Hobby project: static FE analysis of a ceiling

Project Support
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Background: I do have extensive experience programming and 3D computing, but not FE specifically. I don’t want FE to be my career.

Problem: As a hobby project, I’d like to FE-analyze forces on a corbelled ceiling: a ceiling which narrows in progressively recessed steps. It’s static, no motion. It’s all theoretical, there’s no practical use (not a ceiling being constructed)

My options: I could learn the basics of non-commercial, free FE software (Elmer, Lisa, FreeFEM, Welsim etc). I could try an FE-oriented site like SimScale (if it provides tutorials, similar examples). I could also pay to have this done by an FE specialist, but for a hobby project, it’s too expensive.

If anyone has any suggestions how to proceed, please let me know. Thanks.

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Hi @element, thanks for posting on the forum and welcome to the SimScale Community :handshake:

I think the answer to your questions may vary depending on the exact complexity of the problem at hand. For instance:

  1. Are you expecting this to be a highly non-linear problem? (e.g. great displacements/rotations, non-linear contacts or non-linear material definitions)
  2. Are the boundary conditions clear to you and easily definable?
  3. Do you have a CAD model suited for simulation at hand?

If the answers are No, Yes and Yes, then I guess simulating shouldn’t be a particularly hard task!

For you to get a basic grasp of FE concepts (since you said you’re not very faimiliar with FE) I’d recommend that you follow some 2-3 tutorials before getting to your own problem. Here are some you might find interesting:

Cheers
Igor

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Igor, thanks for the reply. Modelling is not an issue, I can model and export any format. Not sure if non-linear behavior or boundary conditions apply here. The scenario is an empty space (blank) surrounded by masonry, let’s say concrete (in gray).

The ceiling has a corbel. I’d like to find out 2 things: 1) graphically, how do the stresses look like, 2) given the material (e.g. concrete), and the size of the space, how much load can I pile up on top, before the ceiling fails. I don’t need to see the exact failure behavior (crumbling). I just want to know if, given a load on top, does the stress exceed the compressive / tensile modulus of the material in any spot (again, NOT a real ceiling).

BTW, for my case, I was told to avoid free FE software (Elmer etc), asthe learning curve is just as steep as commercial software (Abacus, Ansys) and too much for one case. I was told to look into SimScale or Fusion 360, where the FE is not as overwhelming.

I’ll look into you links. Do you have examples/tutorials of a room surrounded by masonry or some such?

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Hi @element

As to your objectives,

You could retrieve data for stress at any given point by using a point data result control definition:

Or alternatively you can post-process the results via a 3rd Party option such as ParaView to plot curves after running the analysis.

Yes, you could do this by ramping up the force that’s being applied!

I don’t have any particular example to share, but a great option would be to search on our Public Projects page: Public Simulation Projects Library | SimScale | Page 1

Cheers

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Thanks for your help. One more question: does SimScale work in 3D only? My case could be simplified to just a 2D cross-section, but I don’t know if SimScale can resolve stresses in 2D.

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Meshes in SimScale need to have some depth, so a “true” 2D analysis is not possible.

You can create meshes with a single cell in a direction (e.g. with an extrusion refinement) and use them for a simulation, which would give you a pseudo 2D study.

Cheers

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OK, thanks. I’ll give it a try.