Calibration Jobs

When you perform a calibration, the app minimizes the error between the response curve and the test data using the specified optimization method and best-fit error measure.

This page discusses:

See Also
Executing the Calibration
Best-Fit Error Measures
Calibration Algorithms and Parameter Sensitivity

Each time you execute a calibration job, you can observe the following general changes in the app:

  • The response lines get closer to the test data in the plot.
  • The material model parameters change.
  • The error measures listed for the test data sets change, typically approaching zero or one (depending on your choice of error measurement algorithm) for all data sets or the data sets you choose to emphasize.
  • The Calibration History panel appears, providing a graphical representation of the reduction of error by increment.

Calibration Strategies

You can fine-tune the calibration and achieve a better fit for the response using the following strategies:

  • After you import data sets and specify a material model, the app provides initial values for the material parameters and adds the resulting response curve to the plot. You can adjust these default values manually in the Calibration options panel to achieve a better fit; each change you make to a parameter is reflected in the response curve and in the error measurements. The robustness of any nonlinear optimization method can be improved significantly by choosing a good set of initial parameters.
  • For calibrations with multiple test data sets, you can increase the relative weights of the data sets or even disable selected data sets. Data in inactive data sets are disregarded by the calibration job, and data sets with higher weights have a higher influence on the calibration calculations. You might want to disable or de-emphasize test data sets when your primary goal is to achieve a close fit for one of the sets; for example, if you want the response to match your uniaxial test data very closely.
  • You can adjust the best-fit error measure to calculate the deviation between response and test data using a different method.
  • You can use a different optimization method to perform the calibration. For most optimization methods you can also adjust the solution and function tolerance, specify a maximum number of function evaluations, and set a limit on the number of iterations.
  • The flexibility in the app enables you to perform a wide range of sequential calibration workflows. You can make any of the following changes between calibration runs: modify the material model, activate and deactivate test data, modify your selection of material constant design variables, or choose different optimization algorithms and error measures.

    For example, assume you have test data that is well suited for a hyperelastic Mullins material model. The app enables you to start by defining a hyperelastic-only material model and calibrate it using some or all of the available test data. Once your calibration is complete, you can modify the material model by adding Mullins. If you keep the same hyperelastic potential, you can see that the calibrated hyperelastic material constants from your previous calibration run persist in the app, which gives you a good initial solution for the next calibration run that includes Mullins.

Calibration Notes

The following list provides some insights and tips about the app:

  • The analytical and numerical execution modes are based upon driving the material's kinematics and calculating the stress response, so in cases of tests in which the stress is specified (such as creep tests), the evaluation is performed by imposing the strain measured in the test and predicting the stress (i.e. the controlled variable is switched from that originally held constant in the test itself
  • Meaningful calibration of Mullins effect requires specifying a cyclic test, or a test with unloading.