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Arch numerical parameters

To take into account the contact between the pipe and the arch, the pipe curvature is prevented from exceeding the arch curvature : C_arch=1/R.

Note

Contact between lines and the surface of the arch body is not actually modelled through contact elements. Sections of the line laid on the arch are prevented to exceed the curvature of the arch shape by introducing additional bending in the beam elements. More realistic contact with the arch body could be modelled provided the arch body is modelled with a Rigid Body component instead of the Arch component.

The bending stiffness of the elements on the arch (EI) is automatically changed in using an average method into a multi-linear stiffness and a profile is created to progressively increase EI to K*EI. This transition zone ranges from C_inf to C_sup, which are defined as follows :

  • C_inf = (1 EPS_INF)*C_arch

  • C_sup = (1 + EPS_SUP)*C_arch