Everything Modelling and Simulation: Finite Element Analysis with Abaqus: Part 2

In this tutorial, we will see a simple stress analysis of a multi-storey building using the finite element analysis with Abaqus CAE. This is a continuation of the original topic "Finite Element Analysis with Abaqus". Let's think about a three storey building, which is portrayed below. You can get the dimension of a standard three storey building online. The geometry is first created in Abaqus by selecting a new part, the part is two dimensional. The drawing is very straightforward, you need to close the contours after you finish the geometry. Then, proceed to the next step with assigning the materials.

The material properties are the Young's modulus of elasticity, which is 2 GPa and Poisson's ratio, which is 0.15. The material is homogeneous and isotropic. You can define them by selecting the 'property', then click on 'material property'.

The next step is to create meshes in the structure. The CPS4R element is chosen.

The mesh verification information is provided below:

Part: Part-1

Quad elements: 16389

Min angle on Quad Faces < 10: 0 (0%)

Average min angle on quad faces: 79.60, Worst min angle on quad faces: 44.91

Max angle on Quad faces > 160: 0 (0%)

Average max angle on quad faces: 101.26, Worst max angle on quad faces: 139.20

Aspect ratio > 10: 0 (0%)

Average aspect ratio: 1.24, Worst aspect ratio: 2.50

Geometric deviation factor > 0.2: 0 (0%)

Average geometric deviation factor: 0.00e+00, Worst geometric deviation factor: 0.00e+00

Min edge length < 0.01: 0 (0%)

Average min edge length: 0.418, Shortest edge: 0.163

Max edge length > 1: 0 (0%)

Average max edge length: 0.512, Longest edge: 0.793

Tri elements: 508

Min angle on Tri Faces < 5: 0 (0%)

Average min angle on tri faces: 48.83, Worst min angle on tri faces: 27.99

Max angle on Tri faces > 170: 0 (0%)

Average max angle on tri faces: 69.86, Worst max angle on tri faces: 112.76

Aspect ratio > 10: 0 (0%)

Average aspect ratio: 1.26, Worst aspect ratio: 2.12

Geometric deviation factor > 0.2: 0 (0%)

Average geometric deviation factor: 0.00e+00, Worst geometric deviation factor: 0.00e+00

Min edge length < 0.01: 0 (0%)

Average min edge length: 0.355, Shortest edge: 0.177

Max edge length > 1: 0 (0%)

Average max edge length: 0.445, Longest edge: 0.667

Number of elements : 16897, Analysis errors: 0 (0%), Analysis warnings: 0 (0%)

The boundary condition for this simulation is to fix the base of the structure, which essentially means to set the displacement, velocity, and acceleration of the bottom line of the geometry to zero so that it does not have any motion in the two dimensional space. There is no initial condition. We have two uniformly distributed pressures acting on the roof as well as the bottom of the building. There are four concentrated loads acting on the four columns of the building, which are depicted below.

This is not a nonlinear analysis. In Abaqus, in the solver, the nonlinear option is turned off. This is a standard static finite element analysis. From the result below, we see that the stress is concentrated around the columns of the building where the concentrated forces are applied. Also, from the roof, the Von Mises stress is distributed through the columns to the ground, which makes sense that the loads are carried by the building columns.