Upload a CSV to auto-calculate member lengths from node coordinates, or use presets. Then optimize wall thickness groups and total mass.
Drop your CSV โ the tool reads Node ID/X/Y/Z columns and Element ID/Node1/Node2/Type columns. The optional Type column (structural or cable) routes cables to a separate mass model and tension-only LINK180 elements. Omit it and everything is treated as structural.
Paste your SET,LIST output from ANSYS below, then click Parse. Works with both file.rst (plain modal) and file.rstp (perturbation modal) formats.
Self-contained optimizer that tapers both the outer diameter and the wall thickness with the same quadratic curve, then finds the optimal manufacturing groups for each independently. It reuses the structural length from a loaded CSV (otherwise the preset length). The shared model further down the page is untouched and still uses a single uniform OD.
| Group | Bays | Use OD | Range |
|---|
| Group | Bays | Use wall t | Range |
|---|
Penalty = extra mass from stepping the continuous OD taper into discrete groups (wall grouping held at its current value). Highlighted point = current OD-group count.
Generates one SECTYPE/SECDATA per (OD-group ร wall-group) combination. Each beam element is assigned its section by looking up both group indices from the taper maps. Cable properties, pretension, BCs, and solver settings are inherited from the shared controls below.
Requires a CSV. Tip-load and torque values come from the static controls in the shared panel below.
Cross-bracing: tension-only links + INISTATE strain. Longitudinals (cable_long_*): tension-only links + INISTATE โ go slack if compressed by cross cable pretension.
Uncheck a cable system to delete it from the exported APDL before solving. With both unchecked, the longerons-only export is a plain linear modal โ no pretension or perturbation.
Cables modeled as solid tension-only links (LINK180). Default props โ Vectran/Kevlar. Excluded from the wall-thickness taper.
Distributed equally across 18 apex-top longeron nodes (Z=+2827.9mm, one per bay). Included in total mass. Set to 0 to omit.
Groups are capped at the number of cells detected in the loaded CSV.
| Group | Bays | Use wall t | Range | Mass |
|---|
Requires CSV. Draws all members as 3D sketch lines colour-coded by wall thickness group.
BEAM188 structure + tension-only LINK180 cables with pretension. Cabled models use a nonlinear pretension step + linear-perturbation prestressed modal; all-beam models use a direct modal.
Tip nodes and moment arm auto-detected from the CSV (highest Y nodes). Torque applied as a force couple in Z at the two outermost tip nodes. SMISC indices corrected for BEAM188.
Green dashed = theoretical minimum. Highlighted point = current selection.