Reply To: Force Convergence Issue in Solder Joint Reliability Simulations

[peteroznewman]

If you have a face created by cutting a solid body with a plane of symmetry, create a Displacement BC on that face to prevent nodes from moving normal to that face, leaving the other components Free. You don't need to use a Symmetry Region. You can use one and that is what it will do under-the-hood.  The benefit of a Symmetry Region is if you have the edge of a shell mesh on that plane, it will apply the 2 rotational constraints that must be added to the translational constraint you are applying with the Displacement BC.  Another benefit is to expand the results to mirror them to the other side of the plane that wasn't meshed.