Mechanical APDL Basic Analysis Guide - Ansys

Utility Menu> List> Loads> Surface> On All Elements (or On Picked Elements)
Main Menu> Solution> Define Loads> Apply> load type> On Lines
See the descriptions of the commands listed in Table 2.6: Commands for Applying Surface Loads (p. 34) in the
Command Reference for more information.
The program stores surface loads specified on nodes internally in terms of elements and element faces.
Therefore, if you use both nodal and element surface load commands for the same surface, only the last
specification will be used.
The program applies pressures on axisymmetric shell elements or beam elements on their inner or outer
surfaces, as appropriate. In-plane pressure load vectors for layered shells (such as SHELL281) are applied on
the nodal plane. KEYOPT(11) determines the location of the nodal plane within the shell. When you use flat
elements to represent doubly curved surfaces, values which should be a function of the active radius of the
meridian will be inaccurate.
2.5.7.1. Applying Pressure Loads on Beams
To apply pressure loads on the lateral faces and the two ends of beam elements, use one of the following:
Command(s): SFBEAM
GUI: Main Menu> Preprocessor> Loads> Define Loads> Apply> Structural> Pressure> On Beams
Main Menu> Solution> Define Loads> Apply> Structural> Pressure> On Beams
You can apply lateral pressures, which have units of force per unit length, both in the normal and tangential
directions. The pressures may vary linearly along the element length, and can be specified on a portion of
the element, as shown in the following figure. You can also reduce the pressure down to a force (point load)
at any location on a beam element by setting the JOFFST field to -1. End pressures have units of force.
Figure 2.8 Example of Beam Surface Loads
2.5.7.2. Specifying Node Number Versus Surface Load
The SFFUN command specifies a "function" of node number versus surface load to be used when you apply
surface loads on nodes or elements.
Command(s): SFFUN
GUI: Main Menu> Preprocessor> Loads> Define Loads> Settings> For Surface Ld> Node Function
Main Menu> Solution> Define Loads> Settings> For Surface Ld> Node Function
It is useful when you want to apply nodal surface loads calculated elsewhere (by another software package,
for instance). You should first define the function in the form of an array parameter containing the load
values. The location of the value in the array parameter implies the node number. For example, the array
parameter shown below specifies four surface load values at nodes 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively.
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2.5.7. Surface Loads
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