Hello,
I'm looking for an open source package that has a 3D beam-type elbow element.
This is available in ANSYS: https://www.sharcnet.ca/Software/Ansys/16.2.3/en-us/help/ans_arch/Hlp_E_PIPE18.html
This is often used in packages like CAE-PIPE, CAESAR II, AutoPIPE and others to calculate the stresses of a piping elbow and modify the stiffness of a 3D beam element as required by ASME piping codes.
I, unfortunately, cannot find an open source or free package that has such an element. I see that DAEdalon (http://www.baaserweb.de/DAEdalon/index.htm) may be the most easily modifiable, but I'm afraid I do not have the experience to correctly complete the modification.
Maybe someone else knows. Does anyone know of a free package that has a beam-type element, or would be willing to assist me in modifying DAEdalon to add such an element? We would of course release the modifications under GPL.
Thank you!
Hi Benjamin
The development version of Code Aster (CA) is free. CA is developed by the French powerboard and hence, well suited for industry oriented application such as piping codes.
That said, its capabilities extend well beyond that of pipe codes such as those you mention as it is a general FE code and, I might add, quite a quirky such FE code.
CA has a variety of beam elements, a fully coupled fluid/structure beam element, can account for damping and added 'wet' mass from fluids surrounding it and from internal flow.
As CA is general purpose code, it falls short in ease of use as compared to more focused software. However, there are some add-on tools around who specilize in beam type applications, e.g TUBA https://media.readthedocs.org/pdf/tuba-v2/latest/tuba-v2.pdf and a tool specilized in the calculation of generalized beam cross section properties
https://github.com/core-engineering/aster-calc-section
For research purposes, the following is noteworthy
- CA was developed for maximum flexibility, not speed, nor large model size capability.
- CA executes in Python - it is possible to tweak things between execution steps
- CA is open source, i.e. it is possible to tweak things inside of CA if there is any advantage in doing so.
I encourage you to take a look.
Sincerely
Claes
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