Load balance check in FEA to verify results

It is always a good post-solve practice to check the overall load balance of our models as a means of result verification.

Simply by adding a Reaction Force result control we can inspect the overall reaction force on the boundaries where the model is fully fixed or constrained.

The magnitude and direction of the reaction force, should match the forces generated by the applied boundary conditions e.g. Force/Pressure/Gravity etc, such that there is no force imbalance in the model.

In case the above isn’t true, then we better have a closer look at the model to check if we missed something. Some examples leading to force imbalance might be poor mesh quality, accidental constraints or loose residual tolerances for example.

If the results don’t make sense, it’s always good to check the total force magnitude and direction to rule out any issues coming from poor mesh quality or wrong BC application.

Hope this helps,
Happy simulations :slight_smile: