Basic Tutorials

LS-DYNA / LS-PrePost
Ex. 3. Crash test

2017-05-17 2017 © DYNAmore Nordic AB LS-DYNA / LS-PrePost

1 Introduction

Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.1 Purpose ..........................................................................................................................2
1.2 Prerequisites...................................................................................................................2
1.3 Problem Description........................................................................................................2
1.4 Data files ........................................................................................................................2
2 Create the model ....................................................................................................................3
2.1 Mesh ..............................................................................................................................3
2.2 Boundary conditions .......................................................................................................6
2.3 Rigid plate ......................................................................................................................7
2.4 Material properties ..........................................................................................................8
2.5 Element properties..........................................................................................................9
2.6 Motion .......................................................................................................................... 10
2.7 Contact ......................................................................................................................... 11
2.8 Tied contact .................................................................................................................. 12
2.9 Termination time ........................................................................................................... 13
2.10 Output .......................................................................................................................... 13
2.11 Control cards ................................................................................................................ 13
2.12 Save ............................................................................................................................. 13
3 Run the simulation................................................................................................................ 14
4 Post processing .................................................................................................................... 14
5 Summary and comments ...................................................................................................... 15
5.1 Contact definition .......................................................................................................... 15
5.2 Contact parameters ...................................................................................................... 15
5.3 Contact recommendations ............................................................................................ 16
5.4 Time step...................................................................................................................... 16
6 Optional exercises ................................................................................................................ 17
7 Record of revisions............................................................................................................... 18
8 Copyright and Trademark Notice .......................................................................................... 18
9 Disclaimer ............................................................................................................................ 18

2017 © DYNAmore Nordic AB 1 LS-DYNA / LS-PrePost

1 Introduction

1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose
• Learn to use mesh tools.
• Get familiar with contact definitions.
• Understand how to affect the time step

1.2 Prerequisites
• Basic knowledge in the finite element method.
• Understand the steps in tutorial 1 - Getting Started.

1.3 Problem Description

The task is to crush a quarter model of a so called crash box Material properties
(100x100x200 mm) used in cars to absorb impact energy to see
how contacts are defined and behave in LS-DYNA. A quarter of Density, 𝜌 7850 kg/m3
the box will be modeled. Boundary conditions and dimensions of Young’s modulus, 𝐸 210 GPa
the box is shown in the figure. Poisson’s Ratio, 𝜈 0.3
Yield limit 230 MPa
Tangent modulus 500 MPa

Symmetry
50 mm 200 mm

Constant velocity 10m/s,

fixed displacements and
rotations except in the
Fixed displacements movement direction.
and rotations
Symmetry

1.4 Data files

The final resulting keyword model is available as crashbox_results.k.

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2 Create the model

2 Create the model

2.1 Mesh
• Click Mesh > ShapeM.
o Set Entity: 4N Shell.
o Write the coordinates as in the left figure.
o Set NxNo = 40 and NyNo = 10.
• Click Create and Accept.
• Now change the coordinates to the ones in the
right figure and change Target Part ID to 1.
• Click Create and Accept.

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2 Create the model

• Click EleTol > Transf and select Scale.

• Set Scale Dir: to YZ.
• Write 0, 50, 50 in XYZ: and Scale Factor = 0.9.
• Click on the Top view in the Floating Toolbar.

• In the node selection box, select Area.

• Select the 22 nodes in the tenth (for example) node row,

counted from the right.
• Click Scale+.
• Click Accept.

• Click on the Front view in the Floating Toolbar:

• Change Scale Factor to 0.95.

• Select the 82 nodes in the corner, see the figure to the right.
• Click Scale+.
• Click Accept, then Done.

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2 Create the model

• Click EleTol > DupNod.

• This tool can be used to find nodes that are within a certain
distance of each other and merge them together.
• Set Tolerance = 1.
• Click Show Dup Nodes.
• Following message will be shown in the message box:

• The duplicated nodes will be highlighted.

• Click Merge Dup Nodes. Since Keep Smaller NID is
activated, the smaller node ID will be retained when the
nodes are merged.
• Click Accept, then Done.

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2 Create the model

2.2 Boundary conditions

Apply symmetry boundary conditions:

• Click on the Front view in the Floating Toolbar.

• Click Model > CreEnt.

• Double-click Boundary > Spc.
• Select Cre and activate Set.
• Set Sym plane to XOZ
• In node selection box, activate Area and select the
41 nodes in *.
• Click Apply.

• Select the nodes in ** and set Sym plane to XOY.

• Click Apply.

**

• Click on the Top view in the Floating Toolbar

*
• Select the nodes in ***, change Sym Plane to All Fix and click Apply
• The constraints to the left should now have been created.
• Click Done

***

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2 Create the model

2.3 Rigid plate

• Click Mesh > ShapeM.
• Set Entity: 4N Shell.
• Enter the vales as in the figure.
• Click Create, Accept then Done.

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2 Create the model

2.4 Material properties

To create the material card for the crash box, do as follows.

• Click Model > Keywrd. Make sure that All is activated.

• Double-click MAT > 024-PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICTY.
• Write in the data in the figure below and then click Accept and Done.

The plate is to be rigid, thus define also a rigid material:

• Double-click on MAT > 020-RIGID in the Keyword Manager.

• The newly created plate will be considered as rigid, which means that it cannot be
deformed.
• Enter the values as in the figure below. Then click Accept and Done.

Even though the part cannot be deformed, the Young’s modulus E and Poison’s ratio PR should be
set. This is because they are needed to compute the contact stiffness, if a contact definition is used.

The parameters CMO, CON1 and CON2 are used to constrain the center of mass of the rigid body
in translational and rotational degrees of freedom:

• CMO = 1: constraints are applied in global directions.

• CON1 = 5: translational constraints in Y and Z.
• CON2 = 7: constrained in all rotations.

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2 Create the model

2.5 Element properties

To set the element properties for the crash box and rigid plate, define 2 cards:

• In the Keyword Manager, double-click SECTION > SHELL.

• Write Crashbox as title.
• Set SHRF = 0.8333 and NIP = 5 (recommended, but not default in LS-DYNA).
• T1-T4 = 1.5. (activates after setting T1=1.5, then press Enter)
• Click Accept, then NewID.
• Change the title to Plate.
• Change the thickness to 2 instead.
• Click Accept, then Done.

Now attach the created element cards to the parts:

• In the Keyword Manager, double-click PART > PART.

• Select 1 shell_4p (Crashbox) in the top right corner and assign the newly created material
and section. There one can also change the name of the part.
• Assign material and section to 2 shell_4p (Plate).
• Click Accept, then Done.

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2 Create the model

2.6 Motion
The rigid plate is to crush the crash box. Apply the motion of the plates as follows. First create a
curve defining the motion:

• Click Model > Keywrd.

• Double-click DEFINE > CURVE.
• Name the curve, e.g. to Velocity.
• The points for the curve will be written in A1 and O1.
o Write 0 and 1, Click Insert.
o Then 1 and 1, Insert.
• Click Accept, then Done.

Now use the defined curve to apply a motion to the rigid plate:

• Double-click BOUNDARY > PRESCRIED_MOTION_RIGID in the Keyword Manager.

• Enter the values as in the figure below.

Note: The options above imply that a constant velocity motion will be applied in the negative (negative
scale factor) x-direction for the rigid Plate.

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2 Create the model

2.7 Contact
By using contact definitions, the structural domains will interact instead of just passing through each
other. For self-contact, meaning that nodes and elements from the same part are able to contact
each other, a single surface type of contact in LS-DYNA has to be chosen:

• Click Model > Keywrd, double-click CONTACT > AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE.

For a single surface contact, contact is considered between all parts in the slave list.
• Set SSTYP = 5, all parts in the model will then be included in the single surface contact.
(Another way is to set SSTYP = 3, then create a part set of the parts that will be included in
the contact and assign that to SSID.)
Set FS and FD to 0.1.
• Other settings that we recommend to use are VDC = 20, SOFT = 1 and IGNORE = 2. Read
more about contacts in section 5. Summary.
• Click Accept, then Done.

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2 Create the model

2.8 Tied contact

The end of the crash box will be tied “welded” to the rigid plate, using a so called tied contact:

• Double-click CONTACT > TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET in the Keyword

Manager.
• The tied contact will be used to tie the top nodes of the crashbox to the plate.
• Enter the values as in the figure below.
• Click Accept, then Done.

Note: The slave nodes in SSID (crash box) will be tied to a master surface in MSID (for shell
elements) if the distance between them are smaller than 𝛿.

𝛿1 = 0.6 𝑥 (𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑑𝑒 + 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑔𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡)

𝛿2 = 0.05 𝑥 min(𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑔𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑠)
𝛿 = max(𝛿1 , 𝛿2 )

In this case:

𝛿1 = 0.6 𝑥 (1.5 + 2.0) = 2.16

𝛿2 = 0.05 𝑥 9.8995 = 0.495 (very easy to calculate by hand in this example, since all
elements in the plate have the same size.)

𝛿 = 2.16

Thus, for the tying to occur, the distance between the slave node and the master surface must
therefore be smaller than 2.16 mm. Check this as follows:

• Click EleTol > Measure.

• Item should be Dist N2N.
• Click on a node on the plate and at a node at the top of
the crashbox.

The distance showed in the model is the length between the

nodes. To get the closest distance between the crashbox and the
plate, check the Message Window. The distance in x-direction
(shortest in this case) are 2 mm. The slave nodes at the top of
the crashbox will then be tied to the master surface (shorter than
2.16 mm).

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2 Create the model

2.9 Termination time

Set the termination time of the simulation:

• Click Model > Keywrd.

• Double-click CONTROL > TERMINATION.
• Set ENDTIM to 0.015.
• Accept, then Done

2.10 Output
Set the output of d3plot data from the simulation:

• Click Model > Keywrd.

• Double-click DATABASE > BINARY_D3PLOT.
• Set DT = 2e-4.
• Accept, then Done.

Also add output of global statistics:

• In the Keyword Manager, double-click DATABASE > ASCII_option.

• Activate GLSTAT (global data) and set DT = 1e-6.
• Click Accept, then Done.

2.11 Control cards

Set the following control cards:

• In the Keyword Manager, double-click CONTROL > ENERGY.

• Set all parameters to 2. This will calculate the stated energies and include them in the energy
balance.
• Click Accept, then Done.

Other control cards that are recommended to use:

• *CONTROL_ACCURACY: Set OSU = 1 and INN = 4 (2 would also work in this case)
• *CONTROL_SHELL: Set ESORT = 1.

2.12 Save
The model is now ready to be saved, use File > Save As > Save Keyword As. Chose a folder path
and name your file crashbox.k for example. Note that the folder path cannot contain any spaces.

Close LS-PrePost.

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3 Run the simulation

3 Run the simulation

Run the simulation using LS-Run, see exercise 1. Getting Started for more information on how to
do this. The simulation runs in less than a minute to completion. Use the “SMP Single” Preset.

4 Post processing
Open the d3plot. Click Forward in the Animation Toolbar to see what happens.

Plot the contact energy, i.e. frictionally dissipated energy and penalty spring energy:

• Click Post > ASCII.

• Select glstat* and click Load.
• Select 8-Sliding Energy and click Plot.
• Check so your sliding energy is positive, since negative sliding energy indicates contact
problems.

Also plot all energies from 1-Kinetic Energy to 9-External Work to get an idea of the size of the
energies and work involved.

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5 Summary and comments

5 Summary and comments

The focus in this exercise was to set up a model containing contact definitions. Below follow some
comments to the exercise and recommendations.

5.1 Contact definition

In contacts, there are generally a master side and a slave side. Most recommended contacts are
based on the penalty method. The penalty method is used in contacts to prevent penetrations of a
slave node through a master segment. This is accomplished by applying interface springs between
penetrating slave nodes and corresponding master segments.

The contact force applied from the interface springs are calculated as:

𝑓𝑠 = −𝑙𝑘𝑐 𝑛𝑐
𝑓𝑠 = 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒
𝑙 = 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑑𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑
𝑘𝑐 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠
𝑛𝑐 = 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑
This contact interface stiffness 𝑘𝑐 will be calculated in different ways, depending on the used
formulation. Which formulation to be used are set by the SOFT parameter in the CONTACT keyword

5.2 Contact parameters

In this tutorial, we used several parameters in the contact definitions, these are explained below.

• FS and FD: Static and dynamic coefficient of friction

• VDC: The viscous contact damping parameter. Originally, contact damping was
implemented to damp out the oscillations that existed normal to the contact surfaces in sheet
metal forming simulations. It has been found that contact damping is often beneficial in
reducing high-frequency oscillation of contact forces in crash or impact simulations.
• SOFT: This non-default method calculates the stiffness of the linear contact springs based
on the nodal masses that come into contact and the global time step size. The resulting
contact stiffness is independent of the material constants and is well suited for treating
contact between bodies of dissimilar materials. The SOFT = 1 option is recommended for
impact analysis where dissimilar materials come into contact.

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5 Summary and comments

• IGNORE: Ignore initial penetrations. “Initial” in this context refers to the first timestep that a
penetration is encountered. By setting IGNORE = 2, LS-DYNA allow initial penetrations to
exist by tracking the initial penetrations. However, penetration warning messages are printed
with the original coordinates and the recommended coordinates of each slave node given.

5.3 Contact recommendations

Both single surface and tied contact have been used. For self-contact and contact between different
parts, AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE is recommended. Some recommendations for contacts:

• Uniform meshes improve result in all contact parts

• Avoid sharp corners
• Do not double define contacts
• Avoid initial penetrations (check in LS-PrePost using Contact Check under Model
Checking)

Avoid very small contact thicknesses

5.4 Time step

Earlier, we checked that the time step was smaller than the contact time step. If the time step wouldn’t
be smaller than the contact time step, or if we were unsatisfied with the time step for any other reason
e.g. long simulation times, it would be desirable to change the size of the time step.

For explicit simulations, the time step is determined for all deformable elements in the model. The
expression varies depending on if which type of element that are used. The general idea is:

𝐿𝑒 √𝜌
∆𝑡𝑒 ≈
√𝐸
𝐿𝑒 = 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝜌 = 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝐸 = 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 ′ 𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠

The critical time step is determined as the minimum of all calculated time steps:

∆𝑡𝑐 = min(∆𝑡𝑒 )

The actual time step ∆𝒕 is calculated by scaling the critical time step, default in LS-DYNA is
∆𝒕 = 𝟎. 𝟗∆𝒕𝒄 . The scale factor TSSFAC (0.9 as default) can be changed in CONTROL_TIMESTEP.
To get more detailed information about the critical time step, see section “Time Step Control” in the
Theory Manual.

By observing the time step calculation, one can see that by changing certain material properties, the
time step can be increased or decreased. A regular approach is mass scaling i.e. modify the mass
of the parts in the model. One simple way is to change the density of the material, which is not
recommended since it in some cases require a large increase in mass in order to get a noticeable
change in the time step. A more stable and more commonly used mass scaling method is applied in
Optional exercise no. 2.

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6 Optional exercises

6 Optional exercises
Optional exercises:

1. At which thickness of the plate will the crashbox NOT be tied to the plate? Use the
following equations.

𝛿1 = 0.6 𝑥 (𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑑𝑒 + 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑔𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡)

𝛿2 = 0.05 𝑥 min(𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑔𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑠)
𝛿 = max(𝛿1 , 𝛿2 )

Change the thickness of the plate to check your calculations.

2. Add the keyword CONTROL_TIMESTEP and set DT2MS = -5e-7. If the time step for an
element becomes smaller than |DT2MS|, mass will be added to those elements so the time
step becomes equal to |DT2MS|. The minimum time step allowed is then TSSFAC x
|DT2MS|. In this case, 0.9 x |-5e-7| = 4.5e-7.

3. While running the simulation, notice that the time step never becomes lower than
4.5e-7. Use glstat to see how much mass that have been added to the model, both
in mass unit and percentage. To obtain information about the added mass for the
different parts, add matsum in DATABASE_ASCII_option.

2017 © DYNAmore Nordic AB 17 LS-DYNA / LS-PrePost

7 Record of revisions

7 Record of revisions
Rev. no Release Author Comment
date
1.0 Robin Thuresson Release of document.
2.0 2019-03-20 Anders Jernberg Formatting, copyright, disclaimer

8 Copyright and Trademark Notice

All brands, trademarks and images mentioned are property of their respective registered owners: LS-
DYNA and LS-PrePost of Livermore Software Technology Corporation (www.lstc.com).

9 Disclaimer
By using this Tutorial, you hereby consent to this disclaimer and agree to its terms.

All the information in this Tutorial, comprised of this document and the accompanying simulation
models, is published in good faith and for general information purpose only. Neither DYNAmore
Nordic AB nor the authors make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of
the information in this Tutorial. Any action you take upon the information you find in this Tutorial is
strictly at your own risk. Neither DYNAmore Nordic AB nor the authors will be liable for any losses
and/or damages in connection with the use of the Tutorial.

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