Object-oriented Matlab framework for the manipulation of Nastran input models and simulation results.
This project was created as a follow-up of my work for several tasks dealing with aeroelastic analyses with MSC Nastran. The motivation behind the creation and maintenance of this project stems from the desire to have an object-oriented framework to manage input and output data of simulations in Nastran. Such object-oriented framework is considered to give advantages in terms of modularity and flexibility, together with the convenient opportunity to track the dependencies of the elements composing the computational model. A big step towards the formalization of this framework was made while working on a research project at TU Delft involving the design of an aeroelastically tailored wing. This research project ended up in a paper for SciTech 2020, where the framework is partially explained.
The top element in the hierarchy of the object-oriented framework is the NastranAnalysis object. This contains everything needed to run analyses and to process the results: the NastranExecutiveControl object, where the solution sequence is specified, the NastranCaseControl object, where the subcases of the nastran analysis are defined, the NastranSubcaseResult object array, where the results are stored and the NastranBulkData object, where the numerical model is defined. The two main children of NastranBulkData object are an array of Grid objects and an array of NastranPart objects. The Grid objects define all the structural nodes of the numerical model, while the array of NastranPart objects defines the different parts of the modelled structure. For example, in a wing these parts may correspond to bottom skin, top skin, spars and ribs. A NastranPart object, in turn, contains a name, needed for identification, and an array of NastranRegion objects. These correspond to portions of the structure having the same material properties. A NastranPart object may contain several NastranRegion objects. For example the top skin of a composite wing may be composed by several spanwise and chordwise laminates. The three main attributes of a NastranRegion object are the ElementArray, the ElementProperty and the MaterialProperty. The first component includes objects representing structural elements (e.g. Cquad4 objects) and corresponding to analogous Nastran cards. The structural element objects are linked to the Grid objects forming each structural element. The ElementProperty contains a property object (e.g. Pshell), which defines properties of all the structural elements belonging to the NastranRegion object. The MaterialProperty is made of a material object (e.g. Mat2) which defines the properties of the material associated to the structural elements of the NastranRegion.
An illustration of the structure of the object-oriented framework is given in the figure below.
Warning: you must have Nastran already installed in your computer to use the framework!
- Download the package to a local folder (e.g. ~/matlab-4-nastran/) by running:
git clone https://github.com/fmamitrotta/matlab-4-nastran.git-
Run Matlab and add the folder (~/matlab-4-nastran/) to your Matlab path.
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Try some of the example scripts to get an understanding of the framework. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: matlab-4-nastran is not a model generator!
matlab-4-nastran only provides an object-oriented interface to Nastran to better manage input and output data. It is up to the user to construct an input model for simulations in Nastran using the provided classes.
Please don't hesistate to throw feedback and suggestions. Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.