Exporting IGES file from SAP2000 into LS-DYNA

[SimonH1977]

I am currently working on the dissertation for my Structural Engineering MSc and I have been asked to perform the analysis section of the project in LS-Dyna. I am analyzing the effects of blast loads on steel structures and decided that I would focus mt attentions on transmission towers. I have never operated LS-Dyna and was hoping to be able to model the tower in SAP2000 and then export the file in Dyna, saving myself valuable modelling time as I have only 6 weeks to complete the project. If I get the project completed early I can always spend a bit of time learning more about ls-prepost processor. I have used SAP before for previous projects and was able to model the tower today. However, although I am no dinosaur when it comes to computers, I am certainly no expert when it comes to the different file types that the models can be saved in. After looking at the two software's, I observed that they both support IGES files and quickly exported a basic tower model from SAP200 into Dyna and the export was successful. This where my problem began, when I modeled a more complicated tower and exported the IGES file from SAP to Dyna, the geometry of the tower was messed up. The tower is modeled using Angle steel elements, but I believe that by exporting an IGES file, the only data that is transferred is the geometrical information and not the material or section data.

I am currently researching how best to approach this problem and what my options are. However, I was hoping to acquire some expert input from here and maybe some guidance on where to focus my attentions when dealing with my problem.

Any assistance would be appreciated

Regards

Simon