Chapter 4: Partial-Solution Procedure

When you initiate a solution, Mechanical APDL performs a series of steps to calculate the solution; it formulates element matrices, triangularizes matrices, and so on. The partial-solution procedure, which is initiated by the PSOLVE command, allows you to exercise each such step individually, completing just a portion of the solution sequence each time. (The PSOLVE command is described in Part II: Archived Commands.) For example, you can stop at the element matrix formulation step and go down a different path to perform inertia relief calculations. Or, you can stop at the Guyan reduction step (matrix reduction) and go on to calculate reduced eigenvalues.

Some possible uses of the PSOLVE approach are listed below.

  • You can use the results of an intermediate solution step as input to another software package or user-written program.

  • If you are interested just in inertia relief calculations or some such intermediate result, the PSOLVE approach is useful.

The following topics concerning the partial-solution procedure are available: