Figure. Select the desired imported load cases to see the supported/loaded surfaces.
In ProTOp imported load cases are used as a basis to define optimization load cases which are then actually used in the optimization process. This makes possible to define many various load cases from a limited set of imported load cases.
Imported load cases have to be identified by names and by supported/loaded surfaces. To see the supported/loaded surfaces of a particular imported load case, select its corresponding data row in the Imported load cases data grid.
Figure. Select the desired imported load cases to see the supported/loaded surfaces.
Two display options are available. The involved faces option displays only faces with all vertices being either supported or loaded. The involved elements option displays faces with any vertex being either supported or loaded.
Figure. Imported load cases: supported surfaces are drawn in BLUE; loaded surfaces are drawn in RED.
An optimization load case is computed as a linear combination of imported load cases, each of them scaled by its corresponding scale factor. This procedure is applied to both, displacement and force (loads) boundary conditions.
Currently, up to a maximum of 48 imported load cases can be combined into a single optimization load case.
An optimization load case data row is flagged by an error status in the following situations: