Connection of Shells to Solid

Rahul_P1

Hello,

I have a model in which a shell plate is connected to Solids. To account for the rotational degrees of freedom of the solid elements, additional membrane elements wer created, which should prevent the solids from rotating. There are several issues related to this model.
1) Can you please describe a proper way to define the membrane shell elements on top of the solids?
2) The deformation in the analysis is too large (meaning the solid structure is rotating). Can you please advice how to properly define the connection between shells and solids to prevent the rotation?

Rahul_P1

1) For the creation of the membrane elements, please use the function Tools -> Faces and select the solid component. With 'find faces' the shells on top of the solids are found and placed in a component named ^faces. To move these face elements to the correct membrane component, use Tool -> organize and select the elements to move by using the quick window selection (shift + left / right mouse key).

2) a) the SPC entry in your load step definition is missing, causing partially the large deformateion
 I would prefer a contact type TIE over the modeling with the membrane elements. With your current model, the rotation of the solid is only blocked by the bending of a membrane with thickness 0.001m which is not really strong.
Instead use a connection of type TIE between the Shell Plate and the solid, joining two property sets. For this, use the 'Analysis -> Interface' Panel for the contact and the 'Analysis -> Entity sets' panel for the sets.