Chapter 17: Reinforcing
Reinforced materials are used extensively in civil construction, aircraft structures, automobiles, advanced
sports equipment, and medical devices. Reinforcing commonly appears in fiber or cable forms, such as
steel rebar in reinforced concrete, nylon strands in tires, and carbon fibers in various composite mater-
ials.
ANSYS allows you to model the reinforcing fibers with specialized reinforcing elements. The reinforcing
elements interact with standard structural elements, referred to as the base elements, via the common
nodes.
Reinforcing sections (SECTYPE,,REINF) define the location and orientation of the reinforcing (SECDATA).
The sections are referenced by REINF264 and REINF265 elements.
The following topics related to reinforcing are available:
17.1. Assumptions About Reinforcing
17.2. Modeling Options for Reinforcing
17.3. Defining Reinforcing Sections and Elements
17.4. Reinforcing Simulation and Postprocessing17.1. Assumptions About Reinforcing
The cross-section area of reinforcing fibers is small compared to the length of the fibers. The bending,
torsion, and transverse shear stiffness (all present in beam elements) are ignored in reinforcing elements.
ANSYS considers only the axial stiffness.
ANSYS assumes a secure bond between the reinforcing fibers and the base element. The relative
movement between these two components is not permitted; therefore, the motion of reinforcing fibers
is determined solely by the motion of the base element. Based on this simplification, ANSYS adopts the
same nodes and connectivity for a reinforcing element and its base element.
17.2. Modeling Options for Reinforcing
ANSYS provides discrete and smeared reinforcing modeling options.
Use the discrete modeling option (SECTYPE,SECID,REINF,DISC) for reinforcing fibers with nonuniform
materials, cross-section areas, or arbitrary orientations. ANSYS models each fiber separat ely as a spar
having only uniaxial stiffness, as shown.
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