Is there a way to apply a point load to a shell? Im trying to apply a point load to an aluminum plate that i modeled as a shell. or should i model it a different way?
Yes, you can apply a nodal load anywhere on the surface of the shell and that load will be resisted by the meshed elements of the shell. All that is required is to add a node at the location of the load.
If the load is close to the edge, put the node right at the edge to avoid a tiny mesh between the node and the edge.
Make sure you have the option to segment shells turned on under Process - Analyze - FE model tab:
Also make sure you are running version 13.00.03.45, this is a fairly recent enhancement to Ram Elements.
For more on shells in Ram Elements, visit this wiki: http://communities.bentley.com/products/structural/structural_analysis___design/w/structural_analysis_and_design__wiki/ram-elements-shells-faq.aspx
thanks for the reply, your help is greatly appreciated. im modeling a plate and applying a point load onto it. (like if a fork truck drove onto a metal plate) when i analyze the model, and look at the stress, which stress distribution do i select? i cant really find a help menu to describe what each distribution means. i just want to find the maximum stress in the plate and see if it will work with the load applied.
This is not something I have much experience with. When I review shell stresses, I'm generally interested in the surface fiber axial stress associated with plate bending. To get that plot in Ram Elements use sigma11, sigma33 or sigma max depending which direction of stress you are interested in.
If, on the other hand, you need to check something like "punching shear" on the plate, that's really beyond the scope of the program. With concrete structures the code provides a fairly clear method to check punching shear based on the point load (or column reaction), but for metal plates I don't know what the codes says.
For some reason after i created my model, which happens to be a flume (essentially a box with an open top) i applied all the loads and i added WT's to the vertical plates to help with bending. When i run the model the plates say they have zero stress in them so they arent working at all. the WT's are taking all of the load. I deleted a portion of the WT's from the flume and it still says that the plates are at 0 stress. i dont understand this.?
It sound like the nodes of the shells are not linked to the nodes of the WTs in your model. Verify that in the View - Finite Element model view. If not, revise the shells so that the WTs align with the shell edges and rerun it. Also check the mesh settings under Process - Analyze - Finite Element model tab.