Element Reference

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LINK167
Explicit Tension-Only Spar
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Product Restrictions

LINK167 Element Description

LINK167 allows elastic cables to be realistically modeled; thus, no force will
develop in compression.
This element is used in explicit dynamic analyses only.

Figure 167.1 LINK167 Geometry

LINK167 Input Data

The geometry, node locations, and the coordinate system for this element are
shown in Figure 167.1. Node K determines the initial orientation of the cross
section.
The element is defined by nodes I and J in the global coordinate system. Node K
defines a plane (with I and J) containing the element s-axis. The element r-axis
runs parallel to the length of the element and through nodes I and J. Node K is
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runs parallel to the length of the element and through nodes I and J. Node K is
always required to define the element axis system and it must not be colinear with
nodes I and J. The location of node K is used only to initially orient the element.
Real constants for this element are link area (AREA) and offset for cable (OFFSET).
For a slack element, the offset should be input as a negative value. For an initial
tensile force, the offset should be positive.
The force, F, generated by the link is nonzero if and only if the link is in tension.
The force is given by:

F = K max ( L,0.)
where L is the change in length

L = current length - (initial length - offset)

and the stiffness is defined as:

You can use only the material type cable for this element. For this material, you
need to define the density (DENS) and Young's modulus (EX) or load curve ID. If
you specify a load curve ID (EDMP,CABLE,VAL1, where VAL1 is the load curve
ID), the Young's modulus will be ignored and the load curve will be used instead.
The points on the load curve are defined as engineering stress versus engineering
strain (that is, the change in length over the initial length). Use the EDCURVE
command to define the load curve ID. The unloading behavior follows the
loading.
Base accelerations and angular velocities in the x, y, and z directions can be
applied at the nodes using the EDLOAD command. To apply these loads, you
need to first select the nodes and create a component. The load is then applied to
that component.
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A summary of the element input is given in "LINK167 Input Summary".

Additional information about real constants for this element is provided in
Table 161.1: BEAM161 Real Constants. For more information about this element,
see the LS-DYNA Theoretical Manual.

LINK167 Input Summary

Nodes
I, J, K (K is the orientation node)
Degrees of Freedom
UX, UY, UZ, VX, VY, VZ, AX, AY, AZ
Note: For explicit dynamic analyses, V(X, Y, Z) refers to nodal
velocity, and A(X, Y, Z) refers to nodal acceleration.
Although V(X, Y, Z) and A(X, Y, Z) appear as DOFs,
they are not actually physical DOFs. However, these
quantities are computed as DOF solutions and stored
for postprocessing.
Real Constants
AREA - Cross-sectional area
OFFSET - Offset value for cable
Material Properties
EX (MP command) or Load Curve ID (EDMP command),
DENS (MP command),
ALPD (MP command), BETD (MP command),
CABLE (EDMP command; see Material Models in the ANSYS LS-DYNA
User's Guide)
Surface Loads
None
Body Loads
None
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None
Special Features
All nonlinear features allowed for an explicit dynamic analysis.
KEYOPTs
None

LINK167 Output Data

Output for LINK167 consists of the following: Axial force
To output the data, you must use the ETABLE command. For the ITEM label,
specify SMISC. For the COMP label, specify 1 for axial force. Then, you can use the
PRETAB command to print the output data.

LINK167 Assumptions and Restrictions

The sum of the element length plus the offset must be greater than zero.
The cross-sectional area must be greater than zero.

LINK167 Product Restrictions

There are no product-specific restrictions for this element.
Release 14.0 - 2011 SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved.

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and its subsidiaries and affiliates