Constant Value Arguments

When an argument is passed as a constant, it is converted to a constant value table by the Expression Builder.

In order to do so, the argument must meet the following requirements:
  • The argument is a value table.
  • The argument is of a specific format (scalar, vector, or tensor).
  • The argument is bound to a specific entity type.

Operators that accept general value types will not accept constant value arguments. Examples of operators that fail to meet these criteria are unary operators in the Math Library (which accept scalar, vector, or tensor types, bound to any entity type). These restrictions are necessary in order to create a constant value table.

The composite failure theory example below requires five material-bound scalar value tables in order to function (Xt, Xc, Yt, Yc, and S).

These tables define the allowable stresses in tension, compression, and shear along the fiber X and Y directions for a given material, and are passed to the Hill Failure Theory operator below as scalar tables from resource #4 (default arguments not shown):


Figure 1.
In cases where tables are not available for an operation and a constant value would suffice, value tables can be replaced with constants. For the example above, the operator HillFT could be called as follows (default values not shown):


Figure 2.