Cylindrical Crack

Inserts a crack, with a cylindrical shape, into a solid body.

Object Properties

The Details Pane properties for this object include the following.

CategoryProperties/Options/Descriptions

Scope

Source: Read-only property set to Analytical Crack

Scoping Method: Read-only property set to Geometry Selection.

Geometry: Use the Body selection filter to pick a solid body, click in the Geometry field, then click Apply.

Definition

Crack ID: A read-only property that displays a unique system generated identification value. The application uses this identifier when creating solution identifiers for fracture parameters.

Coordinate System: Specify the coordinate system that defines the orientation of the crack. The X axis of the specified coordinate system must be directed towards the axis of the cylindrical crack and the first crack front always lies in the Y-Z plane of the specified coordinate system.

Crack Shape: Read-only property set to Cylindrical.

Major Radius: Specifies the major radius, which defines the size of the crack shape along the Y axis. Enter a value greater than 0. You can parameterize this property.

Minor Radius: Specifies the minor radius, which defines the size of the crack shape along the Z axis. Enter a value greater than 0. You can parameterize this property.

Height: Specifies the height of the cylindrical crack to be inserted. The height is defined from the origin of the coordinate system (starting face of the cylinder) to the other end of the cylinder. You can parameterize this property.


Important:  If the specified height is less than the gap between the origin of the coordinate system and the free surface of the solid geometry, the mesh generates two crack fronts and two crack surfaces. Otherwise, the mesh generates a single crack front and two crack surfaces.


Mesh Method: This is a read-only property set to Tetrahedrons, the only supported method.

Largest Contour Radius: Specifies the largest contour radius for the crack shape. Enter a value greater than 0. You can parameterize this property.

Growth Rate: It specifies the factor with which the mesh layers will grow along the radius of the crack. Specify a value greater than 1. The default value is 1.2. The recommended value is equal to or greater than 1.1.

Front Element Size: It specifies the element size for the crack front. The default value is computed using crack length. Specify a value greater than 0.

Mesh Contours: Specifies the number of mesh contours for the crack shape. The value you enter must be equal to or greater than 1. The default setting is 6.

Note:  The maximum number of mesh contours the Geometry window can display is 100. However, you can specify a higher value and the application will process it accordingly.

Solution Contours: Specifies the number of mesh contours for which you want to compute the fracture result parameters. The value you enter must be less than or equal to the value of Mesh Contours, and cannot be greater than 99. By default, the value is Match Mesh Contours, indicating the number of Solution Contours is equal to the number of Mesh Contours. Entering 0 resets the value to Match Mesh Contours.

Suppressed: Toggles suppression of the object. The default is No. The application automatically suppresses the crack object if the scoped body becomes suppressed.

Buffer Zone Scale Factors

This category includes the following properties:

  • X Scale Factor

  • Y Scale Factor

  • Z Scale Factor

These properties control the size of the buffer zone in the X, Y, and Z directions, relative to the dimensions of the crack. For each scaling parameter, use the slider to set a value from 2 to 50. The default is 2. The diagonal length of the cylinder geometric bounding box is multiplied by the corresponding scale factors to create a buffer zone.

Named Selections Creation

Named Selections are created automatically when the fracture mesh is generated. These Named Selections are a special type of Named Selection. For more information about this category and its properties, see the Defining a Cylindrical Crack section as well as the Special Handling of Named Selections for Crack Objects section. For information about Named Selections in general, refer to Named Selections in the Mechanical Object Reference.

Tree Dependencies

Insertion Methods

Select the Fracture object and select the Cylindrical Crack option from the Crack group on the Fracture Context Tab. You can also right-click the Fracture object and select the crack from the Insert menu. Any currently inserted cracks also provide this right-click menu.

Right-click Options

In addition to common right-click options, relevant right-click options for this object include:

  • Insert >

    • Arbitrary Crack

    • Semi-Elliptical Crack

    • Elliptical Crack

    • Ring Crack

    • Corner Crack

    • Edge Crack

    • Through Crack

    • Cylindrical Crack

    • Pre-Meshed Crack

    • Crack Initiation

    • Commands

  • Generate All Crack Meshes

  • Suppress

API Reference

See the Cylinder Crack section of the ACT API Reference Guide for specific scripting information.

Additional Related Information