SET 100 = 6,36
STEP 1
ANALYSIS = NLSTATIC
NLSTEP = 1
SPC = 2
LOAD = 2
DISPLACEMENT(SORT1,REAL,PUNCH)=100
OLOAD(PLOT,PUNCH)= 100
SPC and LOAD cards are used to identify the set numbers for displacement boundary conditions and applied loads,
respectively. DISPLACEMENT and OLOAD cards represent the analysis output for displacements and loads.
CHAPTER 59 1157
Shallow Cylindrical Shell Snap-through
Element Modeling
Four node quadrilateral shell elements (CQUADR) are used to model the structure. Properties of the elements, such as
shell thickness, are defined through the PSHELL entry. Additional nonlinear properties for the shell elements
corresponding to PSHELL are specified using the PSHLN1 option. Keyword C4 indicates that the next two entries in
that input line apply to elements with four corner nodes. DCTN implies a doubly-curved thin shell element type, and
LDK is the integration code. For thick shell elements, DCT and L options are used for the structural property and
integration code, respectively.
PSHELL 1 1 6.35 1 1
PSHLN1 1
C4 DCTN LDK
Material Modeling
Linear isotropic material properties are defined using MAT1 entry. Elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio are the material
constant input for this analysis.
MAT1 1 3105. .3 1.
Figure 59-2 Loading and Boundary Conditions on the Finite Element Model
SPCADD and LOAD cards define the single point constraint and load sets, respectively. Displacement constraints and
concentrated nodal forces are specified using SPC1 and FORCE cards, respectively.
SPCADD 2 1 3 4
LOAD 2 1. 1.
$ Displacement Constraints of Load Set : pinned
SPC1 1 12 1 7 8 9 10 11
$ Displacement Constraints of Load Set : symmetry_z
SPC1 3 345 1 2 3 4 5 6
$ Displacement Constraints of Load Set : symmetry_x
SPC1 4 156 6 32 33 34 35 36
$ Nodal Forces of Load Set : point_load
FORCE 1 6 0 250. 0. -1. 0.
Solution Procedure
The problem is analyzed in MD Nastran using the SOL 400 routine which is an implicit nonlinear solution procedure.
In the PARAM entry LGDISP = 1 enables the nonlinear large displacement capability with updated element
coordinates and follower forces effect. Control parameters for the nonlinear solution scheme are described through the
NLSTEP entry. The entries in GENERAL option are common to all types of analysis. The first three entries denote
maximum, minimum number of iterations allowed for each increment and maximum number of bisections in the
current increment.
PARAM LGDISP 1
NLSTEP 1 1.00
GENERAL 25 1 10
ARCLN CRIS 0.05 0.01 1.0001 5 1000
MECH PUV 0.001 0.001 0.00 PFNT 3
ARCLN keyword activates the arc-length load stepping strategy for the analysis. The type of arc-length scheme, CRIS
which represents Crisfield’s technique, is specified in the first field. The second field indicates the initial time step
expressed as a fraction of the total analysis load step time. Minimum and maximum allowable ratios of arc-lengths
CHAPTER 59 1159
Shallow Cylindrical Shell Snap-through
between successive increments are specified in the next two fields. The sixth entry indicates the desired number of
iterations for convergence and the last field implies the maximum number of increments in the current load case.
The parameters for a mechanical analysis are described through MECH keyword. The first field flags to select the
convergence criteria. The next two fields indicate the tolerance error for displacement and load. The method for
updating the stiffness matrix is specified in the fifth field. The flag used in the last entry chooses the type of variables
to be considered for error check.
In this analysis, an initial load increment of 0.01, which is 1% of the total load applied, is used. A convergence check
on relative displacement and residual forces is selected and the corresponding tolerance values are 0.001 and 0.001.
Nodal rotations and moments are not included in the convergence check. Pure full Newton-Raphson method is
employed for updating the stiffness matrix which recalculates the tangent stiffness matrix for every iteration.
This problem can be solved alternately by adopting the automatic adaptive load stepping scheme with damping option.
This procedure is initiated with the ADAPT keyword which replaces the ARCLN option in the NLSTEP entry. Initial time
step, minimum and maximum time steps and the desired number of iterations are sequentially specified for the ADAPT
option. In the next line of input, the flag to activate damping (IDAMP) and the damping ratio (DAMP) are specified.
ADAPT 0.01 1E-5 0.5 5
4 2E-4
IDAMP = 4 employs the time step control method using damping. A damping ratio of 2x10-4 is used in this problem.
between the adaptive and arc-length solution schemes. In the first phase of the curve when the structure is in stable
equilibrium, the two approaches yield matching results which indicates that the adaptive times stepping method
introduces negligible damping into the system. But, in the vicinity of the limit point, where the structure approaches
an unstable configuration, equilibrium is attained numerically by adding artificial damping. Beyond this point, while
the true equilibrium path follows a downward trend in the snap through and snap-back regimes, the adaptive time
stepping procedure follows a horizontal path as a solution is attempted at a constant load value of 608N (thin shell
model). The strain energy that needs to be relieved by the structure to remain in equilibrium is dissipated by damping.
The constant load response continues until the structure reaches the next undamped stable configuration corresponding
to this load value, after which the path followed by the curve is similar to the arc-length method. It is to be noted that
unlike the arc-length method this approach is not capable of predicting the stable configurations at load levels below
the current load step. But, the damping option is very useful when analyzing complicated structures posing
convergence problems due to local instabilities. In such cases, it must be ensured that energy dissipated by damping
does not exceed a small proportion of internal energy (e.g., 2%) so that the error introduced in the load-deflection
response is within an acceptable limit.
Figure 59-5 Response of the Structure with Automatic Adaptive Load Stepping Scheme and Damping
1162 MD Demonstration Problems
CHAPTER 59
Input File(s)
Files Description
nug_59a.dat Snap-through analysis using arc-length method
The model is analyzed using the adaptive load stepping method with
nug_59b.dat
artificial damping
Video
Click on the image or caption below to view a streaming video of this problem; it lasts approximately 14 minutes and
explains how the steps are performed.
References
Crisfield, M. A., A fast incremental/iterative solution procedure that handles “snap-through”, Computers & Structures,
1981, 13, 55-62