contact between brick element and plate (midplane)

[eleblanc]

I have this assembly in inventor using plate 12 ga thick and multiple stiffner, spread equaly across the surface.

In Simulation i select midplane for the plate. But obviously once meshed there is a gap between the plate midplane and the stiffners (brick).

How can i intersect and have the mesh done so the stiffners and the mid plance are contacted? I know i can create a new part with gap / rigid element in between both, but this is a long process que mesh are not always aligned.

Any idea? I must be missing something here. It is basicly like a silo with stiffners.

[AstroJohnPE]

Hi eleblanc,

You did not miss anything. There is no automatic method (currently) in linear stress (are you using linear?) to connect the plate and brick elements. Here are some thoughts that come to mind.

1. Would it be possible to midplane mesh the stiffeners and make them plate elements, too? The midplane mesher will extend the stiffener by half the thickness of the silo wall to connect the stiffener and wall. This would work if the stiffener were a simple plate or L shaped angle sticking off of the wall; that is, the two plates intersect each other.
2. Mesh the wall as "plate/shell" instead of midplane. This will mesh all faces of the wall as if they are plate elements. Since this is not the reality, you will need to delete the inside "surface" of the wall, leaving the outside surface acting as a plate in perfect contact with the brick element stiffeners. Essentially, this trick simulates the wall as if the diameter was larger by the thickness of the plate (1/2 the thickness on each side of the diameter). See the page "Model Mesh Settings" to get a better understanding of the differences between the midplane and plate/shell mesh.

[eleblanc]

That is what i'm doing right now, all my stiffners are angle, so midplane is ok.