Von Mises - What are the values of the probe?!

[scudelari]

Hello Everyone,

Forgive me the stupid question, but why do the probe show several different values?

What do they represent?

[abakharev]

The numbers are showing Von Mises stresses for the location of the nodes for all elements sharing this node.

Stresses are proportional to the second derivative of displacement. Most structural elements ensure continuity of the displacement but not the second derivatives (stresses). Thus, stresses in a node calculated based on data from different elements can be different.

[scudelari]

Hello Abakhavev,

Thanks for the reply, but I didn't quite understand at the beginning. After some investigation I found out that:

1- I hadn't check "Smooth Results" option. By selecting the "mean" and telling it to go across different parts already consumed several stresses. There were two left.

2- This was all plate elements and it was showing both sides of the plate.

The image below shows more details...

Thanks a lot. 

[Inv_kaos · Accepted solution]

If you have smooth results off what you are seeing is the stress at the gauss points in the elements closest to the node you selected. These are the more accurate stresses and if there is a large difference between these values it could indicate your mesh is not refined enough but it is not an absolute sign of convergence. When you have the results smoothing on it averages the stresses across the gauss points to give you the nodal stress. The latter is generally what is used but they both have their applications.

The reason you get two results for a shell is because your plane is at the mid thickness, so it returns a stress at the top and the bottom of the plate calculated based on the thickness you entered.