Finite Elements size of Simscape General Flexible Plate

Hi

How much nodes does the finite elements model use on the General Flexible Plate? And how much normal modes are used?

Is there any way to control the quantity of nodes and modes?

[Ismael de la Cruz]

Thank you Ahmed.

I asked these questions because we are trying to run a model that includes two large easy plates (~3m x 3m) and the model runs very slowly. Therefore we have thought that it is due to the number of nodes or modes.

How could we speed up the execution time?

Regards,

Ismael.

Answer 1

[Ahmed Aboubakr]

Hi Ismael,

Currently, for the general flexible plate, the number of nodes/elements depends on the complexity(holes, grooves, ...) of the geometry of the plate's mid-surface and the number of frames added to it. Adding more frames to the plate adds more nodes to the plate's FE solution; in the meantime, please note that adding more nodes will slow down the solution.

The current plate's FE solution solves for the physical states of all the plate's nodes(x,y,z,theta_x, Theta_y) without any modal reduction, so the number of normal modes is not required for the current solution.The good thing is that the modally reduced solution that allows the user to control the number of normal modes to include in the dynamic solution is expected to be available for different flexible blocks in a coming release.

Many thanks,

Ahmed

Answer 2

[Ahmed Aboubakr]

The slowdown can be due to many nodes to model the flexible plate or the solver settings you are using. I can not guess without looking at the model; if possible, you can share the model with me here or with technical support for further investigation.

Regard,

Ahmed