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Conclusion

This concludes the discussion on Undeformed Versus Initial Positions. The following is a short summary:

•A local undeformed axis system is associated with each element of a Flexcom model.

•You have the option of using the components of two vectors V and W to specify the orientation of the local undeformed axes for a particular element.

•If you do not invoke this option, Flexcom calculates the undeformed orientation of elements using a default algorithm. This will be perfectly satisfactory in the vast majority of Flexcom analyses.

•The specification of the undeformed orientation of elements is most frequently used when you want to specify that the position of the structure defined by the nodal coordinates you have input is not stress free. This is a powerful program facility, but of interest only in a minority of analyses.

•When a structure includes a cable or cables, it is occasionally necessary to be aware of the undeformed orientation of elements on the cable(s), especially (i) where elements on a cable join directly to elements that are not defined on a cable and (ii) when specifying rotational boundary conditions.