LS-DYNA Users Guide

LS-DYNA User's Guide
ANSYS, Inc. Release 2022 R2

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction to LS-DYNA ........................................................................................................................ 1
2. Running LS-DYNA ................................................................................................................................... 3
2.1. How to use LS-DYNA in Workbench ................................................................................................... 3
2.1.1. Selecting the Version of LS-DYNA to Run ................................................................................... 4
2.1.1.1. Analysis Settings ............................................................................................................. 4
2.1.1.2. Exposing Other Versions of LS-DYNA ................................................................................ 5
2.1.2. Solving Units ............................................................................................................................ 8
2.1.3. Explicit-to-Implicit Sequential Solutions .................................................................................... 9
2.1.3.1. Steps to run a Sequential Solution ................................................................................... 9
2.1.4. Using LS-DYNA Implicit Features for the Implicit Calculation ................................................... 11
2.2. Licensing Requirements .................................................................................................................. 13
2.3. Running a Distributed Solution ....................................................................................................... 13
2.3.1. Shared Memory Parallel Processing ........................................................................................ 14
2.3.2. Massively Parallel Processing .................................................................................................. 14
2.3.3. Configuring LS-DYNA in Parallel .............................................................................................. 14
2.3.3.1. Prerequisites for Running LS-DYNA in Parallel ................................................................. 14
2.3.3.2. MPI Software ................................................................................................................. 15
2.3.3.3. Installing the Software ................................................................................................... 15
3. Workflow ............................................................................................................................................... 17
3.1. Setting up a Project ........................................................................................................................ 17
3.1.1. Defining Materials .................................................................................................................. 18
3.1.2. Attaching Geometry ............................................................................................................... 18
3.1.3. Defining Part Behavior ........................................................................................................... 19
3.1.3.1. Adaptive Region ............................................................................................................ 19
3.1.3.2. Adaptive Solid to SPH .................................................................................................... 19
3.1.4. Defining Connections ............................................................................................................. 27
3.1.4.1. Springs .......................................................................................................................... 27
3.1.4.2. Coupling ....................................................................................................................... 27
3.1.4.3. SPH to SPH Penalty-Based Contact ................................................................................. 28
3.1.5. Defining Mesh Settings .......................................................................................................... 29
3.1.5.1. S-ALE Mesh ................................................................................................................... 29
3.1.6. Defining Named Selections .................................................................................................... 30
3.1.7. Defining Analysis Settings ...................................................................................................... 30
3.2. Using Symmetry ............................................................................................................................. 32
3.3. Defining Initial Conditions ............................................................................................................... 32
3.4. Defining Boundary Conditions ........................................................................................................ 32
3.4.1. Rigid Body Tools ..................................................................................................................... 34
3.4.2. Airbag or Simple Pressure Volume .......................................................................................... 34
3.4.3. Input File Include Constraint ................................................................................................. 36
3.4.4. Keyword Snippet (LS-DYNA) Constraint ................................................................................ 36
3.4.5. Bolt Pretension ....................................................................................................................... 37
3.4.6. Dynamic Relaxation ............................................................................................................... 38
3.4.7. Bounding Box ........................................................................................................................ 43
3.4.7.1. Defining a Box ............................................................................................................... 43
3.4.7.2. Using a Box in the Analysis ............................................................................................. 44
3.4.8. ALE Boundary ........................................................................................................................ 45
3.4.9. Change Boundary Condition .................................................................................................. 45
3.4.10. Importing External Loads ..................................................................................................... 46
3.4.10.1. Imported Displacement .............................................................................................. 46
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3.5. Accessing Results ............................................................................................................................ 47

3.5.1. Post Processing for Solver-Created SPH Elements .................................................................... 49
3.6. History Variable Output ................................................................................................................... 50
3.7. Special Analysis Topics .................................................................................................................... 57
3.7.1. Importing the Results of a Thermal Analysis ............................................................................ 57
3.7.2. Importing the Results of an FSI Thermal Analysis ..................................................................... 57
3.7.3. Importing the Pressure Results of an FSI Analysis .................................................................... 57
3.7.4. ALE Workflow ......................................................................................................................... 58
3.7.5. SPH Workflow ........................................................................................................................ 59
3.7.6. Modifying Default Solver Settings ........................................................................................... 60
3.7.7. Inserting LS-DYNA Keywords .................................................................................................. 60
3.8. Restarting an LS-DYNA Analysis ....................................................................................................... 60
3.8.1. Performing a Simple Restart ................................................................................................... 62
3.8.2. Performing a Small Restart ..................................................................................................... 63
3.8.3. Performing a Full Restart ........................................................................................................ 67
3.9. Additional LS-DYNA Analysis Tools .................................................................................................. 70
4. Keywords used by LS-DYNA in Workbench ........................................................................................... 73
4.1. Input File Header ............................................................................................................................ 74
4.2. Database Format ............................................................................................................................ 74
4.3. Control Cards .................................................................................................................................. 74
4.4. Dynamic Relaxation Support ........................................................................................................... 86
4.4.1. Available Preloads for Dynamic Relaxation .............................................................................. 89
4.5. ALE Support ................................................................................................................................... 90
4.6. Part Setup ....................................................................................................................................... 92
4.7. Engineering Data Materials and Equations of State ........................................................................ 101
4.8. Mesh Definition ............................................................................................................................ 120
4.9. Coordinate Systems ...................................................................................................................... 124
4.10. Components and Named Selections ............................................................................................ 125
4.11. Remote Points and Point Masses ................................................................................................. 126
4.12. Initial Conditions ......................................................................................................................... 128
4.13. Contacts and Body Interactions ................................................................................................... 130
4.13.1. Keywords Created from the Contact Properties Object ........................................................ 135
4.14. Kinematic Joints .......................................................................................................................... 137
4.15. Magnitude and Tabular Data ....................................................................................................... 138
4.16. Acceleration and Gravity ............................................................................................................. 139
4.17. Supports ..................................................................................................................................... 140
4.18. Loads .......................................................................................................................................... 141
4.19. Discrete Connections .................................................................................................................. 146
4.20. Other Supports ........................................................................................................................... 147
4.21. Environment Temperature ........................................................................................................... 148
4.22. ASCII Files ................................................................................................................................... 148
4.23. Database Output Settings ........................................................................................................... 152
4.24. Restart ........................................................................................................................................ 152
4.24.1. Changing Velocity .............................................................................................................. 153
4.24.2. Delete Model Pieces ........................................................................................................... 154
4.25. End of Input File .......................................................................................................................... 155
5. Material Models Available in Workbench ........................................................................................... 157
5.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 157
5.1.1. Equation of State .................................................................................................................. 157
5.1.2. Material Strength Model ....................................................................................................... 158
5.1.3. Material Failure Model .......................................................................................................... 158
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5.2. Density ......................................................................................................................................... 158

5.3. Linear Elastic ................................................................................................................................. 158
5.3.1. Isotropic Elasticity ................................................................................................................ 158
5.3.2. Orthotropic Elasticity ............................................................................................................ 158
5.3.3. Anisotropic Elasticity ............................................................................................................ 158
5.4. Test Data ...................................................................................................................................... 159
5.5. Hyperelasticity .............................................................................................................................. 159
5.5.1. Blatz-Ko Hyperelasticity ........................................................................................................ 159
5.5.2. Mooney-Rivlin ...................................................................................................................... 159
5.5.3. Polynomial ........................................................................................................................... 159
5.5.4. Yeoh .................................................................................................................................... 160
5.5.5. Ogden ................................................................................................................................. 160
5.6. Plasticity ....................................................................................................................................... 160
5.6.1. Bilinear Isotropic Hardening ................................................................................................. 160
5.6.2. Multilinear Isotropic Hardening ............................................................................................ 161
5.6.3. Bilinear Kinematic Hardening ............................................................................................... 161
5.6.4. Johnson-Cook Strength ........................................................................................................ 162
5.6.5. Cowper-Symonds Power Law Hardening .............................................................................. 162
5.6.6. Rate Sensitive Power Law Hardening .................................................................................... 163
5.6.7. Cowper-Symonds Piecewise Linear Hardening ...................................................................... 163
5.6.8. Modified Cowper-Symonds Piecewise Linear Hardening ....................................................... 164
5.7. Forming Plasticity ......................................................................................................................... 164
5.7.1. Bilinear Transversely Anisotropic Hardening .......................................................................... 165
5.7.2. Multilinear Transversely Anisotropic Hardening ..................................................................... 165
5.7.3. Bilinear FLD Transversely Anisotropic Hardening ................................................................... 166
5.7.4. Multilinear FLD Transversely Anisotropic Hardening .............................................................. 166
5.7.5. Bilinear 3 Parameter Barlat Hardening ................................................................................... 167
5.7.6. Exponential 3 Parameter Barlat Hardening ............................................................................ 168
5.7.7. Exponential Barlat Anisotropic Hardening ............................................................................. 168
5.8. Foams ........................................................................................................................................... 169
5.8.1. Rate Independent Low Density Foam ................................................................................... 169
5.9. Eulerian ........................................................................................................................................ 169
5.9.1. Vacuum ............................................................................................................................... 169
5.10. Rigid Materials ............................................................................................................................ 169
5.11. Equations of State ....................................................................................................................... 170
5.11.1. Background ........................................................................................................................ 170
5.11.2. Bulk Modulus ..................................................................................................................... 170
5.11.3. Shear Modulus ................................................................................................................... 170
5.11.4. Polynomial EOS ................................................................................................................. 170
5.11.5. Shock EOS Linear ................................................................................................................ 170
5.11.6. Shock EOS Bilinear .............................................................................................................. 171
5.12. Failure ......................................................................................................................................... 171
5.12.1. Plastic Strain Failure ............................................................................................................ 172
5.12.2. Principal Stress Failure ........................................................................................................ 172
5.12.3. Principal Strain Failure ........................................................................................................ 172
5.12.4. Johnson-Cook Failure ......................................................................................................... 173
5.13. Thermal Properties ...................................................................................................................... 173
5.14. LS-DYNA External Model Material Properties ................................................................................ 173
5.14.1. *MAT_ELASTIC ................................................................................................................... 175
5.14.2. *MAT_ORTHOTROPIC_ELASTIC ........................................................................................... 175
5.14.3. *MAT_ANISOTROPIC_ELASTIC ............................................................................................. 175
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5.14.4. *MAT_PLASTIC_KINEMATIC ................................................................................................. 175

5.14.5. *MAT_BLATZ-KO_RUBBER ................................................................................................... 175
5.14.6. *MAT_JOHNSON_COOK ...................................................................................................... 175
5.14.7. *MAT_POWER_LAW_PLASTICITY ......................................................................................... 175
5.14.8. *MAT_PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY ................................................................................ 175
5.14.9. *MAT_SIMPLIFIED_JOHNSON_COOK ................................................................................... 176
5.14.10. *MAT_MODIFIED_PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY ............................................................ 176
5.14.11. *MAT_HIGH_EXPLOSIVE_BURN ......................................................................................... 176
5.14.12. *MAT_NULL ...................................................................................................................... 176
5.14.13. *EOS_LINEAR_POLYNOMIAL ............................................................................................. 176
5.14.14. *EOS_JWL ........................................................................................................................ 176
5.14.15. *EOS_GRUNEISEN ............................................................................................................. 176
5.14.16. *EOS_TABULATED ............................................................................................................. 176
5.14.17. *EOS_IDEAL_GAS ............................................................................................................. 176
5.14.18. *MAT_CRUSHABLE_FOAM ................................................................................................ 176
5.14.19. *MAT_SIMPLIFIED_RUBBER/FOAM .................................................................................... 177
5.14.20. *MAT_OGDEN_RUBBER ..................................................................................................... 177
5.14.21. *MAT_GENERAL_VISCOELASTIC ........................................................................................ 177
5.14.22. *MAT_ BILKHU/DUBOIS_FOAM ......................................................................................... 177
5.14.23. *MAT_FABRIC ................................................................................................................... 177
5.14.24. *MAT_COMPOSITE_FAILURE_SHELL_MODEL ..................................................................... 177
5.14.25. *MAT_COMPOSITE_FAILURE_SOLID_MODEL ..................................................................... 177
5.14.26. *MAT_ENHANCED_COMPOSITE_DAMAGE ........................................................................ 178
5.14.27. *MAT_LAMINATED_COMPOSITE_FABRIC ........................................................................... 178
5.14.28. *MAT_ORTHOTROPIC _SIMPLIFIED_DAMAGE .................................................................... 178
5.14.29. *MAT_ADD_DAMAGE_GISSMO ......................................................................................... 178
5.14.30. *MAT_ADD_EROSION ....................................................................................................... 178
6. Customizing LS-DYNA using ACT ........................................................................................................ 179
6.1. CreateMaterial .............................................................................................................................. 181
6.2. CreateMaterial .............................................................................................................................. 181
6.3. CreateNewElement ....................................................................................................................... 182
6.4. GetNewPartId ............................................................................................................................... 183
6.5. LSDynaSolverExtension.KeyWords.Part.Part CreateNewPart ........................................................... 183
6.6. CreateSection ............................................................................................................................... 183
6.7. GetComponent ............................................................................................................................. 184
6.8. GetContactId ................................................................................................................................ 184
6.9. GetContactTargetId ...................................................................................................................... 184
6.10. GetCoordinateSystemSolverId ..................................................................................................... 185
6.11. GetEndTime ................................................................................................................................ 185
6.12. GetMaterialSolverId .................................................................................................................... 185
6.13. GetNamedSelectionLSDYNAId .................................................................................................... 186
6.14. GetNewContact .......................................................................................................................... 186
6.15. GetNewCurveId .......................................................................................................................... 186
6.16. GetNewElementId ....................................................................................................................... 186
6.17. GetNewElementType .................................................................................................................. 186
6.18. GetNewNodeId ........................................................................................................................... 187
6.19. GetNewVectorId ......................................................................................................................... 187
6.20. GetRemotePointNodeId .............................................................................................................. 187
6.21. GetSolverUnitSystem .................................................................................................................. 187
6.22. ContainsDynamicRelaxation ........................................................................................................ 187
6.23. CurrentStep ................................................................................................................................ 188
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6.24. MaxElementId ............................................................................................................................. 188

6.25. MaxElementType ........................................................................................................................ 188
6.26. MaxNodeId ................................................................................................................................. 188
7. References ........................................................................................................................................... 189
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List of Figures
4.1. Discrete and Cable Controls when the Option is set to Discrete Beam ..................................................... 94
4.2. Discrete and Cable Controls when the Option is set to Cable .................................................................. 95
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List of Tables
2.1. LS-DYNA MPP MPI Support on Windows and Linux ................................................................................ 14
2.2. Platforms and MPI Software .................................................................................................................. 15
6.1. Solverdata Methods ............................................................................................................................ 180
6.2. Properties ........................................................................................................................................... 181
6.3. Properties ........................................................................................................................................... 182
6.4. Properties ........................................................................................................................................... 182
6.5. Properties ........................................................................................................................................... 183
6.6. Properties ........................................................................................................................................... 183
6.7. Properties ........................................................................................................................................... 184
6.8. Properties ........................................................................................................................................... 184
6.9. Properties ........................................................................................................................................... 185
6.10. Properties ......................................................................................................................................... 185
6.11. Properties ......................................................................................................................................... 185
6.12. Properties ......................................................................................................................................... 186
6.13. Properties ......................................................................................................................................... 187
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Chapter 1: Introduction to LS-DYNA
LS-DYNA is a general-purpose finite element program capable of simulating complex real world problems.
It is used by the automobile, aerospace, construction, military, manufacturing, and bioengineering in-
dustries. The LS-DYNA solver is optimized for shared and distributed memory Unix, Linux, and Windows
based platforms, and it is fully QA'd by Ansys. The code's origins lie in highly nonlinear, transient dy-
namic finite element analysis using explicit time integration.
"Nonlinear" means at least one (and sometimes all) of the following complications:
• Changing boundary conditions (such as contact between parts that changes over time)
• Large deformations (for example the crumpling of sheet metal parts)
• Nonlinear materials that do not exhibit idealy elastic behavior (for example thermoplastic polymers)
"Transient dynamic" means analyzing high speed, short duration events where inertial forces are import-
ant. Typical uses include:
• Automotive crash (deformation of chassis, airbag inflation, seatbelt tensioning)
• Explosions (underwater Naval mine, shaped charges)
• Manufacturing (sheet metal stamping)
LS-DYNA's potential applications are numerous and can be tailored to many fields. In a given simulation,
any of LS-DYNA's many features can be combined to model a wide range of physical events. LS-DYNA
is one of the most flexible finite element analysis software packages available.
LS-DYNA consists of a single executable file and at the solver level is entirely command line driven.
Therefore all that is required to run LS-DYNA is a command shell, the executable, an input file, and
enough free disk space to run the calculation. All input files are in simple ASCII format and thus can be
prepared using any text editor. Input files can also be prepared within the Ansys Workbench and Ansys
Mechanical environments.
There are many third party software products available for preprocessing LS-DYNA input files but the
Ansys Workbench LS-DYNA interface combines the perfect combination of power and ease of use. Li-
censees of LS-DYNA automatically have access to all of the program's capabilities, from simple linear
static mechanical analysis up to advanced thermal and flow solving methods.
The LS-DYNA Workbench system takes the power of the LS-DYNA solver and wraps it up into the famil-
iar and easy to use environment of Ansys Workbench and Ansys Mechanical. This unlocks the power
of parameterization, CAD import, meshing and all of the other technology which makes Ansys Mechan-
ical the world's number one engineering simulation tool.
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Chapter 2: Running LS-DYNA
It is possible to use LS-Run to launch LS-DYNA with a specified input file. But the LS-DYNA system
available in Workbench gives you access to the pre- and post-processing capabilities of the Mechanical
Application to make it easier to set up your LS-DYNA analysis.
Note:
If you are running a version of the LS-DYNA solver earlier than 12.1, you may encounter an
issue running LS-DYNA through Workbench on the following Linux versions if the process
ID is too large: CentOS 7.9, 8.2, 8.3; Red Hat 7.9, 8.2, 8.3. Before starting Workbench on these
versions of Linux, you should issue the command:
sysctl -w kernel.pid_max=32768
The following sections provide an overview on running LS-DYNA using the Workbench system.
2.1. How to use LS-DYNA in Workbench
2.2. Licensing Requirements
2.3. Running a Distributed Solution
2.1. How to use LS-DYNA in Workbench

The LS-DYNA and LS-DYNA Restart systems are available in the project Toolbox in Workbench. To run
an LS-DYNA analysis, drag the system into a project and set up and run your model as usual. The LS-
DYNA system will create an LS-DYNA keyword (.k) file that contains all the necessary information to
carry out the analysis, and will run the LS-DYNA solver using that file.
For general information about setting up an Explicit Dynamics analysis, see Explicit Dynamics Workflow.
All the LS-DYNA keywords are implemented according to the LS-DYNA Keyword User's Manual Volumes
I, II, III.
All the LS-DYNA keywords that are supported in Workbench are described in detail in Keywords used
by LS-DYNA in Workbench (p. 73). Any parameters that are not shown for a card are not used, and their
default values will be assigned for them by the LS-DYNA solver.
When using Commands objects with LS-DYNA, be aware of the following:
• Keyword cards read from Commands object content (renamed to Keyword Snippets for LS-DYNA)
should not have any trailing empty lines if they are not intentional. This is because some keywords
have more than one mandatory card that can be entered as blank lines, in which case the default
values for the card will be used. Therefore, trailing blank lines should be used only if intended; other-
wise they may cause solver execution errors.
Running LS-DYNA
• The first entry in the Commands object content must be a command name which is preceded by
the * symbol.
2.1.1. Selecting the Version of LS-DYNA to Run

The most current released version of LS-DYNA is installed with your Ansys installation. You may install
other versions of LS-DYNA and configure the software so that the other installed versions appear as
options in the Analysis Settings (see Exposing Other Versions of LS-DYNA (p. 5)).
2.1.1.1. Analysis Settings
You can select the version of LS-DYNA that you want to run using the fields in the Analysis Settings.
The following fields control the selection of the solver version:
Processing Type
Choose whether to use the shared memory parallel processing (SMP), the massively parallel
processing (MPP) capabilities of LS-DYNA, or choose Solve Process Settings.
With Solve Process Settings, the processing type is defined by the active setting in the Ribbon
toolbar. If "Distributed" is checked, the solution will use MPP. If not, it will use SMP. For more
information on Solve Process Settings, see the section Using Solve Process Settings in the
Mechanical User's Guide.
If MPP is used, you must also choose the version of MPI that you want to use.
Solver Precision
Choose whether to use Single or Double precision floating point representation.
Solver Version
Choose the installed version of LS-DYNA that you want to use. See Exposing Other Versions of
LS-DYNA (p. 5) for more information.
In addition to these settings, you can set up the memory allocation and parameters associated with
LS-DYNA execution.
How to use LS-DYNA in Workbench
Memory Allocation
Select Program Controlled for an automatic calculation of the required memory (MB) for the
initialization of the analysis. The estimate is made from the number of nodes in the current
model.
Select Manual to set your own memory size. Enter the size of the memory you want to use in
the – Value[MB] field.
Number of CPUs
Enter the number of CPUs that you want to use to run your job. For an SMP solution, if you
enter the number of CPUs as a negative number, the job will run in a manner that will give you
consistent results but will take longer.
To use the number of cores defined in the Ribbon toolbar as the Number of CPUs, choose Solve
Process Settings for Processing Type and enter 0 for the Number of CPUs. For more information
on Solve Process Settings, see the section Using Solve Process Settings in the Mechanical User's
Guide.
Per Process Memory Allocation
Select Program Controlled for an automatic calculation of the memory (MB) required for the
analysis to run on each node. The same amount of memory will be allocated on each node.
Select Manual to set your own memory size. Enter the size of the memory you want to use in
the – Value[MB] field.
2.1.1.2. Exposing Other Versions of LS-DYNA

If you have multiple versions of LS-DYNA installed on your system, you can choose to run any of
them using the Solver Version field in the Analysis Settings. However, you must follow a procedure
to allow Workbench to recognize that additional versions are installed.
Each solver .exe file should be on your machine and the file lsdyna_solvers.xml must be
properly defined. This file is created in the folder C:\Users\<CurrentUser>\AppData\Roam-
ing\Ansys\222\ACTLSDYNA the first time that Ansys Mechanical is launched and recreated if
it happens to be missing on subsequent launches. The content of the xml file before any modification,
for a system running on Windows, should look as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>

<LSDynaVersions>
<Version versionId="11.2">
<exe os="windows" process="SMP" precision="single"
path="C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64" name="lsdyna_sp.exe" />
<exe os="windows" process="SMP" precision="double"
path="C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64" name="lsdyna_dp.exe" />
<exe os="windows" process="MPP" mpiType="IntelMPI" precision="single"
path="C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64" name="lsdyna_mpp_sp_impi.exe" />
<exe os="windows" process="MPP" mpiType="MSMPI" precision="single"
path="C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64" name="lsdyna_mpp_sp_msmpi.exe" />
<exe os="windows" process="MPP" mpiType="IntelMPI" precision="double"
path="C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64" name="lsdyna_mpp_dp_impi.exe" />
<exe os="windows" process="MPP" mpiType="MSMPI" precision="double"
Running LS-DYNA
path="C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64" name="lsdyna_mpp_dp_msmpi.exe" />

</Version>
</LSDynaVersions>
Note:
The individual exe tags are shown on two lines so that they will be more readable. They
will be one line in the file.
Every solver file must be uniquely defined by the following attributes:
versionId
Solver version number, such as 11.2
process
Process type, either SMP or MPP
mpiType
The MPI type you want to use, such as IntelMPI (this field is only required when Process = MPP)
precision
The solver precision you want to use, either single or double
These four attributes are used to create options that appear in the Analysis Settings fields of the
LS-DYNA system in Workbench (see the following image).
Additional attributes of the exe tag complete the definition of each solver option:
os
Operating system of the machine on which LS-DYNA is running, either windows or linux
path
Path (relative or absolute) of the folder containing the solver file
name
Name of the solver file
If you want to solve with LS-DYNA versions that are not included in the Ansys installation, you need
to add a new Version tag in the xml file, and one new exe tag per solver executable. The attributes
versionId, process (and mpiType if the process is "MPP"), precision, os, path and name
are mandatory. In order for the available options to appear in the UI drop-down menus and the
solver files to execute correctly, you must properly define these attributes.
The following example illustrates the necessary modifications to the xml file in order to include the
single precision Intel MPI MPP solver from version 10.1.
After relaunching Mechanical, if you select the fields corresponding to the attributes of the newly
defined solver entry, it will appear in the Solver Version menu, as in the following figure.
Running LS-DYNA
Note:
Solver versions not included with the Ansys product distribution can be installed anywhere
you like.
2.1.2. Solving Units

Use the Unit System field to set the units that the solver uses. All model inputs will be converted to
this set of units during the solve. Results from the analysis will be converted back to the user's unit
system in the GUI. For LS-DYNA systems, seven unit systems are available. These unit systems use the
following base units:
nmm
Metric (mm, tonne, N, s)
μmks
Metric (µm, Kg, µN, s)
Bft
US Customary (ft, lbm, lbf, s)
Bin
US Customary (in, lbm, lbf, s)
mks
Metric (m, Kg, N, s)
cgs
Metric (cm, g, dyne, s)
mm,ms,kg
Metric (mm, kg, kN, ms)
2.1.3. Explicit-to-Implicit Sequential Solutions

A sequential solution is an analysis technique that uses a combination of implicit (general Ansys or
LS-DYNA) and explicit (LS-DYNA) solution methods. In problems that require a sequential solution,
the results of an explicit analysis are imported into an implicit model (or vice-versa) for the purpose
of obtaining a final solution.
Some of the reasons to perform a sequential solution include:
• Some engineering processes are very complex and contain both dynamic and static phases (for
example, initial hoop stress in a pressure vessel before a drop test or the linear elastic springback
after sheet metal forming).
• The explicit technique is geared towards solving nonlinear dynamic-impact problems and is not
robust for solving static phases of physical phenomena.
• The implicit method is best suited for solving static or quasi-static problems.
• Combining implicit and explicit solvers is an extremely powerful tool for allowing simulations of
otherwise intractable engineering problems.
2.1.3.1. Steps to run a Sequential Solution

The basic steps required to perform an explicit-to-implicit sequential solution include:
1. Solve the explicit portion of the analysis. Set the analysis option Stress File For Flexible Parts
(saving the stresses on deformable parts) to Yes.
Running LS-DYNA
LS-DYNA will create a text file named dynain, which contains the deformed geometry along
with the stresses on the deformable bodies. Displacements on rigid bodies are not saved in this
file.
2. The dynain file is an LS-DYNA input file, which can be imported into a Mechanical system using
the External Model component system. You must change the file's extension to .k before spe-
cifying the file in the External Model system. Link the External Model Setup cell to the Model
cell of a Static Structural or Transient Structural system, or a LS-DYNA system if the deformed
geometry and stresses are meant to be used in a subsequent LS-DYNA analysis.
3. After you open the Mechanical Application you see that stresses, shell element thicknesses, and
fixed displacement and fixed rotation constraints from the explicit analysis are imported into
Mechanical.
4. Redefine the boundary conditions.
5. Solve the new analysis.
Additional Considerations for the LS-DYNA to Mechanical APDL Solver Workflow

If elasto-plastic materials are used in the explicit analysis, compatible elasto-plastic materials must
be used in the subsequent Mechanical APDL analysis.
If the explicit analysis is using elasto-plastic materials, a minimum of five integration points should
be used on shell elements if the subsequent analysis uses the Mechanical APDL solver. Additionally,
an odd number of integration points for shell elements should be used in this workflow.
Limitations
The Mechanical APDL analysis relies on the initial state. Initial state does not support shear transfer
on shell elements. If explicit stresses in the ZX and the YZ direction in the Mechanical APDL element
coordinate system are significant, using this workflow is not recommended as Mechanical APDL
will set the YZ and XZ shear to zero in all elements in their respective elemental coordinate system,
regardless of the values imported from the .k file.
Mechanical APDL calculates the middle layer stresses using the top and bottom stresses by default.
This can result in a difference in results. You can insert command snippets to import the value of
the middle layer stresses from the external model file if necessary.
2.1.4. Using LS-DYNA Implicit Features for the Implicit Calculation

LS-DYNA Implicit features can also be used as an alternative to the Mechanical APDL solver, in the
Implicit part of the workflow. The main benefit is that most of the LS-DYNA materials models are also
available, and usable in the Implicit calculation.
Running LS-DYNA
To use LS-DYNA implicit features, set the option Explicit Solution Only to No.
Then set the following options:
• Initial Time Step: Initial time step size for implicit analysis
Running a Distributed Solution
• Line Search: Line search can be useful for enhancing convergence, but it can be expensive (especially
with plasticity). You might consider setting Line Search on in the following cases:
– When your structure is force-loaded (as opposed to displacement-controlled).
– If you are analyzing a "flimsy" structure which exhibits increasing stiffness (such as a fishing pole).
– If you notice (from the program output messages) oscillatory convergence patterns.
• Displacement Convergence: Displacement convergence tolerance. This criteria controls the con-
vergence on displacements. When the displacement norm ratio is below the displacement conver-
gence, equilibrium is achieved. Small values will lead to a more accurate solution, at the expense
of more iterations.
• Stabilization: Convergence difficulty can happen when importing stresses from an explicit analysis
into an implicit analysis. Nonlinear stabilization techniques can help achieve convergence. Nonlinear
stabilization can be thought of as adding artificial dampers to all of the nodes in the system. Any
degree of freedom that tends to be unstable has a large displacement causing a large damping/sta-
bilization force. This force reduces displacements at the degree of freedom so that stabilization can
be achieved.
There are two options for controlling stabilization:
– Off (default): Deactivates stabilization.
– On: Specifies stabilization should be used.
→ Scale Factor: Enter the scale factor value that the LS-DYNA solver uses to calculate stabilization
forces.
→ Start Time: Enter the start time for the stabilization. Defaults to the beginning of the implicit
calculation.
→ End Time: Enter the end time for the stabilization.
2.2. Licensing Requirements

The LS-DYNA environment is available to all customers with an Ansys LS-DYNA license and requires
that license to run analyses.
The LS-DYNA environment is available for pre- and post-processing (only) with the Enterprise Prepost
license.
SMP and MPP Parallel processing are both available. They do, however, require the use of Ansys LS-
DYNA HPC licenses. The standard Ansys HPC packs and HPC Workgroup licenses do not work with LS-
DYNA. Use Ansys LS-DYNA HPC licenses for running in parallel.
2.3. Running a Distributed Solution

For large models, you can use the Shared Memory Parallel processing (SMP) or the Massively Parallel
Processing (MPP) capabilities of LS-DYNA to shorten the elapsed time necessary to run an analysis. To
use either of these features, you must purchase the appropriate number of Ansys LS-DYNA HPC licenses.
Running LS-DYNA
The HPC license incorporates both SMP and MPP capabilities. Please contact your Ansys sales represent-
ative for more information on purchasing the appropriate licenses.
2.3.1. Shared Memory Parallel Processing

The shared memory parallel processing capabilities allow you to distribute model-solving power over
multiple processors on the same machine. To use this feature you must have a machine with at least
many cores in the computer as the number of LS-DYNA processes, and you must have an Ansys LS-
DYNA HPC license for each process beyond the first one.
When you are using shared memory parallel processing, the calculations may be executed in different
order, depending on CPU availability and the workload on each CPU. Because of this, you may see
slight differences in the results when you run the same job multiple times. To avoid these differences,
you can specify the number of CPUs as a negative number to maintain consistency. Maintaining
consistency can result in an increase of up to 15% in CPU time.
2.3.2. Massively Parallel Processing

The massively parallel processing (MPP) capabilities of LS-DYNA allow you to run the LS-DYNA solver
over a cluster of machines or use multiple processors on a single machine. To use the LS-DYNA MPP
feature, you must have an Ansys LS-DYNA HPC license for each processor beyond the first one.
Before running an analysis using LS-DYNA MPP, you must have supported MPI software correctly in-
stalled, and the machines running LS-DYNA MPP must be properly configured.
Table 2.1: LS-DYNA MPP MPI Support on Windows and Linux
MPI version for DYNA 64-bit 64-bit

MPP Windows Linux
Intel MPI X X
MS MPI X n/a
2.3.3. Configuring LS-DYNA in Parallel

To run LS-DYNA in parallel on a single machine, no additional setup is required.
To run an analysis with LS-DYNA in parallel on a cluster, some configuration is required as described
in the following sections:
2.3.3.1. Prerequisites for Running LS-DYNA in Parallel
2.3.3.2. MPI Software
2.3.3.3. Installing the Software
2.3.3.1. Prerequisites for Running LS-DYNA in Parallel

If you are running on a single machine, there are no additional requirements for running a distributed
solution.
If you are running across multiple machines (for example, a cluster), your system must meet these
additional requirements to run a distributed solution.
Running a Distributed Solution
• Homogeneous network: All machines in the cluster must be the same type, OS level, chip set,
and interconnects.
• You must be able to remotely log in to all machines, and all machines in the cluster must have
identical directory structures (including the Ansys 2022 R2 installation, MPI installation, and
working directories). Do not change or rename directories after you've launched LS-DYNA.
• All machines in the cluster must have Ansys 2022 R2 installed, or must have an NFS mount to
the Ansys 2022 R2 installation. If not installed on a shared file system, Ansys 2022 R2 must be
installed in the same directory path on all systems.
• All machines must have the same version of MPI software installed and running. Table 2.2: Platforms
and MPI Software (p. 15) shows the MPI software and version level supported for each platform.
2.3.3.2. MPI Software

The MPI software supported by LS-DYNA in parallel depends on the platform (see Table 2.2: Platforms
and MPI Software (p. 15)).
The files needed to run LS-DYNA in parallel using Intel MPI are included on the installation media
and are installed automatically when you install Ansys 2022 R2. Therefore, when running on a single
machine (for example, a laptop, a workstation, or a single compute node of a cluster) on Windows
or Linux, or when running on a Linux cluster, no additional software is needed. However, when
running on multiple Windows machines you must use a cluster setup, and you must install the MPI
software separately as described later in this section.
Table 2.2: Platforms and MPI Software
Platform MPI Software

Linux Intel MPI 2018.3.222
Windows 10 (single machine) Intel MPI 2018.3.210[a]
Windows Server 2016 (cluster) Microsoft HPC Pack (MS MPI
v10.1.12)
[a] MS MPI is an alternative to Intel MPI for a single machine on Windows.
2.3.3.3. Installing the Software

Install Ansys 2022 R2 following the instructions in the Ansys, Inc. Installation Guides for your platform.
Be sure to complete the installation, including all required post-installation procedures.
To run LS-DYNA in parallel on a cluster, you must:
• Install Ansys 2022 R2 on all machines in the cluster, in the exact same location on each
machine.
• For Windows, you can use shared drives and symbolic links. Install Ansys 2022 R2 on one
Windows machine (for example, C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\V222) and then share
that installation folder. On the other machines in the cluster, create a symbolic link (at
C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\V222) that points to the UNC path for the shared
folder. On Windows systems, you must use the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) for all
file and path names for LS-DYNA in parallel to work correctly.
Running LS-DYNA
• For Linux, you can use the exported NFS file systems. Install Ansys 2022 R2 on one Linux
machine (for example, at /ansys_inc/v222), and then export this directory. On the other
machines in the cluster, create an NFS mount from the first machine to the same local dir-
ectory (/ansys_inc/v222).
Installing MPI software on Windows

You can install Intel MPI from the installation launcher by choosing Install MPI for Ansys Parallel
Processing. For installation instructions see Intel-MPI 2018.3.210 Installation Instructions in the
Ansys, Inc. Installation Guides.
Microsoft HPC Pack (Windows HPC Server 2016)

You must complete certain post-installation steps before running LS-DYNA in parallel on a Microsoft
HPC Server 2016 system. The post-installation instructions provided below assume that Microsoft
HPC Server 2016 and Microsoft HPC Pack (which includes MS MPI) are already installed on your
system. The post-installation instructions can be found in the following README files:
Program Files\ANSYS Inc\V222\commonfiles\MPI\WindowsHPC\README.mht
or
Program Files\ANSYS Inc\V222\commonfiles\MPI\WindowsHPC\README.docx
The user must be a registred user on the HPC cluster.
"Client utilities" from Microsoft HPC Pack must be installed on the computer which submits the job.
Use the same version of HPC Pack as is used on the HPC cluster.
Store the credentials for submitting to the cluster by running this command:
hpccred setcreds /user:MYDOMAIN\myusername /scheduler:myhpcserver
in a command prompt after substituting MYDOMAIN, myusername and myhpcserver.
The input and solver files have to be accessible on the Compute Nodes on the cluster. This typically
means that the input and solver files should be placed on a disk share, specified with their UNC
paths; in other words starting with \\FILESERVER\.
Chapter 3: Workflow
The the version of LS-DYNA in the Ansys installation is able to run the complete keyword set published
in the LS-DYNA Keyword User's Manual Volumes I, II, III. In the current implementation, a subset of the
extensive list of keyword inputs can be generated by the LS-DYNA Workbench system. The following
areas of use are not supported for the LS-DYNA Workbench system:
• User-defined material definition
• LS-DYNA user subroutines
• Mesh-free methods: EFG
• Some special elements such as Seat Belt and others
• Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI)
Advanced, knowledgeable users may modify the input file generated and take advantage of the full
keyword set. Note that post-processing may not work correctly with modified .k files. For those cases
use LS-Prepost, available in the standard installation.
This section describes all of the steps needed to run an analysis using the LS-DYNA system.
3.1. Setting up a Project
3.2. Using Symmetry
3.3. Defining Initial Conditions
3.4. Defining Boundary Conditions
3.5. Accessing Results
3.6. History Variable Output
3.7. Special Analysis Topics
3.8. Restarting an LS-DYNA Analysis
3.9. Additional LS-DYNA Analysis Tools
3.1. Setting up a Project

The general guidelines for setting up an explicit dynamics analysis can be found in Explicit Dynamics
Workflow. LS-DYNA related information is included in that chapter; the use of the LS-DYNA system is
described in this section.
3.1.1. Defining Materials
3.1.2. Attaching Geometry
3.1.3. Defining Part Behavior
3.1.4. Defining Connections
Workflow
3.1.5. Defining Mesh Settings

3.1.6. Defining Named Selections
3.1.7. Defining Analysis Settings
3.1.1. Defining Materials

You can find information about Materials in Define Engineering Data.
Note:
• The Material Assignment folder is not supported by LS-DYNA.
• In Engineering Data, temperatures defined in the Material Field Variable section are not
used by the LS-DYNA analysis system. In general coefficients that are temperature de-
pendent are not taken into account. Only the first value in the table is used for these
coefficients, and you can only have one reference temperature even if multiple materials
are used in the model.
3.1.2. Attaching Geometry

You can find information about Geometry in Attach Geometry.
Note:
LS-DYNA cross sections are not fully compatible with cross sections available in Design
Modeler. When using a LS-DYNA system the Z, Hat ,and Channel cross sections are exported
with the following limitations.
• For the Z cross section, the LS-DYNA type 6 is used. It imposes the following restrictions:
W1 = W2 (W2 is assumed equal to W1)
t1 = t2 (t1 is assumed equal to t2)
• For the Hats cross section, the LS-DYNA type 21 is used. It imposes the following restric-
tions:
t1 = t2 = t3 = t4 = t5
• For the Channel cross section, the LS-DYNA type 2 is used. It imposes the following re-
strictions:
t1 = t2 (all the thicknesses are assumed identical)
Setting up a Project
3.1.3. Defining Part Behavior

You can find information about Part Behavior in Define Part Behavior.
Add the objects under Part from the LSDYNA Pre tab to specify Section properties such as element
formulations, and specify different Hourglass Control objects for each part. You can also add an
Adaptive Region or an Adaptive Solid to SPH object to your model.
3.1.3.1. Adaptive Region
In metal forming and high-speed impact analyses, a body may experience very large amounts of
plastic deformation. Single point integration explicit elements, which are usually robust for large
deformations, may give inaccurate results in these situations due to inadequate element aspect
ratios. To counteract this problem, LS-DYNA has the ability to automatically remesh a surface during
an analysis to improve its integrity. This capability, known as adaptive meshing, is controlled with
the adaptive region:
• -adaptive for 3-D shells.
• Passive -adaptive for 3-D shells. The elements in this part will not be split unless their neighboring
elements in other parts need to be split more than one level.
3.1.3.2. Adaptive Solid to SPH

Adaptive Solid to SPH creates SPH particles to either replace or supplement solid Lagrangian
elements. Applications of this feature include adaptively transforming a Lagrangian solid part to
SPH particles when the Lagrangian solid elements comprising those parts fail. One or more SPH
particles (elements) will be generated for each failed element. The SPH particles replacing the failed
solid Lagrangian elements inherit all the Lagrange nodal quantities (like displacement, velocity and
acceleration) and all the Lagrange integration point quantities (like stress and strain) of these failed
solid elements. Those properties are assigned to the newly activated SPH particles. The newly created
SPH part can have different material properties using the Material Assignment field.
Workflow
To insert an Adaptive Solid to SPH object, right-click LS-DYNA and select Insert → Adaptive
Solid to SPH as depicted in the following image.
The input fields in the Details panel of Adaptive Solid to SPH are shown here.
You must scope this object to a solid part having a material compatible with SPH. Shell and beam
elements are not allowed for this object. If you scope an object with an unsuitable material or
geometry type, a warning message will be issued.
Adaptive Solid to SPH uses the keyword *DEFINE_ADAPTIVE_SOLID_TO_SPH.
Per Element Direction number of particles is the number of SPH particles generated with respect
to each direction of the solid element. This field sets the NQ parameter of the *DEFINE_ADAPT-
IVE_SOLID_TO_SPH keyword. For instance, when using hexahedral elements, the number of SPH
particles generated inside a solid element for NQ=2 is 2*2*2=8 particles. For teterahedral and
pentahedral elements the number of particles is described in the following image.
Workflow
Two options for the Coupling Type are available: Debris, and Coupled to Solid Element. This field
is used for the ICPL parameter of the *DEFINE_ADAPTIVE_SOLID_TO_SPH keyword.
Two options for the Coupling Start are available: From Beginning, or When Solid Element Fails.
This field is used for the IOPT parameter of the *DEFINE_ADAPTIVE_SOLID_TO_SPH keyword.
The newly created SPH part can have different material properties by setting Material Assignment
in the Adaptive Solid to SPH object to User Defined, as shown in the previous Details panel image.
All materials defined in Engineering Data are available in the Material field. When Material Assign-
ment is set to Program Controlled, the SPH part will have the same material as the solid part.
For the SPH part created inside the solid part, the following Section fields are available and can be
modified: Smoothing Length Constant, Maximum Scale Factor, and Minimum Scale Factor.
The SPH part is created inside the solver and is not visible in the Mechanical UI. Therefore, it can't
be selected from the model tree if you want to scope the SPH part in a contact. To do this, add a
new contact object under the Adaptive Solid to SPH object as shown in the following image. The
contact object is inserted only when Material Assignment is set to User Defined.
This contact object allows you to define a contact between the SPH part created inside the solver
(Contact Body) and Lagrangian parts (Target Bodies) that are visible in Mechanical as illustrated by
the following figure.
Workflow
In the previous figure, Contact 1 is a surface-to-surface contact that can be defined with the
manual contact region object. Contact 2 is a node-to-surface contact linking the inner solver SPH
Part (Contact Body) to the segments of the Target Bodies (solid or shell).
For the case of an SMP solution, the contact object properties would look as follows:
The following figure shows the contact properties when MPP is enabled for the analysis. You can
choose not to use MPP for the contact calculation. Not using MPP for contact is sometimes more
efficient.
When Eroding is set to Yes, an additional block of input values appears as shown in the following
figure:
Workflow
You must define the target bodies for the contact. Two scoping methods are supported: Geometry
Selection and Named Selection. Only solid and surface geometry selections are supported.
If you set Eroding to Yes, the card *CONTACT_ERODING_NODES_TO_SURFACE is written. When

the property Eroding is set to No, the card *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_NODES_TO_SURFACE is written.
The sort frequency corresponds to the parameter BSORT of Optional Card A in the case of SMP
processing, and to the parameter BCKT of MPP Card 1 in the case of MPP processing.
Common Controls, Advanced Controls and Eroding Controls parameters are identical to the Contact
Property object, and its definition can be found in Keywords Created from the Contact Properties
Object (p. 135).
This contact supports only Penalty and Soft Constraint formulations. The recommended formulation
for an SPH simulation is the soft constraint (SOFT=1) and is used by default (Program Controlled).
When Material Assignment is set to Program Controlled and the scoped solid in the Adaptive Solid
to SPH object is used in a manual contact region, a node-to-surface contact card is written between
the SPH part (created inside the solver) and the target bodies. In other words, when Contact 1 (in
the earlier figure) is defined, Contact 2 is written implicitly in the input file.
To view results on the created SPH particles, see Post Processing for Solver-Created SPH Ele-
ments (p. 49).
3.1.4. Defining Connections

You can find information about Connections in Define Connections.
3.1.4.1. Springs
In LS-DYNA, Springs can be added in Connections. Both Longitudinal Stiffness and Damping are
supported. For nonlinear springs, if you use Tabular Data to define the spring load curve, the force
vs displacement curve must be defined with positive values for Spring Behavior set to Compression
or to Tension. Negative values are valid only if the Spring Behavior is set to Both.
3.1.4.2. Coupling
A Coupling object can be added under Connections to define the coupling mechanism used when
modeling Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI). The coupling object determines the interaction between
the scoped Lagrange Bodies (those with Reference Frame set to Lagrange) and ALE bodies (those
with Reference Frame set to S-ALE Domain or S-ALE Fill, or contained in a section definition with
an ALE element formulation). The Coupling object creates an instance of either the *CON-
STRAINED_LAGRANGE_IN_SOLID (p. 99) or the *ALE_STRUCTURED_FSI keyword in the solver input
file. The Fluid Structure Interaction Type field allows the keyword to be selected. The default
Program Controlled option is *CONSTRAINED_LAGRANGE_IN_SOLID. The *ALE_STRUCTURED_FSI
option is only applicable to S-ALE. Further information on the available options is given in the LS-
DYNA Keyword User's Manual Volume I.
The Stiffness Type field allows the user to define the stiffness as Constant (Stiffness Scale Factor)
or Tabular (Penetration vs. Coupling Pressure).
Workflow
3.1.4.3. SPH to SPH Penalty-Based Contact

The SPH to SPH Contact object defines a penalty-based, node-to-node contact for particles of SPH
parts. You can scope two SPH bodies that are interacting, and the solver will compute the interface
stiffness value that guaranties stability (the interface stiffness is based on the nodal mass and the
global time step size). This feature uses the keyword *DEFINE_SPH_TO_SPH_COUPLING and sets
the parameter ISOFT to 1 (Soft constraint formulation).
To insert this object, right click Connections and insert SPH to SPH Contact as shown here.
After the object is inserted, use the Details panel to scope a Contact body and a Target body.
Scoping for this object is limited to SPH bodies and Adaptive Solid to SPH bodies. A warning message
will be issued if incorrect scoping is attempted.
3.1.5. Defining Mesh Settings

You can find information about Mesh Settings in Apply Mesh Controls/Preview Mesh.
Dimensionally Reduced Rigid Body Behavior is not available for LS-DYNA.
3.1.5.1. S-ALE Mesh

The mesh for bodies with the Reference Frame S-ALE Domain is created within the solver. There
are two methods that can be used to define the mesh parameters that are passed to the solver.
The default method takes the number of mesh elements created by the Mechanical meshing process
and calculates the number of divisions along each coordinate axis needed to obtain a uniform
rectilinear mesh.
Where:
• N = Number of elements in the Mechanical mesh
• (dx , dy, dz) = Length of the bounding box of the body along each of the coordinate axes
• (nx, ny, nz ) = The number of divisions along each of the co-ordinate axes
The second method is to insert an S-ALE Mesh object under the Model branch. This object can be
scoped to the S-ALE Domain body, and either the element size or the number of divisions along
each co-ordinate axis can be defined directly. The object also provides a visual representation of
the mesh on the exterior surface of the body.
Workflow
3.1.6. Defining Named Selections

You can find information about creating a Named Selection in Working with Named Selections in
the Mechanical User's Guide.
The LS-DYNA Named Selection User ID field is only visible when a Named Selection object is created
while performing an analysis using an LS-DYNA system in Workbench. This field allows you to define
an id that will be used by the LS-DYNA solver for the named selection that you created. The value of
the field can be:
• 0 - The id will be program controlled
• Positive Integer - The number entered will be used by LS-DYNA as the id for the named selection
• Note:
If you read in an LS-DYNA input file that contains named selections, the LS-DYNA
Named Selection User ID will not be set to the corresponding value for each
Named Selection object created in the project. However, you can set the id of each
named selection by hand if you change the Transfer PropertiesRead Only field
in the Details panel of the Named Selection to No.
3.1.7. Defining Analysis Settings

You can find information about Analysis Settings in Establish Analysis Settings.
You can set Solver Precision to Single or Double under Solver Controls, or leave it as Program
Controlled.
In LS-DYNA, the End Time is the only required input. SMP or MPP parallel processing can be activated
by changing the Number of CPU's. Note that Ansys LS-DYNA HPC licenses are required for using more
than 1 core.
For the SPH solver, the following settings are available in the SPH Controls section of the Details
panel in LS-DYNA. For more information, see *CONTROL_SPH (p. 80).
Field Description
Approximation Theory Particle approximation method:
• Program Controlled
• Default Formulation
• Renormalization Approximation
• Fluid Particle Approximation
• Fluid Particle With Renormalization Approximation
• Total Lagrangian Formulation
• Total Lagrangian Formulation With Renormalization
Workflow
Field Description
• Enhanced Fluid Formulation
• Enhanced Fluid Formulation With Renormalization
• Moving Least Squares (can only be used with a Processing Type

of MPP)
Sorting Time Steps Number of time steps between particle sorting

Initial Number of Neighbors Initial number of neighbors per particle
Death Time Death time for particle approximation
Start Time Start time for particle approximation
Time Integration Time integration type for the smoothing length:
• Default
• Enhanced Energy Formulation
Maximum Velocity Maximum velocity For SPH particles

Artificial Viscosity Formula- Artificial viscosity formulation for SPH elements:
tion
• Monaghan Formulation
• Standard Formulation
Contact Thickness If Yes, the solver will define a contact thickness in order to detect and
avoid penetration between an SPH part and a Lagrangian part
Use Box If Yes, exposes a Box Name field that lets you specify a standard
boundary box (p. 43) to be used during the analysis
3.2. Using Symmetry

Cyclic Symmetry is supported in LS-DYNA analyses. For more information on setting up Cyclic Symmetry,
see Defining Symmetry.
3.3. Defining Initial Conditions

You can find information about Initial Conditions in Define Initial Conditions.
3.4. Defining Boundary Conditions

You can find information about Boundary Conditions in Apply Loads and Supports. For an LS-DYNA
system, Remote Displacement is available in addition to the boundary conditions discussed there.
Defining Boundary Conditions
The Conditions , Contact Property , and Rigid
Wall (p. 147) constraints are available on the LSDYNA Pre tab. The following boundary conditions
are also available:
3.4.1. Rigid Body Tools
3.4.2. Airbag or Simple Pressure Volume
3.4.3. Input File Include Constraint
3.4.4. Keyword Snippet (LS-DYNA) Constraint
3.4.5. Bolt Pretension
3.4.6. Dynamic Relaxation
3.4.7. Bounding Box
3.4.8. ALE Boundary
3.4.9. Change Boundary Condition
3.4.10. Importing External Loads
Workflow
3.4.1. Rigid Body Tools
A number of rigid body conditions are available to allow you to specify your rigid body behavior.
These include:
• Explicit Rigid Bodies - use this tool to specify rigid body(ies) for the Explicit analysis by
directly scoping to the geometry.
• Merge Rigid Bodies - use this tool to merge multiple rigid bodies together into a single
rigid body.
• Rigid Body Additional Nodes - use this tool to add additional nodes from flexible body
to the existing rigid body.
3.4.2. Airbag or Simple Pressure Volume

The Airbag object provides a way of defining thermodynamic behavior of the gas flow into the airbag
as well as a reference configuration for the fully inflated bag.
Simple Pressure Volume
When Formulation is set to Simple Pressure Volume:
• The pressure is a function of the ratio of current volume to the initial volume.
• This simple model can be used when an initial pressure is given.
• No leakage, no temperature change, and no input mass flow are assumed.
• A typical application is the modeling of air in automobile tires.
• Pressure Volume Airbag controls: Coefficient versus Time (CN) can be defined in a table. β is a scale
factor for the curve defining the coefficient versus time (CN), with a default value of 1.
Workflow
Simple Airbag Model
The volume pressure relationships is defined by the Simple Airbag Model for control volumes.
• The gamma law equation of state used to determine the pressure in the airbag:
p = (γ-1)ρe
where p is the pressure, ρ is the density, e is the specific internal energy of the gas, and γ is the
ratio of the specific heats:
γ = cp/cv
• Input Mass Flow Rate can be defined in a table.
3.4.3. Input File Include Constraint

Advanced users can insert additional LS-DYNA keywords by using the Input File Include constraint
to specify the name of a file that contains LS-DYNA keywords. An include file *INCLUDE Filename1
keyword card will be generated pointing to the file you specify.
Included files can contain any valid LS-DYNA keyword cards. Using include files eliminates the need
for you to edit the .k input file each time the file is created by LS-DYNA if you have other keywords
you want to use. Note that the included file can contain other include file statements, providing a
fairly general capability for easily adding predefined inputs.
3.4.4. Keyword Snippet (LS-DYNA) Constraint

You can also insert additional LS-DYNA keywords by using the Keyword Snippet (LS-DYNA) constraint.
Create a Keyword Snippet (LS-DYNA) object by inserting a Commands object from the context
menu or Enviroment tab on the ribbon.
Note:
When inserted under Connections, the Keyword Snippet (LS-DYNA) object allows you to
use contact types not supported by the LS-DYNA system. When inserted under the Envir-
onment object, it allows you to use any LS-DYNA keywords.
3.4.5. Bolt Pretension

This boundary condition applies a pretension load to a beam connection, typically to model a bolt
under pretension.
Analysis Types
Bolt Pretension is specific to LS-DYNA and is not compatible with the Bolt Pretension feature of the
Mechanical Application.
The Bolt Pretension can be either used during dynamic relaxation or during the explicit phase of the
calculation.
A Bolt Pretension can be applied to either a Beam Connection or a Solid Body.
Boundary Condition Application

To apply a Bolt Pretension to a Beam Connection:
1. Right-click the Environment tree object or an active Dynamic Relaxation Object and select Insert
→ Bolt Pretension.
2. Set the Scoping Method to Beam Connection and then select the Beam Connection.
3. Specify the Magnitude of the loading.
4. If the bolt pretension is used during the explicit phase, you need additionally an Initialization
End Time to specify the termination of the loading.
To apply a Bolt Pretension to a Solid Body:
Workflow
1. Right-click the Environment tree object or an active Dynamic Relaxation Object and select Insert
→ Bolt Pretension.
2. Set the Scoping Method to Geometry Selection or Named Selection and then select the Solid
Body
3. Specify a Coordinate System to define the cutting plane. The cutting plane is centered on the
origin of the selected Coordinate System and aligned with the X-Y plane.
4. Define the pre-load stress as a function of time using the Tabular Data field, and define the type
of Shear Stresses acting on the body with the Shear Stress Flag.
Note:
• The Bolt Pretension Load is not supported for a Full Restart.
• When a Bolt Pretension within the Dynamic Relaxation Folder and a Bolt Pretension
under the LS-DYNA Transient Analysis are defined for the same Beam connection, only
the last one defined is used in the analysis.
3.4.6. Dynamic Relaxation
The dynamic relaxation feature (available by clicking on the LSDYNA Pre tab, or by right-
clicking the LS-DYNA system and selecting Dynamic Relaxing from the Insert menu) provides preloading
for explicit dynamics solutions in LS-DYNA. True dynamic relaxation (Relaxation Type: Explicit) allows
an explicit solver to conduct a static analysis by increasing the damping until the kinetic energy drops
to zero.
The damping works by scaling nodal velocities by the Dynamic Relaxation Factor each time step
until the ratio of current distortional kinetic energy to peak distortional kinetic energy (the convergence
factor) falls below the convergence tolerance (Tolerance).
By default, the convergence is checked on the whole model. It can be restricted to a set of bodies
by setting the Convergence Scope to Geometry Selection.
When the Ansys Implicit solver is used to provide the preload (Relaxation Type: Explicit After Ansys
Solution), a slightly different approach is taken in that the stress initialization is based on a prescribed
geometry (in other words, the nodal displacement results from the Implicit solution). In this case, the
explicit solver only uses 101 time steps to apply the preload. In the former case, the solver will check
the kinetic energy every 250 cycles (by default) until the kinetic energy from the applied preload is
dissipated.
Workflow
If the Convergence Type is set to Termination occurs at Pseudo End Time instead of Program Con-
trolled, the termination of the dynamic relaxation occurs at the pseudo end time.
The Time Step Scale Factor enables you to scale the computed time step during dynamic relaxation.
Alternatively, the LS-DYNA Implicit solver can be used to conduct a dynamic analysis to calculate the
preloading.
An initial time step needs to be provided to start the nonlinear implicit transient analysis. The conver-
gence of this Newton-Raphson analysis is controlled by the Line Search convergence tolerance and
a Displacement Convergence tolerance.
LS-DYNA supports all these methods, which occur in pseudo time before the transient portion of the
analysis begins at time zero.
Preloading
Preloading works by specifying that a given load will be active during the dynamic relaxation, when
the relaxation type is set to Explicit or Implicit.
Currently, Acceleration, Standard Earth Gravity, Rotational Acceleration and Rotational Velocity can
be specified as a Load in the General Preload object for dynamic relaxation.
Other Loads and Supports can be applied during dynamic relaxation through the use of an option
on the Load/Support.
Preloading using General Preload

When the User Defined field is set to No, the load used during the dynamic relaxation phase is rep-
resented by the following curve:
For the boundary condition undergoing dynamic relaxation, an additional curve (*DEFINE_CURVE) is
written defining the load magnitude during the dynamic relaxation phase. The standard curve shown
above is applied only during the dynamic relaxation phase (preloading) as SIDR=1 in the
*DEFINE_CURVE.
Workflow
When the User Defined field is set to Yes, you can enter a customized curve for the dynamic relaxation
phase by filling a data table.
When the load is user defined, the card *DEFINE_CURVE with the SIDR parameter set to 1 will be
written to the input file. This curve is then used by the card representing the boundary condition to
which the dynamic relaxation is applied.
Note:
Unlike other Dynamic Relaxation loads compatible with the General Preload object, both
Rotational Velocity and Rotational Acceleration do not use any directional General Preload
Scale Factor. This is related to limitations from the LS-DYNA card *LOAD_BODY_GENERAL-
IZED that is used. It is still possible to apply these loads in specific directions, through the
definition of the Coordinate System property in the Rotational Velocity or Rotational Accel-
eration objects themselves. Be mindful that the same preload curve will be applied to any
loaded direction in these objects.
Preloading using a Load/Support Option

Dynamic relaxation can be defined in a simpler way for several loads (including Pressure, Force,
Nodal Force, and Rigid Body Angular Velocity), and Supports that are defined so that they are not
fixed. For these boundary conditions, the Dynamic Relaxation Behavior field is added to their Details
panel. This field has three options:
• Normal Phase Only - The boundary condition is applied during the explicit solution only
• Dynamic Relaxation Only - The boundary condition is applied during preloading only
• Both - The boundary condition is applied in both phases
Preloading using Bolt Pretension

LS-DYNA also enables preloading of Beam Connections through the Bolt Pretension.
3.4.7. Bounding Box

A Box is an object that can be used to define a behavior for a set of nodes. For instance, it can be
used to specify that SPH computations occur for particles inside the box.
3.4.7.1. Defining a Box

To insert a box in an LS-DYNA analysis, right click on the system and select Insert → Box.
Two types of boxes exist: Standard and SPH. The Standard box is a stationary box. At this time, its
function is to limit the SPH computation to particles that are within the box at the beginning of
the simulation.
For the Standard box, the input parameters are:
• The boundary of the box defined by the coordinates of two diagonally opposite corner points:
Xmin, Xmax, Ymin, Ymax, Zmin, Zmax.
• The Coordinate System that defines the orientation of the box. You can define a customized
coordinate system (new origin and new orientation) then select that coordinate system to assign
it to the box.
Workflow
The SPH box is a standard box that can move over time and is used only for SPH calculations. The
SPH Box Motion Controls section in the Details panel allows you to specify the motion Type as
a Displacement or Velocity. The direction of the box motion is defined by the Coordinate System
and the Component. You can define time-dependent velocity or displacement for the box motion
by entering tabular data.
Note:
For SPH analyses, the box must include the contact surface region between the particles
and the Lagrangian region in order to properly determine the mechanical behavior.
3.4.7.2. Using a Box in the Analysis

You can define any number of Standard and SPH boxes in an analysis. In conjunction with the Use
Box analysis setting, the following rules govern the solver's use of the boxes defined in the analysis.
If Use Box is set to No
• Any Standard boxes defined in the analysis will not be used. However, if you have an unsup-
pressed SPH box, then the calculation will occur with respect to the SPH box. If you have
multiple unsuppressed SPH boxes, then the solver will consider the first defined SPH box.
If Use Box is set to Yes
• If you only have Standard boxes defined, you can choose a Standard box from the Box Name
drop down.
• If you only have SPH boxes defined, you don't need to set the Box Name because the first
unsupressed defined SPH box will be used. An information message will be output indicating
the Box that is used.
• If you have both Standard and SPH boxes defined, if you choose a Standard box from the
Box Name drop down, the solver will ignore that box and will use the first unsuppressed
SPH box that is defined. When an SPH box is used, an information message will pop up to
indicate the Box used by the solver.
3.4.8. ALE Boundary

The ALE Boundary object can be applied to bodies with Reference Frame set to S-ALE Domain, or
contained in a section definition with an ALE element formulation. When an ALE Boundary object is
included in the analysis, an *ALE_ESSENTIAL_BOUNDARY card is written. Two constraint types are
available, which will be applied to the external faces of the main geometry selection except for any
faces defined in the exclusion scoping.
3.4.9. Change Boundary Condition

The Change Boundary Condition load can be inserted in an LS-DYNA Small Restart analysis and allows
you to change the definition of an existing *DEFINE_CURVE (p. 138) keyword in the input.k file. The
Change Boundary Condition load can be found on the LSDYNA Small Restart tab of the ribbon.
The *DEFINE_CURVE keyword is written to the input file when tabular data is provided for a load. The
Change Boundary Condition object is needed because in an LS-DYNA analysis, the end time of the
tabular data defined in the analysis cannot exceed the end time of the analysis itself. For example, a
Displacement Component is defined by a Tabular Data in an initial LS-DYNA analysis and you want
Workflow
to continue with a Small Restart. You cannot change the values of the Displacement Component for
the Restart analysis (the object is unavailable in the Small Restart). The Change Boundary Condition
object gives you this ability.
The load will redefine a *DEFINE_CURVE that already exists in the initial (or one of the previous)
analyses. The tabular data you enter must correspond to the size of the table in the existing
*DEFINE_CURVE. The *DEFINE_CURVE to be modified might have been generated by the Tabular Data
defining one of the degrees of freedom of a boundary condition (currently, only Displacement and
Remote Displacement are supported).
When you insert a Change Boundary Condition object, the Location Method will be set to Boundary
Condition.
You will see the following fields in the Details panel. Once you choose a Boundary Condition from
the drop-down list, fields will appear corresponding to the components using tabular data in that
boundary condition.
Field Input Values Description

Location Method Boundary Condition Specifies that the tabular data to be redefined is
in a boundary condition
Boundary Condi- Drop-down with available Specifies which boundary condition needs to have
tion boundary conditions tabular data redefined
Component X/Y/Z Component Specifies which degree of freedom will have the
tabular data in its *DEFINE_CURVE redefined
Curve Tabular Data Allows redefinition of the data in the
*DEFINE_CURVE associated with the component
3.4.10. Importing External Loads

The External Data system allows you to import external loads into an LS-DYNA analysis. Currently,
the loads supported for LS-DYNA analyses are Imported Pressure and Imported Displacement.
3.4.10.1. Imported Displacement

When an Imported Displacement is added to an LS-DYNA analysis, the keyword written to the
input file is determined by the Displacement Type field. The two keyword options are Boundary
Prescribed Final Geometry and Initial Foam Reference Geometry.
When selecting the displacement for each component in the Data View worksheet, the Free option
available for other types of analyses is not shown as it is not applicable when using these LS-DYNA
keywords.
Accessing Results
When the Displacement Type is set to Initial Foam Reference Geometry the Tabular Loading field
is hidden. The rate at which the displacement is applied is determined by the solver in this case.
The Displacement Type Initial Foam Reference Geometry is only applicable to a subset of materials.
Refer to the description of *Initial_Foam_Reference_Geometry in LS-DYNA Keyword User's Manual
Volume I for a list of the supported material types.
Note:
When the Imported Displacement is scoped to a body with a supported material, the
reference geometry flag on the material card is automatically set. If the material is defined
using a command snippet, the reference geometry flag is not automatically set and the
value given in the snippet is written directly to the input file.
3.5. Accessing Results

You can find information about Results Processing in Review Results.
To collect Nodal Data, insert one or more Result Trackers under Solution prior to running the simulation.
Result trackers must be scoped to a node.
Stress and Plastic Strain are written by default (can be suppressed) but Strain is not written by default
and you must select it if desired.
LS-DYNA keeps track of Total Strain and Plastic Strain. Elastic Strain will always show as 0. To plot
elastic plastic strain or elastic strain, click Solution, then click Worksheet from the Home tab and select
Available Solution Quantities within the Worksheet. Right click the expression and select Create User
Defined Result.
Workflow
Time History Outputs (ASCII files) can be generated. All the files shown below can be created using the
LS-DYNA system. Note however that some data in the ASCII files currently cannot be viewed.
To view Time History Outputs select the ones desired from the ASCII drop-down menu.
Using LS-DYNA terminology, the following results can be viewed within LS-DYNA:
• GLSTAT (Global Data : Kinetic Energy, Hourglass, ....).
Accessing Results
• BNDOUT (Boundary Conditions Data).
• RCFORC (Contact Forces Data).
• SPCFORC (Reaction Forces on Boundary Conditions) using *BOUNDARY_SPC (Fixed Support) to view
Reaction Force.
• MATSUM (Body Data).
• NODOUT (Nodal Data) Trackers must be defined during pre-processing for the nodal data to be
available during Results processing.
3.5.1. Post Processing for Solver-Created SPH Elements

When an SPH body or an Adaptive Solid to SPH object is included in the model, several SPH-specific
results are available as user defined variables. These results can be found in the worksheet as shown
in the following images.
When using an Adaptive Solid to SPH object in the model, SPH particles are constructed inside the
solver during the solution. To obtain results for these created SPH particles, do the following:
1. Access the worksheet, then select Material and Element Type Information as shown in the following
figure:
Workflow
2. Locate the POINT element shape as depicted in the previous figure. By right-clicking the corres-
ponding line, you can insert a total deformation result or any user-defined result. Remember that
the available user-defined results can be viewed by selecting Available Solution Quantities on the
worksheet.
3.6. History Variable Output

Material models in LS-DYNA use history variables that are specific to the material model. For most ma-
terials, six variables are reserved for the Cauchy stress components and one for the effective plastic
strain, but some models have many more. The extra history variables may include properties like strain
energy density and strain rate, and may also include information like material direction cosines and
scale factors.
The output of these extra history variables is defined in the Output Controls section of the Analysis
Settings Details.
If you set History Variables to Yes (the default is No), LS-DYNA automatically sets the number of history
variables for shell and solid elements in the model. It calculates the value depending on the materials
and on the type of bodies present in the model.
Depending on the material assigned to your body, you will have history variables available in the
Solution Worksheet and can evaluate them as a User Defined Result.
History Variable Output
The number of extra history variables is dependent on the material model used. The following table
shows the history variables for the equation of state/material combinations supported by LS-DYNA.
Materials Supported in LSDYNA Corresponding Var Shells (and Thick Var Solids (and
Mat Number No. Shells Types No. Thick Shell
1,2,6) Types 3,5,6
*MAT_3-PARAMETER_BARLAT *MAT_036
1 reverse of old
yield stress
3 cosine(alpha)
4 - sine(alpha
Workflow
1,2,6) Types 3,5,6
6 effective strain
rate
7 current yield
stress
8 current hardening
slope
9 back stress
component
alpha_11
10 back stress
component
alpha_22
11 back stress
component
alpha_12
*MAT_BARLAT_ANISOTROPIC_PLASTICITY *MAT_033 NA
*MAT_ADD_EROSION NA NA
*MAT_ARRUDA_BOYCE_RUBBER *MAT_127 NA
*MAT_BLATZ-KO_RUBBER *MAT_007 NA 1..9 deformation
gradient
*MAT_ELASTIC *MAT_001 eqp volumetric strain eqp volumetric
strain
*MAT_ENHANCED_COMPOSITE_DAMAGE *MAT_054-055
(MAT_054) 1 flag for
longitudinal
tensile failure
mode
(MAT_054) 2 flag for
longitudinal
compressive
failure mode
(MAT_054) 3 flag for transverse
tensile failure
mode
(MAT_054) 4 flag for transverse
compressive
failure
(MAT_054) 5 mode
(MAT_054) 6 total failure
(MAT_054) 8 damage
parameter (SOFT)
1,2,6) Types 3,5,6
(MAT_054) 9 cosine(alpha)
(MAT_054) 10 - sine(alpha)
(MAT_054) 11 local strain
a-direction
(MAT_054) 12 local strain
b-direction
(MAT_054) 16 local shear
strain
(ab-plane)
transverse
shear
damage
*MAT_LAMINATED_COMPOSITE_FABRIC *MAT_058
1 damage in
longitudinal
direction
2 damage in
transverse
direction
3 damage in shear
6 cosine(alpha
7 -sine(alpha
8 total failure flag
(1=not failed,
0=failed)
10 local strain
a-direction
11 local strain
b-direction
12 local shear strain
(ab-plane)
15 effective strain
16 local strain
c-direction
17 local transverse
shear strain
(bc-plane)
18 local transverse
shear strain
(ca-plane)
Workflow
1,2,6) Types 3,5,6
19 damage variable
for transverse
shear behavior
20 strain-rate in
a-direction
21 strain-rate in
b-direction
22 strain-rate in
ab-plane
*MAT_FLD_TRANSVERSELY_ANISOTROPIC *MAT_039 NA
*MAT_HYPERELASTIC_RUBBER *MAT_077_H NA
*MAT_JOHNSON_COOK *MAT_015
1 failure value 5 temperature
change
3 current pressure 6 JC damage
cutoff parameter
4 JC damage
parameter
5 temperature
change
6 JC failure strain
*MAT_MODIFIED_PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY *MAT_123
1 effective strain 1 effective
rate strain rate
6 thinning strain 7 major
principal
strain
7 major in plane
strain
*MAT_OGDEN_RUBBER *MAT_077_O NA
*MAT_ORTHOTROPIC_ELASTIC, *MAT_002
*MAT_ANISOTROPIC_ELASTIC
eqp stiffness 1..9 deformation
component C11 gradient
1 stiffness
component C12
2 stiffness
component C13
3 stiffness
component C14
1,2,6) Types 3,5,6
4 stiffness
component C22
5 stiffness
component C23
6 stiffness
component C24
7 stiffness
component C33
8 stiffness
component C34
9 stiffness
component C44
10 stiffness
component C55
11 stiffness
component C56
12 stiffness
component C66
*MAT_PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY *MAT_024
1 effective 1 effective
strain rate strain
(VP=0); rate
(VP=0);
effective
plastic strain effective
rate (VP=1) plastic
strain
rate
(VP=1)
4 current hardening 4 current
slope hardening
slope
5 current yield 5 current
stress yield
stress
Remark: 4
and 5 apply Remark:
only to 4 and 5
non-strain-rate apply
option. only to
non-strain-ra
option.
*MAT_PLASTIC_KINEMATIC *MAT_003
Workflow
1,2,6) Types 3,5,6
1 back stress 1 back stress
component xx component
xx
component yy component
yy
component xy component
xy
component yz component
yz
component zx component
zx
*MAT_POWER_LAW_PLASTICITY *MAT_018 NA
*MAT_RATE_SENSITIVE_POWERLAW_PLASTICITY *MAT_064 NA
*MAT_RIGID *MAT_020 NA
*MAT_SIMPLIFIED_JOHNSON_COOK *MAT_098
1 max(0,ln(normalized
eff strain
rate)) (VP=0)
failure flag
(VP=1)
*MAT_SPRING_INELASTIC *MAT_S08 NA
*MAT_SPRING_NONLINEAR_ELASTIC *MAT_S04 NA
*MAT_TRANSVERSELY_ANISOTROPIC_ELASTIC_PLASTIC *MAT_037
2 current hardening
slope
3 current yield
stress
*MAT_LOW_DENSITY_FOAM *MAT_057 NA
The following table shows the history variables for equation of state/material combinations supported
by LS-DYNA.
Equation of State Material Var Var

No. Description
*EOS_JWL *MAT_HIGH_EXPLOSIVE_BURN 1 Internal Energy
(EOS_002) (*MAT_008)
2 Bulk Viscosity
Special Analysis Topics
Equation of State Material Var Var

No. Description
3 Volume
4 Burn Fraction
5 Afterburn
Energy
Note:
For User Defined Results with the Output Unit value of No Units, the unit system used is
the one defined in the Unit System field in the Analysis Settings Solver Controls section. For
User Defined Results with an Output Unit value other than No Units, the unit system used
is the one defined in the Mechanical Home tab.
3.7. Special Analysis Topics

The LS-DYNA system can interact with other Workbench systems.
3.7.1. Importing the Results of a Thermal Analysis

A Steady-State or Transient Thermal analysis system can be directly linked to an LS-DYNA system to
import the calculated temperatures and provide thermal stress. For information on setting up this
transfer, follow the description of how it is done for a structural system in Thermal-Stress Analysis in
the Mechanical User's Guide
Note:
• Imported temperatures cannot be scoped to beams.
• LS-DYNA requires the definition of the Instantaneous Thermal Expansion Coefficient on

materials to calculate thermal deformations.
3.7.2. Importing the Results of an FSI Thermal Analysis

A CFD analysis system can be directly linked to an LS-DYNA system to import the Temperature results
from a heat transfer CFD analysis as body temperature loads. For information on setting up this
transfer, follow the description of how it is done for a structural system in Using Imported Loads for
One-Way FSI in the Mechanical User's Guide.
3.7.3. Importing the Pressure Results of an FSI Analysis

A CFD analysis system can be directly linked to an LS-DYNA system to import the Pressure results
from a CFD analysis as imported pressures loads. For information on setting up this transfer, follow
the description of how it is done for a structural system in Using Imported Loads for One-Way FSI in
the Mechanical User's Guide.
Workflow
3.7.4. ALE Workflow

LS-DYNA provides two types of ALE solvers:
• The unstructured ALE solver, which can be defined within Mechanical by assigning an ALE section
type. The unstructured mesh is created within Mechanical and is passed directly to the solver.
• The structured ALE (S-ALE) solver can be invoked by creating a body with rectilinear box geometry
and a Reference Frame set to S-ALE Domain. The default material for the domain is associated
directly with the body. Additional bodies with Reference Frame set to S-ALE Fill, are filled into the
S-ALE Domain. This is achieved by first meshing the S-ALE Fill bodies using the standard Mechan-
ical meshing process. The surface meshes of these bodies are passed to the solver as dummy rigid
shell bodies and are used to define the material with the S-ALE Domain. Once the filling is complete,
the dummy rigid shell bodies have no further effect on the simulation. For more information, see
the Initial Volume Fraction Geometry (p. 91) keyword.
The S-ALE Mesh Object (p. 29) is used to define mesh parameters and view the surface mesh for
the S-ALE mesh that will be created within the solver.
Several objects are available for use in the ALE workflow:
• The Coupling (p. 27) object which is added under connections, enables the setup of ALE-
Lagrange interactions.
• The ALE Boundary Object (p. 45) allows you to define stick and slip boundary conditions on
the external faces of the ALE domain.
Note:
• The mesh created within Mechanical is not directly used for the S-ALE domain. By default,
the bounding box of the geometry and the number of elements generated by the
Mechanical meshing process are used as parameters to define the size and density of a
uniform rectilinear mesh that will be created by the solver. Further details are given in
S-ALE Mesh (p. 29).
• Results for S-ALE bodies are not displayed on the original mesh. Instead, a mesh is re-
constructed for each material associated with the original body to which the result object
is scoped.
• The reconstruction of the mesh is approximate and includes:
Special Analysis Topics
– Finding the exterior surface of each material in its current location in the S-ALE domain.
This is achieved by forming an isosurface on the volume fraction of each material in
a cell (at 50%).
– Filling the interior of the material with cells from the S-ALE domain that are completely
inside the material.
– Reconstructing an unstructured mesh for any gaps between the exterior surface and
interior cells.
• When ALE bodies are included in the model, several ALE-specific result variables are
available as user defined variables: Density, Volume Fraction, Dominant Material, and
Species Mass.
3.7.5. SPH Workflow

LS-DYNA provides a Smooth Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) solver. The state of the system is represented
by a set of particles which possesses material property and interact with each other within the range
controlled by a weight function. Particle approximation is a truly mesh-free explicit Lagrangian
method.
The SPH solver is a good choice in the following types of analyses:
• Large material distortion; for example, crashworthiness, hyper-velocity impact
• Moving boundaries, free surface; for example, fluid and structure interaction
• Adaptive procedure; for example, forging and extrusion
To use this solver, your project must use a Reference Frame of type Particle and include a Particle
Method mesh object.
For additional information about setting up an SPH analysis, see the following topics:
• SPH analysis settings (p. 80)
• SPH to Adaptive Solid (p. 19)
• SPH to SPH contact (p. 28)
Workflow
• Bounding Box (p. 43)
Note:
The default contact thickness between SPH parts and Lagrangian parts is zero. In some
situations, it's recommended to define a contact thickness in order to detect and avoid
penetration between an SPH part and a Lagrangian part. If you set Contact Thickness to
Yes in the SPH Controls section of the Analysis Settings, the solver will automatically define
a contact thickness.
3.7.6. Modifying Default Solver Settings

The LS-DYNA Workbench system uses default solver settings for some LS-DYNA Controls Cards
(keywords starting with *CONTROL) and for some settings affecting the results file content (keywords
starting with *DATABASE).
These settings are not available in the user interface, nor are they written when the corresponding
option is set to Program Controlled. If you wish to use different default settings, set the option Default
Solver Control Cards located under Advanced in the Analysis Settings Details panel to Omit, which
will omit these default solver cards. By default, the option is set to Keep.
*CONTROL_TERMINATION and *DATABASE_BINARY_D3PROP are the only cards written when Omit
is selected. You can provide your preferred settings by using Keyword Snippets (p. 36).
3.7.7. Inserting LS-DYNA Keywords

The LS-DYNA Keyword Manager is available as a Beta feature. The Keyword Manager allows you to
insert solver keyword objects into the project tree and enter the keyword options using fields in the
Details panel.
3.8. Restarting an LS-DYNA Analysis

Restarting means performing an analysis which continues from a previous analysis. A restart can begin
from either the conclusion of or the middle of a prior analysis.
Possible Reasons for Performing A Restart
• The previous analysis was killed by the operating system or the user (sw1).
• The previous analysis exceeded the user defined CPU limit.
• There was an error in the previous analysis and a restart is used to diagnose and/or correct the error.
• The previous analysis was not run to a long enough termination time.
There are three types of restarts: simple restarts, small restarts, and full restarts.
A simple restart is one for which the original model has not been altered in the new analysis. A simple
restart is performed when the LS-DYNA solution was prematurely interrupted by the exceeding of a
user defined CPU limit or by the issuing of the sense switch control sw1.
Restarting an LS-DYNA Analysis
A small restart is used to run an analysis to a longer termination time than initially specified and/or to
make minor modifications to the model. The following actions are permitted in a small restart.
• Specifying rigid/deformable switch controls.
• Switching parts from deformable to rigid & back.
A full restart supports most new analysis actions, including:
• Portions of the model may be added or removed.
• Additional materials and loading changes are permitted.
There are some restrictions for full restarts, including:
• Contact specifications and initial velocities cannot be changed.
• Adaptive meshing is not supported, even if present in the initial run.
Stress initialization is available for full restarts. Deformed nodal positions and stresses/strains from a
previous analysis are carried forward into a full restart analysis.
Note:
In order to switch the stiffness in either a small restart or full restart, you must add a Deform-
able To Rigid object under the original LS-DYNA system as shown here:
Workflow
To add the object, select the LS-DYNA object, right-click and select InsertDeformable To
Rigid. After you add the object, select it and in the Details view, scope the object to the
body whose stiffness you want to change. Be sure that the Stiffness Behavior attribute of
the scoped body is set to Flexible.
3.8.1. Performing a Simple Restart

In order to perform a simple restart:
1. On the Project Schematic page, select LS-DYNA Restart from the Toolbox and drag and drop it
onto the Solution cell of an existing LS-DYNA system.
2. Under the LS-DYNA Restart object, select Pre-Stress (LS-DYNA) under Initial Conditions and
set Mode to Displacements in the Details panel.
3. In the Details panel of the Analysis Settings object, choose Simple Restart for Restart Type and
then Solve.
3.8.2. Performing a Small Restart

In order to perform a Small Restart:
Workflow
2. Under the LS-DYNA Restart object, select Pre-Stress (LS-DYNA) under Initial Conditions and
set Mode to Displacements in the Details panel.
3. In the Details panel of the Analysis Settings object, choose Small Restart for Restart Type and
define a new termination time.
4. Make any additional changes to the project. The allowed changes are:
Actions Tab Selection Details Panel

• Reset termination time. None
• Reset output printing

interval.
• Reset output plotting

interval.
• Change damping
options.
• Change velocity Three Change Velocity

options. (p. 153) Options:
Workflow
Actions Tab Selection Details Panel
A coordinate system can

be selected for the
Change Velocity object,
and it can be scoped to
vertices, edges, faces, or
bodies.
• Delete contact
surfaces. (p. 154)
• Delete elements and

parts. (p. 154)
• Switch deformable
bodies to rigid.
• Switch rigid bodies to

deformable.
For more information about actions you can take during a Small Restart see Restart (p. 152).
Note:
A small restart cannot be done if you are running a serial solution in single precision. To
do a small restart you must be running a parallel solution or using double precision.
3.8.3. Performing a Full Restart

A full restart is a new analysis starting from an initialized state. New data may be entered into the
model, including nodes, elements, material data, and loading.
2. In the Details panel of the Analysis Settings object, choose Full Restart for Restart Type.
Workflow
3. Make any other changes to the project that you require and then Solve.
Note:
A full restart begins at the point in time where the previous calculation ended. Any new
time-dependent loading applied during a full restart must start after the physical time that
elapsed in the previous calculation. For example, if you want to ramp a velocity from 10
m/s to 20 m/s in the full restart for a total duration of 2ms and the previous calculation
ended at 1ms, the loading should have a point in time at 1ms with a value of 10 m/s, and
a point in time at 3ms with a value of 20m/s.
You can add new data into the model when doing a full restart, including nodes, elements, and ma-
terial data. The full restart can be combined with the model assembly features of Mechanical to add
new bodies to an already solved model, or to modify it geometrically while keeping the initialization
of the first simulation.
In the workflow above, the mesh and material from system A is transferred as a new model to system
B. The Restart system (B) is a separate analysis, allowing you to make geometric changes (transform-
ations) to the initial geometry.
In this second workflow, the initial model is transferred to the full restart system, and combined with
new mesh data from External Model. This new mesh could also come from a Mechanical model.
Workflow
You can also do a restart from an implicit solution with the LS-DYNA solver (p. 11). In this case, set
Explicit Solution Only to No.
3.9. Additional LS-DYNA Analysis Tools

When the LS-DYNA system is selected in the Outline view, you will see these additional analysis tools
on the LSDYNA Pre tab:
• - use this tool to define the time step for the analysis of rigid body dynamics.
Additional LS-DYNA Analysis Tools
• - use this tool to calculate CFL time step before the calculation starts.
Chapter 4: Keywords used by LS-DYNA in Workbench
The LS-DYNA Workbench system allows you to run an explicit dynamics analysis for your model using
the LS-DYNA solver.
This section shows all LS-DYNA supported keywords and their syntax. Keywords conform to the LS-
DYNA Keyword User's Manual Volumes I, II, III .
Each keyword consists of one or more cards, each with one of more parameters. If a parameter is not
shown, it will be assigned default values by the LS-DYNA solver.
This chapter describes the following:

4.1. Input File Header
4.2. Database Format
4.3. Control Cards
4.4. Dynamic Relaxation Support
4.5. ALE Support
4.6. Part Setup
4.7. Engineering Data Materials and Equations of State
4.8. Mesh Definition
4.9. Coordinate Systems
4.10. Components and Named Selections
4.11. Remote Points and Point Masses
4.12. Initial Conditions
4.13. Contacts and Body Interactions
4.14. Kinematic Joints
4.15. Magnitude and Tabular Data
4.16. Acceleration and Gravity
4.17. Supports
4.18. Loads
4.19. Discrete Connections
4.20. Other Supports
4.21. Environment Temperature
4.22. ASCII Files
4.23. Database Output Settings
4.24. Restart
4.25. End of Input File
Keywords used by LS-DYNA in Workbench
4.1. Input File Header
*KEYWORD
Marks the beginning of a keyword file.
4.2. Database Format
*DATABASE_FORMAT
Specifies the format in which to write binary results files like D3PLOT and D3THDT.
Card
• IFORM = 0. Binary results will be written only in the LS-DYNA format.
• IFORM = 2. Both LS-DYNA and Ansys database formats will be written.
• IBINARY = 0. Word size of the binary output files (D3PLOT, D3THDT, ...) defaults to 64 bit format.
4.3. Control Cards
*CONTROL_ACCURACY
Specifies control parameters that can improve the accuracy of the calculation.
Card
• OSU is the global flag for objective stress updates. Required for parts that undergo large rotations.
This value is set to 1 when the value of the Second Order Stress Update from the Solver Controls
section of the Analysis Settings is set to On; otherwise it is set to 0.
• INN is the invariant node numbering for shell and solid elements. This value is set based on the In-
variant Node Numbering from the Solver Controls section of the Analysis Settings .
– = -4 if the Invariant Node Numbering is set to On for both shell and solid elements except
triangular shells.
– = -2 if the Invariant Node Numbering is set to On for shell elements except triangular shells.
– = 1 if the Invariant Node Numbering is set to Off.
Control Cards
– = 2 if the Invariant Node Numbering is set to On for shell and thick shell elements.
– = 3 if the Invariant Node Numbering is set to On for solid elements.
– = 4 if the Invariant Node Numbering is set to On for shell, thick shell, and solid elements.
*CONTROL_ALE
Inputs to this keyword are available in Analysis Settings . Set global control parameters for the Arbitrary
Lagrange-Eulerian (ALE) and Eulerian calculations.
Card 1
• DCT = Flag to invoke alternate advection logic.
– = -1 if the Continuum Treatment is set to Use Alternate Advection Logic (default).
– <> -1 if the Continuum Treatment is set to Use Default Advection Logic.
• NDV = Cycles Between Advection from the ALE Controls section of the Analysis Settings (Default
to 1).
• METH = Advection Method from the ALE Controls section of the Analysis Settings (Default to 1):
– = 1 if the Advection Method is set to Donor cell + Half-Index-Shift METH.
– = 2 if the Advection Method is set to Van Leer + Half-Index-Shift.
– AFAC = Simple Average Weighting Factor from the ALE Controls section of the Analysis
Settings . Smoothing weight factor - Simple average.
– BFAC = Volume Weighting Factor from the ALE Controls section of the Analysis Settings .
Smoothing weight factor - Volume Weighting
– CFAC = Isoparametric Weighting Factor from the ALE Controls section of the Analysis Set-
tings .
– DFAC = Equipotential Weighting Factor from the ALE Controls section of the Analysis Set-
tings .
– EFAC = Equilibrium Weighting Factor from the ALE Controls section of the Analysis Settings
.
Card 2
• AAFAC = Advection Factor from the ALE Controls section of the Analysis Settings .
• START = Start from the ALE Controls section of the Analysis Settings .
• END = End from the ALE Controls section of the Analysis Settings .
• REF = Reference Pressure that is applied to the free surfaces of the ALE domain, from the ALE Controls
section of the Analysis Settings .
*CONTROL_BULK_VISCOSITY
Sets the bulk viscosity coefficients globally.
Card
• Q1 = 1.5. Quadratic Artificial Viscosity.
• Q2 = 0.06. Linear Artificial Viscosity.
• TYPE = -2. Internal energy dissipated by the viscosity in the shell elements is computed and included
in the overall energy balance.
*CONTROL_CONTACT
Specifies the defaults for computations of contact surfaces.
Card 1
• SLSFAC = 0 (uses the default = 0.1). Scale factor for sliding interface penalties.
• RWPNAL = 0. Scale factor for rigid wall penalties. When equal to 0 the constrain method is used and
nodal points which belong to rigid bodies are not considered.
• ISLCHK = 1. Initial penetration check in contact surfaces. When set to 1 there is no checking.
• SHLTHK = 1 (default). Shell thickness considered in surface to surface and node to surface contact
types. When set to 1, thickness is considered but rigid bodies are excluded.
• PENOPT = 1 (default). Penalty stiffness value option.
• THKCHG = 0 (default).
• ORIEN = 2. Automatic reorientation for contact segments during initialization. When set to 2 it is
active for manual (segment) and automated (part) input.
• ENMASS = 0. This parameter regulates the treatment of the mass for eroded nodes in contact. When
set to 0 eroding nodes are removed from the calculation.
Card 2
Control Cards
• USRSTR = 0. Storage per contact interface for user supplied interface control subroutine. When set
to 0 no input data is read and no interface storage is permitted in the user subroutine.
• Default values are used for all other parameters.
Card3
• SFRIC = 0. Default static coefficient of friction.
• Default values are used for all other parameters.
Card4
• IGNORE = 2. Specifies whether to ignore initial penetrations in the *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC options.

When set to 2 initial penetrations are allowed to exist by tracking them. Also, warning messages are
printed with the original and the recommended coordinates of each contact node.
• FRCENG = 1. Calculate frictional energy in contact. Convert mechanical frictional energy to heat when
doing a coupled thermal-mechanical problem.
• SKIPRWG = 0 (default).
• OUTSEG = 1. Yes, output each beam spot weld contact node and its target segment for *CON-
TACT_SPOTWELD into D3HSP file.
• SPOTSTP = 0 (default).
• SPOTDEL = 1.Yes, delete the attached spot weld element if the nodes of a spot weld beam or solid
element are attached to a shell element that fails and the nodes are deleted.
• SPOTHIN = 0.5. This factor can be used to scale the thickness of parts within the vicinity of the spot
weld. This factor helps avert premature weld failures due to contact of the welded parts with the
weld itself. Should be greater than zero and less than one.
*CONTROL_ENERGY
Specifies the controls for energy dissipation options.
Card
• HGEN = 2. Hourglass energy is computed and included in the energy balance. Results are reported
in ASCII files GLSTAT and MATSUM.
• RWEN = 2 (default).
• SLNTEN = 2. Sliding interface energy dissipation is computed and included in the energy balance.
Results are reported in ASCII files GLSTAT and SLEOUT.
• RYLEN = 2. Rayleigh energy dissipation is computed and included in the energy balance. Results are
reported in ASCII file GLSTAT.
*CONTROL_HOURGLASS
Defines the default values of hourglass control type and coefficient.
Card
• IHQ = Default Hourglass from the Hourglass Controls section of the Analysis Settings ( Default to
1 and Standard LS-DYNA Hourglass ):
– = 1 if the Default Hourglass is set to Standard LS-DYNA.
– = 2 if the Default Hourglass is set to Flanagan-Belytschko Viscous Form.
– = 3 if the Default Hourglass is set to Exact Volume Flanagan-Belytschko.
– = 4 if the Default Hourglass is set to Flanagan-Belytschko Stiffness Form.
– = 5 if the Default Hourglass is set to Exact Volume Flanagan-Belytschko Stiffness Form.
– = 6 if the Default Hourglass is set to Belytschko-Bindeman IHQ.
– = 7 if the Default Hourglass is set to Belytschko-Bindeman Linear Total Strain.
• QH = Default Hourglass Coefficient from the Hourglass Controls section of the Analysis Settings (
Default to 0.1 ).
*CONTROL_OUTPUT
This keyword controls the printing of various LS-DYNA output text files.
Card
• NPOPT is the only parameter that is set. The value is set to 1. With that parameter set, nodal coordin-
ates, element connectivities, rigid wall definitions, nodal SPCs, initial velocities, initial strains,adaptive
constraints, and SPR2/SPR3 constraints are not printed.
*CONTROL_PARALLEL
Controls parallel processing usage for shared memory computers by defining the number of processors
and invoking the optional consistency of the global vector assembly.
Card
• CONST = 1. Consistency flag disabled for a faster solution
Control Cards
*CONTROL_SOLUTION
Specify the analysis solution procedure if thermal, coupled thermal analysis, or structural-only is per-
formed.
Card
• SOLN
– = 0. Structural analysis only, if the Solver Type is set to Program Controlled or Structural
Analysis Only.
– = 2. Coupled structural thermal analysis, if the Solver Type is set to Coupled Structural Thermal
Analysis.
*CONTROL_SHELL
Specifies global parameters for shell element types.
Card
• WRPANG = 20 (default). Shell element warpage angle in degrees. If a warpage greater than this angle
is found, a warning message is printed.
• ESORT = 1, full automatic sorting of triangular shell elements to treat degenerate quadrilateral shell
elements as C 0 triangular shells.
• IRNXX = -1, shell normal update option. When set to -1, fiber directions are recomputed at each cycle.
• ISTUPD = 4, shell thickness update option for deformable shells. Membrane strains cause changes in
thickness in 3 and 4 node shell elements, however elastic strains are neglected. This option is very
important in sheet metal forming or whenever membrane stretching is important. For crash analysis,
setting 4 may improve energy conservation and stability.
• THEORY = 2 (default). Belytschko-Tsay formulation.
• BWC = 1. For this setting, Belytschko-Wong-Chiang warping stiffness is added.
• MITER = 1 (default). Plane stress plasticity: iterative with 3 secant iterations.
• PROJ = 1, the full projection method is used for the warping stiffness in the Belytschko-Tsay and
Belytschko-Wong-Chiang shell elements. This option is required for explicit calculations.
• NFAIL1 = 1. Flag to check for highly distorted under-integrated shell elements, print a message, and
delete the element.
• NFAIL4 = 1. Flag to check for highly distorted fully-integrated shell elements, print a message, and
delete the element.
• CNTO = 2. Flag to account for shell reference surface offsets in the contact treatment. Offsets are
treated using the user defined contact thickness which may be different than the shell thickness used
in the element.
*CONTROL_SOLID
Specifies global parameters for solid element types.
Card
• ESORT = 1, full automatic sorting of tetrahedron and pentahedron elements to treat degeneracies.
Degenerate tetrahedrons will be treated as ELFORM = 10 and pentahedron as ELFORM = 15 solids
respectively (see *SECTION_SOLID).
*CONTROL_SPH
Provide controls relating to SPH solutions.
Card
• FORM = Approximation Theory value from the SPH Controls section of the Details panel as indicated
below. The formulation stands for the method used to discretize the momentum equation.
– =0: If set to Default Formulation or Program Controlled
– =1: If set to Renormalization Approximation
– =5: If set to Fluid Particle Approximation
– =6: If set to Fluid Particle With Renormalization Approximation
– =7: If set to Total Lagrangian Formulation
– =8: If set to Total Lagrangian Formulation With Renormalization
– =12: If set to Moving Least Squares
– =15: If set to Enhanced Fluid Formulation
Control Cards
– =16: If set to Enhanced Fluid Formulation With Renormalization
Note:
Moving Lest Squares is only available for an MPP simulation. You must set the processing
type to MPP in the CPU and Memory Management section of the Details panel in order
to use it.
• NCBS = Sorting Time Steps from the SPH Controls section of the Details panel.
• BOXID = ID of the box specified in Box Name in the SPH Controls section of the Details panel. Only
Standard Box IDs are permitted in this field since SPH Boxes are selected automatically.
• MEMORY = Initial Number of Neighbors value from the SPH Controls section of the Details panel.
Defines the initial number of neighbors per particle. This parameter is used to determine the initial
memory allocation for the SPH arrays.
• DT = Death Time value from the SPH Controls section of the Details panel. Determines when the
SPH calculations are stopped.
• START = Start Time . Particle approximations will be computed when time of the analysis has reached
the value defined in START.
• DERIV = Time Integration value from the SPH Controls section of the Details panel. The smoothing
length of each particle varies over time. Two types of equations can be used for the calculations.
– =0: if set to Default or Program Controlled
– =1: if set to Enhanced Energy Formulation
• MAXV = Maximum Velocity value from the SPH Controls section of the Details panel. Particles with
a velocity greater than MAXV are deactivated. A negative MAXV will turn off the velocity checking.
• IAVIS = Artificial Viscosity Formulation value from the SPH Controls section of the Details panel.
Defaults to 0.
– =0: if set to Monaghan Formulation or Program Controlled
– =1: Standard Formulation
*CONTROL_TERMINATION
Specifies the termination criteria for the solver.
Card
• ENDTIM = End Time in the Step Controls section of the Analysis Settings .
• ENDCYC = 10000000(constant) Maximum Time Steps .
• DTMIN = 0.001 (constant).
• ENDENG = 1000 (constant) Maximum Energy Error .
• ENDMAS = 100000 (constant) Maximum Part Scaling .
*CONTROL_THERMAL_TIMESTEP
This keyword is written if the simulation is determined to be a thermal one (for example, Coupled
Structural Thermal Analysis). See Solver Type from the Solver Controls section of the Analysis Settings
.
Card
• TS = Auto Time Stepping from Thermal Step Controls (default to 1):
– 0 if Auto Time Stepping from Thermal Step Controls is set to No. The time step is fixed.
– 1 if Auto Time Stepping from Thermal Step Controls is set to Yes. The time step is variable
(may increase or decrease).
• TIP = Time integration parameter from Thermal Step Controls (default to Crank Nicholson Scheme
TIP = 0):
– 0 if Time integration parameter from Thermal Step Controls is set to Crank-Nicholson scheme.
– 1 if Time integration parameter from Thermal Step Controls is set to Fully Implicit.
• ITS = Initial Time Step from Thermal Step Controls.
• TMIN = Minimum Time Step from Thermal Step Controls. If TMIN = 0.0, it is set to the structural ex-
plicit time step.
• TMAX = Maximum Time Step from Thermal Step Controls. If TMAX = 0.0, it is set to 100 * the
structural explicit time step.
*CONTROL_THERMAL_SOLVER
.
Control Cards
Card
• ATYPE = Thermal Analysis Type from Thermal Solver Controls (default to 1)
– 0 if Thermal Analysis Type from Thermal Solver Controls is set to Steady State Analysis.
– 1 if Thermal Analysis Type from Thermal Solver Controls is set to Transient Analysis.
• SOLVER = Solver Type from Thermal Solver Controls (defaults to 1):
– 1 if Solver Type is set to Symmetric Direct Solver.
– 2 if Solver Type is set to Nonsymmetric Direct Solver.
– 3 if Solver Type is set to Diagonal Scaled Conjugate Gradient Iterative.
– 4 if Solver Type is set to Incomplete Choleski Conjugate Gradient Iterative.
– 5 if Solver Type is set to Nonsymmetric Diagonal Scaled bi-Conjugate Gradient.
– 12 if Solver Type is set to Diagonal Scaling Conjugate Gradient Iterative.
– 13 if Solver Type is set to Symmetric Gauss-Siedel Conjugate Gradient Iterative.
– 14 if Solver Type is set to SSOR Conjugate Gradient Iterative.
– 15 if Solver Type is set to ILDLT0 Conjugate Gradient Iterative.
– 16 if Solver Type is set to Modified ILDLT0 Conjugate Gradient Iterative.
• PTYPE = Thermal problem type from Thermal Nonlinear Controls.
– 0 if Thermal problem type is set to Linear Problem.
– 1 if Thermal problem type is set to Nonlinear problem Gauss Point Temperature.
– 2 if Thermal problem type is set to Nonlinear problem Element Average Temperature.
• FWORK = Fraction of Work Converted into Heat from Thermal Solver Controls (defaults to 1).
*CONTROL_THERMAL_NONLINEAR
.
Card
• THLSTL = Line Search from Thermal Nonlinear Controls (defaults to 0.0)
• TOL = Temperature Convergence from Thermal Nonlinear Controls (defaults to 0.0).
*CONTROL_TIMESTEP
Specifies conditions for determining the computational time step.
Card
• DTINIT = 0 Initial Time Step .
• TSSFAC = Time Step Safety Factor from the Step Controls section of the Analysis Settings .
• ISDO = 0 (default). Basis of time size calculation for 4-node shell elements.
• TSLIMT = 0 Minimum Element Timestep ; the default value of 0.0 is used.
• DT2MS = the negative value of Time Step Size specified in the Step Controls section of the Analysis
Settings , if Automatic Mass Scaling is set to Yes . If Automatic Mass Scaling is set to No the default
value of 0.0 is used.
• LCTM = 0.
• ERODE = 1 (constant).
• MS1ST = 0 (default).
*DAMPING_GLOBAL
Specifies the mass weighted nodal damping applied globally to the nodes of deformable bodies and
the center of mass of rigid bodies.
Control Cards
Card
• LCID = 0, a constant damping factor will be used as specified in VALDMP.
• VALDMP = Magnitude from the Damping Controls section of the Analysis Settings (defaults to
zero if Global Damping is set to No).
*CONTROL_IMPLICIT_GENERAL
Setting Explicit Solution Only to No in the Solver Controls section of the Analysis Settings enables
the use of the Implicit solver and displays the Implicit Controls section.
Card
• DT0 is read from Initial Time Step under the Implicit Controls section of the Analysis Settings
• IMFLAG = 1, to indicate an implicit analysis
*CONTROL_IMPLICIT_SOLUTION
Card
• DCTOL is read from Displacement Convergence under the Implicit Controls section of the Analysis
Settings
• LSTOL is read from Line Search under the Implicit Controls section of the Analysis Settings
*CONTROL_IMPLICIT_SOLVER
Card
• LPRINT = 1 (Linear solver print flag, controls screen and message file output)
*CONTROL_IMPLICIT_AUTO
Card
• IAUTO = 1 (Automatic time step control flag)
*CONTROL_IMPLICIT_STABILIZATION
This keyword is written when Stabilization is set to On in the Implicit Controls section of the Analysis
Settings
Card
• IAS = 1 (to indicate the stabilization is active)
• SCALE is read from –Scale Factor in the Implicit Controls section of the Analysis Settings
• TSTART is read from Start Time in the Implicit Controls section of the Analysis Settings
• TEND is read from End Time in the Implicit Controls section of the Analysis Settings
4.4. Dynamic Relaxation Support

Sometimes a preload must be applied prior to an explicit dynamic analysis, especially for engineering
problems where a structure's initial stress state affects its dynamic response. Dynamic relaxation (p. 38)
serves that purpose. It can be achieved by using an implicit solver or the explicit solver itself.
Dynamic Relaxation Support
*CONTROL_DYNAMIC_RELAXATION
In LS-DYNA, three types of dynamic relaxation are available.
The first type of dynamic relaxation is "Explicit after Ansys Solution", which involves performing an
Ansys implicit structural analysis followed by a LS-DYNA explicit dynamic analysis.
In this implicit-to-explicit sequential solution, you must first run an Ansys implicit structural analysis to
apply a preload to the structure being analyzed. In this implicit analysis, completely constrain all of the
nodes of any elements that will only be used in the explicit analysis (for example, the bird in a bird-
strike problem). The nodal displacements and rotations at the time specified in the pre-stress environment
from the Ansys implicit solution are written to the LS-DYNA dynamic relaxation file input.sif .
Card
• TSSFDR is the time scale factor for computed time steps during dynamic relaxation, read from the
Time Step Scale Factor under the Explicit Controls section. If zero, the value is set to TSSFAC (defined
through the Time Step Safety Factor under Analysis Settings ). After converging, the scale factor
is reset to TSSFAC.
• NRCYCK is the number of iterations between convergence checks for dynamic relaxation option, read
from Iterations Between Convergence Check under the Explicit Controls section. Default = 250.
• DRTOL is the convergence tolerance for the dynamic relaxation option, read from Tolerance under
the Explicit Controls section. Default = 0.001.
• DFFCTR is the dynamic relaxation factor read from Dynamic Relaxation Factor under the Explicit
Controls section. Default = 0.995.
• IDRFLG is the dynamic relaxation flag for stress initialization and is set to 2 (initialization to a prescribed
geometry).
The second type of dynamic relaxation , Explicit, allows the explicit solver to conduct a quasi-static
analysis by increasing the damping until the kinetic energy drops to zero.
In that case, the solver will check the kinetic energy every 250 cycles (by default) until the kinetic energy
from the applied preload is dissipated.
Five preloads are supported: Gravity, Acceleration, Rotational Acceleration, Rotational Velocity, and Bolt
Pretension.
Dynamic Relaxation Support
The dynamic relaxation parameters are identical to the dynamic relaxation of type Explicit after Ansys
Solution, except for the parameter IDRFLG (dynamic relaxation flag for stress initialization):
• IDRFLG = 1 (dynamic relaxation is activated) if the Convergence Scope is set to All Bodies
• IDRFLG = 3 (dynamic relaxation is activated), if the Convergence Scope is set to Geometry Selection.
The third type of dynamic relaxation allows LS-DYNA to initialize Implicitly instead of Explicitly.
The dynamic relaxation parameters are identical to the dynamic relaxation of type Explicit after Ansys
Solution, except for the parameter IDRFLG (dynamic relaxation flag for stress initialization):
• IDRFLG = 5 (initialize implicitly).
The following 4 keywords setting up the implicit initialization are then written:
*CONTROL_IMPLICIT_GENERAL_DYN
• DT0 is read from Initial Time Step under the Implicit Controls section
*CONTROL_IMPLICIT_SOLUTION_DYN
• DCTOL is read from Displacement Convergence under the Implicit Controls section
• LSTOL is read from Line Search under the Implicit Controls section
*CONTROL_IMPLICIT_SOLVER_DYN
• LPRINT = 1 (Linear solver print flag, controls screen and message file output)
*CONTROL_IMPLICIT_AUTO_DYN
• IAUTO = 1 (Automatic time step control flag)
4.4.1. Available Preloads for Dynamic Relaxation

Preloading can be done with a General Preload or Bolt Pretension (p. 37) object. Four loads are
available for General Preload: Standard Earth Gravity, Acceleration, Rotational Acceleration, and Rota-
tional Velocity. The Load field must be assigned accordingly.
*INITIAL_AXIAL_FORCE_BEAM
This keyword is used when a given beam connection has a Bolt Pretension load applied in the dynamic
relaxation.
4.5. ALE Support
*ALE_MULTI-MATERIAL_GROUP
The *ALE_MULTI-MATERIAL_GROUP keyword is automatically added with a separate multi-material
group for each body defined with a reference frame set to S-ALE Domain or S-ALE Fill, or included in
a section definition with element formulation type 11 (1 point ALE Multi-Material Element).
ALE Support
*ALE_STRUCTURED_MESH
*ALE_STRUCTURED_MESH_CONTROL_POINTS
The *ALE_STRUCTURED_MESH and associated *ALE_STRUCTURE_MESH_CONTROL_POINTS keywords
are added for each body with the S-ALE Domain reference frame. Refer to ALE Workflow (p. 58) for
further details.
*INITIAL_DETONATION
An *INITIAL_DETONATION keyword is added for each detonation point in the analysis. Detonation points
are applied to all high explosive materials by default.
Card 1
• X = X Coordinate field of the Detonation Point
• Y = Y Coordinate field of the Detonation Point
• Z = Z Coordinate field of the Detonation Point
• LT = Detonation Time field of the Detonation Point
*INITIAL_VOLUME_FRACTION_GEOMETRY
The *INITIAL_VOLUME_FRACTION_GEOMETRY keyword is added when the model contains S-ALE bodies
(i.e. those with Reference Frame S-ALE Domain or S-ALE Fill). The S-ALE Domain bodies are used to fill
the Background ALE Mesh card and each S-ALE Fill body is added as Container card. If the S-ALE Fill
bodies have a Velocity initial condition, then the details are included in the Container card.
*ALE_VOID_PART
Added when a Section is defined with element formulation 12.
*ALE_ESSENTIAL_BOUNDARY
Added when the ALE Boundary object is part of the analysis.
*ALE_STRUCTURED_FSI / *CONSTRAINED_LAGRANGE_IN_SOLID
Added when a Coupling object is defined under the Connections branch. The keyword used depends
on the Fluid Structure Interaction Type chosen. See Section Coupling (p. 27) for further details.
4.6. Part Setup
*PART
Defines geometry bodies.
Card1
• HEADING = name of the body specified in the Workbench environment.
Card2
• PID = ID of the part. It is set in the LS-DYNA solver and does not reflect the ID specified in the mesh
definition of the model.
• SECID = ID of the section keyword associated with the part (see *SECTION).
• MID = ID of the material keyword associated with the part (see *MAT).
• EOSID = ID of the equation of state associated with the material of this part (*EOS and *MAT). If there
is no EOS keyword associated with this part then this parameter is set to 0.
• HGID = ID of the hourglass keyword associated with the part (see *HOURGLASS). If there is no hourglass
keyword associated with this part then this parameter is set to 0.
*SECTION_BEAM
Defines cross sectional properties for beam, truss, spot weld and cable elements.
Card1
• SECID = ID of the section.
• ELFORM = 1 or 2 (default). ELFORM = 2 is set for user defined cross sections. The default element
formulation option can be changed using the Section object found under Part on the LSDYNA Pre
tab of LS-DYNA.
• SHRF = 0.833 (default).
• QR = 0, which LS-DYNA defaults to 2, quadrature rule is 2x2 Gauss. If the cross sectional area of the
beam is complex or user-defined, this parameter becomes IRID and is assigned the negative value
of the IRID parameter in the corresponding *INTEGRATION_BEAM keyword (see above for details).
• CST = 2 for solid cross sections nand hollow cross sections (arbitrary user defined integration rule).
Card2
Part Setup
• for solid types or hollow cylinders
– TS1 = width of beam. This refers specifically to the dimension at node 1.
– TS2 = TS1. This refers specifically to the dimension at node 2.
– TT1 = 1. Height of beam. This refers specifically to the dimension at node 1. Set to zero for circular
solids.
– TT2 = TT1. This refers specifically to the dimension at node 2. Set to zero for circular solids. These
parameters are overwritten by the *INTEGRATION_BEAM defined for these types.
• for general symmetric types
– A = cross-sectional area.
– ISS = Iyy, moment of inertia about the local s-axis.
– ITT = Izz, moment of inertia about the local t-axis.
– IST = Iyz.
– J = Ixx.
The Section object found under Part on the LSDYNA Pre tab of LS-DYNA allows you to modify the
default generated values .
In presence of line Bodies:
• ELFORM = LS-DYNA ID from the Definition section of the Section object. This field is read only; the
actual value of the element formulation is set by the Formulation section of the Section object.
If the formulation is one of the following, the Card is calculated similarly to the above definition for
*SECTION_BEAM, and an *INTEGRATION_BEAM is written:
• Hughes -Liu with cross section integration
• Integrated warped beam
• Belytschko Schwer full cross-section integration
• Belytschko Schwer tubular beam with cross-section integration
If the formulation is one of the following:
• Belytschko Schwer resultant beam (resultant)
• Truss (resultant)
• Belytschko Schwer full cross-section integration
Card 2 is modified and uses the syntax for the alternative form for formulations 2, 3, and 12.
• STYPE is calculated from the section type defined in Ansys DesignModeler or SpaceClaim.
• D1 - D6 are calculated from the dimensions defined in Ansys DesignModeler.
If the formulation is Discrete/ Beam Cable, an additional panel is available:
Figure 4.1: Discrete and Cable Controls when the Option is set to Discrete Beam
A material Card ( *MAT_LINEAR_ELASTIC_DISCRETE_BEAM (p. 94) ) is added to allow definition of

properties for the discrete Beam.
*MAT_LINEAR_ELASTIC_DISCRETE_BEAM
This card replaces the material defined in Engineering and its properties are calculated from it and the
above panel.
• MID = ID of material type, must be unique between the material keyword definitions.
• RO = Density of the Material
• TKR = Longitudinal Stiffness X from Discrete and Cable Controls
• TKS = Longitudinal Stiffness Y from Discrete and Cable Controls
• TKT = Longitudinal Stiffness Z from Discrete and Cable Controls
• RKR = Torsional Stiffness X from Discrete and Cable Controls
• RKS = Torsional Stiffness X from Discrete and Cable Controls
• RKT = Torsional Stiffness X from Discrete and Cable Controls
Part Setup
Figure 4.2: Discrete and Cable Controls when the Option is set to Cable
*MAT_CABLE_DISCRETE_BEAM
This card replaces the material defined in Engineering Data and its properties are calculated from it,
and the above panel.
• RO = Density of the Material
• E = Young Modulus of the Material
A material Card (*MAT_CABLE_DISCRETE_BEAM) is added to allow definition of properties for the discrete
Beam.
*SECTION_SHELL
Defines section properties for shell elements.
Card1
• ELFORM = 2 (default).
• SHRF = 0.8333 (default).
• NIP = 3 (default).
Card2
• T1 = thickness of body.
• T2-T4 = T1, shell thickness at nodes 2, 3 and 4.
In the presence of Surface Bodies:
• NIP = Through Thickness Integration Points from the Definition section of the Section object.
*SECTION_SOLID
Defines section properties for solid elements.
Card
• ELFORM =
– 1 (default). Also, used for first-order hexahedral elements, 5-noded pyramids, 6-noded wedges or
bodies with mixed element types that include tetrahedrons together with hexahedrons, pyramids,
or wedges.
– 10 if elements are first-order tetrahedrons.
– 16 if the elements are second-order tetrahedrons.
In the presence of Solid Bodies:
Part Setup
When the general setting ALE is set to Yes, then the ALE specific formulations are available for selection.
If the single material and void formulation is selected, then an additional geometry selection field is
available to select the void bodies. The *INITIAL_VOID_PART card is created for these bodies.
*SECTION_SPH
Defines section properties for SPH particles.
If you insert a Section object from the LSDYNA Pre tab and scope the section to a particle body, the
SPH Controls section appears in the Details panel and includes 3 parameters as shown in the figure
below:
Card
• SECID: Section ID. SECID is referenced on the *PART card.
• CSLH = Smoothing Length Constant from the Details panel: This constant is used to compute the
initial smoothing length of the particles. It is defined as the ratio between the initial smoothing length
and the spacing between particles. Values between 1.05 and 1.3 are acceptable. Using a value less
than 1 is prohibited. Values larger than 1.3 will increase the computation time. The default value is
1.2.
Note:
The smoothing length h(t) can vary over time with respect to the following inequality:
CSLH * H min < h(t) < CSLH * H max
To have a constant smoothing length over time, set H min =H max = 1.
• HMIN = Minimum Scale Factor from the Details panel: The maximum scale factor for the smoothing
length.
• HMAX = Maximum Scale Factor from the Details panel:
• SPHINI: Optional initial smoothing length. (Default is used.)
*HOURGLASS
Defines hourglass and bulk viscosity properties that are referenced in the *PART keyword via its HGID
parameter (see *PART keyword).
This keyword can be written using the Hourglass Control object found under Part on the LSDYNA Pre
tab of LS-DYNA, which allows you to specify body scoped hourglass definition.
• HGID = ID of the part. It is set in the LS-DYNA solver and does not reflect the ID specified in the mesh
definition of the model.
• IHQ = Hourglass Control Type.
• QM = Hourglass from the Coefficients section of the Hourglass Control object.
• Q1 = Quadratic Bulk from the Coefficients section of the Hourglass Control object.
• Q2 = Linear Bulk from the Coefficients section of the Hourglass Control object.
• IBQ = 1 Standard LS-DYNA Bulk Viscosity
Part Setup
This keyword can also be created using the Keyword Snippet (see also, Commands objects ) for the
LS-DYNA solver. To use it, insert a Keyword Snippet under a Geometry body in the Tree Outline. The
program will automatically substitute the HGID parameter in accordance with the *PART keyword of
the associated body. All other parameters in the Keyword Snippet are transcribed literally.
If the keyword is entered in a Keyword Snippet anywhere else in the Tree Outline, it will be exported
literally. This practice is not recommended, however, and a warning is provided in the header of Keyword
Snippet objects when detected.
*CONSTRAINED_LAGRANGE_IN_SOLID
This keyword is used for reinforcements body interactions.
• The first keyword paramter is set to the ID of the component containing line bodies.
• The second keyword parameter is set to the ID of the component containing solid bodies.
This keyword is also used by the Coupling (p. 27) object.
*CONSTRAINED_RIGID_BODIES
Specifies rigid bodies to be merged into one part. The resulting Part ID matches the ID of the rigid body
designated as the target.
By constraining the rigid bodies together using a single multibody part you avoid specifying conflicting
motion on the nodes shared among the rigid bodies. All boundary conditions applied to the target
body will also be applied to all the contact bodies as well. Any boundary conditions that were applied
to the contacts will be ignored.
Card
• PIDM = ID of the target rigid body.
• PIDS = ID of the contact rigid body.
The object Master Rigid Body allows you to specify the target rigid body.
• PID = the part ID of the rigid body.
• NID = the set ID of additional nodes.
* CONSTRAINED_EXTRA_NODE_SET
The extra node set constraint type allows the addition of nodes (via a nodal component) to an existing
rigid body. The nodal component that is added must not be attached to any other rigid body. The extra
nodes that are added to a rigid body may be located anywhere in the model and may have coordinates
outside those of the original rigid body. This option has many potential applications, including placing
nodes where joints will be attached between rigid bodies, defining nodes where point loads will be
applied, and defining a lumped mass at a specific location.
Engineering Data Materials and Equations of State
The underlying selected nodes will be part of the selected rigid body.
Card
• PID = ID of the target rigid body.
• NSID = ID of the set containing the selected nodes.
4.7. Engineering Data Materials and Equations of State
Equation of State (EOS) Keywords

The following are descriptions for *EOS keywords natively supported by LS-DYNA. More generally, any
*EOS keyword may be introduced into the export file with the help of Commands objects in the
Mechanical application (termed Keyword Snippet when referring to the LS-DYNA solver). To use it,
insert a Keyword Snippet under a Geometry body in the Tree Outline. The program will automatically
substitute the EOSID parameter, in accordance with the *PART keyword of the associated body. All
other parameters in the Keyword Snippet are transcribed literally, overriding any values that would
otherwise derive from the Engineering Data workspace.
If the *EOS keyword is entered in a Keyword Snippet anywhere else in the Tree Outline, it will be ex-
ported literally and the Engineering Data EOS information will also be exported, if present. This practice
is not recommended, however, and a warning is provided in the header of Keyword Snippet objects
when detected.
*EOS_GRUNEISEN
Specifies a shock equation of state. This keyword is created when a Shock EOS linear equation of state
is present in the properties of a material that is used in the simulation and the Johnson Cook plasticity
model is also present. The bilinear version of this equation of state is not currently supported.
Card1
• EOSID = ID of the keyword, must be unique between the *EOS keywords.
• C = parameter C1 for a Linear Shock EOS property.
• S1 = parameter S1 for a Linear Shock EOS property.
• S2 = Parameter Quadratic S2 for a Linear Shock EOS property.
• S3 = 0.
• GAMAO = Gruneisen Coefficient for a Linear Shock EOS property.
• A = 0.
Card2 - mandatory, left blank.
*EOS_LINEAR_POLYNOMIAL
Specifies the coefficients for a linear polynomial elastic EOS. The *EOS_LINEAR_POLYNOMIAL keyword
is only created when the Johnson Cook strength property is added to the material model (which requires
an EOS), but no other EOS has been specified. It is not directly available from the Engineering Data
workspace, however.
Card1
• EOSID = ID of the keyword, must be unique between the *EOS keywords.
• C0 = 0.
• C1 = Parameter A1.
Materials keywords
The following are descriptions for *MAT keywords natively supported by projects that use the LS-DYNA
system. More generally, any *MAT keyword may be introduced into the project with the help of Com-
mands objects in the Mechanical application (termed Keyword Snippet when referring to the LS-DYNA
solver). To use it, insert a Keyword Snippet under a Geometry body in the Tree Outline. The program
will automatically substitute the MID parameter in accordance with the *PART keyword (see below) of
the associated body. All other parameters in the Keyword Snippet are transcribed literally, overriding
any values that would otherwise derive from the Engineering Data workspace.
If the *MAT keyword is entered in a Keyword Snippet anywhere else in the Tree Outline, it will be ex-
ported literally and Engineering Data EOS information will also be exported, if present. This practice is
not recommended, however, and a warning is provided in the header of Keyword Snippet objects
when detected.
Note:
When writing the optional Viscoelastic cards from the LS-DYNA analysis system a conversion
is made to the Prony series terms. The Relative Moduli are converted to Shear\Bulk Moduli
by applying the Initial Shear\Bulk Modulus as a scale factor, and the Relaxation Times are
converted to Damping Coefficients by inversion.
Where: Where:
= Shear Moduli = Bulk Moduli
= Relative Moduli = Relative Moduli
= Initial Shear = Initial Bulk

Modulus Modulus
= Relaxation Times = Relaxation Times
= Damping = Damping
Coefficients Coefficients
The Initial Shear\Bulk Modulus for each material model is determined using the definition
in Hyperelasticity in the Material Reference or using a specific input field in Engineering Data.
*MAT_3-PARAMETER_BARLAT
This material law is used for the Bilinear 3 Parameter Barlat hardening and exponential 3 parameter
Barlat hardening models.
Card 1
• MID = ID of the material. Must be unique between the material keyword definitions.
• RO = density of the material from the Engineering Data workspace.
• E = Young's modulus of the material from the Engineering Data workspace, either specified directly
or calculated from Bulk and Shear moduli.
• PR = Poisson's Ratio of the material from the Engineering Data workspace, either specified directly
• HR = Hardening Type, set to 2 for Swift or 5 for Ghosh when the model is exponential, or to 1 when
the model is bilinear.
• P1 = Material Parameter, set to Hardening Constant K from Engineering Data when the model is ex-
ponential, or to the tangent modulus when the model is bilinear.
• P2 = Material Parameter, set to Hardening Exponent n from Engineering Data when the model is
exponential, or to the yield stress when the model is bilinear.
• ITER = Iteration flag, set to 0.
Card 2
• M = Barlat exponent from Engineering data.
• R00 = Lankford parameter in 0 degree direction.
Card 3
• AOPT = Coordinate System ID of body Coordinate System in Mechanical.
• C = Strain Rate Constant.
• P = Strain Rate Constant.
• EPSO = Reference Strain Rate.
*MAT_BARLAT_ANISOTROPIC_PLASTICITY
Card 1
• MID = ID of the material. Must be unique between the material keyword definitions.
• PR = Poisson's Ratio of the material from the Engineering Data workspace, either specified directly
• k = Hardening Constant from Engineering Data
• n = Hardening Exponent from Engineering Data
• m = Barlat Exponent from Engineering Data
• e0 = Initial Yield Strain From Engineering Data
Card 2
• A = Barlat Anisotropic Coefficient A from Engineering data.
• B = Barlat Anisotropic Coefficient B from Engineering data.
• C = Barlat Anisotropic Coefficient C from Engineering data.
• F = Barlat Anisotropic Coefficient F from Engineering data.
• G = Barlat Anisotropic Coefficient G from Engineering data.
• H = Barlat Anisotropic Coefficient H from Engineering data.
Card 3
• AOPT = Coordinate System ID of body Coordinate System in Mechanical.
*MAT_ADD_EROSION
ADD_EROSION is added to a given material when a failure model is defined in Engineering Data, to a
material that doesn't support the defined failure model.
Card
• MID = ID of material for which this failure model applies.
• SIGP1 = Principal Stress Failure , if present. Otherwise it is 0.
• MXEPS = Maximum Principal Strain , if present. Otherwise it is 0.
• EPSSH = Maximum Shear Strain , if present. Otherwise it is 0.
• EFFEPS = Maximum Equivalent Plastic Strain EPS , if present. Otherwise it is 0.
• MNPRES = Maximum Tensile Pressure , if present. Otherwise it is 0.
*MAT_ARRUDA_BOYCE_RUBBER (or *MAT_127)

• MID = ID of the material type. Must be unique between the material keyword definitions.
• RO = Density of the material from the Engineering Data workspace.
• K = Bulk modulus of the material, calculated from incompressibility parameter.
• G = Initial shear modulus of the material from the Engineering Data workspace.
Optional Viscoelastic Constants Cards
• These optional cards will be written if the constants have been defined using the Prony Shear Relax-
ation properties in Engineering Data
*MAT_BLATZ-KO_RUBBER (or *MAT_007)

Blatz-Ko materials are only for rubber materials under compression.
Poisson's ratio (NUXY) is automatically set to 0.463 by LS-DYNA, so only DENS and GXY are required.
Card1
• MID = ID of the material type. Must be unique between the material keyword definitions.
• RO = Density of the material.
• G = Initial Shear modulus of material.
*MAT_ELASTIC (or *MAT_001)

Specifies isotropic elastic materials. It is available for beam, shell and solid elements. This keyword is
used if the selected material includes the Isotropic Elasticity strength model and the Stiffness Behavior
is set to Deformable in the Definition section of the body.
Card
• MID = ID of material type. Must be unique between the material keyword definitions.
• PR = Poisson's ratio of the material from the Engineering Data workspace, either specified directly or
calculated from Bulk and Shear moduli.
*MAT_ENHANCED_COMPOSITE_DAMAGE (or *MAT_054)

This material keyword is written for orthotropic materials when the shell layered composite damage
model in Analysis Settings is set to Enhanced Composite Damage Model.
Card1
• RO = density of material.
• EA = Young's Modulus X direction from the Orthotropic Elasticity model.
• EB = Young's Modulus Y direction from the Orthotropic Elasticity model.
• EC = Young's Modulus Z direction from the Orthotropic Elasticity model.
• PRBA = Poisson's Ratio XY from the Orthotropic Elasticity model multiplied by Young's Modulus Y /
Young's Modulus X.
• PRCA = Poisson's Ratio YZ from the Orthotropic Elasticity model multiplied by Young's Modulus Z /
Young's Modulus X.
• PRCB = Poisson's Ratio XZ from the Orthotropic Elasticity model multiplied by Young's Modulus Z /
Young's Modulus Y.
Card2
• GAB = Shear Modulus XY from the Orthotropic Elasticity model.
• GBC = Shear Modulus YZ from the Orthotropic Elasticity model.
• GCA = Shear Modulus XZ from the Orthotropic Elasticity model.
• AOPT =
– 0 (default). When this parameter is set to zero the locally orthotropic material axes are determined
from three element nodes. The first node specifies the local origin, the second specifies one of the
axes and the third specifies the plane on which the axis rests.
– - ID of local coordinate system assigned to the body with this material model.
Card 3 is left blank
Card 6
• XC = Compressive X of the Orthotropic Stress Limits definition, if present. Otherwise it is 0.
• XT = Tensile X of the Orthotropic Stress Limits definition, if present. Otherwise it is 0.
• YC = Compressive Y of the Orthotropic Stress Limits definition, if present. Otherwise it is 0.
• YT = Tensile Y of the Orthotropic Stress Limits definition, if present. Otherwise it is 0.
• SC = Shear XY of the Orthotropic Stress Limits definition, if present. Otherwise it is 0.
*MAT_LAMINATED_COMPOSITE_FABRIC
This material keyword is written for orthotropic materials when the shell layered composite damage
model in Analysis Settings is set to Laminated Composite Fabric.
*MAT_FLD_TRANSVERSELY_ANISOTROPIC
This material law is used for the Bilinear transversely anisotropic hardening and multilinear transversely
anisotropic hardening models.
Card1
• SIGY = Yield Strength.
• ETAN = Tangent Modulus.
• R = Anisotropic Hardening Parameter.
• HLCID = 0 when the model is bilinear, or is set to the ID of the curve of effective stress versus plastic
strain when the model is multilinear.
• LCFLD is the ID of the curve describing the forming limit diagram.
*MAT_HYPERELASTIC_RUBBER (or *MAT_077_H)

Specifies a general hyperelastic rubber model, optionally combined with viscoelasticity. This keyword
is used if the material includes the Mooney-Rivlin, Polynomial or Yeoh hyperelastic strength model and
the Stiffness Behavior is set to Deformable in the Definition section of the body.
Card1
• PR = Poisson's ratio of the material from the Engineering Data workspace. Values higher than 0.49
are recommended. Smaller values may not work and should not be used.
• N = 0, specifies that the constants in card 2 will be defined.
• NV = 0. This parameter is not used if N = 0 above.
• G = Shear modulus of the material from the Engineering Data workspace.
• SIGF = 0. This parameter is not used if N = 0 above.
Card2
• C10 = constant C10 from the Engineering Data workspace.
• C01 = constant C01 from the material properties in the Engineering Data. Set to zero for Yeoh models.
• C11 = constant C11 from the Engineering Data workspace. Set to zero for Yeoh models.
• C02 = constant C02 from the Engineering Data workspace. Set to zero for Yeoh models.
*MAT_JOHNSON_COOK (or *MAT_015)

Defines a Johnson - Cook type of material. Such materials are useful for problems with large variations
in strain rates where adiabatic temperature increases due to plastic heating cause material softening.
This keyword is used if the material specified includes a Johnson Cook strength model.
Card1
• G = Shear modulus of material.
• E = Young's modulus of the material (shell elements only).
• PR = Poisson's ratio of the material (shell elements only).
Card2
• A = Initial yield stress from the Johnson Cook strength parameters.
• B = Hardening Constant from the Johnson Cook strength parameters.
• N = Hardening Exponent from the Johnson Cook strength parameters.
• C = Strain Rate Constant from the Johnson Cook strength parameters.
• M = Thermal Softening Exponent from the Johnson Cook strength parameters.
• TM = Melting Temperature from the Johnson Cook strength parameters.
• TR = 15, room temperature.
• EPSO = Reference Strain Rate from the Johnson Cook strength parameters.
Card3
• CP = Specific Heat from the material properties.
• PC = 0 (LS-DYNA default).
• SPALL = 2.0 (LS-DYNA default).
• IT = 0 (LS-DYNA default).
• D1 = D1 parameter of the Johnson Cook failure model definition, if present. Otherwise it is 0.
Card4
• C2/P = "Reference Strain Rate (/sec)" parameter of the Johnson Cook failure model definition, if
present. Otherwise it is 0.
*MAT_MODIFIED_PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY (or *MAT_123)

Enhanced Piecewise Linear model (for shell elements only) that accounts for multiple failure methods:
• Effective plastic strain.
• Thinning (through-thickness) plastic strain.
• Major principal in-plane strain.
You can specify the number of through-thickness integration points that must fail before the shell element
is deleted. This model is useful in pure bending applications where the center layer may never reach
failure strain.
Card1
• E = Young's modulus of the material.
• PR = Poisson's ratio of the material.
• SIGY = Yield Strength from the BISO strength model. It is not required for MISO models.
• ETAN = Tangent Modulus from the BISO strength model. It is not required for MISO models.
• FAIL = Maximum Equivalent Plastic Strain EPS parameter of the Plastic Strain failure model, if present.
Otherwise it is set to 10E+20.
Card2
• C = Strain Rate Constant C.
• P = Strain Rate Constant P.
• LCSS = ID of the curve that defining effective stress versus effective plastic strain.
• LCSR is left blank.
• VP = Formulation for rate effects; set to 0 if the strain rate correction is set to scale yield stress, set
to 1 if strain rate correction is set to viscoplastic.
• EPSTHIN = Thinning Strain at Failure.
• EPSMAJ = Major in Plane Strain At Failure.
• NUMINT is left blank.
Card3 is left blank.
*MAT_OGDEN_RUBBER (or *MAT_077_O)

Specifies the Ogden rubber model, optionally combined with viscoelasticity. This keyword is used if the
material includes the Ogden hyperelastic strength model and the Stiffness Behavior is set to Deformable
in the Definition section of the body.
For card 1 see *MAT_HYPERELASTIC_RUBBER (p. 109)
Card2
• MU1 = Material Constant MU1 from the Ogden model.
• MU4 = 0.
• MU5 = 0.
• MU6 = 0.
• MU7 = 0.
• MU8 = 0.
Card3
• ALPHA1 = Material Constant A1 from the Ogden model.
• ALPHA1 = 0.
• ALPHA1 = 0.
• ALPHA1 = 0.
• ALPHA1 = 0.
• ALPHA8 = 0.
*MAT_ORTHOTROPIC_ELASTIC (or *MAT_002)

Specifies the model for an elastic-orthotropic behavior of solids, shells, and thick shells. This keyword
is created when the Orthotropic Elasticity property is present in a material that is used. The Poisson's
ratios required with this keyword must be in their minor version, however Workbench requires their
major versions hence they are converted by multiplying them by the relevant Young's modulus ratios.
Card1
• EA = Young's Modulus X direction from the Orthotropic Elasticity model.
• EB = Young's Modulus Y direction from the Orthotropic Elasticity model.
• EC = Young's Modulus Z direction from the Orthotropic Elasticity model.
• PRBA = Poisson's Ratio XY from the Orthotropic Elasticity model multiplied by Young's Modulus Y /
Young's Modulus X.
• PRCA = Poisson's Ratio YZ from the Orthotropic Elasticity model multiplied by Young's Modulus Z /
Young's Modulus X.
• PRCB = Poisson's Ratio XZ from the Orthotropic Elasticity model multiplied by Young's Modulus Z /
Young's Modulus Y.
Card2
• GAB = Shear Modulus XY from the Orthotropic Elasticity model.
• GBC = Shear Modulus YZ from the Orthotropic Elasticity model.
• GCA = Shear Modulus XZ from the Orthotropic Elasticity model.
• AOPT =
*MAT_ANISOTROPIC_ELASTIC (or *MAT_002_ANIS)

Specifies the model for an elastic-anisotropic behavior of solids, shells, and thick shells. This keyword
is created when the Anisotropic Elasticity property is present in a material that is used. Due to symmetry
only the upper triangular Cij's need to be defined.
Card1
• C11 = The 1, 1 term in the 6 × 6 anisotropic constitutive matrix.
• C22 =
• C13 =
• C23 =
• C33 =
Card2
• C14 =
• C24 =
• C34 =
• C44 =
• C15 =
• C25 =
• C35 =
• C45 =
Card3
• C55 =
• C16 =
• C26 =
• C36 =
• C46 =
• C56 =
• AOPT =
*MAT_PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY (or *MAT_24)

Defines elasto-plastic materials with arbitrary stress-strain curve and arbitrary strain rate dependency.
This keyword is used if the material specified includes a Multilinear Isotropic Hardening (BISO or MISO)
strength model.
Card1
• SIGY = Yield Strength from the BISO strength model. It is not required for MISO models.
• ETAN = Tangent Modulus from the BISO strength model. It is not required for MISO models.
• FAIL = Maximum Equivalent Plastic Strain EPS parameter of the Plastic Strain failure model, if
present. Otherwise it is set to 10E+20.
Card2
• C = Strain Rate Constant C when used in the Cowper Symonds Piecewise Linear Hardening Engineering
Data Material, 0 otherwise.
• P = Strain Rate Constant P when used in the Cowper Symonds Piecewise Linear Hardening Engineering
Data Material, 0 otherwise.
• LCSS = ID of the curve that defining effective stress versus effective plastic strain.
*MAT_PLASTIC_KINEMATIC (or *MAT_003)

Specifies isotropic and kinematic hardening plastic behavior in materials. This keyword is created when
the Bilinear Kinematic Hardening (BKIN) strength model is present in a material.
Card1
• SIGY = Yield Strength from the BKIN strength model.
• ETAN = Tangent Modulus from the BKIN strength model.
• BETA = 0.
Card2
• SRC = left blank.
• SRP = left blank.
• FS = Maximum Equivalent Plastic Strain EPS parameter of the Plastic Strain failure model, if present.
Otherwise it is left blank.
*MAT_POWER_LAW_PLASTICITY (or *MAT_018)

Defines an isotropic plasticity model with rate affects modeled by a power hardening law. Power law
hardening defined with strength coefficient k and hardening coefficient n .
Card1
• K = Strength coefficient.
• N = Hardening exponent.
• SRC = Strain rate parameter C; if zero, rate effects are ignored.
• SRP = Strain rate parameter, P; if zero, rate effects are ignored.
Card 2
• SIGY = Initial yield stress.
• EPSF = Maximum Equivalent Plastic Strain EPS parameter of the Plastic Strain failure model, if present.
Otherwise it is left blank.
to 1 if the strain rate correction is set to viscoplastic.
*MAT_RATE_SENSITIVE_POWERLAW_PLASTICITY (or *MAT_064)

This specialized model is used specifically for superplastic forming.
Card1
• K = Hardening Constant.
• M = Hardening exponent.
• N = Strain Rate Constant.
• EO = Reference Strain Rate
to 1 if strain rate correction is set to viscoplastic
• EPSO is left blank
*MAT_RIGID (or *MAT_020)

Specifies materials for rigid bodies. This keyword is created when the Stiffness Behavior is set to Rigid
under the Definition section of the body. Any strength or EOS material properties defined are ignored.
Card1
Card2
• CMO =
– 0 if there are no constraints on the rigid body.
– -1 if rigid body is constrained in any way.
• CON1 =
– = Local Coordinate System ID if associated with the constraint. Otherwise it is set to 0.
• CON2 =
– = 111111 if the body is constrained with a fixed support or with a combination of a simple support
and a fixed rotation.
– = 111000 if the body is constrained with a simple support.
– = 000111 if the body is constrained with a fixed rotation.
Card3
• LCO = CON1 if non-zero. Otherwise it will remain blank.
*MAT_SIMPLIFIED_JOHNSON_COOK (or *MAT_098)

Defines a Johnson - Cook type of material. Such materials are useful for problems with large variations
in strain rates where adiabatic temperature increases due to plastic heating cause material softening.
This keyword is used if the material specified includes a Johnson Cook strength model without an
Equation Of State.
Card1
Card2
• A= Initial yield stress from the Johnson Cook strength parameters.
• B = Hardening Constant from the Johnson Cook strength parameters.
• N = Hardening Exponent from the Johnson Cook strength parameters.
• C = Strain Rate Constant from the Johnson Cook strength parameters.
• PSFAIL = Maximum Equivalent Plastic Strain EPS parameter of the Plastic Strain failure model, if
present. Otherwise it is set to 10E+20.
• SIGMAX = 0. Not used.
• SIGSAT = 0. Not used.
• EPSO = Reference Strain Rate from the Johnson Cook strength parameters.
*MAT_SPRING_INELASTIC
This material model is used for springs with a tension only or compression only behavior .
Card
• LCFD = ID for curve describing force versus displacement.
• KU is unused.
• CTF = flag for compression/tension behavior. It is set to -1.0 for tension only and to 1.0 for compression
only.
*MAT_SPRING_NONLINEAR_ELASTIC
This material model is used for springs when the force versus displacement curve is tabular and the
behavior is set to both.
Card
• LCD = ID for curve describing force versus displacement.
*MAT_TRANSVERSELY_ANISOTROPIC_ELASTIC_PLASTIC
This material law is used for the Bilinear transversely anisotropic hardening and multilinear transversely
anisotropic hardening models.
Card1
• SIGY = Yield Strength.
• ETAN = Tangent Modulus.
• R = Anisotropic Hardening Parameter.
• HLCID = 0 when the model is bilinear, or is set to the ID of the curve of effective stress versus plastic
strain when the model is multilinear.
*MAT_LOW_DENSITY_FOAM
4.8. Mesh Definition
*NODE
Defines nodes. All the parameters are obtained from mesh definitions of the model.
Card
• NID = ID of the node.
• X = x coordinate.
• Y = y coordinate.
• Z = z coordinate.
Mesh Definition
*ELEMENT_BEAM
Specifies beam elements.
Card
• EID = ID of the element.
• PID = ID of the part it belongs to.
• N1 = ID of nodal point 1.
• N3 = ID of nodal point 3, used for cross section orientation.
*ELEMENT_SHELL
Specifies three, four, six and eight noded shell elements.
Card
• N5-8 = ID of mid side nodes for six and eight noded shells.
*ELEMENT_SHELL_THICKNESS_OFFSET
Surface body thicknesses properties can be defined on faces of surface bodies using the Thickness
object in the Geometry . This keyword defines scoped surface body thickness.
Card1 - the same as *ELEMENT_SHELL
Card2
• THIC1 = Thickness field of the Thickness object.
Card3
• OFFSET = value calculated from the Offset Type field
of the Thickness object. if Offset Type =
– Middle, it equals zero.
– Top, it is equal to half of the thickness as a negative number.
– Bottom, it is equal to half of the thickness.
– User defined, it is equal to the value defined in the field Membrane offset .
*ELEMENT_SHELL_COMPOSITE_OFFSET
The Keyword *ELEMENT_SHELL_COMPOSITE_OFFSET allows the definition of material properties, thickness
and orientation angle per thickness IP on an element basis and is used in support of ACP ply based
modeling. This keyword is written in the context of layered sections. Layered section properties can be
defined on faces of surface bodies using the Layered Section object in the Geometry .
The first card is identical to *ELEMENT_SHELL.
Card2
• OFFSET: value calculated from the Offset Type field.
Mesh Definition
If offset type is set to Middle, it equals to zero.
If offset type is set to Top, it equals to half of the thickness as a negative number.
If offset type is set to Bottom, it equals to half of the thickness.
If offset type is set to User defined, it is equal to the value defined in the field Membrane offset.
Card3
Defines the property of two layers. Card3 is repeated as many times as required to specify all the layers
in the section. The sequence is starting with the bottommost layer.
• MID1: ID of material in Layer1. Must be unique between the material keyword definitions.
• THICK1: Thickness of Layer1.
• B1: Angle defined in the worksheet for Layer1 projected onto the element surface.
• MID2: ID of material in Layer 2. Must be unique between the material keyword definitions.
• THICK2: Thickness of Layer2.
• B2: Angle defined in the worksheet for Layer2 projected onto the element surface.
*ELEMENT_SOLID
Specifies 3D solid elements including 10-noded tetrahedrons (second order). Apart from the second
order case the two cards are combined into one.
Card1
Card2
• .
• .
• .
*ELEMENT_SPH
Define a lumped mass element assigned to a nodal point (if the value is negative then the value is as-
signed to the particle volume).
Card
• NID: Node ID and Element ID are the same for the SPH option.
• PID: Part ID to which this node (element) belongs.
• MASS (or VOLUME):
– If positive: Mass value.
– If negative: Volume. The density (rho) will be retrieved from the material card defined in PID. SPH
element mass is calculated by abs(MASS) × ρ.
4.9. Coordinate Systems
*DEFINE_COORDINATE_SYSTEM
Specifies a local coordinate system with three points: one at the local origin, one on the local x-axis
and one on the local x-y plane.
Card1
• CID = ID of the coordinate system, must be unique.
• XO = global X-coordinate of the origin.
• YO = global Y-coordinate of the origin.
• ZO = global Z-coordinate of the origin.
• XL = global X-coordinate of a point on the local x-axis.
• YL = global Y-coordinate of a point on the local x-axis.
• ZL = global Z-coordinate of a point on the local x-axis.
Card2
• XP = global X-coordinate of a point on the local x-y plane.
• YP = global Y-coordinate of a point on the local x-y plane.
• ZP = global Z-coordinate of a point on the local x-y plane.
Components and Named Selections
*DEFINE_VECTOR
Specifies a vector by defining the coordinates of two points. This keyword defines the local coordinate
system with respect to which a *BOUNDARY_PRESCRIBED_MOTION is prescribed. The ID of this coordinate
system is specified with parameter CID.
Card
• VID = ID of the vector.
• XT = 0, the local x-coordinate of the origin of the coordinate system specified with CID below.
• YT = 0, the local y-coordinate of the origin of the coordinate system specified with CID below.
• ZT = 0, the local z-coordinate of the origin of the coordinate system specified with CID below.
• XH = 1 if the vector has a component in the x direction of the coordinate system specified with CID.
Otherwise, this is set to 0.
• YH = 1 if the vector has a component in the y direction of the coordinate system specified with CID.
• ZH = 1 if the vector has a component in the z direction of the coordinate system specified with CID.
• CID = ID of the coordinate system used to define the vector. If no coordinate system is specified this
parameter is set to 0 to specify the global coordinate system.
4.10. Components and Named Selections
*SET_NODE_LIST
Defines a set of nodes. Card2 is repeated as many times as required to specify all the node IDs in the
set.
Card1
• SID = ID of the set.
Card2
• NID1-NID8 = IDs for eight of the nodes in the set.
*SET_PART_LIST
Defines a set of parts. Card2 is repeated as many times as required to specify all the part IDs in the set.
Card1
Card2
• PID1-PID8 = IDs for eight of the parts in the set.
*SET_SEGMENT
Defines triangular and quadrilateral segments. Card2 is repeated as many times as required to specify
all the segments in the set.
Card1
Card2
• N1-N4 = IDs of nodes that define one of the segments. For triangular segments N4=N3.
4.11. Remote Points and Point Masses
*CONSTRAINED_NODAL_RIGID_BODY
This keyword is generated for remote points. Remote points are a way of abstracting a connection to
a solid model, be it a vertex, edge, face, body, or node, to a point in space (specified by Location).
Remote Points are akin to the various remote loads available in the Mechanical application. Remote
boundary conditions create remote points in space behind the scenes, or internally, whereas the Remote
Point objects define a specific point in space only. A Remote Point is converted to a rigid constraint
(nodal rigid body) independent of the stiffness behavior.
the location set in the Remote Point Scope is not used in the input file definition.
Remote Points and Point Masses
Card1
• PID = ID of the Rigid Body. It is set in the LS-DYNA solver and does not reflect the ID specified in the
remote point definition.
• NSID identifies a set of nodes that are to be defined as a rigid body. This set of nodes is based on
the scoped entities. The set consists of nodes from several different deformable parts.
• PNODE = 0. This is not used in the exported file.
• DRFLAG = The value is calculated from the translational active degrees of freedom when the DOF
Selection in the Remote Point definition is set to Manual. It allows you to deactivate certain degrees
of freedom in the rigid body definition. DRFLAG =
– 1, when X Component is inactive.
– 2, when Y Component is inactive.
– 3, When Z Component is inactive.
– 4, when X and Y Component are inactive.
– 5, when Y and Z Component are inactive.
– 6, when Z and X Component are inactive.
– 7, when X, Y, and Z Components are inactive.
• RRFLAG = The value calculated from the rotational active degrees of freedom when the DOF Selection
in the Remote Point Definition is set to Manual. It allows you to deactivate certain degrees of freedom
in the rigid body definition. RRFLAG =
– 1, when Rotation X is inactive.
– 2, when Rotation Y is inactive.
– 3, when Rotation Z is inactive.
– 4, when Rotation X and Y are inactive.
– 5, when Rotation Y and Z are inactive.
– 6, when Rotation Z and X are inactive.
– 7, when Rotation X, Y, and Z are inactive.
*CONSTRAINED_NODAL_RIGID_BODY_INERTIA
This keyword is generated for point masses. Point masses use a remote point for their definition, or can
be applied on a remote point. See *CONSTRAINED_NODAL_RIGID_BODY for additional information.
Card1
• PID = ID of the Rigid Body. It is set in the LS-DYNA solver and does not reflect the ID specified in the
remote point/Point Mass definition.
• NSID identifies a set of nodes that are to be defined as a rigid body. This set of nodes is based on
the scoped entities. The set consists of nodes from several different deformable parts.
• PNODE = 0. This is not used in the exported file.
• DRFLAG = 0. All Translational degrees of freedom are active in the rigid body definition.
• RRFLAG = 0. All Rotational degrees of freedom are active in the rigid body definition.
Card2
• XC = X Coordinate from the Scope of the Point Mass object.
• YC = Y Coordinate from the Scope of the Point Mass object.
• ZC = Z Coordinate from the Scope of the Point Mass object.
• TM = Mass from the Scope of the Point Mass object.
Card3
• IXX = Mass Moment Of Inertia X from the Definition of the Point Mass object.
• IXY = 0
• IXZ = 0
• IYY = Mass Moment Of Inertia Y from the Definition of the Point Mass object.
• IYZ = 0
• IZZ = Mass Moment Of Inertia Z from the Definition of the Point Mass object.
4.12. Initial Conditions
*INITIAL_VELOCITY_GENERATION
Specifies initial translational and rotational velocities.
Card1
• ID = ID of part where the initial velocity is applied.
• STYP = 2, the velocity is applied to a whole part. In Workbench initial velocities can only be applied
to whole parts.
• OMEGA = angular velocity about the rotational axis.
• VX = initial translational velocity in the x direction.
• VY = initial translational velocity in the y direction.
Initial Conditions
• VZ = initial translational velocity in the z direction.
• IVATN = 0 (default) contact bodies of a multibody part are not assigned the initial velocities of the
target part.
• ICID = Local coordinate system ID. The specified velocities are in the local system.
Card2
• XC = 0. x coordinate of the origin of the applied coordinate system.
• YC = 0. y coordinate of the origin of the applied coordinate system.
• ZC = 0. z coordinate of the origin of the applied coordinate system.
• NX = x-direction cosine.
• NY = y-direction cosine.
• NZ = z-direction cosine.
• PHASE = 0 (default), velocities are applied immediately.
• IRIGID = 0: Option to overwrite or automatically set rigid body velocities defined on the *PART_INERTIA
and *CONSTRAINED_NODAL_RIGID_BODY _INERTIA cards.
*CHANGE_VELOCITY_GENERATION
Modifies initial translational and rotational velocities in Small and Full Restarts.
Card1
• ID = ID of part where the initial velocity is applied.
• STYP = 2, the velocity is applied to a whole part. In Workbench initial velocities can only be applied
to whole parts.
• OMEGA = angular velocity about the rotational axis.
• IVATN = 0 (default) contact bodies of a multibody part are not assigned the initial velocities of the
target part.
• ICID = Local coordinate system ID. The specified velocities are in the local system.
Card2
• XC = 0. x coordinate of the origin of the applied coordinate system.
• YC = 0. y coordinate of the origin of the applied coordinate system.
• ZC = 0. z coordinate of the origin of the applied coordinate system.
• NX = x-direction cosine.
• NY = y-direction cosine.
• NZ = z-direction cosine.
• PHASE = 0 (default), velocities are applied immediately.
• IRIGID = 0: Option to overwrite or automatically set rigid body velocities defined on the *PART_INERTIA
and *CONSTRAINED_NODAL_RIGID_BODY _INERTIA cards.
*INITIAL_VELOCITY_RIGID_BODY
Specifies initial translational and rotational velocities at the center of gravity for rigid bodies.
Card
• PID = ID of the rigid body.
• VXR = initial rotational velocity around the x-axis.
• VYR = initial rotational velocity around the y-axis.
• VZR = initial rotational velocity around the z-axis.
4.13. Contacts and Body Interactions
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_GENERAL
Specifies friction or frictionless contacts between line bodies (beams). This keyword is created if the
contact is specified using Body Interactions and the geometry contains line bodies.
All the parameter cards are the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE.
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_NODES_TO_SURFACE
Specifies nodes-to-surface friction or frictionless contacts. This keyword is created if the contact is specified
using a Contact Region and the Behavior is set to Asymmetric .
Card1 - mandatory
• SSID = ID for the set of contact nodes involved in the contact.
• MSID = ID for the set of target segments involved in the contact.
Contacts and Body Interactions
• SSTYP = 4, the contact entities for the contact are nodes or SPH particles.
• MSTYP = 0, the target entities for the contact are segments.
• SBOXID, MBOXID, SPR and MPR are the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE.
Parameter Card2 and Card3 is the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE.
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE
Specifies friction or frictionless contacts between parts. This keyword is created if the contact is specified
using Body Interactions .
Card1 - mandatory
• SSID = ID for the set of parts created for the bodies in the Body Interaction . If the contact is applied
to all the bodies in the geometry then this parameter is set to 0.
• MSID = 0.
• SSTYP =2, the contact entities are parts. If the contact is applied to all the bodies in the geometry
then this parameter is set to 5.
• MSTYP = 2, the target entities are parts. If the contact is applied to all the bodies in the geometry
then this parameter is set to 0.
• SBOXID = It is not used, will be left blank.
• MBOXID = It is not used, will be left blank.
• SPR = 1 (constant) requests that forces on the contact side of the contact be included in the results
files NCFORC (ASCII) and INTFOR (binary).
• MPR = 1 (constant) requests that forces on the target side of the contact be included in the results
files NCFORC (ASCII) and INTFOR (binary). T
Card2 - mandatory
• FS = Friction Coefficient value from the inputs for frictional contact.
• FD = Dynamic Coefficient value from the inputs for frictional contact.
• DC = Decay Constant value from the inputs for frictional contact.
• VC = 0 (LS-DYNA default).
• VDC = 10 (constant). This parameter specifies the percentage of the critical viscous damping coefficient
to be used in order to avoid undesirable oscillation in the contact.
Card3 - mandatory, left blank for defaults to be used.
Card A is the same as for *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE.
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE
Defines specific surface-to-surface friction or frictionless contacts. This keyword is created if the contact
is specified using a Contact Region and the Behavior is set to Symmetric .
Card1 - mandatory
• SSID = ID for the set of contact segments involved in the contact.
• MSID = ID for the set of target segments involved in the contact.
• SSTYP = 0, the contact entities for the contact are segments.
• MSTYP = 0, the target entities for the contact are segments.
Parameter Card2 and Card3 are the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE.
Card A
• SOFT = 2 except for asymmetric contacts like NODES_TO_SURFACE and unbreakable bonded contacts
for which it is set to 1.
• SOFSCL = left blank, the default value of 0.1 will be used. This scale factor is used to determine the
stiffness of the interface when SOFT is set to 1. For SOFT = 2 scale factor SLSFAC (see *CONTROL_CON-
TACT) is used instead.
• LCIDAB = left blank.
• MAXPAR= left blank.
• SBOPT = 3.
• DEPTH = 5.
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_TIEBREAK
Specifies breakable symmetric bonded contacts. This keyword is created for Bonded contact when the
Breakable option is set to Stress Criteria and the contact Behavior is set to Symmetric .
Card 1 is the same as in *CONTACT_TIED_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET.
Card2 - mandatory
• FS = Normal Stress Limit value for the bonded contact.
• FD = Shear Stress Limit value for the bonded contact.
• DC = 0 (LS-DYNA default). This parameter is not required for bonded contacts.
• VC and VDC are the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE.
Card3 - mandatory, is left blank.
*CONTACT_ONEWAY_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_TIEBREAK
Specifies breakable asymmetric bonded contacts. This keyword is created for Bonded contact when
the Breakable option is set to Stress Criteria and the contact Behavior is set to Asymmetric .
Parameter cards are the same as in *CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_TIEBREAK.
Card A is not used for this keyword.
*CONTACT_TIED_NODES_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET
Specifies non-breakable asymmetric bonded contacts. This keyword is created for Bonded contacts that
are not designated as Breakable whose Behavior is set to Asymmetric . This keyword is not used for
Body Interactions as these types of contacts are always symmetric.
Card1 - mandatory
• SSID = ID for the set of contact nodes involved in the contact.
• MSID = ID for the set of target segment or for the set of parts involved in the contact.
• SSTYP = 4. SSID indicates the ID for a set of nodes.
• MSTYP = 0, MSID indicates the ID for a set of segments.
Card 2 left blank.
Card 3
• SFS = left blank, the default value of 1.0 will be used. Default contact penalty stiffness scale factor
for SLSFAC (see *CONTROL_CONTACT).
• SFM= left blank, the default value of 1.0 will be used. Default target penalty stiffness scale factor for
SLSFAC (see *CONTROL_CONTACT).
• SST = the negative value of:
"Maximum Offset" is the Definition parameter available for bonded contacts and body interactions.
"Maximum Offset" is obtained from the inputs of the Contact Region of Bonded type.
• MST = SST.
*CONTACT_TIED_NODES_TO_SURFACE_CONSTRAINED_OFFSET
Specifies non-breakable asymmetric bonded contacts. This keyword is created for Bonded contacts that
are not designated as Breakable whose Behavior is set to Asymmetric and when the contact Formulation
is set to MPC. This keyword is not used for Body Interactions as these types of contacts are always
symmetric.
The card is identical to CONTACT_TIED_NODES_TO_SURFACE_ OFFSET.
*CONTACT_TIED_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET
Specifies general non-breakable bonded contacts that are symmetric. This keyword is created for Bonded
and non-breakable contacts which are defined by Contact Regions that are Bonded , non-breakable
and whose Behavior is set to Symmetric .
Card1 - mandatory
• SSID = ID for a set of contact segments or a set of parts involved in the contact.
• MSID = ID for the set of target segments or the set of parts involved in the contact.
• SSTYP = specifies whether the ID used in SSID represents parts or segments. It is set to 0 if SSID
represents a set of segments and 2 if it represents a set of parts.
• MSTYP = SSTYP.
Cards 2 and 3 are the same as in *CONTACT_TIED_NODES_TO_SURFACE_OFFSET.
*CONTACT_TIED_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_CONSTRAINED_OFFSET
Specifies general non-breakable bonded contacts that are symmetric. This keyword is created for Bonded
and non-breakable contacts which are defined by Contact Regions that are Bonded, non-breakable and
whose Behavior is set to Symmetric and when the contact Formulation is set to MPC.
The card is identical to CONTACT_TIED_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_ OFFSET.
*CONSTRAINED_SPOTWELD
Specifies spot welds between non-contiguous nodal pairs of shell elements. This keyword is created
when a spot weld contact is defined in the Mechanical application.
Card
• N1 = ID of the first node used in the weld.
• N2 = ID of the second node present in the weld.
• SN = Normal force at weld failure.
• SS = Shear force at weld failure.
• N = Exponent of normal force.
• M = Exponent of shear force.
4.13.1. Keywords Created from the Contact Properties Object

The Contact Properties object found on the LSDYNA Pre tab allows you to modify the default gen-
erated values (the type of the contact) and specify additional values.
*CONTACT_ERODING_SINGLE_SURFACE is written if the contact is specified using a body interaction.
The following keywords are written if the contact is specified using a contact region, and the indicated
conditions exist.
*CONTACT_ERODING_NODES_TO_SURFACE is written if the Contact Properties Type field is set to

Eroding and the contact is asymmetric.
*CONTACT_ERODING_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE is written if the Contact Properties Type field is set to

Eroding and the contact is symmetric.
*CONTACT_FORMING_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE is written if the Contact Properties Type field is set to

Forming and the contact is symmetric.
*CONTACT_FORMING_ONE_WAY_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE is written if the Contact Properties Type

field is set to Forming and the contact is asymmetric.
*CONTACT_FORMING_NODES_TO_SURFACE is written if the Contact Properties Type field is set to

Forming and the contact is asymmetric, and the scoped entities on the contact side are edges.
*CONTACT_INTERFERENCE_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE is written if the Contact Properties Type field is

set to Interference and the contact is symmetric.
*CONTACT_INTERFERENCE_ONE_WAY_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE is written if the Contact Properties

Type field is set to Interference and the contact is asymmetric.
*CONTACT_INTERFERENCE_NODES_TO_SURFACE is written if the Contact Properties Type field is set

to Interference and the contact is asymmetric, and the scoped entities on the contact side are edges.
*CONTACT_TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE is written if the Contact Properties Type field is set to

Tied Shell Edge, the contact is asymmetric, and the contact formulation is set to MPC.
*CONTACT_TIED_SHELL_EDGE_TO_SURFACE_BEAM_OFFSET is written if the Contact Properties Type

field is set to Tied Shell Edge, the contact is asymmetric. This is the default behavior.
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_MORTAR_TIED is written if the Contact Properties

Type field is set to Mortar and the contact is symmetric, bonded, and non breakable.
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_TIEBREAK_MORTAR is written if the Contact Properties

Type field is set to Mortar and the contact is symmetric and breakable.
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_MORTAR is written if the Contact Properties Type

field is set to Mortar and the contact is symmetric.
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE_MORTAR is written if the contact is specified using a Body

Interaction and the Contact Properties Type field is set to Mortar.
The cards for these contact keywords are as follows:
Card1
• BT = Birth Time from the Common Controls section of the Contact Properties object.
• DT = Death Time from the Common Controls section of the Contact Properties object.
• SFS = Contact Penalty Scale Factor from the Common Controls section of the Contact Properties
object.
• SFM = Target Penalty Scale Factor from the Common Controls section of the Contact Properties
object.
• SST = Optional Thickness for Contact Surface from the Advanced Controls section of the Contact
Properties object.
• MST = Optional Thickness for Target Surface from the Advanced Controls section of the Contact
Properties object.
• DEPTH = Depth from the Advanced Controls section of the Contact Properties object.
Card A is also modified
• SOFT = Soft Constraint Formulation from the Advanced Controls section of the Contact Properties
object.
• SOFTSCL = Soft Constraint Scale Factor from the Advanced Controls section of the Contact
Properties object.
If the contact type is set to Eroding, additional parameters are available to support this formulation.
• ISYM = Symmetry Plane Option from the Erosion Controls section of the Contact Properties object.
• IADJ = Erosion Node Option from the Erosion Controls section of the Contact Properties object.
• EROSOP = Solid Elements Treatment from the Erosion Controls section of the Contact Properties
object.
Kinematic Joints
*CONTACT_FORCE_TRANSDUCER_PENALTY
When single surface contacts are used, one or more force transducers are added via the *CON-
TACT_FORCE_TRANSDUCER_PENALTY command. A force transducer does not produce any contact
forces and allows you to monitor the contact forces on a subset of parts of the models.
A force transducer is added for each body involved in a body interaction (Frictionless or Frictional).
*CONSTRAINED_LAGRANGE_IN_SOLID
4.14. Kinematic Joints
*CONSTRAINED_JOINT_LOCKING
This keyword is created for a body to body fixed joint in the mechanical GUI.
*CONSTRAINED_JOINT_REVOLUTE
This keyword is created for a body to body revolute joint in the mechanical GUI.
*CONSTRAINED_JOINT_TRANSLATIONAL
This keyword is created for a body to body translational joint in the mechanical GUI.
*CONSTRAINED_JOINT_CYLINDRICAL
This keyword is created for a body to body cylindrical joint in the mechanical GUI.
*CONSTRAINED_JOINT_UNIVERSAL
This keyword is created for a body to body universal joint in the mechanical GUI.
*CONSTRAINED_JOINT_SPHERICAL
This keyword is created for a body to body spherical joint in the mechanical GUI.
*CONSTRAINED_JOINT_PLANAR
This keyword is created for a body to body planar joint in the mechanical GUI.
*CONTROL_RIGID
Specify the explicit rigid body joint treatment. It can use an implicit formulation which uses Lagrange
multipliers or penalty.
• LMF is written according to the selection in the GUI.
4.15. Magnitude and Tabular Data
*DEFINE_CURVE
Specifies magnitudes that are given in tabular format. Some keywords require magnitudes to be specified
as a load curve. Should a constant be needed, it may be represented as a curve by repeating its value
for time steps 0 and 1.
Card1
• LCID = ID for load curve, is incremented every time a new load curve is defined.
Cards 2, 3, 4...
• A = abscissa value, usually time.
• O = ordinate (function) value.
*DEFINE_CURVE_FUNCTION
Specifies a time function where the magnitude is defined by a function expression.
Acceleration and Gravity
Card1
• LCID = ID for load curve, is incremented every time a new load curve is defined.
Cards 2, 3 , 4
Lines of eighty characters used to form the text of the function.
4.16. Acceleration and Gravity
*LOAD_BODY_X
Specifies gravitational or other acceleration loads in the x direction. The load is applied to all nodes in
the model.
Card
• LCID = ID of the load curve that represents the magnitude of the load (see *DEFINE_CURVE (p. 138)
).
• SF = 1.0 (default), load curve scale factor.
• LCIDDR = 0 (default), ID of load curve defined for dynamic relaxation.
• XC = 0.0 (default), X-center of rotation needed for angular velocities.
• YC = 0.0 (default), Y-center of rotation needed for angular velocities.
• ZC = 0.0 (default), Z-center of rotation needed for angular velocities.
• CID = ID of local coordinate system used. Set to 0 for the global coordinate system.
*LOAD_BODY_Y
Specifies gravitational or other acceleration loads in the y direction. The load is applied to all nodes in
the model.
Card
(see *LOAD_BODY_X).
*LOAD_BODY_Z
Specifies gravitational or other acceleration loads in the z direction. The load is applied to all nodes in
the model.
Card
(see *LOAD_BODY_X).
4.17. Supports
*BOUNDARY_SPC_SET
Specifies Fixed Support, Simply Supported, and Fixed Rotation constraints.
Card
• NSID = ID of set of nodes to which the boundary is applied.
• CID = ID of the associated coordinate system. 0 specifies the global coordinate system.
• DOFX = 0 or 1. 0 means that the translation is free and 1 that the translation is constrained along
the x direction. It is set to 0 for the Fixed Rotation boundary condition and to 1 for the Simply Sup-
ported boundary condition.
• DOFY = 0 or 1. 0 means that the translation is free and 1 that the translation is constrained along
the y direction. It is set to 0 for the Fixed Rotation boundary condition and to 1 for the Simply Sup-
• DOFZ = 0 or 1. 0 means that the translation is free and 1 that the translation is constrained along
the z direction. It is set to 0 for the Fixed Rotation boundary condition and to 1 for the Simply Sup-
• DOFRX = 0 or 1. 0 means that the rotation is free and 1 that the rotation is constrained along the x
direction. It is set to 0 for the Simply Supported Boundary Condition and to 1 for the Fixed Rotation
Boundary Condition when the degree of freedom is fixed in that direction.
• DOFRY = 0 or 1. 0 means that the rotation is free and 1 that the rotation is constrained along the y
• DOFRZ = 0 or 1. 0 means that the rotation is free and 1 that the rotation is constrained along the z
*BOUNDARY_PRESCRIBED_MOTION_RIGID
See *BOUNDARY_PRESCRIBED_MOTION_SET
*BOUNDARY_PRESCRIBED_MOTION_SET
Specifies velocity and displacement boundary conditions.
Card1
• ID = ID of set of nodes or part (for rigid bodies) to which the boundary condition is applied.
• DOF = 1, 2 or 3 depending on whether the boundary condition is in the x, y or z direction respectively,

and is a translational boundary condition.
Loads
DOF = 4, 5 or 6 depending on whether the boundary condition is in the x, y or z direction respectively,

and is a rotational boundary condition.
Setting 4 is used if the boundary is applied according to a local coordinate system.
• VAD = 0 or 2 depending whether the boundary condition is velocity or displacement.
• LCID = ID of the curve prescribing the magnitude of the boundary condition. Constant values of ve-
locity are applied as a step function from time = 0. Constant values of displacement are ramped from
zero at time = 0 to the constant value at termination time. This is done to make sure that displacements
are applied in a transient fashion.
• SF = 1.0 (default) scale factor for load curve.
• VID = 0 (default). ID of vector that defines the local coordinate system the boundary condition is
applied with.
• DEATH = 0.0 (default), sets it to 1E28.
• BIRTH = 0, the motion is applied from the beginning of the solution.
Card2: not required.
4.18. Loads
*LOAD_NODE_SET
Applies a concentrated nodal force to a set of nodes.
Card
• NSID = the set of nodes where the force is applied.
• DOF = 1, 2 or 3 depending on the force direction x, y or z.
• LCID = ID of the load curve that describes the magnitude of the force (see *DEFINE_CURVE (p. 138) ).
• CID = ID of local coordinate system used. Set to 0 for the global coordinate system.
*LOAD_RIGID_BODY
Applies a concentrated nodal force to a rigid body. The force is applied at the center of mass.
Card
See *LOAD_NODE_SET. Note that parameter NSID is replaced by PID which is the ID of the part the
force is applied to.
*LOAD_SEGMENT_SET
Applies a distributed pressure load over each segment in a segment set.
Card
• LCID = ID of the load curve that describes the magnitude of the pressure (see *DEFINE_CURVE (p. 138)
).
• SSID = ID of set of nodes to which the pressure is applied.
• AT = arrival time for pressure is assigned the time at load step 1 if pressure is given in tabular form
or 0 if constant pressure.
*LOAD_BODY_PARTS
By Default Acceleration or Gravity load are applied to all bodies in the model, and it is sometimes
convenient to apply these loads to only a portion of the model. *LOAD_BODY_PARTS is used in that
context.
Loads
*DEFINE_BOX_DRAWBEAD
*CONTACT_DRAWBEAD_ID
These two keywords are used to support Drawbead modeling. Drawbeads are used to control the flow
of sheet metal into the die cavity during stretch-draw forming of large panels. LS-DYNA enables them
to be defined them through a specific contact algorithm.
*DEFINE_BOX
Define a box-shaped volume. Two diagonally opposite corner points of a box are specified in global or
local coordinates. The box volume is then used for various specifications for a variety of input options,
e.g., velocities, displacement, etc.
Card
• Box ID = ID of the Box object
• XMN = Xmin
• XMX = Xmax
• YMN = Ymin
• YMX = Ymax
• ZMN = Zmin
• ZMX = Zmax
*DEFINE_BOX_SPH
Define a box-shaped volume. Two diagonally opposite corner points of a box are specified in global
coordinates. Particle approximations of SPH elements are computed when particles are located inside
the box. The load curve describes the box motion as function of time.
Card 1
• Box ID = ID of the Box object
• XMN = Xmin
• XMX = Xmax
• YMN = Ymin
• YMX = Ymax
• ZMN = Zmin
• ZMX = Zmax
Card 2
• VID = Vector ID created from Component using *DEFINE_VECTOR (p. 124)
• LCID = Load curve ID created from Magnitude tabular data using *DEFINE_CURVE (p. 138)
Loads
• VD =
– 0 if Type = Velocity
– 1 if Type = Displacement
*DEFORMABLE_TO_RIGID
In some dynamic applications, long duration, large rigid body motions arise that are prohibitively ex-
pensive to simulate if the majority of elements in the model are deformable. One such example would
be an automotive rollover where the time duration of the rollover would dominate the CPU cost relative
to the impact that occurs much later. To improve efficiency for this class of applications, The LS-DYNA
system offers the capability to switch a subset of materials from a deformable state to a rigid state, and
then back to deformable. By switching the deformable parts to rigid during the rigid body motion stage,
you can achieve significant savings in computation time.
Deformable/rigid switching is inherently related to performing a restart. You need to stop the analysis,
define the part switch, and then restart the analysis again.
The scoped body is defined with flexible material properties. It is switched to rigid for the first calculation.
*RIGID_DEFORMABLE_D2R
The body stiffness can then be modified in dependent calculations. If the stiffness was rigid, it is switched
to flexible
*AIRBAG_SIMPLE_AIRBAG_MODEL
*AIRBAG_SIMPLE_PRESSURE_VOLUME
These two keywords used to support airbag modeling. Set the type to either simple airbag model or
simple pressure volume, respectively.
4.19. Discrete Connections
*SECTION_DISCRETE
Defines section properties for solid elements. DRO is the Displacement/Rotation Option.
• DRO =
– 0 for translational spring/damper.
– 1 for torsional spring/damper.
*ELEMENT_DISCRETE
Specifies spring elements.
*MAT_SPRING_ELASTIC
This keyword is used in support of spring connections, the K parameter of this material keyword is the
stiffness of the string.
• K = Elastic stiffness (force/displacement) or (moment/rotation).
Other Supports
*MAT_DAMPER_VISCOUS
This keyword is used in support of spring connections. The damping constant DC of this material is the
damping parameter of the spring, if this damping is non null.
• DC = Damping constant (force/displacement rate) or (moment/rotation rate).
4.20. Other Supports
*BOUNDARY_NON_REFLECTING
Specifies impedance boundaries. Impedance boundaries can only be applied on solid elements in LS-
DYNA.
Card
• SSID = ID of segment on whose nodes the boundary is applied (see *SET_SEGMENT bellow).
• AD = 0.0 (default) for setting the activation flag for dilatational waves to on.
• AS = 0.0 (default) for setting the activation flag for shear waves to on.
*BOUNDARY_SLIDING_PLANE
Defines a boundary plane for sliding symmetry.
Note:
The normal is defined as the z-axis vector of the coordinate system defined in Mechanical.
• NSID = ID of the set of nodes to which the boundary is applied
• VX = X component of vector defining normal.
• VY = Y component of vector defining normal.
• VZ = Z component of vector defining normal.
• COPT =
– 0 if the Option is set to node moves on normal plane.
– 1 if the Option is set to node moves only in vector direction.
*RIGID_WALL_PLANAR
The Rigid Wall object provides a simple way of treating contact between a rigid surface and nodal
points of a deformable body called contact nodes. The Rigid Wall can be scoped to Geometry or Named
Selections. You can exclude specific areas of the model from the Rigid Wall contact.
• NSID = ID of the set of nodes to which the boundary is applied.
• XT, YT, ZT, XH, YH, ZH are calculated from the Coordinate System definition; the normal Z of the co-
ordinate system is the normal to the plane.
• FRIC = Friction
4.21. Environment Temperature
*INITIAL_TEMPERATURE_SET
This keyword is added in coupled structural thermal analyses, where it defines the initial temperature
of the environment.
• NSID = 0. All nodes of the model are initialized with the temperature Temp.
• Temp = temperature of the environment.
4.22. ASCII Files

The following keywords specify time-history output (ASCII format) for an explicit dynamics analysis. The
time history files output are requested through Time History Output Controls section of the Analysis
Settings . Up to 10 ASCII files can be requested in the GUI. The sampling time is calculated from the
number of values requested and from the end time of the simulation.
ASCII Files
The results files ( GLSTAT , BNDOUT , RCFORC , SPCFORC , MATSUM ) are always output by LS-DYNA.
The sampling frequency can, however, be modified.
*DATABASE_HISTORY_NODE_SET
Controls which nodes or elements are output into the binary history file and the ASCII file NODOUT for
a particular result tracker.
Card
ID1 is set to the id of the component defined by the result tracker object.
*DATABASE_BNDOUT
Specifies the sampling parameters for the BNDOUT results file (stores Boundary condition forces and
energy).
Card
DT = End Time divided by Value from the Time History Output Controls section of the Analysis
Settings .
*DATABASE_DEFGEO
Specifies the sampling parameters for the DEFGEO results file (stores Deformed Geometry Data).
Card
Settings .
*DATABASE_DEFORC
Specifies the sampling parameters for the DEFORC results file (Discrete Elements Data).
Card
Settings .
*DATABASE_GCEOUT
Specifies the sampling parameters for the GCEOUT results file (Geometric Contact Entities).
Card
Settings .
*DATABASE_GLSTAT
Specifies the sampling parameters for the GLSTAT results file (stores general energy results).
Card
• DT = End Time divided by Value from the Time History Output Controls section of the Analysis
Settings .
*DATABASE_INTFORC
Specifies the sampling parameters for the JNTFORC results file (stores Joint Forces).
Settings .
*DATABASE_MATSUM
Specifies the sampling parameters for the MATSUM results file (stores general energy and velocity results
as the GLSTAT file but it stores them per body. It is necessary for rigid bodies).
Card
Settings .
*DATABASE_NCFORC
Specifies the sampling parameters for the NCFORC results file (stores Nodal Interface Forces).
Card
Settings .
*DATABASE_NODOUT
Specifies the sampling parameters for the NODOUT results file (stores displacement and velocity results).
Card
Settings .
*DATABASE_RBDOUT
Specifies the sampling parameters for the RBDOUT results file (stores Rigid Body Data ).
Card
ASCII Files
Settings .
*DATABASE_RCFORC
Specifies the sampling parameters for the RCFORC results file (stores contact forces).
Card
Settings .
*DATABASE_RWFORC
Specifies the sampling parameters for the RWFORC results file (stores Rigid Wall forces).
Card
Settings .
*DATABASE_SLEOUT
Specifies the sampling parameters for the SLEOUT results file (stores sliding interface forces).
Card
Settings .
*DATABASE_SPCFORC
Specifies the sampling parameters for the SPCFORC results file (stores reaction forces).
Card
Settings .
*DATABASE_SWFORC
Specifies the sampling parameters for the SWFORC results file (stores the spotweld and rivet forces).
Card
Settings .
4.23. Database Output Settings
*DATABASE_EXTENT_BINARY
Control to some extent the content of binary output databases d3plot, d3thdt, and d3part. four para-
meters are set by LS-DYNA :
• SIGFLG: Flag for including the stress tensor for shells.
• STRFLG: Flag for including the strain tensor for shells.
• EPSFLG: Flag for including the effective plastic strains for shells.
• MSSCL: Output nodal information related to mass scaling into the d3plot database.
*DATABASE_BINARY_D3PLOT
Specifies the sampling parameters for the binary D3PLOT results plotting file.
Card
Settings if Calculate Results At is set to Equally Spaced Time Points ( this value defaults to 20).
*DATABASE_BINARY_INTFOR
Specifies the sampling parameters for the binary intfor results file. This file contains contact information
( pressure, nodal contact forces)
Card
Settings if Calculate Results At is set to Equally Spaced Time Points ( this value defaults to 20).
4.24. Restart
You can change the velocity for rigid bodies or other parts of the model using the options from the
Change icon in the LSDYNA Small Restart ribbon tab.
You can also delete parts of the model during a small restart using the options from the Deletions icon
in the LSDYNA Small Restart ribbon tab
Restart
4.24.1. Changing Velocity
*CHANGE_VELOCITY_RIGID_BODY
When used in a small restart, this keyword changes the velocity of a rigid body. If you don't change
the velocity of rigid body, its velocity at the beginning of the restart will be the same as the velocity
at the end of the previous analysis.
*CHANGE_VELOCITY_ZERO
When used in a small restart, this keyword resets the velocity of the nodes for the whole model.
This keyword is used when a Change Velocity boundary condition is used, and the scope is set to
Velocity reset to zero for Whole Model.
*CHANGE_VELOCITY_ONLY
When used in a small restart, this keyword changes the velocity of the specified nodes. It only affects
the velocity of selected nodes. If you don't change the velocity of the nodes, their velocity at the
beginning of the restart will be the same as the velocity at the end of the previous analysis.
This keyword is used when a Change Velocity boundary condition is used and the Scope is set to
Geometry Selection and the Behavior to Only Selected Nodes are affected .
A coordinate system can be selected for the change velocity object, and it can be scoped to vertices,
edges, faces, or bodies.
*CHANGE_VELOCITY
When used in a small restart, this keyword changes the velocity of the specified nodes. The other
nodes have their velocity set to zero. If you don't change the velocity of the nodes, their velocity at
the beginning of the restart will be the same as the velocity at the end of the previous analysis.
This keyword is used when a Change Velocity boundary condition is used and the Scope is set to
Geometry Selection and the Behavior to Other nodes will have their nodal velocities reset to zero .
A coordinate system can be selected for the change velocity object, and it can be scoped to vertices,
edges, faces, or bodies.
4.24.2. Delete Model Pieces
*DELETE_PART
In an explicit dynamic small restart analysis, this keyword can be used to unselect a part during the
solution even if it is referenced in some way (such as in a contact definition).
This keyword is used when a Delete Body object is used.
*DELETE_ELEMENT_BEAM
This keyword is used when a Delete Elements object is used and the scoped elements contain beam
elements.
End of Input File
*DELETE_ELEMENT_SHELL
This keyword is used when a Delete Elements object is used and the scoped elements contain shell
elements.
*DELETE_ELEMENT_SOLID
This keyword is used when a Delete Elements object is used and the scoped elements contain solid
elements.
*DELETE_CONTACT
This keyword allows you to delete a particular contact specification that was defined. The delete option
permanently deletes the contact from the database.
4.25. End of Input File
*END
Terminates the keyword file. It has no parameter cards.
Chapter 5: Material Models Available in Workbench
Engineering Data in Workbench gives you access to many of the material models available for LS-DYNA.
The sections below direct you to the discussion of the materials in the Mechanical and Explicit Dynamics
documentation and tell you what LS-DYNA keyword is used when you specify a certain material.
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Density
5.3. Linear Elastic
5.4.Test Data
5.5. Hyperelasticity
5.6. Plasticity
5.7. Forming Plasticity
5.8. Foams
5.9. Eulerian
5.10. Rigid Materials
5.11. Equations of State
5.12. Failure
5.13.Thermal Properties
5.14. LS-DYNA External Model Material Properties
5.1. Introduction
LS-DYNA supports a large material library and can, therefore, simulate nearly any application. LS-DYNA
materials offer many features including:
• Strain rate dependent plasticity models with strain failure criterion.
• Temperature dependent and temperature sensitive plasticity models.
• Equations of state and null material models (bird-strike analyses, etc.).
The modeling of such phenomena can generally be broken down into three components:
5.1.1. Equation of State
5.1.2. Material Strength Model
5.1.3. Material Failure Model
5.1.1. Equation of State

An equation of state describes the hydrodynamic response of a material.
Material Models Available in Workbench
This is the primary response for gases and liquids, which can sustain no shear. Their response to dy-
namic loading is assumed hydrodynamic, with pressure varying as a function of density and internal
energy.
This is also the primary response for solids at high deformation rates, when the hydrodynamic pressure
is far greater than the yield stress of the material.
5.1.2. Material Strength Model

Solid materials may initially respond elastically, but under highly dynamic loadings, they can reach
stress states that exceed their yield stress and deform plastically. Material strength laws describe this
non-linear elastic-plastic response.
5.1.3. Material Failure Model

Solids usually fail under extreme loading conditions, resulting in crushed or cracked material. Material
failure models simulate the various ways in which materials fail. Liquids will also fail in tension, a
phenomenon usually referred to as cavitation.
5.2. Density
See the description in Density .
5.3. Linear Elastic

See the description in Linear Elastic .
5.3.1. Isotropic Elasticity

See the description in Isotropic Elasticity .
This material behavior is written as *MAT_ELASTIC (p. 106) .
5.3.2. Orthotropic Elasticity

See the description in Orthotropic Elasticity .
This material behavior is written as *MAT_ORTHOTROPIC_ELASTIC (p. 113) .
5.3.3. Anisotropic Elasticity

This material description requires the full elasticity matrix. Because of symmetry, only 21 constants
are required:
Hyperelasticity
This material is only valid for solid elements. Material properties are locally orthotropic with material
axes defined based on the mesh orientation defined in the Mechanical application (Body orientation).
5.4. Test Data

See the description in Test Data .
5.5. Hyperelasticity
Following are several forms of strain energy potential (Ψ) provided for the simulation of nearly incom-
pressible hyperelastic materials. The different models are generally applicable over different ranges of
strain as illustrated in Hyperelasticity , however these numbers are not definitive and users should
verify the applicability of the model chosen prior to use.
Hyperelastic materials may only be used in solid and shell elements for LS-DYNA simulations.
See Hyperelasticity for additional information on the models discussed in this section.
5.5.1. Blatz-Ko Hyperelasticity

Blatz-Ko materials are only for rubber materials under compression. Poisson's ratio (NUXY) is automat-
ically set to 0.463 by LS-DYNA, so only density and initial shear modulus are required. This model
uses the second Piola-Kirchhoff stress:
G is the shear modulus, V is the relative volume, ν is the Poisson's ratio, C ij is the right Cauchy-Green
strain tensor, and δ ij is the Kronecker delta.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_BLATZ-KO_RUBBER (p. 106) .
5.5.2. Mooney-Rivlin
The 2, 3, 5 parameter Mooney-Rivlin hyperelastic material models have been implemented. The 9
parameter version of this material model is not supported.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_HYPERELASTIC_RUBBER (p. 109) .
5.5.3. Polynomial
This material behavior is written as *MAT_HYPERELASTIC _RUBBER (p. 109) .
5.5.4. Yeoh
The first order and second order of this material model have been implemented.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_HYPERELASTIC_RUBBER (p. 109) .
5.5.5. Ogden
This material behavior is written as *MAT_OGDEN_RUBBER (p. 112) .
5.6. Plasticity
All stress-strain input should be in terms of true stress and true (or logarithmic) strain and result in all
output as also true stress and true strain. For small-strain regions of response, true stress-strain and
engineering stress-strain are approximately equal. If your stress-strain data is in the form of engineering
stress and engineering strain you can convert:
• strain from engineering strain to logarithmic strain using:
• engineering stress to true stress using:
Note:
This stress conversion is only valid for incompressible materials.
The following Plasticity models are discussed in this section:

5.6.1. Bilinear Isotropic Hardening
5.6.2. Multilinear Isotropic Hardening
5.6.3. Bilinear Kinematic Hardening
5.6.4. Johnson-Cook Strength
5.6.5. Cowper-Symonds Power Law Hardening
5.6.6. Rate Sensitive Power Law Hardening
5.6.7. Cowper-Symonds Piecewise Linear Hardening
5.6.8. Modified Cowper-Symonds Piecewise Linear Hardening
5.6.1. Bilinear Isotropic Hardening

This plasticity material model is often used in large strain analyses. A bilinear stress-strain curve requires
that you input the Yield Strength and Tangent Modulus . The slope of the first segment in the curve
is equivalent to the Young's modulus of the material while the slope of the second segment is the
tangent modulus.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_PLASTIC_KINEMATIC (p. 116) . The parameter beta of this
keyword is set to 1.
Custom results variables available for this model:
Plasticity
Name Description Solids Shells Beams

EPS Effective Plastic Yes Yes* No
Strain
*Resultant value over shell/beam section.
5.6.2. Multilinear Isotropic Hardening

This plasticity material model is often used in large strain analyses. Do not use this model for cyclic
or highly nonproportional load histories in small-strain analyses.
You must supply the data in the form of plastic strain vs. stress. The first point of the curve must be
the yield point, that is, zero plastic strain and yield stress. The slope of the stress-strain curve is assumed
to be zero beyond the last user-defined stress-strain data point. No segment of the curve can have
a slope of less than zero.
Note:
You can define up to 10 stress strain pairs using this model in explicit dynamics systems.
Temperature dependence of the curves is not directly supported. Temperature dependent
plasticity can be represented using the Johnson-Cook plasticity model.

Strain
5.6.3. Bilinear Kinematic Hardening

This plasticity material model assumes that the total stress range is equal to twice the yield stress, to
include the Bauschinger effect. This model may be used for materials that obey Von Mises yield cri-
teria (includes most metals). The tangent modulus cannot be less than zero or greater than the
elastic modulus.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_PLASTIC_KINEMATIC (p. 116) . The parameter beta of this
keyword is set to 0.

Strain
5.6.4. Johnson-Cook Strength

See Johnson-Cook Strength for information about this model. However, the strain rate correction
parameter described in this material model is not used by LS-DYNA.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_JOHNSON_COOK (p. 110) or *MAT_SIMPLIFIED_JOHN-

SON_COOK (p. 118) depending on whether it is used in combination with an equation of state or not.
The simplified form is used when no equation of state is defined. The thermal terms are discarded in
that scenario.

Strain
TEMP Temperature** Yes Yes* No
**Temperature will be non-zero only if a specific heat capacity is defined.
5.6.5. Cowper-Symonds Power Law Hardening

The Cowper-Symonds power law hardening lets you define plastic behavior with bilinear isotropic
hardening and power law hardening defined with strength coefficient K and hardening coefficient
n. Strain rate effects are accounted for by the Cowper-Symonds strain rate parameters, C and P.
Yield surface can be scaled for strain rate dependence or the latter can be defined using a fully visco-
plastic formation.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_POWER_LAW_PLASTICITY (p. 117) .
Name Symbol Units Notes

Initial Yield Stress A Stress
Hardening Constant K Stress
Hardening n None
Exponent
Strain Rate Constant C None Assumed 1/second in all
cases
Strain Rate Constant P None
Strain Rate - None Option List:
Correction
Scale Yield Stress
Viscoplastic
Plasticity

EPS Effective Plastic Yes Yes* Yes*
Strain
5.6.6. Rate Sensitive Power Law Hardening

Strain rate dependent plasticity model typically used for superplastic forming analyses. The material
model follows a Ramburgh-Osgood constitutive relationship of the form:
where:
k is the material coefficient,
m is the hardening coefficient,
n is the strain rate parameter.

Hardening K Stress
Constant
Hardening m None
Exponent
Strain Rate n None
Constant
Reference Strain None Units fixed
Rate at 1/sec
Default =
0.0002
This material behavior is written as *MAT_RATE_SENSITIVE_POWERLAW_PLASTICITY (p. 117) .
5.6.7. Cowper-Symonds Piecewise Linear Hardening

This model is very efficient in solution and is most commonly used in crash simulations. It is similar
to the multilinear isotropic hardening behavior. Stress-strain behavior is defined with a load curve of
effective true stress versus effective plastic true strain. Failure strain can be input for which elements
will be eliminated. Yield surface can be scaled for strain rate dependence by the Cowper-Symonds
model.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_ PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY (p. 115) , where the para-
meter lcss is the curve id of the effective stress versus plastic strain.


cases
Strain Rate - None Option List:
Correction
Scale Yield Stress
Viscoplastic
5.6.8. Modified Cowper-Symonds Piecewise Linear Hardening

This model is an enhanced version of the Cowper Symonds Piecewise Linear model that accounts for
multiple failure methods:
• Effective plastic strain
• Thinning (through-thickness) plastic strain
• Major principal in-plane strain
The plastic strain failure parameter of this material model is defined by adding a plastic strain failure
behavior to it.

cases
Thinning Strain At Failure None
Major In Plane Strain At None
Failure
Strain Rate Correction - None Option List:
Scale Yield Stress
Viscoplastic
This material behavior is written as *MAT_ MODIFIED_PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY (p. 111) , where

the parameter lcss is the curve id of the effective stress versus plastic strain.
5.7. Forming Plasticity

The following Forming Plasticity models are discussed in this section:
5.7.1. Bilinear Transversely Anisotropic Hardening
5.7.2. Multilinear Transversely Anisotropic Hardening
5.7.3. Bilinear FLD Transversely Anisotropic Hardening
Forming Plasticity
5.7.4. Multilinear FLD Transversely Anisotropic Hardening

5.7.5. Bilinear 3 Parameter Barlat Hardening
5.7.6. Exponential 3 Parameter Barlat Hardening
5.7.7. Exponential Barlat Anisotropic Hardening
5.7.1. Bilinear Transversely Anisotropic Hardening

This material model is most commonly used for sheet metal forming of anisotropic materials.
It is a fully iterative anisotropic plasticity model available for shell and 2–D elements only. In this
model the yield function given by Hill[ 3 ] is reduced to the following for the case of plane stress:
The anisotropic hardening parameter, R, is defined by the ratio of the in-plane plastic strain rate to
the out-of-plane plastic strain rate:

Yield Strength Stress
Tangent Modulus Stress
Anisotropic hardening None
Parameter
This material behavior is written as *MAT_TRANSVERSELY_ANISOTROPIC_ELASTIC_PLASTIC (p. 120) .
5.7.2. Multilinear Transversely Anisotropic Hardening

This material model is most commonly used for sheet metal forming of anisotropic materials.
It is a fully iterative anisotropic plasticity model available for shell and 2-D elements only. In this
model the yield function given by Hill[ 3 ] is reduced to the following for the case of plane stress:
A load curve parameter is defined for the relationship between the effective yield stress and the ef-
fective plastic strain.

Parameter
This material behavior is written as *MAT_TRANSVERSELY_ANISOTROPIC_ELASTIC_PLASTIC (p. 120) .
5.7.3. Bilinear FLD Transversely Anisotropic Hardening

This material model is used for simulating the sheet metal forming of anisotropic materials. Only
transversely anisotropic materials can be considered. For this model, the dependence of the flow
stress with the effective plastic strain is modeled by defining a yield stress and a tangent modulus.
In addition, you also define a forming limit diagram. This diagram will be used to compute the max-
imum strain ratio that the material can experience.
This plasticity model is only available for shell and 2-D elements. The model directly follows the
plasticity theory introduced in the Transversely Anisotropic Elastic Plastic model described earlier in
this section. You can refer to that model for the theoretical basis.

Yield Strength Stress
Tangent Modulus Stress
Parameter
This material behavior is written as *MAT_FLD_TRANSVERSELY_ANISOTROPIC (p. 108) .
5.7.4. Multilinear FLD Transversely Anisotropic Hardening

This material model is used for simulating the sheet metal forming of anisotropic materials. Only
transversely anisotropic materials can be considered. For this model, the dependence of the flow
stress with the effective plastic strain is modeled using a curve. In addition, you also define a forming
limit diagram. This diagram will be used to compute the maximum strain ratio that the material can
experience.
Forming Plasticity
This plasticity model is only available for shell and 2-D elements. The model directly follows the
plasticity theory introduced in the Transversely Anisotropic Elastic Plastic model described earlier in
this section. You can refer to that model for the theoretical basis.

Parameter
This material behavior is written as *MAT_FLD_TRANSVERSELY_ANISOTROPIC (p. 108) .
5.7.5. Bilinear 3 Parameter Barlat Hardening

This is an anisotropic plasticity model developed by Barlat and Lian[ 1 ] used for modeling aluminum
sheets under plane stress conditions. Both exponential and linear hardening rules are available. The
anisotropic yield criterion for plane stress is defined as:
where σ Y is the yield stress, a and c are anisotropic material constants, m is Barlat exponent, and K
1 and K 2 are defined by:
Here, h and p are additional anisotropic material constants. For the exponential hardening option,
the material yield strength is given by:
where k is the strength coefficient, ε 0 is the initial strain at yield, ε p is the plastic strain, and n is the
hardening coefficient. All of the anisotropic material constants, excluding p which is determined im-
plicitly, are determined from Barlat and Lian width to thickness strain ratio (R) values as shown:
c=2–a
The width to thickness strain ratio for any angle Φ can be calculated from:
The hardening rule is linear and requires input of yield strength and tangent modulus, in addition to
the Barlat exponent.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_3-PARAMETER_BARLAT (p. 104) .
5.7.6. Exponential 3 Parameter Barlat Hardening

The theory is identical to the bilinear 3 parameter Barlat model, but for this material model the
hardening rule is exponential. It requires input of the hardening constant K, and hardening exponent,
in addition to the Barlat exponent.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_3-PARAMETER_BARLAT (p. 104) .
5.7.7. Exponential Barlat Anisotropic Hardening

This is an anisotropic plasticity model developed by Barlat, Lege, and Brem[ 2 ] used for modeling
material behavior in forming processes. The anisotropic yield function Φ is defined as:
where m is the flow potential exponent and S i are the principal values of the symmetric matrix S ij
.
Rigid Materials
where a, b, c, f, g, and h represent the anisotropic material constants. When a=b=c=f=g=h=1, isotropic
material behavior is modeled and the yield surface reduces to the Tresca surface for m = 1 and the
von Mises surface for m = 2 or 4. For this material option, the yield strength is given by:
where k is the strength coefficient, ε P is the plastic strain, ε 0 is the initial strain at yield, and n is the
hardening coefficient. The stress-strain behavior can be specified at only one temperature.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_BARLAT_ANISOTROPIC_PLASTICITY (p. 104) .
5.8. Foams
5.8.1. Rate Independent Low Density Foam

This is a highly compressible (urethane) foam material model often used for padded materials such
as seat cushions. In compression, the model assumes hysteresis unloading behavior with possible
energy dissipation. In tension, the material model behaves linearly until tearing occurs. For uniaxial
loading, the model assumes that there is no coupling in transverse directions. By using input shape
factor controls (a hysteresis unloading factor (HU), a decay constant (β), and a shape factor for unload-
ing), the observed unloading behavior of foams can be closely approximated. The stress-strain beha-
vior can be specified at only one temperature.
Input the curve for nominal stress vs. strain, the tension cutoff (tearing) stress, the hysteresis unloading
factor, the decay constant, the viscous coefficient, and the shape factor for unloading,
5.9. Eulerian
5.9.1. Vacuum
This model is a dummy material representing a vacuum in a multi-material Euler/ALE model. Instead
of using ELFORM = 12 (under *SECTION_SOLID), you should use ELFORM = 11 with the void material
defined as vacuum material instead.
5.10. Rigid Materials

See the description in Rigid Materials .
5.11. Equations of State

Background information is discussed in this section along with available EOS models:
5.11.1. Background
5.11.2. Bulk Modulus
5.11.3. Shear Modulus
5.11.4. Polynomial EOS
5.11.5. Shock EOS Linear
5.11.6. Shock EOS Bilinear
5.11.1. Background
A general material model requires equations that relate stress to deformation and internal energy (or
temperature). In most cases, the stress tensor may be separated into a uniform hydrostatic pressure
(all three normal stresses equal) and a stress deviatoric tensor associated with the resistance of the
material to shear distortion.
Then the relation between the hydrostatic pressure, the local density (or specific volume) and local
specific energy (or temperature) is known as an equation of state.
Hooke's law is the simplest form of an equation of state and is implicitly assumed when you use linear
elastic material properties. Hooke's law is energy independent and is only valid if the material being
modeled undergoes relatively small changes in volume (less than approximately 2%). One of the al-
ternative equation of state properties should be used if the material is expected to experience high
volume changes during an analysis.
Before looking at the various equations of state available, it is good to understand some of the fun-
damental physics behind their formulations. See the links in the following sections.
5.11.2. Bulk Modulus

See the description in Bulk Modulus .
5.11.3. Shear Modulus

See the description in Shear Modulus .
5.11.4. Polynomial EOS

See the description in Polynomial EOS .
They are written as *EOS_LINEAR_POLYNOMIAL (p. 102) .
See Keywords used by LS-DYNA in Workbench (p. 73) for more information.
5.11.5. Shock EOS Linear

See the description in Shock EOS Linear .
Failure
They are written as *EOS_GRUNEISEN (p. 102) .
5.11.6. Shock EOS Bilinear

See the description in Shock EOS Bilinear .
They are written as *EOS_GRUNEISEN (p. 102) .
5.12. Failure
Background
Materials are not able to withstand tensile stresses which exceed the material's local tensile strength.
The computation of the dynamic motion of materials assuming that they always remain continuous,
even if the predicted local stresses reach very large values, will lead to unphysical solutions.
A model has to be constructed to recognize when tensile limits are reached to modify the computation
to deal with this and to describe the properties of the material after this formulation has been applied.
Several different modes of failure initiation can be represented in the explicit dynamics system.
Element failure in the explicit dynamics system has two components, failure initiation and post failure
response.
Failure Initiation
A number of mechanisms are available to initiate failure in a material (see properties Plastic Strain
Failure, Principal Stress Failure, Principal Strain Failure, Tensile Pressure Failure, Johnson-Cook Failure).
When specified criteria are met within an element, a post failure response is activated.
Post Failure Response

After failure initiation in an element, the subsequent strength characteristics of the element will change
depending on the type of failure model.
• Instantaneous Failure
Upon failure initiation, the element deviatoric stress will be immediately set to zero and retained at
this level. Subsequently, the element will only be able to support compressive pressures.
By default, tensile failure models will produce an instantaneous post failure response.
The following Failure models are discussed in this section:

5.12.1. Plastic Strain Failure
5.12.2. Principal Stress Failure
5.12.3. Principal Strain Failure
5.12.4. Johnson-Cook Failure
5.12.1. Plastic Strain Failure

Plastic strain failure can be used to model ductile failure in materials. Failure initiation is based on
the effective plastic strain in the material. The user inputs a maximum plastic strain value.
If the material effective plastic strain is greater than the user defined maximum, failure initiation occurs.
The material instantaneously fails.
Note:
This failure model must be used in conjunction with a plasticity or brittle strength model.
5.12.2. Principal Stress Failure

Principal stress failure can be used to represent brittle failure in materials.
Failure initiation is based on one of two criteria
• Maximum principal tensile stress
• Maximum shear stress (derived from the maximum difference in the principal stresses)
Failure is initiated when either of the above criteria is met. The material instantaneously fails.
If this model is used in conjunction with a plasticity model, it is often recommended to deactivate
the Maximum Shear stress criteria by specifying a large value. In this case the shear response will be
handled by the plasticity model.

Maximum Tensile Stress User must input a positive value. Default = +1e+20
Stress
Maximum Shear Stress Stress User must input a positive value. Default = +1e+20
5.12.3. Principal Strain Failure

Principal strain failure can be used to represent brittle or ductile failure in materials.
Failure initiation is based on one of two criteria
• Maximum principal tensile strain
• Maximum shear strain (derived from the maximum difference in the principal strains)
Failure is initiated when either of the above criteria is met. The material instantaneously fails.
If this model is used in conjunction with a plasticity model, it is often recommended to deactivate
the maximum shear strain criteria by specifying a large value. In this case the shear response will be
treated by the plasticity model.
LS-DYNA External Model Material Properties

Maximum Principal None User must input a positive value. Default = +1e+20
Strain
Maximum Shear Strain None User must input a positive value. Default = +1e+20
5.12.4. Johnson-Cook Failure

The Johnson-Cook failure model can be used to model ductile failure of materials experiencing large
pressures, strain rates and temperatures.
This model is constructed in a similar way to the Johnson-Cook plasticity model in that it consists of
three independent terms that define the dynamic fracture strain as a function of pressure, strain rate
and temperature:

Damage Constant D1 D1 None
Melting Temperature Temperature
5.13. Thermal Properties

Properties
Isotropic Thermal Conductivity
Specific Heat
These properties are used when the LS-DYNA calculation is thermal-structural coupled, and are part of
the definition of the *MAT_THERMAL_ISOTROPIC material.
5.14. LS-DYNA External Model Material Properties

These properties are created when an LS-DYNA input file is imported using External Model . You can
also add these properties directly to a material in Engineering Data by selecting them from the LSDYNA
External Model - MAT or LSDYNA External Model - EOS sections of the Toolbox as shown in the following
figure.
These properties are direct representations of the existing LS-DYNA material models, and enable addi-
tional fields for definition. Additional information can be found in LS-DYNA Keyword User's Manual
Volume II , which describes these material models in detail.
Note:
When the optional Viscoelastic cards are imported into Engineering Data from External
Model a conversion is made to the Prony series terms. The Shear\Bulk Moduli are converted
to Relative Moduli by applying the Initial Shear\Bulk Modulus as a scale factor, and the
Damping Coefficients are converted to Relaxation Times by inversion.
Where: Where:
= Shear Moduli = Bulk Moduli
= Relative Moduli = Relative Moduli
= Initial Shear = Initial Bulk

Modulus Modulus
= Relaxation Times = Relaxation Times
= Damping = Damping
Coefficients Coefficients
When writing the solver input file from the LS-DYNA analysis system the conversion is made
from Relative Moduli to Shear\Bulk Moduli and Relaxation Times to Damping Coefficients.
The Initial Shear Modulus for the Ogden Rubber Material Parameters formulation model is
calculated using the definition in Ogden Hyperelasticity (TB,HYPER,,,,OGDEN) in the Material
Reference. The other material models have a specific field in Engineering Data to define the
Initial Shear\Bulk Modulus.
The Ogden Rubber Least Squares formulation model does not currently support Prony series.
5.14.1. *MAT_ELASTIC
This property requires that you also define Isotropic Elastic Elasticity and Density. It enables the
definition of the Axial Damping Factor and Bending Damping Factor for Belytschko Schwer beams.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_ELASTIC (or *MAT_001) (p. 106) .
5.14.2. *MAT_ORTHOTROPIC_ELASTIC
This material behavior is written as *MAT_ORTHOTROPIC_ELASTIC (or *MAT_002) (p. 113) .
5.14.3. *MAT_ANISOTROPIC_ELASTIC
This material behavior is written as *MAT_ANISOTROPIC_ELASTIC (or *MAT_002_ANIS) (p. 114) .
5.14.4. *MAT_PLASTIC_KINEMATIC
This property requires that you also define Isotropic Elasticity.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_PLASTIC_KINEMATIC (or *MAT_003) (p. 116) .
5.14.5. *MAT_BLATZ-KO_RUBBER
This material behavior is written as *MAT_BLATZ-KO_RUBBER (or *MAT_007) (p. 106) .
5.14.6. *MAT_JOHNSON_COOK
This material behavior is written as *MAT_JOHNSON_COOK (or *MAT_015) (p. 110) .
5.14.7. *MAT_POWER_LAW_PLASTICITY
This property requires that you also define Isotropic Elastic Elasticity and Density.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_POWER_LAW_PLASTICITY (or *MAT_018) (p. 117) .
5.14.8. *MAT_PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY
This property requires that you also define Isotropic Elastic and Density.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY (or *MAT_24) (p. 115) .
5.14.9. *MAT_SIMPLIFIED_JOHNSON_COOK
This material behavior is written as *MAT_SIMPLIFIED_JOHNSON_COOK (or *MAT_098) (p. 118) .
5.14.10. *MAT_MODIFIED_PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY
This material behavior is written as *MAT_MODIFIED_PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY (or

*MAT_123) (p. 111) .
5.14.11. *MAT_HIGH_EXPLOSIVE_BURN
This property requires that you also define Density.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_HIGH_EXPLOSIVE_BURN (*MAT_008).
5.14.12. *MAT_NULL
This material behavior is written as *MAT_NULL (*MAT_009).
5.14.13. *EOS_LINEAR_POLYNOMIAL
This material behavior is written as *EOS_LINEAR_POLYNOMIAL (*EOS_001) (p. 102) .
5.14.14. *EOS_JWL
This material behavior is written as *EOS_JWL (*EOS_002).
5.14.15. *EOS_GRUNEISEN
This material behavior is written as *EOS_GRUNEISEN (*EOS_004) (p. 102) .
5.14.16. *EOS_TABULATED
This material behavior is written as *EOS_TABULATED (*EOS_009).
5.14.17. *EOS_IDEAL_GAS
This material behavior is written as *EOS_IDEAL_GAS (*EOS_012).
5.14.18. *MAT_CRUSHABLE_FOAM
This material behavior is written as *MAT_CRUSHABLE_FOAM (*MAT_063).
5.14.19. *MAT_SIMPLIFIED_RUBBER/FOAM
This property requires that you also define Density. The optional viscoelastic constants cards will be
written if the constants have been defined using the Prony Shear Relaxation properties in Engineering
Data.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_SIMPLIFIED_RUBBER/FOAM (*MAT_181).
5.14.20. *MAT_OGDEN_RUBBER
This property requires that you also define Density. The optional viscoelastic constants cards will be
written if the constants have been defined using the Prony Shear Relaxation properties in Engineering
Data.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_OGDEN_RUBBER (*MAT_077_O).
5.14.21. *MAT_GENERAL_VISCOELASTIC
This property requires that you also define Density and Bulk Modulus. The optional viscoelastic con-
stants cards will be written if the constants have been defined using the Prony Shear Relaxation and
Prony Volumetric Relaxation properties in Engineering Data. The optional Shift Function fields can
be defined using the Williams-Landel-Ferry Shift Function properties in Engineering Data.
This material behavior is written as *MAT_GENERAL_VISCOELASTIC (*MAT_076).
5.14.22. *MAT_ BILKHU/DUBOIS_FOAM

This material behavior is written as *MAT_BILKHU/DUBOIS_FOAM (*MAT_075).
5.14.23. *MAT_FABRIC
This material behavior is written as *MAT_FABRIC (*MAT_034).
5.14.24. *MAT_COMPOSITE_FAILURE_SHELL_MODEL
This material behavior is written as *MAT_COMPOSITE_FAILURE_SHELL_MODEL.
5.14.25. *MAT_COMPOSITE_FAILURE_SOLID_MODEL
This material behavior is written as *MAT_COMPOSITE_FAILURE_SOLID_MODEL.
5.14.26. *MAT_ENHANCED_COMPOSITE_DAMAGE
This material behavior is written as *MAT_ENHANCED_COMPOSITE_DAMAGE.
5.14.27. *MAT_LAMINATED_COMPOSITE_FABRIC
This material behavior is written as *MAT_LAMINATE_COMPOSITE_FABRIC.
5.14.28. *MAT_ORTHOTROPIC _SIMPLIFIED_DAMAGE

This material behavior is written as *MAT_ORTHOTROPIC _SIMPLIFIED_DAMAGE.
5.14.29. *MAT_ADD_DAMAGE_GISSMO
This material behavior is written as *MAT_ADD_DAMAGE_GISSMO.
5.14.30. *MAT_ADD_EROSION
This material behavior is written as *MAT_ADD_EROSION.
Chapter 6: Customizing LS-DYNA using ACT
LS-DYNA can be customized with ACT (Ansys Customization Toolkit). You can create interactions between
user-defined extensions and the LS-DYNA system. You can create objects or features for custom prepro-
cessing in the context of Ansys Mechanical. Custom postprocessing is not supported.
This section assumes some degree of familiarity with ACT. Other Ansys guides provide related information:
• For an introduction to writing scripts for Mechanical, see the Scripting in Mechanical Guide.
• For descriptions of all ACT API objects, methods, and properties, see the ACT API Reference Guide.
• For information on how to use ACT to create apps (extensions) that customize and automate
Ansys products, see the ACT Developer's Guide.
• For ACT usage, customization, and automation information specific to Mechanical, see the ACT
Customization Guide for Mechanical.
An example of how to set up custom preprocessing is described here.
The following is an example from an XML file that sets up Rigid Bodies and Flexible Bodies categories
in the Data panel, each with a Geometry field. The resulting load and Details panel are shown.
<simdata context="Mechanical">
<load name="Forming" version="1" caption="Forming Contact" icon="contact" issupport="false" isload="true" color=
<attributes custom_dyna="Yes"/>
<propertygroup name="Rigid Bodies" caption="Rigid Bodies">
<property name="Geometry" control="scoping">
<attributes>
<selection_filter>body</selection_filter>
</attributes>
</property>
</propertygroup>
<propertygroup name="Flexible Bodies" caption="Flexible Bodies">

<property name="Geometry" control="scoping">
<attributes>
<selection_filter>body</selection_filter>
</attributes>
</property>
</propertygroup>
<callbacks>
<getcommands location="pre" >writeSnippet</getcommands>
</callbacks>
</load>
</simdata>
Customizing LS-DYNA using ACT
To enable a custom load for LS-DYNA usage, define the attribute custom_dyna for the load, and set
its value to yes. Additionally, if the load needs to write information to the solver input file, the callback
getcommands must be implemented. The getcommands element specifies the name of the IronPython
function called when Mechanical writes the solver input file.
<getcommands location = [string] order = [integer]>-->
[function(solver,solverdata,stream)]</getcommands>
The solverdata is a helper structure. It helps integrate user extensions with LS-DYNA, particularly
when the solver commands generated by the extension add entities that have identifiers, like nodes,
elements or components. Through the solverdata structure, ACT provides an efficient method to
manage the newly created IDs of these entities with the existing IDs previously generated by LS-DYNA.
It also enables reuse of internally implemented keywords like materials or elements.
Note:
The syntax shown for the methods is C#.
The following table and sections describe the available solverdata methods.
Table 6.1: Solverdata Methods
CreateMaterial (p. 181)CreateMaterial (p. 181) Two different methods available to create materials
for LS-DYNA.
CreateNewElement (p. 182) Method to create an element keyword.
GetNewPartId (p. 183) Method to get an unused part identifier.
LSDynaSolverExtension.KeyWords.Part.Part Method to create a new part keyword.
CreateNewPart (p. 183)
CreateSection (p. 183) Method to create a new section keyword.
GetComponent (p. 184) Method to get the LS-DYNA equivalent of a mechanical
Named Selection.
GetContactId (p. 184) Method to get the solver contact identifier of the
contact object.
CreateMaterial
GetContactTargetId (p. 184) Method to get the solver contact identifier of the
contact target object.
GetCoordinateSystemSolverId (p. 185) Method to get the solver coordinate system identifier.
GetEndTime (p. 185) Method to get the simulation end time.
GetMaterialSolverId (p. 185) Method to get the material identifier of a body.
GetNamedSelectionLSDYNAId (p. 186) Method to get the solver named selection identifier.
GetNewContact (p. 186) Method to get an empty contact keyword.
GetNewCurveId (p. 186) Method to get an unused curve identifier.
GetNewElementId (p. 186) Method to get an unused element identifier.
GetNewElementType (p. 186) Method to get an unused part identifier.
GetNewNodeId (p. 187) Method to get an unused node identifier.
GetNewVectorId (p. 187) Method to get an unused vector identifier.
GetRemotePointNodeId (p. 187) Method to get the master node identifier for a remote
point.
GetSolverUnitSystem (p. 187) Method to get the solver unit system.
ContainsDynamicRelaxation (p. 187) Method to determine if dynamic relaxation is used in the
model.
CurrentStep (p. 188) Method to get the current step.
MaxElementId (p. 188) Method to get the maximum element identifier.
MaxElementType (p. 188) Method to get the maximum part identifier.
MaxNodeId (p. 188) Method to get the maximum node identifier.
6.1. CreateMaterial
This method tries to create a LS-DYNA material keyword based on the Engineering Data material object.
For example. If the material is an elastic only material, this method will return *MAT_ELASTIC keyword.
Declaration Syntax
public IMaterialKeyWord CreateMaterial(IMaterial materialClass, long materialId);
Table 6.2: Properties
Property Type Description

materialClass IMaterial The class of the Engineering Data material
object.
materialID long The ID of the Engineering Data material
object.
6.2. CreateMaterial
This method tries to create a LS-DYNA material keyword based on the Engineering Data material object
and the material type. For example, if the material is compatible with an LS-DYNA spot-weld material
(has at least elastic properties) and *MAT_SPOTWELD is entered as the material type, this method will
return *MAT_SPOTWELD keyword.
Declaration Syntax
public IMaterialKeyWord CreateMaterial(IMaterial materialClass, string materialType, long materialId);

materialClass IMaterial The class of the Engineering Data material
object.
materialType string The type of the Engineering Data material
object.
materialID long The ID of the Engineering Data material
object.
6.3. CreateNewElement
This method creates an element keyword (solid, shell, beam, etc.) based elementType and will return
the LS-DYNA keyword that represents the specified element type.
Declaration Syntax
public IKeyWord CreateNewElement(string elementType);
The following element types are available:

elementType string The following values are
valid:
• "*ELEMENT_SOLID":
• "*ELEMENT_SHELL":
• "*ELEMENT_BEAM":
• "*ELEMENT_DISCRETE":
• "*ELEMENT_INERTIA":
• "*ELEMENT_MASS":
• "*ELEMENT_TSHELL":
CreateSection
6.4. GetNewPartId
This method returns an unused part identifier.
Declaration Syntax
public long GetNewPartId() ;
6.5. LSDynaSolverExtension.KeyWords.Part.Part CreateNewPart

This method will create a new part keyword with the identifier partId. By default, the material identi-
fier and the section identifier are set to partId. This method should be used in conjunction with the
method GetNewPartId() to avoid identifier clashes in the input file.
Declaration Syntax
public LSDynaSolverExtension.KeyWords.Part.Part CreateNewPart(long partId);

partId long The ID of the newly
created part.
6.6. CreateSection
This method will create a new section keyword based on the section type sectionName, on the section
identifier secId, and the element formulation elform.
Declaration Syntax
public IKeyWord CreateSection(string sectionName, long secId, long elform);
The following section types are available:

elementType string The following values are
valid:
• "*SECTION_SOLID"
• "*SECTION_SECTION_ALE"
• "*SECTION_SHELL"
• "*SECTION_BEAM"

• "SECTION_DISCRETE"
6.7. GetComponent
This method returns a string containing the LS-DYNA text equivalent of a Mechanical Named Selection
given an ACT selectionInfo. The identifier of the component identifier is automatically incremented
by LS-DYNA.
Declaration Syntax
public string GetComponent(ISelectionInfo info, out int nsid);

info ISelectionInfo An ACT selection object.
nsid int A new ID for the named selection
created.
6.8. GetContactId
This method returns the solver contact identifier given the tree identifier of the contact object.
Declaration Syntax
public string GetContactId(int treeId);

treeId int Workbench ID of contact
object.
6.9. GetContactTargetId
This method returns the solver contact target identifier given the tree identifier of the contact object.
GetMaterialSolverId
Declaration Syntax
public string GetContactTargetId(int treeId);

treeId int Workbench ID of contact target
object.
6.10. GetCoordinateSystemSolverId
This method returns the solver coordinate system identifier given the tree identifier of the coordinate
system object.
Declaration Syntax
public string GetCoordinateSystemSolverId(int id);

id int Workbench ID of coordinate system
object.
6.11. GetEndTime
This method returns the simulation end time.
Declaration Syntax
public double GetEndTime();
6.12. GetMaterialSolverId
This method returns the material identifier given the body identifier the material is applied to.
Declaration Syntax
public string GetMaterialSolverId(int bodyId);

bodyId int Workbench ID of the body to which the material is
applied.
6.13. GetNamedSelectionLSDYNAId
This method returns the LS-DYNA solver named selection identifier given an existing Workbench named
selection.
Declaration Syntax
public int GetNamedSelectionLSDYNAId(ISelectionInfo namedSelection);

namedSelection ISelectionInfo Workbench ID of named selection of
interest.
6.14. GetNewContact
This method returns a new empty contact keyword.
Declaration Syntax
public IKeyWord GetNewContact();
6.15. GetNewCurveId
This method returns an unused curve identifier.
Declaration Syntax
public ulong GetNewCurveId();
6.16. GetNewElementId
This method returns an unused element identifier.
Declaration Syntax
public ulong GetNewElementId();
6.17. GetNewElementType
This method returns an unused part identifier.
Declaration Syntax
public uint GetNewElementType();
ContainsDynamicRelaxation
6.18. GetNewNodeId
This method returns an unused node identifier.
Declaration Syntax
public ulong GetNewNodeId();
6.19. GetNewVectorId
This method returns an unused vector identifier.
Declaration Syntax
public ulong GetNewVectorId();
6.20. GetRemotePointNodeId
This method returns the master node identifier for a given remote point (tree) identifier.
Declaration Syntax
public int GetRemotePointNodeId(int remotePointId);

remotePointId int Workbench ID of remote point of
interest.
6.21. GetSolverUnitSystem
This method returns the solver unit system.
Declaration Syntax
public string GetSolverUnitSystem() ;
6.22. ContainsDynamicRelaxation
This method returns whether dynamic relaxation is used or not in the model.
Declaration Syntax
public bool ContainsDynamicRelaxation { get; };
6.23. CurrentStep
This method returns the current step of the model. For LS-DYNA it is always 1.
Declaration Syntax
public uint CurrentStep { get; };
6.24. MaxElementId
This method returns the maximum element identifier in the model.
Declaration Syntax
public ulong MaxElementId { get; } ;
6.25. MaxElementType
This method returns the maximum part identifier in the model.
Declaration Syntax
public uint MaxElementType { get; };
6.26. MaxNodeId
This method returns the maximum node identifier in the model.
Declaration Syntax
public ulong MaxNodeId { get; };
Chapter 7: References
The following references are cited in this guide:
1. F. Barlat and J. Lian. "Plastic Behavior and Stretchability of Sheet Metals. Part I: A Yield Function for
Orthotropic Sheets Under Plane Stress Conditions". Int. Journal of Plasticity, Vol. 5. pg. 51-66. 1989.
2. F. Barlat, D. J. Lege, and J. C. Brem. "A Six-Component Yield Function for Anistropic Materials". Int.
Journal of Plasticity, Vol. 7. pg. 693-712. 1991.
3. R. Hill. "A Theory of the Yielding and Plastic Flow of Anisotropic Metals". Proceedings of the Royal Society
of London, Series A., Vol. 193. pg. 281–197. 1948.

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LS-DYNA User's Guide

ANSYS, Inc. Release 2022 R2

© 2022 ANSYS, Inc. Unauthorized use, distribution or duplication is prohibited.

U.S. Government Rights

Published in the U.S.A.

3.5. Accessing Results ............................................................................................................................ 47

5.2. Density ......................................................................................................................................... 158

5.14.4. *MAT_PLASTIC_KINEMATIC ................................................................................................. 175

6.24. MaxElementId ............................................................................................................................. 188

• Large deformations (for example the crumpling of sheet metal parts)

• Automotive crash (deformation of chassis, airbag inflation, seatbelt tensioning)

• Explosions (underwater Naval mine, shaped charges)

• Manufacturing (sheet metal stamping)

2.1. How to use LS-DYNA in Workbench

When using Commands objects with LS-DYNA, be aware of the following:

2.1.1. Selecting the Version of LS-DYNA to Run

2.1.1.1. Analysis Settings

Choose whether to use Single or Double precision floating point representation.

Per Process Memory Allocation

2.1.1.2. Exposing Other Versions of LS-DYNA

path="C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64" name="lsdyna_mpp_dp_msmpi.exe" />

Every solver file must be uniquely defined by the following attributes:

Solver version number, such as 11.2

Process type, either SMP or MPP

The solver precision you want to use, either single or double

Path (relative or absolute) of the folder containing the solver file

Name of the solver file

2.1.2. Solving Units

Metric (mm, tonne, N, s)

Metric (µm, Kg, µN, s)

US Customary (ft, lbm, lbf, s)

US Customary (in, lbm, lbf, s)

Metric (m, Kg, N, s)

Metric (cm, g, dyne, s)

Metric (mm, kg, kN, ms)

2.1.3. Explicit-to-Implicit Sequential Solutions

Some of the reasons to perform a sequential solution include:

2.1.3.1. Steps to run a Sequential Solution

4. Redefine the boundary conditions.

5. Solve the new analysis.

Additional Considerations for the LS-DYNA to Mechanical APDL Solver Workflow

2.1.4. Using LS-DYNA Implicit Features for the Implicit Calculation

Then set the following options:

– When your structure is force-loaded (as opposed to displacement-controlled).

There are two options for controlling stabilization:

– Off (default): Deactivates stabilization.

– On: Specifies stabilization should be used.

→ End Time: Enter the end time for the stabilization.

2.2. Licensing Requirements

2.3. Running a Distributed Solution

2.3.1. Shared Memory Parallel Processing

2.3.2. Massively Parallel Processing

Table 2.1: LS-DYNA MPP MPI Support on Windows and Linux

MPI version for DYNA 64-bit 64-bit

2.3.3. Configuring LS-DYNA in Parallel

2.3.3.1. Prerequisites for Running LS-DYNA in Parallel

2.3.3.2. MPI Software

Table 2.2: Platforms and MPI Software

Platform MPI Software

2.3.3.3. Installing the Software