Utility: Deformed Model

Description

Saves a copy of the model in a deformed state by moving the nodes based on the current Results: Displacement Scale. The saved copy then becomes a version of the model with the same topology but with different node coordinate positions.

This function is only available when a displacement-based result file is open.

Common Uses

This function is often used to prepare models with perturbations or imperfections for nonlinear analysis.

Typically, a linear buckling analysis is performed on a perfect geometry representation of a structure, such as the channel shown below, which is loaded in compression.

A buckling mode from the linear buckling solver is then selected to provide the initial imperfections.

A deformed mesh is saved as a new model using a set level of perturbation displacement, based on the amount of imperfection desired.

The nonlinear analysis is then conducted on this perturbed mesh.