Example 7 - Pendulums

Summary
The purpose of this example is to simulate the oscillation and wave propagation of a group of pendulums,
arranged in a line, when impacted at one end. The material is described as being elastic. Two models are
used to simulate two different physical problems:

The 2D model represents the infinite cylindrical mass for pendulums

The 3D model is necessary for determining the spherical mass

The quality of the model first depends on how contact is managed. For the 2D model, a simple type 5
interface with a plane facet is used. For the 3D model, however, a type 16 interface using the Lagrange
Multipliers method and a quadratic surface contact is used.

Title
Pendulums
Number
7.1
Brief Description
Five pendulums in line, initially in contact with each other, are struck by a sixth one. The shock wave and
oscillating motion are observed.
Keywords

Tri-dimensional analysis, truss, brick, 16-node thick shell

Type 16 interface (quadratic surface)

Elasticity, momentum transmission, shock wave propagation, multiple-impacts

Bi-dimensional analysis, plane strain, type 5 interface, quad element

RADIOSS Options

Bi-dimensional analysis (/ANALY)

Gravity (/GRAV)

Interface type 16 (/INTER/LAGMUL/TYPE16) and type 5 (/INTER/TYPE5)

Compared to / Validation Method

Experimental and analytical results

Input File
Tri-dimensional_analysis:
<install_directory>/demos/hwsolvers/radioss/07_Pendulums/3D_model/PENDULUMS_3D
*
Bi-dimensional_analysis:
<install_directory>/demos/hwsolvers/radioss/07_Pendulums/Plan_strain_model/PEN
DULUMS_2D*
RADIOSS Version
51e
Technical / Theoretical Level
Medium

Overview
Aim of the Problem
The purpose of this example is to study the shock wave propagation and the momentum transfer through
several bodies, initially in contact with each other, subjected to multiple-impact. The process of collision
and the energetic behavior upon impact are delineated using a tri-dimensional model. A plane strain
assumption can be used as a compliment to this study, whereby a bi-dimensional model using fine mesh
enables shock wave propagation and the mechanics contact to be shown in a qualitative manner.
Physical Problem Description
A metal ball strikes a line of five balls, initially in contact with each other. The momentum is transferred
from pendulum to pendulum until reaching the last one at the opposite end. The system is subjected to
gravity. This results in the end pendulums alternate oscillating for half the time period.
Units: mm, ms, g, N, MPa.

Fig 1: Description of the problem.

The left pendulum has an initial angle of 45 in relation to the vertical. The material used is aluminum alloy
which behaves like a linear elastic law (/MAT/LAW1) during impact.
The properties are defined as follows:

Youngs modulus: 70000 MPa

Poissons ratio: 0.33

Density: 0.0027 g.mm-3

The geometrical characteristics of the balls and trusses are:

Truss:
- Length: 124.6 mm
Ball:
- Radius: 25.4 mm (massball = 182.5g)

Analysis, Assumptions and Modeling Description

Two approaches 2D and 3D are used to provide complementary simulation results.
Modeling Methodology: 3D Model
Brick and thick shell elements are used to create the 3D model for balls. The quadratic 16-node thick
shell element is used to model the external surface of the balls. However, the core of each ball is
modeled using 8-node solid elements.

Fig 2: Tri-dimensional mesh in initial state.

The modeling technique used enables to ensure contact between the quadratic surfaces.
Figure 3 shows the mesh used for balls. The mesh uses a hypercube mesh topology combining brick and
16-node thick shell elements.

Fig 3: Mesh for balls (brick and 16-node thick shell).

The type 16 interface using the Lagrange Multipliers method is employed to model contacts between the
nodes and the quadratic elements surface. An interface must be defined for each ball (five interfaces).

Fig 4: Slave nodes and master surfaces defined for the type 16 interface.

No gap is required for the type 16 interface, enabling the contact condition to be exactly satisfied.

RADIOSS Options Used

Gravity is applied to all nodes. A function defines the gravity acceleration in the Z direction compared with
time. Gravity is activated by the /GRAV option.

Fig 5: Gravity loading (-0.00981 mm.ms-2 ).

The upper extremities of the trusses are fixed in Y and Z translations and in Y and Z rotations.

Fig 6: Boundary conditions on the upper extremities of trusses.

Modeling Methodology: 2D Model

By adopting a plane strain approach, a 2D model is used (N2D3D = 2 in the /ANALY option set in the input
file). The plane strain analysis defines the X-axis as the plane strain direction.
The mesh consists of 2D solid elements (quads). The dimension of the quad is about 0.5 mm for balls.

Fig 7: 2D mesh in the initial state.

Normal vectors of quad elements should have the same orientation to avoid negative volumes. Quad
elements undergo a type 14 general solid property.
The contact between the external segments of the quads is modeled five times using a type 5 interface.

Fig 8: Master segments and slave nodes defined for type 5 interfaces.

Type 5 interface uses the Penalty method for a master segment contact (blue side) to the slave node (red
side). The gap is set to 0.1 mm as the initial interval between the masses. The contact is sliding using a
Coulomb friction coefficient that is equal to zero.
Type 7 general interface is not available in a 2D analysis.

RADIOSS Options Used

The upper extremities of the trusses are fixed in Y and Z translations. It should be noted that the 2D
conditions are automatically taken into account with N2D3D = 2 in /ANALY.
Gravity is applied to all nodes. A constant function (-0.00981 mm.ms-2) defines the gravity acceleration in
the Z direction compared with time. Gravity is activated by /GRAV.
Note that for the 2D analysis, the rigid body /RBODY option is not available.
For the purpose of this example, the balls are given the following numbers:

Fig 9: Ball numbers.

Simulation Results and Conclusions

2D Approach: Dynamic System Analysis
Maintaining Energy and Oscillations
Figure 10 shows the kinetic energy variation of the model. When considering energy, the system behaves
as a simple pendulum.

Fig 10: Global energy assessment.

When the pendulum mass is released at time t=0, the No. 6 end ball has maximum potential energy and
null kinetic energy. Ball 6 achieves maximum velocity before striking the five other pendulums. For a
moderate case, that is without loss, we have:
EKINETIC = EPOTENTIAL

where, h is the vertical displacement of the balls center, V is the velocity and m is the mass.
The maximum kinetic energy is reached for: h = hmax = I(1 - cos(45)) = 43.934 mm
Analytical solution:
Simulation results:

EKINETICmax = mghmax = 182.5 * 0.00981 * 43.934 = 78.656 mJ

EKINETICmax = 78.655 mJ (time = 203.33 ms, impact balls 6 & 5)
EKINETICmax = 72.478 mJ (time = 612.5 ms, impact balls 1 & 2)

Maintaining the kinetic energy in the system is not entirely satisfactory, due to the energy contact being
dissipated during impact.
The two extreme pendulums alternate oscillating for half of the time period. The velocity of the middle
balls in comparison to time is shown in Fig 11.

Fig 11: Velocity transmission between the end balls 1 and 6.

Velocity is transferred from pendulum to pendulum until reaching the end one.
Equation of Motion
The relative motion of a simple pendulum can be described using the equation:

where, is the systems pulsation:

Fig 12: Pendulum motion.

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Such analytical equation can be corroborated with regard to the end balls No. 1 and 6.
Rotations
trusses.

and rotational accelerations

are indicated from the nodes located at the upper end of the

Fig 13: Verification of the equation

for ball 6.

Fig 14: Verification of the equation

for ball 1.

The numerical results have an average correlation in relation to the analytical solution, due to the dynamic
response of the nodal acceleration saved in the Time History.

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Energetic Behavior Upon Impact

Lets consider the interval [203,33 ms and 204,11 ms] where multiple impacts occur from balls No. 6 to 1.

As shown in Fig 15, the internal energy stored in the system is released after each impact, in line with the
defining balls linear material law. The kinetic energy is transferred from pendulum to pendulum.

Fig 15: Global energy assessment during multiple impacts.

The 16-node thick shells are elements which do not suffer hourglass deformation. Therefore, the low
amount of kinetic energy lost during multiple impact is due to the dissipated contact energy (-2.47mJ). The
external work of the gravity remains constant (78.655mJ).
The following animations separately illustrate:

the motion of the pendulums

the kinetic energy transmission

the stress wave propagation

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Balls Motion (Oscillations)

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Momentum transmission from pendulum to pendulum (cutting plane X = 0):

Velocity Norm

Time for total transmission: 0.78 ms

Maximum = 1.08588 m.s-1.

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Shock wave propagation during multiple impact (cutting plane X=0):

von Mises Stress Wave

Time for transmission: 0.78 ms

Maximum = 17.7062 MPa.

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2D Approach: Multiple Impact Analysis

In this section, we refer to the mechanics contact across a 6-ball chain.
The plane strain assumption changes the physical problem. Nevertheless, this case study is an
interesting example of a system undergoing several shocks.

Fig 16: A 6-ball chain system.

The force between balls compared with time is shown in Fig 17. Note the existence of a time interval
where forces contacts are not at zero.

Fig 17: Forces contact between balls compared with time (contact starts at t=0 ms).

This process leads to multiple impacts. It corroborates the experimental observations, where the theory
was well estimated. Based on an Impulse Correlation Ratio (ICR), a regularized system of an N-ball chain
using an elastic contact spring gives similar results.

Referential results: [V. Acaray, B. Brogliato / Second MIT Conference on Computational Fluid
and solid Mechanics]

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von Mises stress wave propagation from ball to ball during the multiple impact period (isostep values):

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Conclusion
The impact between several pendulums in line is studied using RADIOSS. Two models representing
physical problems are studied:
(i) a global analysis using a relatively coarse mesh with 3D elements
(ii) a 2D model using a fine mesh
In the first case, the energy assessment and the wave propagation are studied. The mesh used is not fine
enough for studying the contact effects. This is due to the fact that 3D represents a high cost model and
using a fine mesh dramatically increases the computation time. The results are compared to an analytical
solution where the pendulum system is assimilated to a simple pendulum.
The 2D analysis concentrates on contact between the balls. There still exists an analytical solution though
for a chain of three balls, but which can be generalized for the purpose of this example. The results
obtained by simulation and theory demonstrate the validity of the numerical results obtained by RADIOSS.

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