Defining a point of application for a concentrated load

[TriGuy23]

Hi everyone


I have a novice question. Basically, I'm wondering how to apply concentrated forces to a cylinder's cross-section such that their point of application is the geometric center of the cross-section. Previously I just applied forces to "Sets" consisting of Nodes defined on my mesh, but since their are no nodes at the exact center, I do not know how to proceed.


Can I just create a Reference Point and apply a load to it, even though the reference point is NOT located on any node of the mesh (just located somewhere in the middle of an element)??

Thanks

 

[IceBreakerSours]

The kinematic degrees of freedom of the reference point will still need to be coupled to a node or few nodes but yes, applying the load to a reference point will work.

http://www.eng-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=376

http://www.eng-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=1083