Conclusion

View a summary of the findings from the single element models.

The above results highlight two important considerations when using pre-failure nonlinearity:

1. The deformation is much more accurate when the pre-failure nonlinearity feature is used.
2. The shear strength of the material is not affected by pre-failure nonlinearity.

The decision to use pre-failure nonlinearity depends on several factors such as loading, boundary conditions, and material nonlinearity. In general, if longitudinal shear strains are significant and the material exhibits significant material nonlinearity, using pre-failure nonlinearity is recommended. If, on the other hand, longitudinal shear strains in the model are not significant and the material exhibits insignificant material nonlinearity, using pre-failure may not be beneficial. Keep in mind that using pre-failure will typically increase computational effort and analysis run time so it should not be used if it is not needed.