*TWIST |
 
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*TWIST |
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To apply a twist load about an element's local axis.
Refer to Twist Loading for further information on this feature.
Data is specified in blocks. Each block begins with a TYPE= line, followed by data relevant to that type. Several twist loads may be specified within a single block, and several blocks may be defined.
Constant twist:
Element (Number or Label), Twist Value
Time varying twist:
Element (Number or Label), FILE=File Name, Column Number
File Name should include the entire path of the file including its extension. If a file name or any part of its path contains spaces then it should be enclosed in double quotation marks. If you specify an element label rather than a number, it must be enclosed in {} brackets.
Input: |
Description |
Element: |
The element (number or label) to which the twist load is applied. |
Twist: |
The magnitude of twist about the element local axis, specified in degrees. |
Input: |
Description |
Element: |
The element (number or label) to which the twist load is applied. |
File Name: |
The name of the ASCII file containing the time-dependent twist data. |
Column Number: |
The column of data in the external file which contains the twist data. Twist columns are labelled upwards from one (i.e. the time column is considered ‘column zero’). |
(a)The data file is ASCII based, and its format depends on the number of element twists which are specified in this manner. In general the file contains one column of data for the time and an additional column for each twist definition. The layout of data within the text file must be consistent with the definition of twist data in the keyword file, the latter being governed by the Column Number parameter. Twist columns are labelled upwards from one (i.e. the time column is considered ‘column zero’). Columns of data in the ASCII data file should be separated by blank spaces or tabs. Comment lines, denoted by a capital ’C’ in the first column, are permitted, while lines that are completely blank are ignored. You can specify several time-varying twist loads in a single data file.
(b)When a time varying twist load is specified, Flexcom reads the relevant twist data from the specified data file at the relevant time. The program uses linear interpolation to obtain twist values at solution times intermediate to those specified in the data file. For solution times before the earliest time specified in the data file, Flexcom uses the earliest values available. Similarly, for solution times after the latest time in the data file, Flexcom continues to use the values corresponding to the latest available time.