Substructure load case with nodal pressure loads

A simple wing model is discretized using C3D8 elements. Kinematic and distributing coupling constraints connect reference nodes on the tip and the top surface of the wing, respectively. A coarse, almost regular, nonstructural load mesh is generated using SFM3D4 elements and tied to the wing structure using tie constraints.

The substructure is defined from the wing structure and the tied load mesh. Both displacement degrees of freedom are retained for the coupling’s reference nodes, and load vectors representing nodal pressure loadings are defined on the load mesh using distributed pressure load type NP. The tie constraints impose the mapping of the nodal pressure load distributions on the wing structure. Such nodal pressure load cases might be used, for example, to apply transient distributed loads like lift forces or contact pressure with high accuracy at the usage level. In this analysis, a load case is selected and activated in a static analysis at the usage level. The results recovered from the substructure analysis are compared with the results from the analysis without a substructure.