StructuralModel

Structural model object

Description

A StructuralModel object contains information about a structural analysis problem: the geometry, material properties, damping parameters, body loads, boundary loads, boundary constraints, initial displacement and velocity, and mesh.

Creation

To create a StructuralModel object, use createpde, specifying the first argument 'structural'.

Properties

AnalysisType — Type of structural analysis

'static-solid' | 'static-planestress' | 'static-planestrain' | 'transient-solid' | 'transient-planestress' | 'transient-planestrain' | 'modal-solid' | 'modal-planestress' | 'modal-planestrain'

Type of structural analysis, returned as one of these values.

Static analysis:

• 'static-solid' for static structural analysis of a solid (3-D) problem

• 'static-planestress' for static structural analysis of a plane-stress problem

• 'static-planestrain' for static structural analysis of a plane-strain problem

Transient analysis:

• 'transient-solid' for transient structural analysis of a solid (3-D) problem

• 'transient-planestress' for transient structural analysis of a plane-stress problem

• 'transient-planestrain' for transient structural analysis of a plane-strain problem

Modal analysis:

• 'modal-solid' for modal analysis of a solid (3-D) problem

• 'modal-planestress' for modal analysis of a plane-stress problem

• 'modal-planestrain' for modal analysis of a plane-strain problem

Example: model = createpde('structural','static-solid')

Data Types: char

Geometry — Geometry description

AnalyticGeometry | DiscreteGeometry

Geometry description, returned as AnalyticGeometry for a 2-D geometry or DiscreteGeometry for a 2-D and 3-D geometry.

• Create AnalyticGeometry using the geometryFromEdges function. For details, see AnalyticGeometry Properties.

• Create DiscreteGeometry using the importGeometry function or the geometryFromMesh function. For details, see DiscreteGeometry Properties.

MaterialProperties — Material properties

StructuralMaterialAssignment object containing material property assignments

Material properties within the domain, returned as a StructuralMaterialAssignment object containing the material property assignments. For details, see StructuralMaterialAssignment Properties.

To create the material properties assignments for your structural analysis model, use the structuralProperties function.

BodyLoads — Loads acting on domain or subdomain

BodyLoadAssignment object containing body load assignments

Loads acting on the domain or subdomain, returned as a BodyLoadAssignment object containing body load assignments. For details, see BodyLoadAssignment Properties.

To create body load assignments for your structural analysis model, use the structuralBodyLoad function.

BoundaryConditions — Structural loads and boundary conditions

StructuralBC object containing boundary condition assignments

Structural loads and boundary conditions applied to the geometry, returned as a StructuralBC object containing the boundary condition assignments. For details, see StructuralBC Properties.

To specify boundary conditions for your model, use the structuralBC function. To specify boundary loads, use structuralBoundaryLoad.

DampingModels — Damping model for transient dynamic analysis

StructuralDampingAssignment object containing damping assignments

Damping model for transient dynamic analysis, returned as a StructuralDampingAssignment object containing damping assignments. For details, see StructuralDampingAssignment Properties.

To set damping parameters for your structural model, use the structuralDamping function.

ReferenceTemperature — Reference temperature for thermal load

0 (default) | number

Reference temperature for a thermal load, specified as a number. The reference temperature corresponds to state of zero thermal stress of the model. The default value 0 implies that the thermal load is specified in terms of the temperature change and its derivatives.

To specify the reference temperature for a thermal load in your static structural model, assign the property value directly, for example, structuralmodel.ReferenceTemperature = 10. To specify the thermal load itself, use the structuralBodyLoad function.

Data Types: double

InitialConditions — Initial displacement and velocity

GeometricStructuralICs object | NodalStructuralICs object

Initial displacement and velocity, returned as a GeometricStructuralICs or NodalStructuralICs object. For details, see GeometricStructuralICs Properties and NodalStructuralICs Properties.

To set initial conditions for your transient structural model, use the structuralIC function.

Mesh — Mesh for solution

FEMesh object

Mesh for solution, returned as a FEMesh object. For property details, see FEMesh Properties.

To create the mesh, use the generateMesh function.

Object Functions

geometryFromEdges	Create 2-D geometry
geometryFromMesh	Create geometry from mesh
importGeometry	Import geometry from STL data
structuralBC	Specify boundary conditions for structural model
structuralBodyLoad	Specify body load for structural model
structuralBoundaryLoad	Specify boundary loads for structural model
structuralIC	Set initial conditions for a transient structural model
structuralProperties	Assign structural properties of material for structural model
solve	Solve heat transfer or structural analysis problem

Examples

Create and Populate Structural Analysis Model

Create a static structural model for solving a solid (3-D) problem.

structuralModel = createpde('structural','static-solid')

structuralModel = 
  StructuralModel with properties:

            AnalysisType: 'static-solid'
                Geometry: []
      MaterialProperties: []
               BodyLoads: []
      BoundaryConditions: []
    ReferenceTemperature: []
                    Mesh: []

Create and plot the geometry.

gm = multicuboid(0.5,0.1,0.1);
structuralModel.Geometry = gm;
pdegplot(structuralModel,'FaceAlpha',0.5)

Specify the Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, and mass density.

structuralProperties(structuralModel,'Cell',1,'YoungsModulus',210E3, ...
                                              'PoissonsRatio',0.3, ...
                                              'MassDensity',2.7E-6)

ans = 
  StructuralMaterialAssignment with properties:

       RegionType: 'Cell'
         RegionID: 1
    YoungsModulus: 210000
    PoissonsRatio: 0.3000
      MassDensity: 2.7000e-06
              CTE: []

Specify the gravity load on the rod.

structuralBodyLoad(structuralModel,'GravitationalAcceleration',[0;0;-9.8])

ans = 
  BodyLoadAssignment with properties:

                   RegionType: 'Cell'
                     RegionID: 1
    GravitationalAcceleration: [3x1 double]
                  Temperature: []
                     TimeStep: []

Specify that face 6 is a fixed boundary.

structuralBC(structuralModel,'Face',6,'Constraint','fixed')

ans = 
  StructuralBC with properties:

                RegionType: 'Face'
                  RegionID: 6
                Vectorized: 'off'

   Boundary Constraints and Enforced Displacements
              Displacement: []
             XDisplacement: []
             YDisplacement: []
             ZDisplacement: []
                Constraint: "fixed"

   Boundary Loads
           SurfaceTraction: []
                  Pressure: []
    TranslationalStiffness: []

Specify the surface traction for face 5.

structuralBoundaryLoad(structuralModel,'Face',5,'SurfaceTraction',[0;0;100])

ans = 
  StructuralBC with properties:

                RegionType: 'Face'
                  RegionID: 5
                Vectorized: 'off'

   Boundary Constraints and Enforced Displacements
              Displacement: []
             XDisplacement: []
             YDisplacement: []
             ZDisplacement: []
                Constraint: []

   Boundary Loads
           SurfaceTraction: [3x1 double]
                  Pressure: []
    TranslationalStiffness: []

Generate a mesh.

generateMesh(structuralModel)

ans = 
  FEMesh with properties:

             Nodes: [3x7800 double]
          Elements: [10x4857 double]
    MaxElementSize: 0.0208
    MinElementSize: 0.0104
     MeshGradation: 1.5000
    GeometricOrder: 'quadratic'

View the properties of structuralModel.

structuralModel

structuralModel = 
  StructuralModel with properties:

            AnalysisType: 'static-solid'
                Geometry: [1x1 DiscreteGeometry]
      MaterialProperties: [1x1 StructuralMaterialAssignmentRecords]
               BodyLoads: [1x1 BodyLoadAssignmentRecords]
      BoundaryConditions: [1x1 StructuralBCRecords]
    ReferenceTemperature: []
                    Mesh: [1x1 FEMesh]