Warning: ONLY FIRST LOAD CASE USED

[jm74jensen]

I am running a typical "Static Stress with Linear Material Models" using Simulation 2012. I have set up some remote loads. I have both nodal moment and nodal force applied to the remote nodes (under load case 1). This ran as expected. I then added another set of nodal loads only (no moment) to the same set of noded but specified load case 2. Now when the simulation runs it reports that "Warning: ONLY FIRST LOAD CASE USED".

I have two load cases listed in the "Parameters" dialog.

I have used multiple loads (with different load case designations) on a single set of nodes in the past without this happening.

I don't know where else to check as to what would casue the second load case to be ignored.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jay

[John_Holtz]

Hi Jay,

My guess is that your model includes surface contact (gap elements) which currently supports just one load case. I may be wrong, but I thought the log or summary file indicated that, but perhaps they just indicate what is happening, not why it is happening.

[jm74jensen]

Yhank you.

Yes, I do have contact between some of the surfaces.

This model has a small clearance gap modeled between the surfaces. I selected the two surfaces that would be mating surfaces (after some deflection) and specified a contact between them. Would it make a difference if I would model the parts in contact (without an actual gap) and specify contact between the two parts. Or would this just simply result in the same condition ie. gap elements? I thought that maybe in the past I had a model with multiple load cases and contact between parts but I'm not sure.

Regards,

Jay

[John_Holtz]

Hi Jay,

The limitation of analyzing only one load case is due to the surface contact (which creates a type of gap elements). It is not related to the physical gap between the parts. (If this is a CAD model that you are working on, the mesher either removed the gap between the parts based on a tolerance, or it left a gap in which case the analysis would not have created gap elements at that surface. In other words, gap elements can only be created by the solver when the gaps are 0.)

FYI: We are investigating ways to remove the limitation of one load case when contact is present.