Truss Element Library

This section provides a reference to the truss elements available in Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit.

This page discusses:

 

See Also
Truss Elements
*SOLID SECTION

Element Types

2D Stress/Displacement Truss Elements

T2D2

2-node linear displacement

T2D2H(S)

2-node linear displacement, hybrid

T2D3(S)

3-node quadratic displacement

T2D3H(S)

3-node quadratic displacement, hybrid

Active Degrees of Freedom

1, 2

Additional Solution Variables

Element type T2D2H has one additional variable and element type T2D3H has two additional variables relating to axial force.

3D Stress/Displacement Truss Elements

T3D2

2-node linear displacement

T3D2H(S)

2-node linear displacement, hybrid

T3D3(S)

3-node quadratic displacement

T3D3H(S)

3-node quadratic displacement, hybrid

Active Degrees of Freedom

1, 2, 3

Additional Solution Variables

Element type T3D2H has one additional variable and element type T3D3H has two additional variables relating to axial force.

2D Coupled Temperature-Displacement Truss Elements

T2D2T(S)

2-node, linear displacement, linear temperature

T2D3T(S)

3-node, quadratic displacement, linear temperature

Active Degrees of Freedom

1, 2 at middle node for T2D3T

1, 2, 11 at all other nodes

Additional Solution Variables

None.

3D Coupled Temperature-Displacement Truss Elements

T3D2T(S)

2-node, linear displacement, linear temperature

T3D3T(S)

3-node, quadratic displacement, linear temperature

Active Degrees of Freedom

1, 2, 3 at middle node for T3D3T

1, 2, 3, 11 at all other nodes

Additional Solution Variables

None.

2D Piezoelectric Truss Elements

T2D2E(S)

2-node, linear displacement, linear electric potential

T2D3E(S)

3-node, quadratic displacement, quadratic electric potential

Active Degrees of Freedom

1, 2, 9

Additional Solution Variables

None.

3D Piezoelectric Truss Elements

T3D2E(S)

2-node, linear displacement, linear electric potential

T3D3E(S)

3-node, quadratic displacement, quadratic electric potential

Active Degrees of Freedom

1, 2, 3, 9

Additional Solution Variables

None.

Nodal Coordinates Required

2D: X, Y

3D: X, Y, Z

Element Property Definition

You must provide the cross-sectional area of the element. If no area is given, Abaqus assumes unit area.

Element-Based Loading

Distributed Loads

Distributed loads are available for elements with displacement degrees of freedom. They are specified as described in Distributed Loads.

*dload
  1. Load ID (*DLOAD): BX
  2. FL−3

  3. Body force in global X-direction.

  1. Load ID (*DLOAD): BY
  2. FL−3

  3. Body force in global Y-direction.

  1. Load ID (*DLOAD): BZ
  2. FL−3

  3. Body force in global Z-direction. (Only for 3D trusses.)

  1. Load ID (*DLOAD): BXNU
  2. FL−3

  3. Nonuniform body force in global X-direction with magnitude supplied via user subroutine DLOAD in Abaqus/Standard  and VDLOAD in Abaqus/Explicit.

  1. Load ID (*DLOAD): BYNU
  2. FL−3

  3. Nonuniform body force in global Y-direction with magnitude supplied via user subroutine DLOAD in Abaqus/Standard  and VDLOAD in Abaqus/Explicit.

  1. Load ID (*DLOAD): BZNU
  2. FL−3

  3. Nonuniform body force in global Z-direction with magnitude supplied via user subroutine DLOAD in Abaqus/Standard  and VDLOAD in Abaqus/Explicit. (Only for 3D trusses.)

  1. Load ID (*DLOAD): CENT(S)
  2. FL−4 (ML−3T−2)

  3. Centrifugal load (magnitude is input as ρ⁢ω2, where ρ is the mass density per unit volume, ω is the angular velocity).

  1. Load ID (*DLOAD): CENTRIF(S)
  2. T−2

  3. Centrifugal load (magnitude is input as ω2, where ω is the angular velocity).

  1. Load ID (*DLOAD): CORIO(S)
  2. FL−4T (ML−3T−1)

  3. Coriolis force (magnitude is input as ρ⁢ω, where ρ is the mass density per unit volume, ω is the angular velocity).

  1. Load ID (*DLOAD): GRAV
  2. LT−2

  3. Gravity loading in a specified direction (magnitude is input as acceleration).

  1. Load ID (*DLOAD): ROTA(S)
  2. T−2

  3. Rotary acceleration load (magnitude is input as α, where α is the rotary acceleration).

Abaqus/Aqua Loads

Abaqus/Aqua loads are specified as described in Abaqus/Aqua Analysis. They are available only for stress/displacement trusses.

*cload/ *dload
  1. Load ID (*CLOAD/ *DLOAD): FDD
  2. FL−1

  3. Transverse fluid drag load.

  1. Load ID (*CLOAD/ *DLOAD): FD1
  2. F

  3. Fluid drag force on the first end of the truss (node 1).

  1. Load ID (*CLOAD/ *DLOAD): FD2
  2. F

  3. Fluid drag force on the second end of the truss (node 2 or node 3).

  1. Load ID (*CLOAD/ *DLOAD): FDT
  2. FL−1

  3. Tangential fluid drag load.

  1. Load ID (*CLOAD/ *DLOAD): FI
  2. FL−1

  3. Fluid inertia load.

  1. Load ID (*CLOAD/ *DLOAD): FI1
  2. F

  3. Fluid inertia force on the first end of the truss (node 1).

  1. Load ID (*CLOAD/ *DLOAD): FI2
  2. F

  3. Fluid inertia force on the second end of the truss (node 2 or node 3).

  1. Load ID (*CLOAD/ *DLOAD): PB
  2. FL−1

  3. Buoyancy load (with closed end condition).

  1. Load ID (*CLOAD/ *DLOAD): WDD
  2. FL−1

  3. Transverse wind drag load.

  1. Load ID (*CLOAD/ *DLOAD): WD1
  2. F

  3. Wind drag force on the first end of the truss (node 1).

  1. Load ID (*CLOAD/ *DLOAD): WD2
  2. F

  3. Wind drag force on the second end of the truss (node 2 or node 3).

Distributed Heat Fluxes

Distributed heat fluxes are available for coupled temperature-displacement trusses. They are specified as described in Thermal Loads.

*dflux
  1. Load ID (*DFLUX): BF(S)
  2. JL−3 T−1

  3. Heat body flux per unit volume.

  1. Load ID (*DFLUX): BFNU(S)
  2. JL−3 T−1

  3. Nonuniform heat body flux per unit volume with magnitude supplied via user subroutine DFLUX.

  1. Load ID (*DFLUX): S1(S)
  2. JL−2 T−1

  3. Heat surface flux per unit area into the first end of the truss (node 1).

  1. Load ID (*DFLUX): S2(S)
  2. JL−2 T−1

  3. Heat surface flux per unit area into the second end of the truss (node 2 or node 3).

  1. Load ID (*DFLUX): S1NU(S)
  2. JL−2 T−1

  3. Nonuniform heat surface flux per unit area into the first end of the truss (node 1) with magnitude supplied via user subroutine DFLUX.

  1. Load ID (*DFLUX): S2NU(S)
  2. JL−2 T−1

  3. Nonuniform heat surface flux per unit area into the second end of the truss (node 2 or node 3) with magnitude supplied via user subroutine DFLUX.

Film Conditions

Film conditions are available for coupled temperature-displacement trusses. They are specified as described in Thermal Loads.

*film
  1. Load ID (*FILM): F1(S)
  2. JL−2 T−1θ−1

  3. Film coefficient and sink temperature at the first end of the truss (node 1).

  1. Load ID (*FILM): F2(S)
  2. JL−2 T−1θ−1

  3. Film coefficient and sink temperature at the second end of the truss (node 2 or node 3).

  1. Load ID (*FILM): F1NU(S)
  2. JL−2 T−1θ−1

  3. Nonuniform film coefficient and sink temperature at the first end of the truss (node 1) with magnitude supplied via user subroutine FILM.

  1. Load ID (*FILM): F2NU(S)
  2. JL−2 T−1θ−1

  3. Nonuniform film coefficient and sink temperature at the second end of the truss (node 2 or node 3) with magnitude supplied via user subroutine FILM.

Radiation Types

Radiation conditions are available for coupled temperature-displacement trusses. They are specified as described in Thermal Loads.

*radiate
  1. Load ID (*RADIATE): R1(S)
  2. Dimensionless

  3. Emissivity and sink temperature at the first end of the truss (node 1).

  1. Load ID (*RADIATE): R2(S)
  2. Dimensionless

  3. Emissivity and sink temperature at the second end of the truss (node 2 or node 3).

Electric Fluxes

Electric fluxes are available for piezoelectric trusses. They are specified as described in Piezoelectric Analysis.

*decharge
  1. Load ID (*DECHARGE): EBF(S)
  2. CL−3

  3. Body flux per unit volume.

Element Output

Stress, Strain, and Other Tensor Components

Stress and other tensors (including strain tensors) are available for elements with displacement degrees of freedom. All tensors have the same components. For example, the stress components are as follows:

S11

Axial stress.

Heat Flux Components

Available for coupled temperature-displacement trusses.

HFL1

Heat flux along the element axis.

Node Ordering on Elements



 

Numbering of Integration Points for Output