Nonlinear analysis in ADINA Structures

Theodore Sussman, Ph.D.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 1

 Topics presented
• Types of nonlinearities
– Materially nonlinear only
– Geometrically nonlinear analysis
– Deformation-dependent loads
• Theory of nonlinear iterations
– full Newton iterations
– line searches
– limiting displacements
– ATS
– low-speed dynamics
• Stiffness stabilization
• TLA and TLA-S methods
• Birth-death
• Prescribed displacements
• Geometric imperfections
© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 2
 Nonlinear analysis in ADINA Structures, theory
• Much of the theory used by ADINA Structures can be found in the
following reference:

K.J. Bathe, Finite Element Procedures, 2nd ed, Cambridge, MA,

Klaus-Jürgen Bathe, 2014

and also in the papers by Bathe and co-workers.

• Much of the material presented in this lecture is taken from Chapter 6 of

the textbook.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 3

 Materially nonlinear only
• Materially nonlinear only (MNO)
– Elastic-plastic material, viscoelastic material, etc.

u  nodal point displacements

e  strains
Symbolically τ  f (e E )
e E  elastic strains
e P  plastic strains
e P  change in plastic strains
τ  Cauchy stresses
F  nodal point forces

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 4

 Geometric nonlinearities
• Geometric nonlinearities include
– Euler buckling
– P effect
HL3
– stress stiffening 
3EI
– large rotations
– large strains

• All of these effects are included by the use of a Lagrangian formulation

(for example, total Lagrangian), with appropriate stress and strain
measures, and with an appropriate material model. The details depend
upon the element type and material model.

• We will discuss the nonlinearities due to deformation-dependent loading

later.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 5

 Geometric nonlinearities - large disp, small strains
• Large displacements / small strains with an elastic orthotropic material:

ε  Green-Lagrange strains S  2nd Piola-Kirchhoff stresses

 S11   C11 C12 C13 0 0 0  11 

S   C22 C23 0 0 0   
 22     22 
 S33   C33 0 0 0  33 
   
 S12   C44 0 0 2
  12  Symbolically τ  f (e)
 S23  symmetric 0   2 23 
  
C55
  is replaced by S  f (ε)
 S13   C66   213 

same stress-strain matrix as in

linear analysis

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 6

Geometric nonlinearities - large disp, small strains
• This procedure includes all of the geometric nonlinearities mentioned
above, with the exception of nonlinearities due to large strains.

• This procedure gives correct results provided that the strains are small,
because, for small strains ε  e and S  τ .

• In fact, the definition of small strains is based on these conditions.

Numerically, small strains are less than about 2%.

• If the strains are larger, the results will start to deviate from the results
that you might expect. For example, the response in compression will
not be the same as the response in tension.
– There is no real material for which S is linearly related to ε ,
when the strains are large.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 7

 Geometric nonlinearities - large disp, small strains
• Large displacements / small strains with an elastic-plastic material:

ε E  elastic Green-Lagrange strains Symbolically τ  f (e E )

ε P  plastic Green-Lagrange strains is replaced by S  f (ε E )

• As in the elastic-orthotropic case, this procedure gives correct results

provided that the strains are small. We will give more details in the
lecture on plasticity.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 8

 Geometric nonlinearities - large disp, large strains
• Large displacements / large strains with an elastic-plastic material, ULH
formulation:

X  deformation gradient Symbolically τ  f (e E )

X P  plastic deformation gradient is replaced by τ  f (E ER )

X E  elastic deformation gradient

R E  elastic rotation tensor
U E  elastic stretch tensor
E ER  elastic Hencky strains τ  rotated Cauchy stresses

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 9

 Geometric nonlinearities - large disp, large strains
• The Hencky strains are a three-dimensional extension of the logarithmic
(true) strains, and the Cauchy stresses are the true stresses (force per
unit deformed area). So the material relationship is a good
approximation for real materials.

• Therefore the ULH procedure can be used in both small and large strain
situations. In addition, large rotations are accounted for.

• For some materials, there is also the possibility of using the ULJ
formulation (updated Lagrangian Jaumann), but we will not discuss this
further.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 10

 Geometric nonlinearities - large disp, large strains
• Large displacements / large strains with a rubberlike material.

W
S W  strain energy density
ε

• Because the material model is directly applicable to large strains, the

procedure also is directly applicable to large strains.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 11

 Deformation-dependent loads
• When the model undergoes large displacements, the loads can also be
geometrically nonlinear.

• If the model deforms significantly, there are two options:

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 12

 Deformation-dependent loads
• By default, a pressure load is deformation-dependent if it is applied to a
geometrically nonlinear element (large displacement kinematics).

• Deformation-dependent pressure loads can slow down the rate of

convergence of the equilibrium iterations.

• Concentrated loads can also be deformation-dependent (follower loads).

• Centrifugal loads can also be deformation-dependent (load softening).

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 13

 Equations of motion, statics
• The finite element equations of motion for ADINA Structures are
written in terms of nodal point forces.

• The left superscript t+t means “evaluated at time t+t”.

t t t t
0 R F
Vector of Vector of
external internal nodal
nodal point point forces
forces (from (from element
applied loads) stresses)

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 14

 Equations of motion
• The unknowns in ADINA Structures are the nodal point displacements
and rotations.

t  t
U Lots of theory

F  F U
contained in this
t t t t
equation!

t  t
R  R t  t
U
• In many cases, the external forces are independent of the nodal point
displacements (deformation-independent loads).

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 15

 Equations of motion, linear special case
• If R is deformation-independent and F is a linear function of U, then the
analysis is linear, and we can then write

t t
F  K t t U
and

K t  t U  t  t
R

• But frequently F is a nonlinear function of U, or R is deformation-

dependent, so the equations of motion are nonlinear and we must solve
them iteratively.

t  t
0 R  t  t F

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 16

 Equations of motion, nonlinear case
• We suppose that the solution at time t is known, and we seek the
solution at time t+t.

• The first approximation to the the solution at time t+t is

t t
U (0)  t U
where (i) is an iteration counter (starting from 0).
t  t t  t t t
• Using U (0) we compute F (0) , R (0)
t t t  t  t  t F (0) ideally.
and also K (0) where K (0) 
U

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 17

 Equations of motion, nonlinear case
• Next, we compute the “out-of-balance” loads vector t t R (0)  t t F (0)
and a correction to the displacement vector
t  t t  t
K (0) ΔU  R (0)  t  t F (0)
to obtain a new trial displacement vector
t  t t  t
U (1) = U (0) + ΔU

• In general, given t  t U ( i 1) , ADINA Structures iterates as follows:

t t
Full Newton Compute t  t F ( i 1) , t t R ( i 1) , K ( i 1)
iterations
t t ( i 1) t t ( i 1) t t ( i 1)
without line K U  R  F
searches t  t t  t
U (i )  U ( i 1)  U
© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 18
 One DOF visualization of iterations
• The solution process can be visualized for one DOF in graphical form:

t t
Force Slope t K Slope K (1)
t t
R
t t (1)
Iteration 0
F
Iteration 1

t
R

t  t t  t
t
U U (1) U Displacement

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 19

 Convergence norms
t t ( i 1) t t ( i 1)
• Norm of the out-of-balance force vector: R  F
2

t t
• Norm of the incremental displacement vector: U (i )
2

(for each of these quantities, there are two norms, one for the translational
degrees of freedom and one for the rotational degrees of freedom)

• Out-of-balance energy norm

U ( i )T  t t R ( i 1)  t t F ( i 1) 

• This norm has units of energy, but is not related to the total strain energy
of the model or any other “physical” energy.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 20

 Convergence tolerances
t t
• Force/moment R ( i 1)  t  t F (i 1)
2
 RTOL
RNORM
• Displacement/rotation
t  t
U ( i )
2
 DTOL
DNORM
• Energy

U (i )T  t  t R (i 1)  t t F (i 1) 

 ETOL
U  R 
(1)T t t (0)
F 
t t (0)

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 21

 Line searches
t t t t ( i 1)
• Instead of U (i )
 U  U

we use
t t
U (i )
 t t
U ( i 1)
  U

where  is iteratively chosen to satisfy

UT  t  t R ( i )  t  t F (i ) 
 STOL
U  R
T t t ( i 1)
 F 
t  t ( i 1)

• The default is no line searches.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 22

 Limiting displacements
t t t t
• Instead of U (i )  U ( i 1)  U
we use FAC U in which FAC is chosen to make the largest
incremental displacement component smaller than a certain value
(MAXDISP in the TOLERANCES ITERATION command) .

• The default value of MAXDISP (selected by the choice

MAXDISP=0.0) depends on the model:

- If the model is static and includes contact, MAXDISP is 1% of the

largest model dimension.

- Otherwise MAXDISP is set “very large” so the limiting

displacement feature is not used.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 23

 Example convergence history
• Here is sample printout from the .out file (.log file for FSI).
OUT-OF- NORM OF
BALANCE OUT-OF-BALANCE NORM OF INCREMENTAL CONVERGENCE RATIOS CONVERGENCE RATIOS OUT-OF-BALANCE LOAD
ENERGY FORCE MOMENT DISP. ROTN. CFORCE FOR OUT-OF-BALANCE FOR INCREMENTAL VECTOR CALCULATION
NODE-DOF NODE-DOF NODE-DOF NODE-DOF CFNORM ENERGY FORCE DISP. CFORCE BETA RATIO
MAX VALUE MAX VALUE MAX VALUE MAX VALUE MOMENT ROTN. (ITERNS)
COMPARE WITH COMPARE WITH
ETOL RTOL DTOL RCTOL
(NOT USED)(NOT USED)

ITE= 0 3.50E+02 7.50E+03 2.60E-13 6.10E-02 1.10E-04 0.00E+00 1.00E+00 7.50E+02 0.00E+00 0.00E+00
120-Y 25-X 250-Z 121-Y 0.00E+00 2.60E-14 0.00E+00
-4.50E+03 1.90E-13 –2.40E-02 –4.90E-05

ITE= 1 2.80E-04 5.80E+00 1.00E+00 1.30E-03 8.70E-05 0.00E+00 7.80E-07 5.80E-01 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 1.00E+00 7.10E-04
56-X 45-Z 1-X 24-Y 0.00E+00 1.00E-01 0.00E+00 ( 1)
-3.40E+00 5.00E-01 6.40E-04 –3.90E-05

ITE= 2 6.00E-05 7.90E-02 8.40E-01 1.00E-03 7.00E-05 0.00E+00 1.70E-07 7.90E-03 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 1.00E+00 2.70E-01
34-X 45-Y 56-Z 111-X 0.00E+00 8.40E-02 0.00E+00 ( 1)
3.40E-02 4.00E-01 5.20E-04 –3.10E-05

ITE= 3 2.70E-06 1.90E-01 1.80E-01 2.20E-04 1.50E-05 0.00E+00 7.60E-09 1.90E-02 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 4.00E+00 2.10E-01
115-Y 47-Z 1-X 114-Z 0.00E+00 1.80E-02 0.00E+00 ( 3)
-1.20E-01 8.50E-02 1.10E-04 –6.60E-06

ITE= 4 2.60E-07 4.70E-01 3.30E-02 4.70E-05 3.20E-06 0.00E+00 7.20E-10 4.70E-02 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 4.00E+00 1.90E-01
115-Y 47-Z 1-X 114-Z 0.00E+00 3.30E-03 0.00E+00 ( 3)
3.00E-01 1.60E-02 2.30E-05 –1.40E-06

ITE= 5 7.70E-08 6.70E-03 3.10E-02 3.70E-05 2.50E-06 0.00E+00 2.20E-10 6.70E-04 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 1.00E+00 3.70E-01
115-Y 47-Z 1-X 114-Z 0.00E+00 3.10E-03 0.00E+00 ( 1)
-4.10E-03 1.50E-02 1.90E-05 –1.10E-06

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 24

 Convergence history view

(not the same data as shown in the previous slide)

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 25

 Iteration patterns, quadratic convergence
• Example:
• This is the fastest
ITE= 1 6.40E-08 3.20E-04 0.00E+00 8.60E-03 0.00E+00 5.60E-06 convergence.
114-X 0 131-Y 0 1.00E-05
7.20E-05 0.00E+00 4.30E-04 0.00E+00
• Near convergence, the
ITE= 2 8.00E-10 6.80E-05 0.00E+00 4.40E-04 0.00E+00 2.60E-06 current force norm is
241-Y 0 21-Z 0 1.10E-05 roughly the square of the
-1.70E-05 0.00E+00 3.70E-05 0.00E+00
previous force norm.
ITE= 3 1.70E-12 3.60E-06 0.00E+00 3.00E-05 0.00E+00 4.20E-07
628-Z 0 21-Z 0 1.10E-05 • Quadratic convergence is
-1.30E-06 0.00E+00 –1.80E-06 0.00E+00
only observed if the
ITE= 4 1.70E-18 3.30E-09 0.00E+00 1.60E-08 0.00E+00 1.80E-08
stiffness matrix is truly
588-X 0 1047-Y 0 1.10E-05 “tangent”.
-9.80E-10 0.00E+00 –1.70E-09 0.00E+00

ITE= 5 3.50E-29 1.60E-14 0.00E+00 1.10E-13 0.00E+00 1.30E-11

• Observing quadratic
312-X 0 117-Z 0 1.10E-05 convergence gives some
0.56E-14 0.00E+00 -0.73E-14 0.00E+00 assurance that the solution
has truly converged.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 26

 Iteration patterns, linear convergence
• Example:

• Near convergence, the

ITE= 11 8.70E-08 1.20E-03 4.20E-04 5.80E-03 1.40E-05 5.10E-03
current force norm is a
11-X 22-Y 34-X 16-Z 4.60E+01
-0.52E-03 0.15E-03 0.67E-03 -0.16E-05
factor times the previous
force norm.
ITE= 12 1.10E-08 4.40E-04 1.50E-04 2.10E-03 5.00E-06 1.90E-03
45-Z 55-Y 66-X 23-X 4.60E+01
0.19E-03 -0.53E-04 -0.24E-03 0.59E-06 • Linear convergence is
observed if the stiffness
ITE= 13 1.50E-09 1.60E-04 5.40E-05 7.50E-04 1.80E-06 6.70E-04 matrix is not truly
65-X 56-Y 17-X 45-Z 4.60E+01
“tangent”.
-6.80E-05 1.90E-05 8.70E-05 –2.10E-07
– Deformation-
ITE= 14 1.90E-10 5.70E-05 1.90E-05 2.70E-04 6.50E-07 2.40E-04 dependent loads
65-X 56-Y 17-X 45-Z 4.60E+01)
– Certain material
2.50E-05 –7.00E-06 –3.10E-05 7.70E-08
models

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 27

 Iteration patterns, divergence
• Example:
ITE= 11 3.10E+00 4.50E+02 1.50E+02 1.10E+01 3.50E-02 4.30E-07
3456-X 2314-Y 1232-X 3421-X 0.00E+00
1.60E+02 –6.80E+01 –1.30E+00 8.10E-03

ITE= 12 1.20E+00 2.00E+02 3.60E+01 4.90E+00 1.80E-02 1.20E+01

2342-X 3238-Y 1523-X 1962-Y 1.20E+01
0.65E+02 -0.14E+02 0.59E+00 -0.44E-02

ITE= 13 4.70E+00 6.10E+01 1.10E+01 2.60E+01 7.60E-02 1.20E+01

567-X 456-X 132-Y 429-Z 3.60E-06
1.80E+01 –5.10E+00 3.10E+00 –1.60E-02

ITE= 14 1.40E+01 7.70E+02 9.60E+01 8.70E+00 3.70E-02 3.60E-06

623-X 962-Y 434-Z 347-X 6.60E-24
0.23E+03 -0.26E+02 0.10E+01 -0.95E-02

ITE= 15 2.70E+00 2.70E+02 5.10E+01 1.60E+01 4.30E-02 1.20E+01

439-X 562-Y 983-X 4713-Z 1.20E+01
9.10E+01 –2.10E+01 –1.70E+00 9.70E-03

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 28

What can we do when the solution doesn’t converge?
• Use more iterations (only if the solution was converging already)

• Use line searches

• Use smaller load increments

– Manually reduce the time step
– Use the ATS method (with or without low-speed dynamics)

• Use physical intuition to determine and resolve the problem.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 29

 ATS (automatic time-stepping method)
• When ADINA Structures uses the ATS method, ADINA Structures cuts the
step size increment and retries the step, when there is no convergence.

• For a 1 DOF system

Force

t t
R
t  12 t
R
t
R

t  12 t t  t Displacement
t
U U U
© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 30
ATS example, graphical representation
t

t Original time step, t

NO CONVERGENCE

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 31

ATS example, graphical representation
t

t Original time step, t

NO CONVERGENCE
t /2 First subdivided time step
NO CONVERGENCE

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 32

 ATS example, graphical representation
t

t Original time step, t

NO CONVERGENCE
t /2 First subdivided time step
NO CONVERGENCE
t /4 Second subdivided time step
CONVERGED

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 33

 ATS example, graphical representation
t

t

t /2

t /4
CONVERGED

t Same as the Time Step Prior to

Subdivision

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 34

 ATS example, graphical representation
t

t

t /2

t /4
CONVERGED

t Same as the Time Step Prior to

Subdivision
t /4 Same as the Time Step that Gave
Convergence

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 35

 ATS example, graphical representation
t

t

t /2

t /4
CONVERGED

t Same as the Time Step Prior to

Subdivision
t /4 Same as the Time Step that Gave
Convergence
(t – t /4) Return to Original Time Step
Specified
© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 36
 ATS notes
• The ATS method only saves the solution for the user-specified time steps,
and for the last converged solution if this solution does not correspond to a
user-specified time step.

• After the solution is obtained for a user-specified time step, the program
chooses the next time step according to one of the following options:
– Same as time step prior to subdivision (RESTORE=YES)
– Same as time step that gave convergence (RESTORE=NO)
– Solution time matches original next solution time (always used for
iterative FSI) (RESTORE=ORIGINAL)
– Automatic, based on problem characteristics
(RESTORE=AUTOMATIC)

• If the ATS method does not converge, the program can optionally turn on
low-speed dynamics.
– An additional option specifies the time duration during which low-
speed dynamics is activated; after this period of time, the program
deactivates low-speed dynamics.
© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 37
 Low-speed dynamics
• The ATS method includes a special “low-speed dynamics” option in
static analysis.

• When low-speed dynamics is active, ADINA Structures includes mass

and damping effects in the (otherwise static) analysis.

 (i )  C t t U
 M t t U  (i )  t t K (i 1) U (i )  t t R  t t F (i 1)

where C   M   K  ,  ,  user-specified
• Reasons to use low-speed dynamics:
– Allow for solution of models with rigid-body modes.
– Allow for solutions of models with local snap-through or buckling
instabilities
– Dynamics smooths the response, hence convergence is easier.
© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 38
 Low-speed dynamics, continued
• The mass matrix is evaluated from the density and the “low-speed
inertia factor” (default = 1).

• The damping matrix is evaluated using Rayleigh damping:

C  M  K
where  and  are user-specified parameters (defaults 0 and 10-4).

• Two basic options for damping specification:

– Damping factors applied to entire model (in which case  = 0).
– Damping factors applied to individual element groups, using the
Rayleigh damping options.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 39

 Low-speed dynamics, continued
• When low-speed dynamics is used, the time step size will influence the
results.

•  can be interpreted as a decay time (time constant of exponential

decay). Increasing  increases the decay time.

• It is recommended that either

– The time step size be at least 10, or
– After the solution is obtained, the load be held constant for a
period of time at least 10 to allow the dynamic solution to decay
away.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 40

 Low-speed dynamics, continued
• The solution indicators can be used to assess the magnitudes of the
inertia and damping forces:

• External force indicator I EF  R U

• Damping force indicator I DF  R D U
• Inertia force indicator I I  R I U

====================================================================================
S O L U T I O N A C C U R A C Y I N D I C A T O R S
FOR LOW SPEED DYNAMICS, CONTACT DAMPING, SHELL DRILLING AND STIFFNESS STABILIZATION
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EXTERNAL DRILLING DAMPING INERTIA CONTACT STIFFNESS
FORCES FORCES FORCES FORCES DAMP.FORCES STABIL.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.733E+01 -- 1.861E+00 2.175E-01 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% of ext.forces -- 6.81 0.80 0.00 0.00
======================================================================================

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 41

 Stiffness stabilization
• Sometimes the structure is unstable (has rigid body modes) at the start of the
analysis.

• The equation solver cannot give a solution when there are rigid-body modes.
Rigid-body modes cause zero pivots in the factorized stiffness matrix.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 42

Zero pivots can be removed using stiffness stabilization
• Scale all diagonal stiffness terms (excluding contact diagonals)
without modifying the right-hand-side load vector

 
K ii  1   stab K ii

• Physically, attaches weak springs to all degrees of freedom, but

in such a way to not affect the solution in nonlinear analysis.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 43

Stiffness stabilization does not affect the solution in
nonlinear analysis
• Stiffness stabilization only modifies K, element nodal forces F
are not modified

t t  i 1 i  t t  i 1 t t  i 1

K U  R  F
converges when out-of-balance load
is sufficiently small

• Hence, the converged solution is same as without stabilization.

• However, as K is modified, rate of convergence might be worsened, so that
more iterations are required.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 44

 TLA, TLA-S methods
• Goal: apply a load in nonlinear static analysis without excessive user input.

• User applies total load level (TLA = Total Load Application). ADINA
Structures automatically applies the load using a ramp time function.

• ADINA Structures chooses the number of time steps. ADINA Structures

increases/decreases the time step size depending upon the number of
equilibrium iterations in the previous time step.

• By default:
–1st time step has size 1/50th of the total time.
–Max number of equilibrium iterations = 30.
–Max number of time step subdivisions used in ATS method = 64
–Max limiting incremental displacement = 5% model dimension

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 45

 TLA, TLA-S methods
• TLA-S = TLA with stabilization
– low-speed dynamics
– contact damping
– stiffness stabilization

• At the end of the equilibrium iterations for each step, ADINA Structures
prints the solution indicators:
================================================================================
S O L U T I O N A C C U R A C Y I N D I C A T O R S
FOR LOW SPEED DYNAMICS (LSD), CONTACT DAMPING, AND SHELL DRILLING STIFFNESS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXTERNAL DRILLING LSD DAMPING LSD INERTIA CONTACT

FORCES FORCES FORCES FORCES DAMP.FORCES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

0.267E+02 -- 0.148E+01 0.000E+00 0.554E+01

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% of ext.forces -- 5.53 0.00 20.75
================================================================================

• If indicators are < 1%, solution is “accurate”

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 46

 Element birth/death
• Elements can be born, or can die, during the solution.

• You can specify the birth and death times as part of the model
definition:
– Birth
– Death
– Birth/death

• Elements can die as a result of material rupture.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 47

 Element birth/death
• You should not specify the birth and death times to be exactly equal to
solution times.
– Solution times 1, 2, etc.
• If you want the element to be born at time 2, birth time can be
between 1.001 and 1.999.
• If you want the element to die at time 3, death time can be
between 2.001 and 2.999.

• The element is assumed to be stress-free when it is born.

– Birth time = 1.001 to 1.999, element is stress free at time 1.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 48

 Element death decay time
• The dying element mass
and stiffness can be
removed from the model
over a period of time.
– The element starts to
die at the user-
specified time, and
is completely
removed from the
model after an
additional period of
time.

Element death decay time

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 49

 Prescribed displacements
• Displacements can be prescribed as a function of time (similar to other
load types).

• When the arrival time option is used, the prescribed displacement

becomes active only after the arrival time.
Arrival time is 10

• Relative prescribed displacement option. Total prescribed displacement

= preexisting displacement + relative prescribed displacement.
Arrival time is 10

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 50

 Prescribed displacements - time unloading
• Time unloading with zero user-specified unloading force:

Unloading time is time 2.5

• Time unloading with nonzero user-specified unloading force Ru:

Unloading time is time 2.5

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 51

 Prescribed displacements - force unloading
• Unloading starts when the specified force is exceeded:

User-specified unloading force = 1000

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 52

 Geometric imperfections
• Before the analysis begins, the nodal coordinates can be updated by
imperfection displacements. The "imperfect" nodal coordinates are used
during the analysis, and the computed displacements are based on the
imperfect nodal coordinates.

• The imperfect mesh is stress-free at the start of the analysis.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 53

 Geometric imperfections in collapse analysis
• Buckling modes come
from a linearized
buckling analysis.

• Each buckling mode

can be independently
scaled.

© ADINA R&D, Inc, 2016 54