Create and Assign Structural Properties

Structural properties are meant to be placeholders that hold local information, that can change from one structural element to another, useful for method evaluation. They usually contain extra information not directly available from FE entities or results.

Structural elements can be of various pre-defined configurations:
  • Generic
  • Beam
  • Rivet
  • Spring
  • Panel Composite
  • Panel Metallic

Structural elements can have a structural property of the same configuration assigned to them. Each configuration comes with a different set of available data names that are usually required in typical methods.

Structural properties, unlike materials or properties, can be dynamically extended with user-defined attributes in the Entity Editor (see Add Data Names).

  1. From the Certification ribbon, Property tool group, click the Create tool.
    Figure 1.


  2. Assign a configuration and define any parameters in the dialog and then click Close.
    Configuration Description
    Beam Beam structural properties refer to a Material entity and a Beamsection entity. They also have a Length data name which represents the physical length of the Member (column) that needs to be considered in methods (that length is multiplied by the constraint factor in buckling length calculation).
    When a structural property is created from Beam structural element detection, the length defaults to the total length of the beam elements absorbed.
    Figure 2.


    Rivet
    Rivet structural properties contain, by default, the Rivet diameter. This diameter is considered in the size of the extraction area where far field fluxes are extracted.
    Figure 3.


    Panel Metallic
    Panel metallic structural properties contain reference to:
    • Panel thickness (constant for the whole panel)
    • Metallic material
    • Panel dimensions (width/length/radius of curvature)
    Figure 4.


    Panel Composite
    Panel composite structural properties contain reference to:
    • Panel dimensions (width/length/Radius of curvature)
    • Composite property

    For OptiStruct/Nastran solver profiles, the property used is of type PCOMP/PCOMPG. The sequence information (ply thicknesses, orientations, and materials) are extracted from this property.

    A structural property assigned without reference to a property runs using a direct elemental property instead of a “panel-level” property.
    Figure 5.


    Spring
    Spring structural properties contain reference to:
    • Bush property
    For OptiStruct/Nastran solver profiles, the property used is of type PBUSH.
    Figure 6.


    Generic

    Generic structural properties have no default.
  3. From the Property tool group, click the Assign tool.
    Figure 7.


  4. On the guide bar, click and select an option for how structural properties are assigned to design points.
    Assign selected property
    Assigns the same structuralproperty entity to all designpoints.
    Duplicate and assign property to all
    Creates a new instance of selected structuralproperty and assigns the copy to all designpoints.
    Duplicate and assign property per designpoint
    Creates a new instance of selected structuralproperty per designpoint entity.
    This option performs a deep copy, meaning the structural property's references, such as materiel/property or beamsection, are also copied. Each structural property generated is fully independent.
    This is useful for design exploration where you update structural properties separately.
  5. Select the structural property to assign.
  6. Select the design points to which the property is assigned.
  7. On the guide bar, click one of the following:
    • - Save changes and stay in the tool.
    • - Save changes and close the tool.
Tip:
  • Click the satellite icon that appears when you hover over the Property tool to filter a list of structural properties.
  • As an entity referenced by a designpoint, the Structural Property can also be assigned from the Certification Browser.

Add Data Names

  1. Specify the number of data names to add in the Counter field.
    A Tabular data entry becomes available.
  2. Click the table icon.
  3. Use the new dialog to fulfill the details of data names to be added.

    The following are descriptions of the attribute columns and behaviors in the table editor. (see Figure 8):

    Dataname
    The actual internal name of the added data name saved in the binary file.
    You can access the value of this data using the hm_getvalue or *setvalue commands in script.
    Example: hm_getvalue structuralproperty id=574 dataname=third;
    This command will return the Entity Editor labeled 2 in Figure 8.
    Display Name
    The label displayed in the Entity Editor.
    Basic Type
    Defines the type of the data name.
    • Integer |Unsigned Int
    • Double
    • String
    Default Value
    Defines the default value displayed in the user interface.
    Allowables
    Provides a list of allowable entries.
    You need to set values as a list separated by spaces; it will be rendered in the user interface as a non-editable combo box with pre-defined values (see Figure 8).
    Differentiator
    Defines a special rendering of the data name in the user interface. It defaults to Unspecified. Other options are:
    Checkbox
    Displays the data name as a checkbox (on/off) instead of its value.
    The following options are valid only if the data name Basic Type is set to String:
    File path open
    Provides a widget to select existing file to open.
    File path save
    Provides a widget to select a file name to be saved.
    Folder path open
    Provides a widget to select a folder.
    The other options are reserved for future use (Distance|Angle|Position|Direction|Vector).
    Editable
    Controls whether you can change value in the user interface.
    Visible
    Controls whether the data names is shown in the user interface.
    Parent Dataname
    If a previously defined data name is set (by its Dataname field) in this cell, the currently defined data name becomes a child of the above-mentioned Parent Dataname. Parent data names are rendered as a group that can be expanded/collapsed.
    See, for example, in Figure 8, the data name fourth is a child of data name second.
    Expand Children
    Controls the way children data names are expanded. Valid values are: Expanded:
    Expanded
    Expanded by default
    Forced Expanded
    Removes the toggle in the user interface to collapse children if any are present.
    Expanded for parent ON | OFF
    Expanded if parent checkbox is on/off.
    Tooltip
    Shows the tooltip when the mouse hovers over the display name.
    The other column headers available in the table editor are reserved for future use.
    Figure 8.