stress-evaluation in Simscape Multibody

I am trying to analyze the deformation and bodystress of a multibody simulation in Simscape using one "Reduced Order Flexible Solid" part.

I have a structure similar to the example "Flexible Dipper Arm" (one flexible part of intrest) and would like to be able to visualize the stress/deformation during the simulation.

I imagine a visualization like the evaluateStress - Command from Matlab:

Source: https://de.mathworks.com/help/pde/ug/pde.transientstructuralresults.evaluatestress.html

It is enough to get strain and stress of the "Reduced Order Flexible Solid" - part only one some specific points.

Is there a usable way to achieve my goal?

Thanks!

Answer 1

[Steve Miller]

Simscape Multibody models calculate the quantities necessary to determine the stress in the beam. While the beam models do not output stress quantities directly, you can use MATLAB or other methods to calculate stress (shear, tensile, compressive, etc.) at different locations along the beam using the formula best suited to your analysis.

Using PDE Toolbox, as you mention above, is an option. You can get the loading and deflection conditions from the Simscape Multibody simulation and perform the stress analysis in PDE Toolbox. This documentation page shows how to generate the structural model for the dipper arm using PDE Toolbox:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/sm/ug/model-excavator-dipper-arm.html

Here is another example posted to the File Exchange that shows many of the basic steps to obtain necessary values and perform a calculation of the stress in a beam.

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/76727-simscape-flexible-beam-stress-beamstresslib

Below is a screenshot of the results produced by the example. Thanks to @Alberto Mora for sharing this example.

--Steve