Learning Forum

[Matilde Casassa]

Hello everyone!

I'd like to say that I'm new to Ansys software, so there's a chance that my question will sound absolutely dumb, but I have limited time for a job and need some guidance.

In the lab, I have been running 4-point bending tests on a 3D printed metal material, the aim being to derive the Young's modulus (I am only interested in the behaviour in the elastic field at the moment) to characterise the material. The machine returns force and displacement values as output.

My question is whether it is possible to run a simulation in ansys where I leave the material "unknown". Then, by reconstructing the model of the bending test (with the CAD of the test specimens used and the appropriate constraints) and giving as input the force and displacement values determined by the machine, can I obtain the stress-strain diagram from which the elastic behaviour of the material can be derived?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

[Armin]

Hi Matilde,

I believe it's not possible to run a simulation with an "unknown" material model. However, if the Young's modulus of the material is the only unknown of the simulation, you can adopt an inverse approach, i.e., you assume a reasonable initial guess and run a simulation and then keep adjusting the Young's modulus value until you bring the resulting force-displacement curve in close agreement with that of the experiment. Nevertheless, this approach becomes tricky if you have multiple unknowns such as friction in your 4-point bend test.