Quasi-static analysis accuracy considerations

In the example shown in Figure 1 we define a load/unload problem with a linear up/down ramp.

Figure 1: Load/unload problem in 2 steps with a linear up/down ramp.

What happens if you specify three steps for this simulation, as shown in Figure 2?

Figure 2: Load/unload problem in 3 steps.

In the first step, the amplitude is evaluated at the 1/3 point in the duration. The second step amplitude is evaluated at the 2/3 duration point, which misses the peak displacement and computes a zero response. The final step evaluates the duration at the end, to remove the load. In addition to missing the peak displacement, this solution takes 50% longer to compute than figure 1.

Intermediate results

The solution at each step is a transient solution in pseudo-time. Since the results are typically highly nonlinear and path-dependent, intermediate results are written at specified points during the pseudo-time of each step. You can specify how many intermediate results you want per step; the default number is 10.