Meshed General Beam Section with Full Stiffness Coupling
The meshed general beam section definition for element types B31 and B32 in
Abaqus/Standard is enhanced by an option that enables full coupling between the six beam section
strains and the six beam section forces and moments.
To set up the full coupling behavior, you define the associated 21 values of
the symmetric beam section stiffness matrix. Instead of defining these values manually,
you can compute them in Abaqus/Standard by first analyzing two-dimensional meshes of the associated cross-section geometries
with 3-DOF warping elements and proper material assignments. For example, for a wind
turbine rotor blade, you can define and analyze a two-dimensional cross-section mesh
at the middle of every beam element. Each analysis generates a
jobname.bsp file that contains the
stiffness and mass property definitions of the associated meshed general beam section
with full coupling, using the new options *SECTION STIFFNESS for the stiffness and
*SECTION INERTIA for the mass properties. The beam model for the rotor blade then
references these files.
Benefits: You can now characterize the elastic response of composite beams more
accurately; for example, when modeling wind turbine or helicopter rotor
blades.
For more information, see
Using a General Beam Section to Define the Section Behavior