0D Elements

Supported 0D elements.

0D elements are essentially mesh nodes with an additional value attached to them.

SPH Elements

Node-like particles which have no geometric connectivity among themselves. Each SPH element has an effective mass.

Mass Elements

Configuration 1 - 0D elements with a single node that allow you to assign concentrated mass to the model in order to represent a physical part that may not be modeled with another FE idealization. Masses have the ability to store one node, a value of mass, and a property reference.

Mass elements are displayed as a dot with the letter M written at the centroid of the element.

Create 0D Elements

  1. Navigate to the Elements ribbon.
  2. Open one of the tools in the 0D/1D tool set to assign different types of masses to nodes.
    The tools available depend on the active solver interface.


    Figure 1. 0D Tools in the OptiStruct Interface
  3. Use the drop-down menu on the guide bar to select the element types that can serve as mass elements.
    The keywords available depend on the tool and solver interface.
  4. Select nodes, faces, or edges on which to create 0D elements.
  5. For the keywords that require it, specify the following:
    • A mass input value
    • A property to assign
    • A coordinate system. If no system is specified, the global system is used.

    If a certain keyword does not require a mass value, property assignment, or coordinate system, those options are not made available in the microdialogs.

  6. On the guide bar, click one of the following:
    • - Apply and stay in the tool
    • - Apply and close the tool


Figure 2.
Tip: Update the properties of 0D elements using the Entity Editor.