A comparative study of all three methods will show the effectiveness of the beam-to-beam simulation (Case 3).

Displacement

The vector sum of displacement (USUM) is plotted for the three models. The values are similar for all three.

Figure 51.8: USUM Displacement

von Mises Stress

Von Mises stress (SEQV) is plotted for the three models. The plots show that maximum stress occurs at a similar location in all three models, and the overall stress pattern is similar.

Figure 51.9: von Mises Stress

Computational Time

The following table compares simulation time and cumulative iterations for the three cases.

The above data shows that the beam-to-beam simulation (Case 3) is less computationally expensive than the solid model.

Conclusion

The comparison of von Mises stress and computation time for these models illustrates that similar results and reduced computation time can be achieved by using a simplified beam model and beam-to-beam contact.