Import Forces

Apply forces, spot forces, and spot displacements from an external comma separated values (.csv) file.

  1. On the Project Tree, open the Analysis Workbench.
  2. Choose one of the following:
    Option Steps
    Import Forces Within a tolerance, forces are mapped from the specified force location to the point on the closest part face. Forces and locations are specified in the global coordinate system. Multiple load cases can be specified in each .csv file, although only one may be applied at a time.
    Depending on the analysis type, select the desired method:
    • On the Analysis Workbench toolbar, select > Imported forces.
    • For multi-loadcases, on the Multi-loadcases Workbench, select > Imported forces
    Import Spot Forces Forces and moments are applied on spots which are created on the fly on the closest part face from the specified location. Forces, moments, and locations are specified in the global coordinate system. Multiple load cases can be specified in each .csv file, although only one may be applied at a time.
    Depending on the analysis type, select the desired method:
    • On the Analysis Workbench toolbar, select > Imported spot forces.
    • For multi-loadcases, on the Multi-loadcases Workbench, select > Imported spot forces
    Import Spot Displacements Translations and rotations are applied on spots which are created on the fly on the closest part face from the specified location. Translations, rotations and locations are specified in the global coordinate system. Multiple load cases can be specified in each .csv file, although only one may be applied at a time.
    Depending on the analysis type, select the desired method:
    • On the Analysis Workbench toolbar, select > Imported spot displacements.
    • For multi-loadcases, on the Multi-loadcases Workbench, select > Imported spot displacements
  3. In the dialog, click the Import from CSV button.
  4. Browse to the desired .csv file in the File explorer.
  5. Click Open.
  6. In the dialog, if more than one load case is present in the .csv file, select the load case to apply in the drop-down menu.
    Note: For multi-loadcases, when more than one load case is specified in the .csv file, multiple load cases are automatically created on import.
  7. Optional: If desired, edit a coordinate value to fine-tune the position.
    Note: This may be required if the tolerance to the part face is too large.
  8. Optional: For geometric non-linear analysis, you can specify the loads as follower loads.
  9. Click OK.

Imported Forces CSV File Format

.csv file format for importing forces, spot forces, and spot displacements.

The .csv file contains one header row and one or more additional data rows. Data values are as follows.

Forces CSV File Format Fields

  • X, Y and Z – Numeric values. Spatial location used to map force to the nearest face.
  • Fx, Fy and Fz – Numeric values. Force component values in X, Y and Z directions.
  • Load case – (optional) String value. Only required if multiple load cases are present

Example Forces CSV File

X,Y,Z,Fx,Fy,Fz,Load case
50,50,50,100,0,0,0,0,0,load_1
50,10,50,0,100,0,0,0,0,load_2

Spot Forces CSV File Format Fields

  • X, Y and Z – Numeric values. Spatial location of the center of the spot projection.
  • Fx, Fy and Fz – Numeric values. Force component values in X, Y and Z directions.
  • Mx, My, Mz - Numeric values. Moment component values in X, Y, and Z directions.
  • Diameter - Numeric value. Diameter of the spot.
  • Load case – (optional) String value. Only required if multiple load cases are present.

Example Spot Forces CSV File

X,Y,Z,Fx,Fy,Fz,Mx,My,Mz,Diameter,Load case 
50,50,50,100,0,0,0,0,0,2,load_1
50,10,50,0,100,0,0,0,0,5,load_2

Spot Displacements File Format Fields

  • X, Y and Z – Numeric values. Spatial location of the center of the spot projection.
  • Tx, Ty and Tz – Numeric values. Translation component values in X, Y and Z directions.
  • Rx, Ry, Rz - Numeric values. Rotation component values in X, Y, and Z directions.
  • Diameter - Numeric value. Diameter of the spot.
  • Load case – (optional) String value. Only required if multiple load cases are present.

Example Spot Displacements CSV File

X,Y,Z,Tx,Ty,Tz,Rx,Ry,Rz,Diameter,Load case
50,50,50,1,0,0,0,0,0,2,load_1
50,10,50,0,1,0,0,0,0,5,load_2