Performing a Modal Transient Response Part I

1. Introduction

In this example problem you will learn how to perform a modal analysis. In this example a concentrated
mass is used on one end and thus produces rigid body modes and flexible modes. We will show how to
analyze the model to show only three of the six rigid modes and then how to show only the first of the six
rigid modes.

The model shown in Figure 1 is a 1in. by 10in. plate with a thickness of 0.1in.

Figure 1. Beam Model

2. Building the Geometry

Open FEMAP and select Geometry from the main toolbar. Select Curve – Line and then Rectangle….
In the Locate – Enter First Corner of Rectangle dialog box enter 0 for X, 0 for Y and 0 for Z. Click OK.
In the Locate – Enter Diagonally Opposite Corner of Rectangle dialog box enter 10 for X, 1 for Y and
0 for Z. Click OK. Press Ctrl A in order to Autoscale the geometry.

Now we will set up the material properties and mesh the geometry.

From the FEMAP main menu select Model – Material…. In the Define Isotropic Material dialog box
enter Aluminum for the Title, 1.03e7 for the Youngs Modulus, E, 0.33 for Poisson’s Ratio, nu and
0.00026 for the Mass Density. Your dialog box should look like the one in Figure 2.

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Figure 2. Material Definition

Click OK. Click Cancel. From the FEMAP main menu select Model – Property…. In the Define
Property – PLATE Element Type dialog box enter Aluminum Plate in the Title, select 1..Aluminum
from the Material pull down menu. In the Thickness, T avg or T1 field enter 0.1. Your dialog box
should look like the one in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Plate Properties

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Click OK. Click Cancel. From the FEMAP main menu select Mesh – Mesh Control – Size Along
Curve…. When the Entity Selection – Select Curve(s) to set Mesh Size dialog box appears select the
top and bottom 10in. long curves. Click OK. In the Mesh Size Along Curves dialog box enter 20 into
the Number of Elements field. Click OK. When the Entity Selection – Select Curve(s) to set Mesh
Size dialog box reappears select the left and right 1in. long curves. Click OK. In the Mesh Size Along
Curves dialog box enter 2 into the Number of Elements field. Click OK. Click Cancel. From the
FEMAP main menu select Geometry – Boundary Surface – From Curves…. In the Entity Selection –
Select Curve(s) on Closed Boundary dialog box click the Select All button. Click OK. Click Cancel.
From the FEMAP main menu select Mesh – Geometry - Surface…. When the Entity Selection –
Select Surfaces to Mesh dialog box appears click anywhere inside the rectangular geometry. Click OK.
In the Automesh Surfaces dialog box select 1..Aluminum Plate from the Property pull down menu.
Your dialog box should look like the one in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Automesh Settings

Click OK. Your model should now appear like the one if Figure 5.

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Figure 5. Meshed Model

3. Setting up the Functions for Future Analysis

The following procedure will demonstrate how to set up an acceleration function, damping function, and a
concentrated mass. All of these attributes will be necessary for future analysis of the model, specifically
a transient response and direct transient response analysis.

First we will create the Modal Damping function.

From the FEMAP main menu select Model – Function…. In the Function Definition dialog box type in
Modal Damping for the Title. In the Type pull down menu select 7..Critical Damp vs. Freq. Make sure
the Single Value radio button is picked and type in 0 for the X field and 0.05 for the Y field.

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Figure 6. Function Definition

Click More. Now enter 1000 for X and 0.05 for Y. Click More. This will ensure a damping of 5.0% for all
frequencies between 0 and 1000 Hz. For future analyses we will be using frequencies between these
ranges. Your dialog box should now appear like the one in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Critical Damping vs. Frequency Function

Click OK. Click Cancel.

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Now we will create the acceleration function to be used as an input acceleration for future analyses.

From the FEMAP main menu select Model – Function…. In the Function Definition dialog box type in
Input Acceleration for the Title. In the Type pull down menu select 1..vs. Time. Click the Equation
radio button and enter 2e-6 into the Delta X field, 0 in the X field, sin(10000*360*!x) in the Y field (this
sinusoidal function will give us two loading cycles for our time increment), and 0.0002 in the To X field.
Your dialog box should look like the one below.

Figure 8. Input Acceleration Function

Click More. Click the Single Value radio button and enter 0.0002 into the X field and 0 into the Y field.
Click More. Enter 0.0004 into the X field and 0 into the Y field. Click More. This function contains a
sinusoidal input until a time of 0.0002 seconds after which it remains constant at 0 until 0.0004 seconds.
Your dialog box should look like the one below.

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Figure 9. Function Definition

Click OK. Click Cancel.

Now we will insert a concentrated mass at one end of the beam.

From the FEMAP main menu select Model – Load – Dynamic Analysis…. In the Create or Activate
Load Set dialog box type in Dynamic Load in the Title field. Click OK. In the Load Set Options for
Dynamic Analysis dialog box pick the Modal Transient radio button. Click the Enforced Motion…
button. When the Locate – Enter Coordinates for Base Masses dialog box appears click the Method^
button and select On Node. When the On Node – Enter Coordinates for Base Mass dialog box
appears pick the center node on the far left 1 in curve of the beam. Click OK. When the Entity
Selection – Select Nodes on Base dialog box appears select the three nodes along the left 1 in curve.
Click OK. In the Create Loads on Nodes (Node 64) dialog box pick the AY box and enter 50*386.4. In
the Function Dependence pull down window select 2..Acceleration. Your dialog box should look like
the one below.

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Figure 10. Create Loads on Nodes

Click OK. Click OK. When the Load Set Options for Dynamic Analysis dialog box reappears click
OK. You should now see the Load and the concentrated mass as shown in Figure 11.

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Figure 11. Loaded Model

4. Setting up the Constraints

We will now set up the constraints in order to view only three of the six rigid body modes.

From the FEMAP main menu click Model – Constraint – Nodal…. From the Create or Activate
Constraint Set dialog box, type in Constraints for the Title.

Figure 12. Create or Activate Constraint Set

Click OK. The Entity Selection – Enter Node(s) to Select dialog box appears. Type 64 into the ID
field and click More. Click the Pick^ button and select Box. Using the left mouse button twice, create a
box that surrounds all the nodes except for the left edge nodes of the plate. Click once to start one

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corner of the box and click again when the box surrounds the proper nodes. Click OK. In the Create
Nodal Constraints/DOF dialog box, click the TZ, RX and RY boxes. This will allow motion in the XY-
Plane only.

Figure 13. Create Nodal Constraints/DOF

Click OK. Click Cancel. The constraints should now appear on the plate. This would be a good time to
save the model. From the FEMAP main menu select File then Save. Browse to your working directory
and save the model.

Figure 14. Loaded and Constrained Model

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5. Running a Modal Analysis

The model is now ready for a modal analysis.

From the FEMAP main menu select Model – Analysis…. In the Analysis Set Manager (Active: None)
dialog box click the New… button. Type Modal Analysis into the Title field and select 31..NEiNastran
and 2..Normal Modes/Eigenvalue for the Analysis Program and Analysis Type.

Figure 15. Analysis Set

Click Next…. Click Next…. In the NASTRAN Bulk Data Options dialog box click the All Plates as
QUADR/TRIAR box. Click Next…. In the NASTRAN Dynamic Analysis dialog box click the Coupled
radio button and enter 20 into the Number Desired field. Click Next… five times and then OK. In the
Analysis Set Manager (Active: 1..Modal Analysis) click the Analyze… button. In the Write Model to
NASTRAN dialog box browse to your working directory and type Modal Analysis into the File name
field and press Write. NEiNastran will then open and the analysis will start automatically. If not, select
Analysis then Run from the NEiNastran Editor. Note that in the event that you do not want NEiNastran
to start automatically this feature can be adjusted in the Setup – Settings control in the NEiNastran
Editor. Once the analysis is complete click Continue in the NEiNASTRAN Termination Status dialog
box. This will write the results data to FEMAP and close the NEiNastran Editor.

6. Viewing the Results

To view the first rigid modal frequency, in FEMAP press F5, a shortcut for View – Select…. Select
Deform for the Deformed Style and Contour for the Contour Style. Click the Deformed and Contour
Data… button. In the Select PostProcessing Data dialog box select 1..MODE 1, FREQ= 4.396E-04 for
the Output Set, this is the first rigid mode. Select 1..TOTAL TRANSLATION for the Deformation and
the Contour. Click OK. Click OK again. You should see the contour of the first rigid mode. To view the
deformation more clearly you can use the Dyn Rotate (Dynamic Rotate) icon on the FEMAP main
toolbar. Your model should look like the four images shown below.

To view other Modes you can click the PostProcess icon on the right hand FEMAP toolbar. Then using
the Next Set and Previous Set icons you can easily maneuver through the different Modes. The three
rigid modes and the first flexible mode are shown in Figure 16.

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Figure 16. Three Rigid Body Modes

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The first flexible mode 4..MODE 4, FREQ= 1.377E+03 is shown below.

Figure 17. First Flexible Mode

7. Modifying the Constraints

We will modify the constraints in order to show only one rigid mode. First we need to delete the old
output sets.

In the FEMAP main menu select Delete – Output – Set…. In the Entity Selection – Select Output
Set(s) to Delete pick Select All. Click OK. Click Yes to OK to Delete 20 Selected Output Set(s)?

Now we need to modify the constraints.

From the FEMAP main menu select Modify – Edit – Constraint…. In the Select Type of Constraint
dialog box click the Nodal Constraints box. Click OK. In the Entity Selection – Enter Node(s) to
Select Constraints to Edit dialog box enter 64 into the ID field and click OK. In the Edit Constraint on
Node 64 dialog box pick all DOF boxes except the TY box.

Figure 18. Edit Constraint on Node

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Click OK.

8. Running a Modal Analysis

Run the Analysis as stated above under Section 4. Running a Modal Analysis.

9. Viewing the Results

View the results as stated above under Section 5. Viewing the Results.

Shown below are the one rigid body mode and the first flexible mode.

Figure 19. One Rigid Body Mode MODE 1, FREQ= 4.396E-04

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Figure 20. Flexible Mode MODE 2, FREQ= 3.198E+02

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