In the Stress Extended Report, the nodepairs constituting each element are listed. And as a node is (very often) shared between two or more elements, every node appears more then once.

After using CAESAR for a month or so, these values have shown to be
- often identical
- sometimes slightly different
- sometimes very different

What I am trying to get hold of is how CAESAR is treating these shared nodes, where they in my experience are given different values depending on what element in the report you are looking at.

I would also be grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of any "FE-documentation" on CAESAR (i.e. anything about how the calculations are made, something that could answer the above question for instance). Have looked at the tecnical reference manual, but to me it was not very helpfull..

Thank you!

The stress in an element is computed from the forces and moments applied to the element. In the case of CAESAR II, the stresses are computed at the node points, the ends of the element. The forces and moments here represent the free body diagram for that particular element.

Often the forces and moments are the same at a given node point when you move from element to element. Could the stresses be different - yes, consider SIFs and cross section changes.

Could the forces and moments be different at a given node point as you move from element to element? Yes, consider a restraint at that node or muliple (more than 2) elements.


Is there any FEA documentation specifically on CAESAR II ? No, but CAESAR II is an FEA program, it's just that it utilizes on the "3D Beam Element".