Defining a Maximum Truss Thickness (Maximum Member Size)

You can define a maximum truss thickness to design castable components. This restriction avoids thick parts are avoided by splitting them into several thinner parts.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin: The maximum member size constraint can only be used with the sensitivity-based algorithm. Maximum member size constraints with the controller algorithm are not supported.
See Also
About Member Size Control
In Other Guides
DVCON_TOPO

Define a Maximum Member Size in Tosca Structure.gui

  1. Choose Command > DVCON_TOPO in Tosca Structure.pre.
  2. Define the Maximum Member Size as shown in the following figure:

  3. Or use the DVCON_TOPO command: 

    
DVCON_TOPO
  ID_NAME       = <Name of DVCON object>
  EL_GROUP      = <Element group to be restricted>
  CHECK_TYPE    = MAX_MEMBER
  THICKNESS     = <Maximum thickness of structures>
  MIN_THICKNESS = <Minimum thickness of structures>
  DISTANCE      = <Distance between structural members>
  METHOD        = FILTER | LOCAL_VOLUME
  APPROXIMATE   = YES | NO, optional: <scale factor>
END_
    Important:
    • APPROXIMATE is only supported for METHOD=LOCAL_VOLUME and tetrahedral elements.