Ring Crack

Inserts embedded void cracks of a hallow disc 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 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 Ring.

Outer Major Radius: Specifies the outer 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.

Outer Minor Radius: Specifies the outer 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.

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

Inner Minor Radius: Specifies the inner minor radius, which defines the size of the inner 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.


Note:  When this crack intersects with the free surfaces of a solid body, the Hex Dominant setting is not supported.


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.

Outer 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 outer crack front. Your entry must be equal to or greater than 3. The default is 30. You can parameterize this property.

Inner 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 inner crack front. Your entry must be equal to or greater than 3. The default is 30. You can parameterize this property.

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

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

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:

  • Program Controlled (default): The application calculates the height. When selected, the Fracture Affected Zone Height property is read-only.

  • Manual: You manually specify the height in the Fracture Affected Zone Height property when using this option.

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.

Important:  The crack generation process will fail if buffer zones 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).


Note:  The maximum number of circumferential divisions the Geometry window can display is 360. However, you can specify a higher value and the application will process it accordingly.


Mesh Contours: Specifies the number of mesh contours for the crack shape. The value must be equal to or greater than 1. The default value is 6. The Geometry window can display only a maximum of 100 mesh contours, but you can specify a higher value and fracture meshing will respect it.

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

Suppressed: Toggles suppression of the Ring 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:

  • 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 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 a Ring 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 Ring 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 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

    • Commands

  • Generate All Crack Meshes

  • Suppress

API Reference

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

Additional Related Information