HELP! I am trying to do analysis for a multi body clamp and I don't know how to set it up

Project Support
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The component of the clamp and how they are assembled can be shown here:

CLAMP EXPLODED.jpg880×652 59.8 KB
CLAMP FORCE.jpg784×726 31.9 KB

I want to investigate the deformation at the pin and the pin mounting areas. I am new to this and I am having difficulties setting up the right BCs as well as contacts. I appreciate any suggestion/idea.
Thank you,

Vinh

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Hi @vnguyen, Can you please provide the link to your project?

Thanks,
Anna

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Hey @vnguyen!

I had a look at your model. Initially you can do the following:

  1. Bond the thumb screw and clamp arm via bonded contact.
  2. Bond the Clamp body and lock pin via bonded contact.
  3. Apply a penalty physical contact between Lock pin and clamp arm with stiffness value of 1e12.
  4. Apply fixation to the bottom of your clamp body.
  5. Apply the force to the desired face. You also have to apply an elastic support with somehow a value of 500 to 1000 to the top face of the thumb screw in order to resist rigid body motion. Due to this, make sure that ‘stop if singular’ under ‘Numerics’ is turned false.

I hope this will work. On the other hand due to your clamp being different on both sides, you can take the symmetry otherwise I would go for it.

Best,
Ahmed

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Also consider removing the small faces from your model. You have 3 under clamp arm along face where the force is applied and others are over screw head. Furthermore, use tetrahedral with local refinements and only refine the contact faces in order to make you mesh size small.

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Hi Ahmed,
Thank you very much for your feedback. Could you show me how to apply the penalty physical contact? I can’t find that option anywhere.

Vinh

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Hey Vinh,

I am performing a test case and will get back to you soon :slight_smile:

Best,
Ahmed

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Hi Vinh (@vnguyen),

Sorry for a late response. You can find the project here: SimScale

The project is done both with all bonded and bonded with a physical contact. You can also review the results with a saved state.

If you have any question/s, feel free to ask.

Best,
Ahmed

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