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Is it possible to use the connectors tool to create models of screws in inserts ?

Louis_

Hi,

I need to model screws in inserts with a RBE2-CBUSH-RBE2 type connection. The goal is to be able to use the connectors tool and not do it by hand, because I need to model that type of connection in a model where there are several dozens or hundreds of screws. It seems the connectors tool does not work when the holes don't go through all the parts.

I have attached an example.hm file that mimicks what I need to do : there is a rectangular block with 4 inserts in it, and a rectangular plate just in front of it. The plate is modelled using shell elements and the block using tetra elements. (The tetra elements are needed in my final model because the geometry will be way more complex that the one from my current example). Therefore the holes in the plate obviously go through the whole thickness, but not the ones in the block. I tried using the connectors tool with the right tolerance and other parameters (I think), but it is only able to create the RBE2s on the plate side, not inside the inserts' holes…

Is it possible to use this tool to do what I want to do, or do I have to model the screws by hand ?
If it is possible, what do I need to change for it to work ?

Thanks for your help !

Dummy_model_inserts.hm

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Accepted answers

Jason_Craanen

should work.

Hole

connector.hm

All comments

Jason_Craanen

Yes Connectors can do this

About Fasteners, Multi Layers (2021)

Louis_

Hi Jason,

Thanks for answering !

I had already seen this tutorial but it does not help in my case.

The person in the video uses a "bolt (b31)" type fastener which is only available for Abaqus solver and not Optistruct, which I am using
As stated in my first message, the hole in the 3D part of the video is a through-hole, whereas the ones in my model are inserts (they don't go through the hole part). I think that this messes with the hole detection function. I tried pretty much all the bolt types available in Optistruct and the best result I got so far is an RBE2 connecting the nodes around the 2D hole, never the insert's nodes.

In the meantime, I tried playing a bit with other options, and the best result I got is the following :

Weirdly the upper RBE2 links nodes that are not on the hole's face but higher in the part…

The option that changed the result seems to be this one :

and I used "use hole, if available".

This confirms the idea that the problem comes from the hole detection function. The way I understand it, using this option told the tool "if you don't find a hole, use the nodes you want", and it is the only option that made the creation of an RBE2 in the upper component possible.

Any other ideas ?

Cheers

should work.

here it is on your model

Louis_

Thanks again !