Creating a minimum width restriction

A sizing optimization determines the optimal element thickness when modeling a sheet metal structure with shell elements. Specifying the minimum width of a region containing elements of the same thickness prevents narrow slivers of elements with equal thickness from appearing in the solution after a sizing optimization. Specifying a minimum width will also prevent oscillations in the shell thickness or a checkerboard pattern of element thicknesses. The minimum width must be larger than the average length of the element edges.

Related Topics
Creating a geometric restriction in a topology or sizing optimization
Creating a geometric restriction in a shape optimization

  1. From the main menu bar, select Geometric RestrictionCreate.

    The Create Geometric Restriction dialog box appears.

    Tip: You can initiate the Create procedure in two other ways:

    • Click Create in the Geometric Restriction Manager. (You can display the Geometric Restriction Manager by selecting Geometric RestrictionManager from the main menu bar.)

    • Click the tool in the Optimization module toolbox.

  2. From the Create Geometric Restriction dialog box that appears, enter the name of the geometric restriction.

  3. Select Member size (Sizing) from the list of geometric restrictions and click Continue.

  4. From the viewport, select the region to which the minimum width restriction will be applied or click Done to apply the minimum width restriction to the entire model.

    By default, Abaqus/CAE allows you to select all of the model. To select faces or cells, use the Selection toolbar to change the type of object that you can select to Face or Cells. For more information, see Filtering your selection based on the type of object.

    If you would rather select from a list of existing sets, do the following:

    1. Click Sets on the right side of the prompt area.

      Abaqus/CAE displays the Region Selection dialog box containing a list of available sets.

    2. Select the set of interest, and click Continue.

    Note:

    The default selection method is based on the selection method you most recently employed. To revert to the other method, click Select in Viewport or Sets on the right side of the prompt area.

  5. When you have finished selecting the geometric restriction region, click Done in the prompt area. For more information on selecting objects, see Selecting objects within the viewport.”

    The Edit Geometric Restriction dialog box appears.

  6. Select Minimum width and enter the minimum width.

  7. Click OK to create the minimum width geometric restriction and to exit the editor.