Voltages

Note: The information in this section applies to all linear and nonlinear structural analyses for which voltage loads are applicable. Voltages are also applicable to electrostatic analyses but are significantly different within that context. Please refer to the page, Setting Up and Performing the Analysis: Analysis-Specific Information: Electrostatic Analyses: Loads and Constraints: Applied Voltage, for more information.

A voltage can be applied to nodes or surfaces of a model.

What Does a Voltage Do?

A surface voltage applies nodal voltages to each node on the surface.
A voltage is used for a voltage induced stress analysis. The node that a voltage is applied to is kept at the value specified in the Magnitude field. This voltage only applies to that node. It does not conduct through the material. Either a Piezoelectric or General Piezoelectric material model must be selected in the Material Model drop-down menu of the Element Definition dialog box for nodal voltages to affect a structural analysis.
The stress caused by the nodal voltage is determined by the values entered in the Piezoelectric tab of the Element Material Specification dialog box.
For the manually-applied voltages to be accounted for in the analysis, the Model file option must be selected in the Source of voltages drop-down box in the Electrical tab of the Analysis Parameters dialog box.
For a linear analysis, you must also assign a Electrical multiplier in the Multipliers tab of the Analysis Parameters dialog box. This value is multiplied by the Magnitude and the product is applied to the node.
For a nonlinear analysis, select the load curve that will control the magnitudes of the voltages as a function of time in the Nodal voltage load curve index field within the Electrical tab of the Analysis Parameters dialog box.

Apply Voltages

If you have nodes or surfaces selected, you can right-click in the display area and select the Add pull-out menu. Select the Nodal Voltages or Surface Voltages command. This command is also available from the ribbon (Setup Loads Voltage).

Specify the magnitude of the voltage that is applied to each selected object in the Magnitude field.

Note: See the comments under the Application of Loads and Constraints at Duplicate Vertices heading on the Loads and Constraints page for information about how nodal loads are applied at duplicate vertices.

Apply Constant Voltage to Entire Models

If you simply want to determine the stress in a model due to a uniform voltage change, it is not necessary to add nodal voltages to the entire model. Instead, right-click the Electrical heading under the Analysis Type heading in the browser. Type the value in the Default nodal voltage field. Any node in the model that does not have a nodal voltage is set to this value.

Apply Voltage Profiles from Electrostatic Analyses

In some cases, the voltage profile for a model has already been calculated using an electrostatic analysis. If the geometry of the structural model is identical to the electrostatic model, the voltage results can be used for the voltage profile.

Right-click the Electrical heading under the Analysis Type heading in the browser. Select the Electrostatic analysis option in the Source of nodal voltages drop-down Menu. Click the Browse button next to the Voltage data in file field and navigate to the electrostatic results file.

Note: This method permits the meshes to be different between the electrostatic model and the stress model. See the paragraph Requirements for Different Meshes on the page Multiphysics for details.