Defining vector orientation based on modifying element orientation coordinate(rotated by an angle)

- October 30, 2018 at 2:47 am
  
  serene7wings
  Subscriber
  
  Hi,
  
  For the anisotropic hyperelastic material properties require specifying the orientation vectors A and B.(via APDL commands)
  
  Instead of using the common global coordinates, i intended to define and rotate the element orientation coordinates. Can this be done?
  
  At the geometry section, i set my element orientations of the body graphically.
  
  1. I am trying to call the element orientation coordinates by using ESYS,0 in APDL. Will the element orientation call out based on what i graphically defined?
  
  2. How do i rotate the element orientation coordinates by an angle?
  
  * Can it be done using
  
  CLOCAL, KCN, KCS, XL, YL, ZL, THXY, THYZ, THZX, PAR1, PAR2 ?
  
  3. How do i call the x,y,z parameter from the modified orientation coordinates? (in the form of A=A(x,y,z))
  
  Thanks.
- October 31, 2018 at 2:12 pm
  
  jpasquerell
  Ansys Employee
  
  Yes, the element coordinate system can be rotated. Issue /PNUM,ESYS,1 then EPLOT with /show,,,1 to see the element coordinate system graphically.
  
  It is not clear to me what you mean by "At the geometry section, i set my element orientations of the body graphically."
  
  1. See section 3.4 of the Modeling and Meshing guide for info on Element Coordinate system. ESYS,n is the only way to set it but line elements, and shell elements (single or multi-layer) have some inherent behaviors. For example the Z axis for single layer shells is based on the element normal. See Section 8.3 of the same guide for more info on orientation.
  
  2. Any of the commands that create coordinate systems can be used to make a coordinate system with an angular orientation. You can use a cylindrical or spherical coordinate system for ESYS and the element projects it to an orthogonal Cartesian coordinate for each element.
  
  3. I do not think there is access to these values via commands.