Object Properties

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Scope

Source: Read-only property set to Initiation Criterion

Scoping Method:

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: Specifies the user-defined coordinate system that defines the orientation of the crack. The Y axis of the specified coordinate system must be directed towards the normal of the crack plane and the crack plane always lies in the X-Z plane of the specified coordinate system.

Crack Shape: Read-only property set to Elliptical.

Major Radius: Specifies the major radius, which defines the size of the crack shape along the Z axis (that is, the width of the crack). 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 X axis (that is, the depth of the crack). Enter a value greater than 0. You can parameterize this property.

Mesh Method: This property enables you to select the mesh method to be used to mesh the crack. Options include Hex Dominant (default) and Tetrahedrons.

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: This property is only visible when the Mesh Method property is set to Tetrahedrons. 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: This property is only visible when the Mesh Method property is set to Tetrahedrons. It specifies the element size for the crack front. The default value is computed using crack length. Specify a value greater than 0.

Crack Front Divisions: This property is only visible when the Mesh Method property is set to Hex Dominant. It specifies the number of divisions for the crack front. Your entry must be equal to or greater than 3. The default value is 30.

Fracture Affected Zone: This property is only visible when the Mesh Method property is set to Hex Dominant. This is the region that contains a crack. This property defines the height of the fracture affected zone. Property options include:

Fracture Affected Zone Height: This property is only visible when the Mesh Method property is set to Hex Dominant. This value specifies two things: 1) the height of the Fracture Affected Zone, which is in the Y direction of the crack coordinate system, and 2) the distance in totality by which the Fracture Affected Zone is extended in the positive and negative Z direction of the crack coordinate system from the crack front extremities.

The shape of a Fracture Affected Zone is rectangular, regardless of the shape of the crack. Although buffer zones may overlap, you should use care when defining multiple cracks so that the zones do not overlap.

Circumferential Divisions: This property is only visible when the Mesh Method property is set to Hex Dominant. It specifies the number of circumferential divisions for the crack shape. The value you enter must be a multiple of 8 and must be equal to or greater than 8 (default).

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.

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 Elliptical Crack 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:

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 maximum dimension among the three directions of the crack is multiplied by the corresponding scale factors to create a buffer zone. When the Mesh Method property is set to Hex-Dominant, the crack dimensions also include fracture-affected zones.

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 an Elliptical 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.