Note: This discussion is about an older version of the COMSOL Multiphysics® software. The information provided may be out of date.

Discussion Closed This discussion was created more than 6 months ago and has been closed. To start a new discussion with a link back to this one, click here.

Deflection of a simple cantilever

Please login with a confirmed email address before reporting spam

Hi guys,

currently I'm simulating a simple cantilever. The first thing i did was to determine its eigenfrequency. I got a value of about 504.5 Hz.

I'm interested in the deflection of the beam as a function of the (excitation) frequency. So I atteched (as recommended in the forum) an Edge Load to the free end of the cantilever.

When I don't use a damping i get a pretty high deflection. Furthermore, when the resonance frequency of the cantiliver is equal to the excitation source the simulation quits with an error (The relative error (0.0012) is greater than the relative tolerance.).

For me it is logical that the simulation stops. Because an undamped system would have a too huge displacement.

But when i introduce a Rayligh damping (mass damping parameter = 2/s and stiffness = 0) my cantilever has his lagest damping at his resonance frequency.

Has anyone an idea how I can fix this???

BR

3 Replies Last Post Feb 25, 2015, 5:05 p.m. EST
Henrik Sönnerlind COMSOL Employee

Please login with a confirmed email address before reporting spam

Posted: 10 years ago Feb 24, 2015, 4:28 p.m. EST
Hi,

My best guess is that you are looking at the real part (the default) of the displacement, which is zero at resonance (since there is a 90 degree phase shift there). Try plotting abs(whatever_quantity) and see if that looks more plausible. Also try explicit real() and imag().

Regards,
Henrik
Hi, My best guess is that you are looking at the real part (the default) of the displacement, which is zero at resonance (since there is a 90 degree phase shift there). Try plotting abs(whatever_quantity) and see if that looks more plausible. Also try explicit real() and imag(). Regards, Henrik

Please login with a confirmed email address before reporting spam

Posted: 10 years ago Feb 25, 2015, 3:06 a.m. EST
Hi,

thank you for your answer. I'm plotting the displacement (solid.disp) in a 1 D Plot. I tried to determine the absolute value and also the real and imaginary part but nothing changes. The imaginary part is zero.

I tried to attach my model, but it isn't possible to do this (nothing happens when i click the button).

Has anyone else an idea???

Hi, thank you for your answer. I'm plotting the displacement (solid.disp) in a 1 D Plot. I tried to determine the absolute value and also the real and imaginary part but nothing changes. The imaginary part is zero. I tried to attach my model, but it isn't possible to do this (nothing happens when i click the button). Has anyone else an idea???

Henrik Sönnerlind COMSOL Employee

Please login with a confirmed email address before reporting spam

Posted: 10 years ago Feb 25, 2015, 5:05 p.m. EST
Hi,

It will work better if you use a separate displacement component. Since the displacement components not necessarily are in phase with each other, the norm of the displacement solid.disp is not really a meaningful harmonic quantity (it a square root of squares). The expression used is real valued.

Alternatively you can use the real valued quantity solid.disp_rms, which is an RMS average of the total displacement.

There are also built-in variables solid.uAmpX = real(u), solid.uAmpY = real(v) etc.

Please also have a look at the tutorials in Model Library: 'bracket_frequency' and 'elbow_bracket' where frequency domain analyses are shown.

Regards,
Henrik
Hi, It will work better if you use a separate displacement component. Since the displacement components not necessarily are in phase with each other, the norm of the displacement solid.disp is not really a meaningful harmonic quantity (it a square root of squares). The expression used is real valued. Alternatively you can use the real valued quantity solid.disp_rms, which is an RMS average of the total displacement. There are also built-in variables solid.uAmpX = real(u), solid.uAmpY = real(v) etc. Please also have a look at the tutorials in Model Library: 'bracket_frequency' and 'elbow_bracket' where frequency domain analyses are shown. Regards, Henrik

Note that while COMSOL employees may participate in the discussion forum, COMSOL® software users who are on-subscription should submit their questions via the Support Center for a more comprehensive response from the Technical Support team.