MinuteSim-generated model
Solid tensile necking
A steel bar develops a localized neck under prescribed extension. Compare one and three layers of solid elements through its thickness.
Oblique close-ups of the same central region: one solid layer on the left and three on the right. Both animations cover 0–4 ms of simulated time, with no displacement enlargement. Color shows cell-averaged effective plastic strain on the original 0–1.8 scale. The camera deliberately crops the ends of the bar.
Both models localize near the centre as the loaded end travels 20 mm. The three-layer model resolves deformation through the thickness with 1,080 elements, compared with 360 in the one-layer model.
Model and loading
Steel bar
The initial gauge region is 60 × 12.5 × 3 mm. A smooth 1% width reduction at mid-length seeds the neck. Both meshes use Hex8 · F-bar elements with 2 × 2 × 2 integration, arranged as 60 × 6 × 1 or 60 × 6 × 3.
Prescribed extension
One end is fixed in translation; the other is pulled 20 mm over 4 ms using a half-cosine displacement ramp. The video focuses on the neck, while the model includes the full gauge length.
Representative steel properties: E = 210 GPa, ν = 0.30 and density = 7,850 kg/m³. The tabulated plastic response follows σ = 530(0.02335 + εp)0.2 MPa, with an initial yield stress of approximately 250 MPa.
Response in the two meshes
| Quantity | One layer | Three layers |
|---|---|---|
| Solid elements | 360 | 1,080 |
| Peak axial force | 12,026 N | 12,044 N |
| End travel at peak force | 8.436 mm | 7.666 mm |
| Final neck width | 5.264 mm | 5.034 mm |
| Final neck thickness | 0.950 mm | 0.881 mm |
| Maximum effective plastic strain | 1.727 | 1.769 |
Idealized peak-load reference
The Considère criterion gives approximately 11,952 N for uniform uniaxial plastic extension using the minimum initial area of 37.125 mm² and neglecting elastic strain. The recorded peak loads are 0.6% and 0.8% above that estimate.
This is a scale check for peak load, not validation of the neck shape or the onset displacement. The seeded imperfection and fixed end make deformation non-uniform; the idealized criterion does not reproduce those boundary conditions.
Model origin and scope
MinuteSim-generated meshes and input decks use representative geometry and material values chosen for this demonstration. Both runs reach 4 ms in single precision (FP32) on an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060. This is not a reproduction of a specific material test, a mesh-convergence study or a fracture prediction.
SUPPORTED · Configured capability demonstration. Results apply to the model and loading described here.