load

The load command is used to create loads applied on nodes.

Currently, concentrated node based loads can be applied in terms of force, displacement and acceleration. Given that all external forces are eventually converted to concentrated nodal forces, commands for distributed load patterns may not be available in the foreseeable future.

All loads are initialised and processed in parallel via global mutexes.

Syntax

All loads share a similar syntax:

load <load_type> <unique_tag> <arguments that define the specific load...>

Nodal Load

To apply loads on nodes,

# to apply nodal concentrated force
cload (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load cload (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
# to apply nodal displacement
displacement (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load displacement (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
# (1) int, unique tag
# (2) int, amplitude tag, 0 to use a default `Ramp` amplitude
# (3) double, nominal magnitude
# (4) int, dof tag
# (5...) int, node tags

# to apply nodal acceleration
acceleration (1) (2) (3) (4) [5...]
load acceleration (1) (2) (3) (4) [5...]
# (1) int, unique tag
# (2) int, amplitude tag, 0 to use a default `Ramp` amplitude
# (3) double, nominal magnitude
# (4) int, dof tag
# [5...] int, node tags

The keyword cload is the abbreviation for concentrated load.

Body Force

Some elements support body force. Indications are given for elements that support body force in the corresponding pages.

bodyforce (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load bodyforce (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
# (1) int, unique tag
# (2) int, amplitude tag, 0 to use a default `Ramp` amplitude
# (3) double, nominal magnitude
# (4) int, dof tag
# (5...) int, element tags

Load Applied To Node/Element Groups

To apply loads on groups,

# on node groups
groupcload (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
groupdisplacement (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load groupcload (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load groupdisplacement (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)

# on element groups
groupbodyforce (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load groupbodyforce (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)

# (1) int, unique tag
# (2) int, amplitude tag, 0 to use a default `Ramp` amplitude
# (3) double, nominal magnitude
# (4) int, dof tag
# (5...) int, group tags

Support Excitation

For response history analysis, sometimes it is necessary to apply excitations on supports. The multi-support excitation is automatically supported if analysts assign different excitations to different supports.

supportdisplacement (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
supportvelocity (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
supportacceleration (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load supportdisplacement (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load supportvelocity (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load supportacceleration (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
# (1) int, unique tag
# (2) int, amplitude tag, 0 to use a default `Ramp` amplitude
# (3) double, nominal magnitude
# (4) int, dof tag
# (5...) int, node tags

Essentially, supportdisplacement, supportvelocity and supportacceleration are all implemented as displacement loads, thus displacement controlled scheme is automatically enabled.

Although it is designed to be used in response history analysis, it can also be used to apply acceleration/velocity on any nodes (not only supports).

!!! warning "difference in explicit and implicit dynamic analysis" Implicit time integration schemes use displacement as the primary variable, thus supportdisplacement, supportvelocity and supportacceleration all converts to the corresponding nodal displacement. However, explicit time integration schemes use acceleration as the primary variable, and there is no way to obtain the corresponding nodal displacement/velocity from the acceleration (because they are explicit methods). Thus, in explicit dynamic analysis, supportdisplacement is identical to supportacceleration which all applies acceleration on the nodes. supportvelocity is not available in explicit dynamic analysis.

Validation

The algorithms implemented is not some naive integration. All support excitations are guaranteed to be consistent with the time integration scheme used. This means, the exact same input can be observed in the output for all interpolating methods. Extrapolating methods will not guarantee the exact same input in the output.

The following validation can be obtained via the script. It defines a simple column and applies a support motion at the base (fixed) end of the column. It measures both the top (free) end displacement and the base (fixed) end acceleration.

Interpolating schemes will produce the same acceleration history at the base as the input. Extrapolating schemes yield some difference since they extrapolate. Such an error may cause spurious responses in the structure. This problem is discussed in this paper.

interpolating schemes

extrapolating schemes

Uniformly Distributed Load (UDL)

lineudl2d (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
lineudl3d (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load lineudl2d (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load lineudl3d (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
# (1) int, unique tag
# (2) int, amplitude tag, 0 to use a default `Ramp` amplitude
# (3) double, nominal magnitude
# (4) int, dof tag
# (5...) int, node tags

Reference Load

For arc-length analysis, reference load can be defined via the RefForce command.

refforce (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
refload (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load refforce (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
load refload (1) (2) (3) (4) (5...)
# (1) int, unique tag
# (2) int, amplitude tag, has no effect in arc-length analysis, just a placeholder, can be set to 0
# (3) double, reference magnitude
# (4) int, dof tag
# (5...) int, node tags

Remarks

1. The leading load keyword can often be omitted for simplicity.

2. The acceleration is by default applied to all active nodes in the model if [5...] is not assigned.

3. The true load magnitude is the product of nominal magnitude and amplitude. This is similar to ABAQUS.

4. The multipoint displacement control algorithm MPDC is automatically enabled if a displacement or groupdisplacement is used.

5. Optionally, the displacement can be applied by using MPC constraint.

6. The multipoint displacement control algorithm MPDC is automatically enabled if a supportdisplacement, supportvelocity and/or supportacceleration are used.

It must be noted that nodal displacement loads are only valid for one single step. This means, if a displacement load is defined within a step, it will be activated for that step only.

All other load types will stay active once they are activated.