Connector potentials are user-defined mathematical functions that represent
yield surfaces, limiting surfaces, or magnitude measures in the space spanned by
components of relative motion in a connector.
You use potentials to define
coupled friction, plasticity, or damage behavior options. For more information, see Connector Functions for Coupled Behavior.
To display context-sensitive help for options in the potential contribution editor, you must select the option of interest and then press F1. (The Help menu in the main menu bar is unavailable while the editor is displayed.)
Display the potential tabbed page.
For friction behavior, use the procedure outlined in Defining friction
to display the Force Potential tabbed page.
For plasticity behavior, use the procedure outlined in Defining plasticity to display the
Force Potential tabbed page.
For damage behavior, use the procedures outlined in Defining damage
and Defining damage evolution to display the
Initiation Potential and
Evolution Potential tabbed pages.
Choose the Operator.
Sum
Define the potential as the sum of the contributions.
Maximum
Define the potential as the contribution that yields the maximum value.
If you selected Sum in the Operator field, enter a positive value in the Exponent field to specify the inverse of the overall exponent in the potential definition, , that defines a general elliptical form of the potential. The default value of 2 defines a quadratic form of the potential.
In the Potential Contributions portion of the tabbed page, select one of the following options:
To define a contribution to the potential, , click .
The potential contribution editor appears.
To edit an existing contribution, select a contribution from the list, and click .
The potential contribution editor appears.
To delete an existing contribution, select a contribution from the list, and click .
In the potential contribution editor, do the following:
Specify the component to use in the potential contribution.
Specify component
Choose an available component of relative motion to define the potential contribution.