T i p s & T r i c k s

2001 Structural Research and
Analysis Corporation (SRAC)
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 Contents

General Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
How do I set COSMOS/Works Preferences? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
How can I switch languages while using COSMOS/Works? 2
What's the difference between node values and element values? 2
Applying Loads and Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
How do I apply Bearing Loads? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Do I have to be consistent with units? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
How do design changes affect the study defined? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
How can I apply a torque to a face? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
How can I apply boundary condition to a portion of the model? . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
How can I work with COSMOS/Works when I have several
configurations for my part? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
How do I apply variable forces that reverse direction on a given face? . . . . . . . 7
I need to apply varying pressure (hydrostatic pressure) on surfaces
on the model. Is it possible with COSMOS/Works? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Applying Material Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Can I define Isotropic and Orthotropic Material properties? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
How can I add materials permanently to the database? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Do I have to reapply materials and Loads/BC’s for a new study? . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
What is Meshing? What is a Transitional Mesh? How do I implement
Transitional Mesh in COSMOS/Works? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Why is that there is only one mesh folder for all studies?
Can I create a different mesh for each study? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
What is the difference between a draft quality and a high quality mesh? . . . . . 17
When do I use a Draft or High quality Mesh? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
What are the Mesh Control Parameters? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

COSMOS/Works Tutorial i
 I cannot mesh the part I am trying to analyze. What can I do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
I cannot mesh some parts in my assembly. What should I do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
What is the recommended meshing strategy for hard-to-mesh models? . . . . . . 18
Running the Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
How do I choose a solver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
How can I solve a problem without any restraints, like importing loads
from motion analysis and free thermal expansion? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
How do I take into account inplane effects? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Thermal Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
What is a transient thermal analysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
What is a steady state thermal analysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
What is Radiation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
What is Convection? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
What is Conduction? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
How can I extract thermal stresses? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Is there a better way to model epoxy between two components
in Heat Transfer analysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Buckling Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
What is the buckling factor (load factor) for buckling analysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
How do I calculate the critical buckling loads for pipes with internal pressure? 28
Frequency Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
How do you deal with rigid body modes in frequency analysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
What do the displacements resulting from frequency analysis mean? . . . . . . . . 31
Static Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
What is Static Analysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
What is Linear Static Analysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Nonlinear Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
What is nonlinear analysis? What are the types of nonlinearities
that can occur? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Thin Walled/Shell Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
What are the specific points to take into account when applying loads
and boundary conditions to shell models? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
What is meant by stiffening in thin plates? When and how
can I simulate this effect? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Assembly Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
How do I ignore some parts in an assembly for analysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

ii
 What are the different kinds of Global Contact Options
available in COSMOS/Works? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
Can I apply Local Contact Options? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
I am running a surface contact analysis problem. When I right click on the study
name and choose properties, I see an option "Ignore clearance for surface contact".
What does this option mean and how do I know whether to check this option or
not? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
What is the procedure to simulate Shrink Fit condition
on a 3D Assembly model? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Checking for Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
How do I make sure I have an accurate or converged solution? . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Is there a way to get converged solution automatically? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
What is Jacobian check? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
What is Aspect ratio check? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
How can I check for failure using Factor of Safety as a criterion? . . . . . . . . . . .44
Results and Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Can I visualize results in local or cylindrical co-ordinate systems? . . . . . . . . . .45
How can I list results based on geometric entities? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Can I create a graph of results of selected nodes in the model? . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
How can I create automatic reports? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
How can I locate the areas of maximum stress in the model? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
How do I create section or Iso plots? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Design Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Can I do automatic optimization? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Motion Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
How are joints created in COSMOS/Motion? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
How do I import motion loads into COSMOS/Works? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

iii
iv
 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works

T his booklet has been compiled from FAQs stored on the COSMOS/ Online
Knowledge Base. Hundreds of additional tips and tricks for COSMOS/Works can
be found at http://www.cosmosm.com/support/faq.htm

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 1

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ General Info

General Info

How do I set COSMOS/Works Preferences?

• You can access the Preferences dialog box by right clicking the part or
assembly icon in the COSMOS/ Works Manager tree and selecting
Preferences. Or, by clicking COSMOS/Works, Preferences from
SolidWorks menu bar.
• The Preferences dialog box contains tabs to set preferences for general, units,
material, mesh, results, graphics and export. Preferences are stored in a file and
are used by default every time you start COSMOS/ Works. Click the desired
tab to open its preferences dialog box.

How can I switch languages while using COSMOS/Works?

The installation procedure of the international COSMOS/Works CD allows you to
install several international versions in addition to English. The Language tab in
the Preference dialog box has been added to let you select a preferred language.
When exiting COSMOS/Works, the selected language will be used when
COSMOS/Works is started again.

What's the difference between node values and element values?

Stress results are first calculated at special points, called Gaussian or Quadrature
points, located inside each element. These points are selected to give optimal
results, and the number of Gauss points per element depends on the element type
(shell, solid, etc...).
The program calculates stresses at the nodes of each element by extrapolating the
results available at the Gaussian points:

2
 After a successful run, nodal stress results at each node of every element should
be available in the database. Consequently, multiple results are available at nodes
common to two or more elements. These results will not be identical because the
finite element method is an approximate method. For example, if a node is
common to three elements, there can be 3 slightly different values for every stress
component at that node. During result visualization, you may ask for element
stresses or nodal stresses.
In calculating nodal stresses at a node, the program averages the corresponding
results from all elements contributing to the stresses at that node. For example:

In calculating element stresses, the program averages the corresponding nodal

stresses for each element. Using the same example:

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 3

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ General Info

Important Notes:

✍ Due to the different methods of averaging, the maximum values obtained

from the Element values and Nodal values will be different. In the example
above, the maximum for the node stresses is 5 whereas the maximum for
the element stresses is 5.66.
✍ If your mesh is coarse compared to the rate of variation of results, then the
maximum of the element values and the maximum of the node values will
be very different.
✍ Comparing the maximum of the element values and the maximum of the
node values will give you an idea of how coarse your mesh is in the
maximum stress concentration zone.

4
Applying Loads and Boundary Conditions

How do I apply Bearing Loads?

Bearing loads develop between contacting cylindrical faces. In most cases, the
contacting faces have the same radius. The bearing forces generate a non-uniform
pressure at the interface of contact.

To apply bearing loads:

1 Select a coordinate system and a set of cylindrical faces. The Z-axis of the
selected faces should coincide with the Z-axis of the selected coordinate
system.
2 Do the following:
Right-click the Load/Restraint folder of a structural study and select Bearing
Load.

Do I have to be consistent with units?

You can mix and match units in COSMOS/Works. The results can be plotted in
any standard system of units as well.

How do design changes affect the study defined?

As the model changes, the materials and loads/BC’s update automatically. You
need to remesh and rerun the solution. You do not have to remesh the model if the
material and loads/BC’s change.

How can I apply a torque to a face?

Torque can be applied to faces only.

To apply a torque, follow this procedure:

1 Select the desired entities to which the torque load is to be applied and a
reference axis.
2 From the Visualizer, right-click the Load/Restraint icon. A context-sensitive
pop-up window appears. Click Force. (Menu equivalent: COSMOS/Works
> Insert > Force)
3 In the Force dialog box, click Uniform.
4 From the Type option, select Apply Torque.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 5

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Applying Loads and Boundary Conditions

5 From the Units drop-down menu, select a unit system.

6 Type the total torque value in the Force field.
7 Click the OK button.

Tips:

✍ The value specified in the torque dialog box is the total torque for each
entity.
✍ To change the color of the force symbol, click the Color button. The color
palette opens. Select the desired color and click the OK button.
✍ Selected entities box lists the number of faces and edges to which the force
is to be applied. Reference entities box displays the name of the plane to be
used as reference for defining the force loads. If no reference is selected,
then the force is applied with respect to Plane 1.

How can I apply boundary condition to a portion of the model?

If you want to apply a boundary condition to a zone of the model that doesn't
correspond to an existing face, edge or vertex, you then have to use the split line
command of SolidWorks to create it.

To do so, follow this procedure:

1 Sketch a line to project as a split line.
2 Click Split Line on the Curves toolbar, or click Insert, Curve, Split Line.
3 In the Split Lines dialog box, select Projection, and click Next.
4 Click the Sketch to Project box and select the sketched line in the Feature
Manager design tree.
5 Click the Faces to Split box, then hold the Ctrl key and select all the faces
around the perimeter of the part that you want the split line to pass through.
6 Click Single Direction if you want the split line to project in only one direction.
7 Click Reverse Direction to project the split line in the opposite direction.
8 Click Finish.

6
How can I work with COSMOS/Works when I have several
configurations for my part?
Working with different configurations (for example default and FEM
configuration): For the moment, COSMOS/Works shows the loads and boundary
conditions only if they were created with the active configuration of the part when
it was opened.
For example, if you want to do the analysis with FEM configuration, then save the
part with FEM as the active configuration. Close the part and then reload it. The
you will be able to perform the analysis. Consequently, whenever you reload the
part, if the active configuration is FEM during loading, then you will see all the
loads and boundary conditions. If you don't see the Loads/BCs then do a forced
rebuild by pressing CTRL+Q.
Similarly, if you do an analysis with default configuration, always reload the part
with the default configuration as active and you should be able to see the Loads/
BCs and results.

How do I apply variable forces that reverse direction on a given face?

If the variable force that you wish to apply reverses direction on a face or edge, we
recommend that you split the face/edge and apply forces to the split face/edge
such that the applied forces on the split face/edge do not change direction.
Users should keep in mind that, whether the applied variable force reverses
direction or not, the program sets the summation of the absolute values of the
individual nodal forces to be equal to the specified force value (the value set in the
Value filed of the Force dialogue box).
• Let us consider the following simple example:

• In that case, the net resultant force = 0, and the summation of the absolute
values of the individual nodal forces = Value is a non-zero value
• Therefore, the value you should input is not equal to the resultant force you
want to apply. This can create some confusion. Thus, in a more general case

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 7

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Applying Loads and Boundary Conditions

like the following, where the force reverses direction, you should split the
entity so that the force has a constant direction on each of the split entities.
• Original configuration with one entity:

• Modified configuration, with two entities on each of which the force has a
constant sign and direction:

I need to apply varying pressure (hydrostatic pressure) on surfaces

on the model. Is it possible with COSMOS/Works?
Variable pressures (that varies in intensity on a single face) are now available in
COSMOS/Works 5.0.

To define a variable pressure on a face, follow these steps:

1 Define a coordinate system (Insert > Reference Geometry > Coordinate
System) in terms of which you can describe the pressure distribution. The
coordinate system should be oriented such that the distribution on the target
face varies with respect to the x and y coordinates only.
2 Select the desired face(s), along with the coordinate system, and possibly a
plane which will be used to define the orientation of the load.
3 Right click on the Load/Restraint folder of the Visualizer and select Pressure.
Make sure the "variable" option is activated. Fill-in the coefficient of the
equation. The Variable option uses a distribution of the form:
p(x, y) = Value (A + Bx + Cy + Dxy + Ex^2 + Fy^2)

Where:
• p (x, y) = Magnitude of pressure applied at a point with coordinates x and y
in the selected coordinate system.

8
 • Value = The number entered in the Value field.
• x, y = Coordinates of the point relative to the selected coordinate system.
• A, B, C, D, E, and F are polynomial coefficients.

Applying Material Properties

Can I define Isotropic and Orthotropic Material properties?

You can manually input the properties to add permanently to the database using
the Material Browser.

How can I add materials permanently to the database?

The COSMOS/M Material Browser and Editor provides a functionality to create
your own library or edit the COSMOS/Works Material Library. It is designed to
let you edit the COSMOS/Works Material library by adding new categories of
materials, new materials, or editing values of the material properties.
You can access the material library from Start > Programs > COSMOS
Applications > Material Browser.

Do I have to reapply materials and Loads/BC’s for a new study?

You can drop and drop materials and Loads/BC’s from one study to another.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 9

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Meshing

Meshing

What is Meshing? What is a Transitional Mesh? How do I implement

Transitional Mesh in COSMOS/Works?

What is Meshing?
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) provides a reliable numerical technique for
analyzing engineering designs. The process starts with the creation of a geometric
model. Then, the program subdivides the model into small pieces of simple shapes
(elements) connected at common points (nodes). The representation of a given
region by a set of elements (i.e., discretization or mesh generation) is an important
step in finite element analysis. Meshing the model is the heart of any FEA
analysis. The choice of element type, number of elements, and density of elements
depends on the geometry of the domain, the problem to be analyzed, and the
degree of accuracy desired. Local mesh refinement tools are very important to
have good mesh with gradual transitions between the mesh densities. One should
have a finer mesh in the areas of high stress gradient to ensure accuracy of the
solution.

What is Transitional Mesh?

The aspect ratio of the element is very critical for the accurate solution. The
transition of the element should not be from very small to very big. There should
be smooth transition of the elements to ensure accurate and converged solution. A
sudden change in element size can result in artificially high stress calculation in
the transition zone. The smooth variation of the mesh density from high-density
region to the low-density region is termed as Transitional Mesh. The ratio and the
number of layers at which the mesh can grow is controlled by the Element growth
ratio and number of layers specified.

Why Transitional Mesh?

Using transitional meshing to focus resources on critical areas in the model, an
accurate solution can be achieved at a minimal cost, both in terms of time and
computer requirements (RAM, disk space etc.).

How to implement Transitional Mesh in COSMOS/?

The Mesh control section has two options for transitional mesh. (Tools >Options
>Mesh >Mesh Option):

10
 • Automatic Transition: The program automatically applies mesh controls to all
small features, details, holes, and fillets. If these small features were not of
concern to us in terms of our analysis accuracy, it would be wasteful to
generate smaller elements on those regions as this will use up more of our
resources and solution time
• User Defined Control: The user has control over the areas to which mesh
control is applied. Reference geometric entities can be vertices, edges, faces,
and components. Using this feature carefully would help us reduce computer
requirement (memory) and solution time (CPU time).
The important question that arises here is, when should one use the automatic
transition or user defined control? Which one would be better for the better
solution? To answer these question follow these basic guidelines:
• Turn off the Automatic Transition option unless you have a simple model with
few small features. Activating automatic transition may result in generating a
very large number of elements unnecessarily when meshing model with many
small features.
• Mesh your model with a very coarse mesh (initial study) and run the analysis,
thus identifying the areas of high stress gradient.
• Once the most critical region in the model has been identified, apply user-
defined mesh control, re-mesh and re-run the analysis. The mesh size for the
user-defined control must be smaller than the global mesh size.
The illustrated example below shows, how the appropriate use of user-defined
mesh control can help us reduce the total number of DOF to be solved, thus saving
the resources and time. Increasing the total DOF by 2 increases the total CPU/
memory by 4; hence our aim would always be to get converged/accurate solution
with less number of nodes (i.e. less DOF).

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 11

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Meshing

Lets take the following shell model. All three holes are fixed and a pressure of -1
psi is applied at the bottom surface. We will see that applying the user defined
control is more appropriate than using automatic transition or smaller global mesh
size for the entire model. Using user-defined control gives us fairly accurate
solution with lesser number of nodes, hence less number of DOF to be solved.
Following are the findings:

Total
Max. von Min. von Memory Total
Global Mises Mises Usage Solution
Case Mesh Type Mesh DOF Stress Stress for the Time
Size (in) (psi) (psi) Solver (sec)
(KB)
1 Uniform 0.6 14,574 8.43 x 103 17.3 14624 12
Mesh
Density
2 Uniform 0.3 55,686 10.1 x 103 0.95 36068 35
Mesh
Density

3 Uniform 0.15 212,886 11.0 x 103 3.09 121276 133

Mesh
Density

4 Automatic 0.6 33,372 9.98 x 103 3.82 24744 25

Transition
5 User 0.6 22,194 10.5 x 103 17.06 19676 19
Controls (mesh
refineme
nt size
=0.15)

12
 Conclusion:

The analysis above was done on a Pentium III / 256 MB RAM, 500 MHz
machine. The solver used was FFEPlus (Iterative solver). Looking at the results,
we can see that the user-defined control is the better option for the user in terms of
memory, time and efficiency. In the chart, cost increase going right, accuracy
increases moving upward. Therefore, it is desirable to move toward the upper left
corner. It can be seen from the above graph that, accurate and converged solution
can be obtained by using user-defined control while reducing the time and
computer requirements by a factor of almost 7 with respect to using the uniform
mesh density.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 13

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Meshing

Mesh Plot (Case 3)

Von Mises Stress Plot (Case 3)

14
 Mesh Plot (Case 4)

Von Mises Stress Plot (Case 4)

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 15

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Meshing

Mesh Plot (Case 5)

Von Mises Stress Plot (Case 5)

Why is that there is only one mesh folder for all studies? Can I create
a different mesh for each study?
You can use one mesh for multiple studies to investigate the effect of using
different materials, loads, and/or restraints. Each study can have its own mesh as
well. However, to consider the impact of geometry changes on the results, you
must rebuild the mesh and rerun the study after making any change in geometry.

16
 The old mesh will be overwritten, but you can still view the mesh associated with
a study and visualize the corresponding results even after rebuilding the mesh. If
you rerun a study after rebuilding the mesh, the new mesh will be used and all old
results will be overwritten. You can create solid and shell studies in the same
document.
To run a study using its associated mesh, activate the study by clicking its icon,
show its mesh by right-clicking the Mesh icon and selecting Show Mesh before
running it.

What is the difference between a draft quality and a high quality

mesh?
In a draft quality mesh (also called lower order mesh), each solid tetrahedral
element will have 4 corner nodes only. No mid-side nodes are inserted.
In a high quality mesh (also called higher order mesh), each solid tetrahedral
element will have 10 nodes: 4 corner nodes and one node at the middle of each
edge (a total of 6 mid-side nodes).

Note that with a higher order mesh, the elements can have curved edges. This
helps account for curved geometry.

When do I use a Draft or High quality Mesh?

As a general rule always use High Quality Mesh to get a right answer. Draft
quality elements are used to solve a quick analysis and understand the pattern of
the results.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 17

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Meshing

What are the Mesh Control Parameters?

You can specify mesh control parameters at vertices, edges, faces, and
components. You can access the Mesh Control dialog box by right-clicking the
Mesh icon and selecting Apply Control.

The mesh control parameters are:

• Element size at the specified entity (e),
• Element growth ratio (r), and
• Number of layers of elements (n).
Assuming that the global element size used for meshing (specified in the Mesh
dialogue box) is E, the average element size in the layers radiating from the entity
will be e, er, er2, er3, etc. If the calculated average element size of a layer exceeds
E, the program uses E instead. If the specified number of layers (n) is too small for
smooth transition, the program may add more layers.

I cannot mesh the part I am trying to analyze. What can I do?

Make sure that it is a solid model to begin with. Understand and locate all the
small features of the model. Make sure that the smallest feature is at least twice as
large as the mesh tolerance. Suppress the tiny features that do not effect the
solution. Progressively reduce the element size and try to mesh the model. Also,
try to apply mesh control on the small feature faces.

I cannot mesh some parts in my assembly. What should I do?

Make sure that there is no interference between parts (except in case of shrink fit).
In case of bonded assembly, make sure that there is surface contact between parts.
Open the parts that the mesher could not mesh and mesh them individually. Use
this individual mesh sizes as the component control (mesh size) in the assembly. If
the assembly still cannot be meshed, treat the contact surface area between parts
as a geometric feature and apply mesh controls in that area.

What is the recommended meshing strategy for hard-to-mesh

models?
• Use shell meshing for sheet metal parts. Shell or solid meshing is specified in
the properties of the study.

18
 • Always try the Standard mesher first. If meshing fails, try different element
sizes or edit mesh control settings. You may use the Alternate mesher in rare
situations where the Standard mesher keeps failing with different element
sizes.
• Turn on the High mesh quality option. You can use the draft mesh quality
option in preliminary studies of very large problems.
• Turn off the Automatic Transition option unless you have a simple model with
few small features. Activating automatic transition may result in generating a
very large number of elements unnecessarily when meshing with many small
features.
• Do not use the Alternate mesher when Automatic Transition or Use Defined
Controls is on.
• Always turn on the Smooth Surface option. This option improves the quality of
the mesh in most cases.
• To improve results in important areas, use mesh control to set a smaller
element size.
• After setting the recommended options described above, mesh the model using
the default element size and tolerance.
• If meshing fails, try a different element size and/or a larger tolerance. If the
element size is too big, the program will tell you to use a smaller element size.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 19

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Running the Analysis

Running the Analysis

How do I choose a solver?

Static Problems:
There are three solvers for static problems; the new Direct Sparse solver, the Old
FFE solver, and the New FFE solver.
• Use the New FFE solver for large and very large problems (problems with over
300,000 DOF).
• Use the Old FFE solver or the Direct Sparse solver for small and medium
problems (problems with 100,000 to 300,000 DOF).
• Use the Direct Sparse solver for assembly problems with contact, especially
when you turn on the friction effects.
• Use the Direct Sparse solver when solving assemblies of parts with widely
different material properties.

Frequency Problems:
There are two ways for solving frequency problems. You can use the mode
extraction routine powered by the Direct Sparse solver or the iterative FFE solver.
• Use the mode extraction routine powered by the FFE solver if your model is
not adequately restrained (rigid body modes).
• Use the mode extraction routine powered by the Direct Sparse solver if you
want to consider the effect of loading on the natural frequencies.
• Use the mode extraction routine powered by the Direct Sparse solver when
solving assemblies of parts with widely different material properties.

Buckling Problems:
Only the mode extraction routine powered by the Direct Sparse solver is available
for solving buckling problems.

20
 Thermal Problems:
There are two solvers available for thermal problems; the new Direct Sparse
solver and the Old FFE solver. Thermal problems have one degree of freedom
(DOF) per node, and hence their solution is usually much faster than structural
problems of the same number of nodes.
• Use the Old FFE solver for large and very large problems.
• Use the Direct Sparse solver when solving assemblies of parts with widely
different material properties.

How can I solve a problem without any restraints, like importing loads
from motion analysis and free thermal expansion?
Use Inertia Relief option for either Sparse Matrix Solver or the New FFE solver to
solve for a problem without restraints.

How do I take into account inplane effects?

For many slender structures with in-plane loading, the membrane forces alter
bending stiffness. Compressive in-plane force decrease bending stiffness, and
tensile in-plane forces increase bending stiffness. Structures become stiffer in the
presence of tensile in-plane loads due to stress stiffening. Similarly, structures
become less stiff in the presence of compressive in-plane loads, an effect known
as stress softening.
• To take into account inplane effects, in-plane loading flag is activated in the
solver options of the study.
• Use Inertia Relief option for either Sparse Matrix Solver or the New FFE
solver to solve for a problem without restraints.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 21

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Thermal Analysis

Thermal Analysis

What is a transient thermal analysis?

In this type of analysis, we are interested in knowing the thermal status of the
model at different instances of time. A thermos designer, for example, knows that
the temperature of the fluid inside will eventually be equal to the room
temperature (steady state), but he or she is interested in finding out the
temperature of the fluid as a function of time. In addition to the thermal
conductivity (only material property needed for steady-state thermal analysis), we
also need to specify density, specific heat, initial temperature profile, and the
period of time for which solutions are desired.

What is a steady state thermal analysis?

In this type of analysis, we are only interested in the thermal conditions of the
body when it reaches thermal equilibrium, but we are not interested in the time it
takes to reach this status. The temperature of each point in the model will remain
unchanged until a change occurs in the system. At equilibrium, the thermal energy
entering the system is equal to the thermal energy leaving it. Generally, the only
material property that is needed for steady state analysis is the thermal
conductivity.

22
What is Radiation?
Thermal radiation is the thermal energy emitted by bodies in the form of
electromagnetic waves because of their temperature. All bodies with temperatures
above the absolute zero emit thermal energy. Because electromagnetic waves
travel in a vacuum, no medium is necessary for radiation to take place. The
thermal energy of the sun reaches earth by radiation. Because electromagnetic
waves travel at the speed of light, radiation is the fastest heat transfer mechanism.

Stefan-Boltzmann Constant and Emissivity

Stefan-Boltzmann's law states that the maximum rate of radiation that can be
emitted by a surface of area A at a temperature Ts when a surrounding temperature
Tenv is equal to:

where σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.67 x10-8 W/m2.°C4 or 3.3063 x 10-15

Btu/s.in2.°F4).
A surface that is emitting heat energy at this rate is called a blackbody. The rate of
radiation emitted by real bodies is expressed as a fraction of the blackbody
radiation:

where ε is the emissivity of the surface.

COSMOS/Works defines the Stefan-Boltzmann constant automatically based on
the system of units used. You must define the emissivity (ε) whenever you want to
include radiation effects.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 23

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Thermal Analysis

Radiation is defined as a boundary condition on faces. Only radiation to the

ambient atmosphere is supported by this version of COSMOS/Works.

Note:

✍ Generally, heat transfer by radiation becomes significant only at high

temperatures.

What is Convection?
Convection is the heat transfer mode in which heat transfers between a solid face
and an adjacent moving fluid (or gas). Convection involves the combined effects
of conduction and the moving fluid. The fluid particles act as carriers of thermal
energy.
The rate of heat exchange between the fluid of temperature Tf and the face of a
solid of area A and temperature Ts can be expressed as:

where h is the convection heat transfer coefficient, Tf is the temperature of the

fluid away from the face of the solid. The units of h are: W/m2.°C or Btu/s.in2.°F
Convection processes can be divided into two main classes:
Free (Natural) Convection

The motion of the fluid adjacent to a solid face is caused by the buoyancy forces
induced by changes in the density of the fluid due to the presence of the solid.
When a hot plate is left to cool down in the air, the particles of air adjacent to the
face of the plate get warmer, their density decreases and hence they move.

24
 Forced Convection

An external means such as a fan or a pump is used to accelerate the flow of the
fluid over the face of the solid. The rapid motion of the fluid particles over the
face of the solid maximizes the temperature gradient and results in increasing the
rate of heat exchange.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 25

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Thermal Analysis

What is Conduction?
Thermal energy transfers from one point to another through the interaction
between the atoms or molecules of the matter. Conduction occurs in solids,
liquids, and gasses. For example, a hot cup of coffee on your desk will eventually
cool down to the room-temperature mainly by conduction from the coffee directly
to the air and through the body of the cup. There is no bulk motion of matter when
heat transfers by conduction. The rate of heat conduction through a plane layer of
thickness X is proportional to the heat transfer area and the temperature gradient,
and inversely proportional to the thickness of the layer.
Rate of Heat Conduction= K (Area) (Difference in Temperature/Thickness)
or:

where K, called the thermal conductivity, measures the ability of a material to

conduct heat and dT/dx is the temperature gradient. The units of K are W/m2.°C
or (Btu/s)/in2.°F.

How can I extract thermal stresses?

After performing thermal analysis, the thermal results can be imported into Static
analysis by selecting the properties of static analysis study.

Is there a better way to model epoxy between two components in Heat

Transfer analysis?
Modeling epoxy is difficult because epoxy is a very thin layer and it requires a
very fine mesh. The best way to tackle this problem is to define Thermal contact
resistance between the two components and ignoring the epoxy.

26
 Thermal contact resistance is implemented as part of a surface-to-surface contact
condition. You can either specify the total resistivity or the resistivity per unit
area.

Buckling Analysis

What is the buckling factor (load factor) for buckling analysis?

Let's go back to the definition of the buckling load factor λ:

The value of the buckling load factor λ is calculated by the software and indicates
the likelihood of buckling under the applied loads:

Value of Signification
The applied load is below the critical load for buckling
The applied load exceeds the critical load for buckling
The applied load is stiffening the structure (it actually creates
tension in the structure).

Note:

✍ Buckling is a phenomenon which is difficult to predict accurately. The

actual buckling load depends heavily on geometric imperfections (in the
shape of the structure, in the way loads are applied) and material
imperfections. Use of an appropriate safety factor is recommended

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 27

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Buckling Analysis

How do I calculate the critical buckling loads for pipes with internal
pressure?
In a typical buckling analysis, the quantities to be computed include the critical
loads at which the structure becomes unstable, and the corresponding buckling
mode shapes. The first (or the lowest) mode of buckling is of practical importance
in many design scenarios. For many slender structures with in-plane loading, the
membrane forces alter the bending stiffness. Buckling occurs when the
compressive membrane forces reduce the bending stiffness to zero for a
kinematically admissible deformation mode. However, when the membrane
forces are reversed (tensile instead of compressive), then the bending stiffness is
effectively increased. Thus, the structure becomes stiffer under tensile in-plane
loads, exhibiting what is known as the stress stiffening effect. The stress stiffening
or softening effect can also be considered in the computation of natural
frequencies. For slender structures with in-plane loading, the natural frequencies
are significantly altered depending on the type of preload applied. Compressive
loads tend to decrease the natural frequencies whereas tensile forces tend to
increase them.
For these types of structures, the stiffness properties are function of both static
loads and the deformed shape. While an accurate solution of such problems
requires the use of geometrically nonlinear solution techniques, reasonable
accuracy can be obtained by using the differential stiffness approach. In this
method, it is assumed that the geometrically nonlinear problems can be
approximated by adding a geometric stiffness matrix KG (also known as initial
stress or differential stiffness matrix, or stability coefficient matrix) to the
conventional structural stiffness matrix. The displacements are computed with
respect to the original configuration of the structure, and the change in geometry
is reflected only in the geometric stiffness matrix. COSMOS/DesignSTAR and
COSMOS/Works give the option to consider the effect of applied loads while
estimating the natural frequencies by activating in-plane effect flag in frequency
study properties dialog box. First, the program runs a linear static analysis to
calculate the deformed shape (and KG) and then it calculates the natural
frequencies (or critical buckling load factors) and mode shapes including the
effect of the applied loads. Loads are not considered and their effect will be
ignored unless you activate the in-plane loading option and use the direct solver.

28
 It is already shown and can be proved that the natural frequency of the structure
tends to zero as the loads applied on the structure tends to the critical buckling
load. This concept can be easily used in finding critical buckling loads for
structures stiffened due to in-plane loads. One common example is the buckling of
a pipe due to internal pressure and axial loads. Now it is very difficult to estimate
the axial buckling load for a pipe for a given internal pressure since the critical
load factor we obtain after the analysis is to be multiplied by both internal
pressure and the axial loads o obtain the buckling loads for the pipe. For this case,
using the frequency analysis (with in-plane load flag on) we could estimate the
axial load, which makes the first natural frequency of the structure to zero. This
way we could estimate the axial buckling load for any internal pressure or any
other form of stiffening (or softening) loads on the structure.
Consider the following example where we need to estimate the axial buckling
load for a pipe subjected to an internal pressure of 100 N/m2. The pipe is made of
aluminum 1035 alloy and clamped at one end. First, a frequency study (with shell
mesh) is carried out in and an axial force value is determined (by trial and error)
which makes the first natural frequency to be zero.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 29

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Buckling Analysis

The direct solver is used with the in-plane load flag on for estimating the
frequencies. During this process, the user may come across a STOP 7-Singular
matrix error, which means that axial loads exceeded the critical buckling load. In
such cases, reducing the axial loads would reduce the excessive softening and
give a positive frequency value. Once after estimating the critical buckling load
using this method, the value could be reconfirmed by a buckling study. Applying
the estimated axial buckling load from the frequency study in the buckling study
should give a critical buckling load factor value of 1.0. In this example the axial
load which makes the first frequency close to zero is found to be 37433 N and
when this same load is applied for the buckling study we obtain the critical load
factor to be 1.0001 confirming the buckling load. It is also a good practice to
compare the mode shapes from both studies and make sure they correspond to
same buckling modes.
This method is applicable to any slender structure softened or stiffened by in-
plane loads.

30
Frequency Analysis

How do you deal with rigid body modes in frequency analysis?

In COSMOS/Works and COSMOS/DesignSTAR, if your model isn't fully
constrained when you run the frequency analysis, the program will include rigid
body modes in the results.
For example, if you ask the program to calculate the first 5 natural modes, and
your model isn't constrained at all (it has 6 rigid body modes), then 11 modes will
be calculated.
Modes 1 to 6 will be the rigid body modes, and 7 to 12 will be the actual modes of
vibration.

What do the displacements resulting from frequency analysis mean?

Displacements resulting from a frequency analysis should be understood as
relative values.
Frequency analysis in COSMOS/Works only calculates natural mode shapes and
frequencies. It does not predict, however, how much deformation will occur when
the model vibrates. To get this type of result, a Post-Dynamic analysis must be run
with COSMOS/M.
In COSMOS/Works, displacement results are given to better understand the mode
shape of vibration, and to compare the relative displacement of different nodes of
the model in the same plot.
Users should not compare displacement results of frequency analysis from
different studies, nor from different mode shapes.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 31

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Static Analysis

Static Analysis

What is Static Analysis?

When loads are applied to a body, the body will deform and the effect of the loads
will be transmitted throughout the body. To absorb the effect of loads, the body
generates internal forces and reactions at the supports to balance the applied
external loads. Linear static analysis refers to the calculation of displacements,
strains, and stresses under the effect of external loads based on two basic
assumptions:

Static Assumption
All loads are applied slowly and gradually until they reach their full magnitudes.
After reaching their full magnitudes, loads will remain constant (time-invariant).
This assumption allows us to disregard insignificant inertial and damping forces
due to negligibly small accelerations and velocities. Time-invariant loads that
induce considerable inertial and/or damping forces may warrant dynamic analysis.
Dynamic loads change with time and, in many cases, induce considerable inertial
and damping forces that cannot be neglected.

Notes:

✍ It is important to verify the static assumption since a dynamic load may

generate stresses up to 1/(2 ζ) times the stresses generated by static loads with
the same magnitude, where ζ is the critical damping ratio. For a lightly
damped structure with 5% damping, the dynamic stresses will be 10 times
larger than the static stresses. The worst case scenario occurs at resonance.
Please refer to the section of Frequency Analysis.
✍ You may use static analysis to calculate the structural response of bodies
spinning with constant velocities or traveling with constant accelerations
since the generated loads do not change with time.
✍ You may use the Dynamic Response or the Nonlinear Dynamic analysis
modules, available in the Intermediate Bundle to calculate the structural
response due to dynamic loads. Dynamic loads include oscillatory loads,
impacts, collisions, and random loads.

32
 Linearity Assumption
The relationship between loads and induced responses is linear. If you double the
magnitude of loads, for example, the response of the model (displacements,
strains, and stresses), will also double. You can assume that the linearity
assumption is valid if:
• All the materials in the model comply with Hook's law, that is stress is directly
proportional to strain.
• The induced displacements are small enough to ignore the change in stiffness
caused by loading.
• Boundary conditions do not vary during the application of loads. Loads must
be constant in magnitude, direction, and distribution. They should not change
while the model is deforming.

What is Linear Static Analysis?

When loads are applied to a body, the body will deform and the effect of the loads
will be transmitted throughout the body. To absorb the effect of loads, the body
generates internal forces and reactions at the supports to balance the applied
external loads. Linear static analysis refers to the calculation of displacements,
strains, and stresses under the effect of external loads.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 33

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Nonlinear Analysis

Nonlinear Analysis

What is nonlinear analysis? What are the types of nonlinearities that

can occur?
In linear analysis, the response of a structure is directly proportional to the load.
We assume that:
• the displacements and rotations are small
• stress is directly proportional to strain
• loads maintain their original directions as the structure deforms.
However any of the convenient assumptions that are made during a linear analysis
may not hold good in real life situations. For example:
• A contact area may change as the load changes
• A material may no longer exhibit an elastic behavior especially after it starts to
yield and flows into the plasticity region.
• The stiffness of the structure may decrease because of buckling or the material
may even fracture!
• The displacements and rotations may become too large and thus there is a need
to develop equations describing the equilibrium at various intervals instead of
one single configuration.
• The direction and magnitude of the applied force can change in large rotation
problems.
Thus for various reasons, a problem may become nonlinear and thus a plot of load
versus displacement ceases to be a straight line. The figures below are different
types of nonlinear models:
Figure 1 shows an elastic beam loaded with a force F which acts normal to the
axis of the beam at all times. The graph between F and the vertical displacement y
is intended to represent the actual nonlinear displacement which occurs because of
geometric nonlinearity. This means that because of significant changes in the
geometry of the structure as it deforms, the displacement is no longer linear. In
figure 2, the contact area between the bodies increases as the load F increases.
Unlike the first example in figure 1, the displacements and the strains are
significantly small here. Nevertheless the problem is nonlinear because of the
change in contact surface area.

34
 Nonlinear problems have to be solved in several steps by updating the tentative
solution after each step and repeating the procedure until a convergence criteria is
satisfied. The loads are applied gradually in each step and an iterative procedure
used so that the equilibrium conditions are satisfied. Thus every load step is a
separate linear analysis by itself!
Typical nonlinear scenarios:
• Materials that exhibit viscoelastic, viscoplastic or creep behavior (the
deformation is a function of the load rate)
• Problems with large strains

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 35

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Thin Walled/Shell Analysis

Thin Walled/Shell Analysis

What are the specific points to take into account when applying loads
and boundary conditions to shell models?
You can apply loads and boundary conditions to faces, edges, and vertices of your
model. Here are some helpful notes:
• Restraining a face across the thickness is equivalent to restraining any of the
two associated edges. For example, fixing the face of a hole in a shell model is
equivalent to fixing any or both of its circular edges.
• Restraining an edge along the thickness is equivalent to restraining one of the
vertices associated with the edge.
• Since shell elements have rotational degrees of freedom, you must differentiate
between the Immovable restraint (no translation) and the Fixed restraint (no
translation and no rotation). You can also apply concentrated moments.

What is meant by stiffening in thin plates? When and how can I

simulate this effect?

Introduction
In Roark's "Formulas for Stress and Strain" (pages 405-406 fifth edition) he states
that "when the deflection becomes larger than about one-half the thickness, as
may occur in thin plates, the middle surface becomes appreciably strained and the
stress in it cannot be ignored. It is a load that is not constant over the surface on
which it is applied. When this condition of large deflection obtains, the plate is
stiffer than indicated by the ordinary theory and the load-deflection and load-
stress relations are nonlinear." This phenomenon is when membrane action takes
place. In linear analysis, the lateral stiffness of a slender member remains
constant, independent of magnitude of the loading or other factors. However, in
reality, the lateral stiffness of a slender member may be profoundly affected by the
longitudinal forces acting upon it. Increase in longitudinal tension has the effect of
enhancing the lateral stiffness of a member; an increase in longitudinal
compression has the opposite effect, that is to reduce the lateral stiffness of the
member. The cross-coupling of the longitudinal forces on lateral response is
called membrane effect.

36
 Problem Setup
Two tests were run to compare and quantify the membrane effect for thin plates; a
Linear analysis and a Nonlinear analysis with the large displacement option. Hand
calculations based on linear theory were also included as reference. The model is
a 10in X 10in plate with a thickness of 0.2 inches. It is simply supported at the
perimeter and is subjected to a 150 psi pressure on the face. The material is Alloy
Steel that is found in the COSMOS/ library (Young’s Modulus (E) = 3.046 x
107psi, Poisson’s ratio (n): 0.28).

Figure 1 shows the boundary conditions that were applied to the model. An
element size of 0.35 inches was used to mesh the model with the standard mesher.
A higher order mesh resulted in six noded triangular elements. Figure 2 shows the
mesh that generated 1626 elements and 3369 nodes.

Formula
The formula for finding the center deflection for a flat rectangular plate under
uniform load is (Roark's "Formulas for Stress and Strain" page 386 fifth edition)
Max Y = (A*q*b^4)/(E*t^3)

Where
• Y = Maximum deflection (in)
• A = a/b; constant on pg. 386 fifth edition of Roark’s Formulas for Stress and
Strain
• a = width (in)
• b = height (in)

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 37

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Thin Walled/Shell Analysis

• q = load (lbs/in2)
• E = Modulus of Elasticity (lbs/in2)
• t = thickness (in)

Result
Chart 1 compares the results from the theoretical linear displacement, FEA
without the large displacement formulation, and FEA with the large displacement
formulation. All the displacements were measured at the maximum location,
which is at the center of the plate. Percentage error with respect to the theoretical
linear displacement are shown in parenthesis.

Figure 3 shows the Pressure vs. deflection for all three cases. As one can observe,
the FEA solution without the large displacement flag is extremely close to the
handbook solution. At around 50 to 60 psi, the nonlinear solution (with the large
displacement flag) visibly diverges from the linear solutions. In this case, the
membrane effect manifests itself by an increase in lateral stiffness. As stated
before, this is when the deflection becomes larger than approximately one-half the
thickness (as noted in Roark’s Formulas for Stress and Strain). The thickness in
this example is 0.2”.

38
 Conclusion
A designer must always ask, How accurate are the results? Sure, in this case the
results are accurate to the extent where the question was posed. The linear
solution gave very good results compared to the handbook results. Of course the
answers are incorrect, since the designer did not ask the right question. In this
case, when the deflection of the plate is more than one half its thickness, this leads
one to believe that the results are getting membrane action from shell elements.
One can determine that geometric stiffening is taking effect as displacements
increase; hence a nonlinear analysis with the large displacement option must be
run.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 39

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Assembly Analysis

Assembly Analysis

How do I ignore some parts in an assembly for analysis?

Suppress the parts in the SolidWorks feature tree and the parts are ignored for
analysis.

What are the different kinds of Global Contact Options available in

COSMOS/Works?
• Touching Faces: Bonded- All touching faces will be bonded at their points of
contact. The mesh will be compatible on touching areas. This is the default
option
• Touching Faces: Node to Node-The mesh along the interface will be
compatible on touching areas. The program creates gap elements connecting
corresponding nodes across the faces. The faces may move away from each
other but will preserve the physical requirement that they may not penetrate
each other.

Can I apply Local Contact Options?

Local contact defines the type of contact for a pair of faces. Select the two faces
where the contact definition is desired.
• Bonded-The selected pair of faces will be bonded at their points of contact
(nodes). The mesh will be compatible on touching areas.
• Free-The selected pair of faces will be free to move in any direction.
• Node to Node-The program creates gap elements connecting corresponding
nodes across the selected pair of faces. This option is used when the faces of
the two parts touch each other.
• Surface-The program creates node-to-area pairs automatically. This option is
used when there is initial clearance between the two surfaces.
• Shrink Fit-The program creates a shrink fit condition between the selected
faces. The faces may or may not be cylindrical. For more information on
Shrink Fit functionality.

40
I am running a surface contact analysis problem. When I right click on
the study name and choose properties, I see an option "Ignore
clearance for surface contact". What does this option mean and how
do I know whether to check this option or not?
Solving contact problems is an iterative process that starts with an initial
deformation guess. Starting with a good initial guess helps the iterative process
converge to the correct solution quickly. The status of this option affects the
initial guess.
This flag is used with surface contact only
When the flag is turned off, initial contact between a node and the associated face
is assumed if the initial distance is less than or equal to a certain threshold (0.5%
of the global element size). If the initial distance exceeds the threshold, no initial
contact is assumed.
If the flag is turned on, initial contact (between each node and its associated face)
is assumed regardless of the initial distance between them. The initial gaps will be
ignored during contact iterations.
This flag should be turned off (default) for most applications. It is specifically
designed to take care of a specific situation when, due to tolerances, a small
clearance exists between faces that should have been initially in contact.
Due to this clearance, the mesh on the two faces, set for contact, may not be
compatible and the elements on both sides may interfere with each other as
dramatized in the figure. The interference in this case is non-physical (introduced
by approximating the geometry by the mesh. The Ignore Clearance for Surface
Contact flag should be turned on in such case.
The flag should not be turned on when the two faces set for surface contact have
large curvature differences.
Turn on the flag in such cases where different curvatures caused by meshing
elements face node. A small clearance that exists between these two faces non-
physical interference that should be smaller than the threshold.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 41

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Assembly Analysis

What is the procedure to simulate Shrink Fit condition on a 3D

Assembly model?
Shrink fitting is encountered in many engineering designs. It refers to fitting a
component into a slightly smaller cavity. Due to normal forces that develop at the
interface, the inner component will shrink while the outer component will expand.
The amount of shrinkage/expansion is determined by the material properties as
well as the geometry of the components.
Shrink fitting is implemented as a contact condition. You can define a shrink fit
contact condition using the Shrink Fit option in the Define Contact Pair dialog
box. It should be noted that you need to remesh the model whenever you make a
change in the contact conditions.

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Checking for Accuracy

How do I make sure I have an accurate or converged solution?

Except for Stress Singularities, the most accepted method is to run a solution,
identify the areas of high solution gradients, refine the mesh in those areas and
rerun the solution until the difference between the last two runs is less than 5%.

Is there a way to get converged solution automatically?

Use the P-adaptive method to get an automatically converged solution.

What is Jacobian check?

Parabolic elements can map curved geometry much more accurately than linear
elements of the same size. The mid-side nodes of the boundary edges of an
element are placed on the actual geometry of the model. In extremely sharp or
curved boundaries, placing the mid-side nodes on the actual geometry can result
in generating distorted elements with edges crossing over each other. The
Jacobian of an extremely distorted element becomes negative. An element with
negative Jacobian causes the analysis program to stop.
In the course of calculating the element stiffness matrix, the program performs
integration processes over the domain of the element. The integration process is
simplified by evaluating the function of interest at prescribed locations inside the
element. These locations are called Gaussian points. For the purpose of checking
the quality of parabolic elements, COSMOS/Works gives you a choice to base the
Jacobian check on 4, 16, or 29 Gaussian points.
The Jacobian ratio of a parabolic tetrahedral element, with all mid-side nodes
located exactly at the middle of the straight edges is 1.0. The Jacobian ratio
increases as the curvatures of the edges increase. The Jacobian ratio at a point
inside the element provides a measure of the degree of distortion of the element at
that location. COSMOS/Works calculates the Jacobian ratio at the selected
number of Gaussian points for each tetrahedral element. Based on stochastic
studies, it is generally seen that a Jacobian ratio of 40 or less is acceptable.
COSMOS/Works adjusts the locations of the mid-side nodes of distorted elements
automatically to make sure they pass the Jacobian check.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 43

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Checking for Accuracy

What is Aspect ratio check?

Numerical accuracy is best achieved by a mesh with uniform perfect tetrahedral
elements whose edges are equal in length. For a general geometry, it is not
possible to create a mesh of perfect tetrahedral elements. Due to small edges,
curved geometry, thin features, and sharp corners, some of the generated elements
can have some of their edges much longer than others. When the edges of an
element become much different in length, the accuracy of the results degrades.
The aspect ratio of a perfect tetrahedral element is used as the basis for calculating
aspect ratios of other elements. The aspect ratio of an element is defined as the
ratio between the longest edge and the shortest normal dropped from a vertex to
the opposite face normalized with respect to a perfect tetrahedral. By definition,
the aspect ratio of a perfect tetrahedral is 1.0. The aspect ratio check assumes
straight edges connecting the four corner nodes. The aspect ratio check is
automatically used by the program to check the quality of the mesh.

How can I check for failure using Factor of Safety as a criterion?

Failure criteria normally predict the failure of a material subjected to multi-axial
state of stresses. The Design Check Wizard assesses the safety of the model
based on a selected failure criterion.
A material may behave in a ductile or brittle manner depending on the
temperature, rate of loading, chemical environment, and the formation process.
No single failure criterion is best applicable to a material under all conditions. You
should use all the information available to you about the material to select a
failure criterion. You can try more than one stress criterion to assess the safety of
the model.
Failure criterion is selected and Factor of Safety defined in Design Check Wizard.

44
Results and Visualization

Can I visualize results in local or cylindrical co-ordinate systems?

You can visualize results in local or cylindrical co-ordinate systems is COSMOS/
Works 7.0.
Select the reference geometry (desired plane or axis) and create a new plot by
right mouse click on any result folder.

How can I list results based on geometric entities?

The List Selected tool lets you list the results on all nodes on the selected entities.
It also lists the sum and average values. To use this tool, double-click the desired
plot icon and then right-click on it in the COSMOS/Manager tree and select List
Selected. You can then select the desired entities and click the Update button to
list the results.

Can I create a graph of results of selected nodes in the model?

Using the probe tool the user can select the results at the selected nodes and plot
the graph.

How can I create automatic reports?

The Report Wizard helps you document your work quickly and systematically
for each study. COSMOS/Works generates structured, Internet-ready reports
(HTML files) that describe all aspects related to the study. Use your favorite
Internet browser to view reports.
All plots created in the COSMOS/Works Manager tree can be included
automatically in the report. You can also insert images, animations (AVI videos),
and VRML files in the report to document the results of your work. A printer-
friendly version of the report can be generated automatically. The generated report
provides an excellent way to share the results of your studies with others online or
in printed format.

How can I locate the areas of maximum stress in the model?

Using the ISO plot feature, users can easily locate the areas of high stress/solution
gradients.

Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works 45

 Tips and Tricks for COSMOS/Works „ Design Optimization

How do I create section or Iso plots?

Please refer to the help section of COSMOS/Works on Iso plots.

Design Optimization

Can I do automatic optimization?

You can do optimization inside COSMOS/Works. After running Statics or
Frequency or Thermal analysis, optimization is performed. COSMOS/Works uses
SolidWorks model dimensions to modify the part or assembly to reach the goals
defined. Please refer to online tutorials to view an example.

Motion Simulation

How are joints created in COSMOS/Motion?

The mates created in SolidWorks between the parts are automatically converted
into joints between the parts in the Motion analysis.

How do I import motion loads into COSMOS/Works?

After running Motion Analysis, export the results at the frame interested.
COSMOS/Works can read the motion loads for the part interested. When the part
is opened, a study with the loads is automatically created.

46