FEM SolverCalculixCxxtools

FEM Solver
Menu location
Solve → Solver CalculiX Standard
Workbenches
FEM
Default shortcut
See also
FEM tutorial
Contents 1 FEM Solver 2 Description 3 How to use 4 Options 5 Properties 6 Limitations 7 Notes 8 Scripting

Description

CalculiXccxTools enable to use CalculiX solver. You can use it to

1. set analysis parameters
2. select working directory
3. run the CalculiX solver.

How to use

1. CalculiXccxTools object is created automatically with creation of Analysis container. Otherwise use Solve → Solver CalculiX Standard , or press S then X keys
2. Optionally set data properties of the CalculiXccxTools object
3. Double click on the CalculiXccxTools object
4. Select type of the analysis
5. Click Write .inp file
6. Click Run CalculiX

Options

By using Edit .inp file you can display and edit CalculiX input file manually before running analysis. In this case it might be useful to use parameter "Split Input Writer = true".

Properties

Default values can be set in the menu Edit → Preferences → FEM → CalculiX

• DATAAnalysis Type:
  • static
  • frequency
  • thermomech - for mechanical and thermal loads

• DATABeam Shell Result Output 3D: note that CalculiX internally expands 1D and 2D elements into 3D elements to accomplish FE analysis
  • false - results of 1D and 2D elements will be averaged to the nodes of original 1D or 2D mesh (i.e. purely bended beam will show 0 nodal stresses due to averaging)
  • true - resulting mesh will contain 1D and 2D elements expanded to 3D elements

• DATAEigenmode High Limit: Eigenvalues above this limit will not be calculated

• DATAEigenmode Low Limit: Eigenvalues below this limit will not be calculated

• DATAEigenmodes Count: number of lowest eigenmodes to be calculated

• DATAGeometric Nonlinearity:
  • linear - linear analysis will be performed if model does not contain nonlinear material
  • nonlinear - nonlinear analysis will be performed

• DATAIterations Control parameter Cutb: defines second line of advanced iteration parameters under *CONTROLS card, used when "Iterations Control Parameter Time Use" is true

• DATAIterations Control Parameter Iter: defines first line of advanced iteration parameters under *CONTROLS card, used when "Iterations Control Parameter Time Use" is true

• DATAIterations Control Parameter Time Use
  • true - activates "Iterations Control Parameter Cutb" and "Iterations Control Parameter Iter"

• DATAIterations Thermo Mech Maximum: maximum number of increments in thermomechanical analysis after which the job will be stopped.

• DATAIterations User Defined Incrementations:
  • true - automatic incrementation control will be switched off by DIRECT parameter
  • false - incrementation control will be automatic

• DATAIterations User Defined Time Step Length:
  • true - activates "Time End" and "Time Initial Step" parameters

• DATAMaterial Nonlinearity:
  • linear - only linear material properties will be included in the analysis
  • nonlinear - nonlinear material properties will be used from Nonlinear mechanical material object

• DATAMatrix Solver Type: type of the solver to solve equation system inside FE analysis. It may significantly affect calculation speed and memory demands. Suitability depends on your FE model and available hardware
  • default - automatically selects matrix solver depending on available solvers (probably it will be Spooles)
  • spooles - direct solver with support of multiple CPUs. Number of CPUs need to be set in Edit → Preferences → FEM → CalculiX → Solver defaults → Number of CPU's to use)
  • iterativescaling - iterative solver with least memory demands, suitable if model contains mostly 3D elements
  • iterativecholesky - iterative solver with preconditioning with and with low memory demands, suitable if model contains mostly 3D elements

• DATASplit Input Writer:
  • false - write whole input into one *.inp file to be used by CalculiX solver
  • true - split solver inputs into more *.inp files, that can clarify hand editing

• DATAThermo Mechanical Steady State:
  • true - steady state thermo mechanical analysis
  • false - transient thermo mechanical analysis

• DATATime End: time period of the step, used when parameter "Iterations User Defined Incrementations" or "Iterations User Defined Time Step Length" is true

• DATATime Initial Step: initial time increment of the step, used when parameter "Iterations User Defined Incrementations" or "Iterations User Defined Time Step Length" is true

• DATAWorking Dir: path to the working directory which will be used for CalculiX analysis files.

Limitations

Notes

Original CalculiX documentation can be found at http://dhondt.de/ in the "ccx" paragraph.

Scripting