How to apply a load as a force per unit length along a polygon edge?
Solution
When applying a force to a polygon edge, only the total force to be applied to the polygon edge can be defined.
However, if the total force is not known but the force per unit length is, or if defining the load as a force per unit length is the preferred method, this can be achieved as follows:
* define a beam element mesh on the polygon edge
* define a pressure load on the polygon edge, and set 'type = on beams' - note that the magnitude of the pressure is defined as force per unit length
Provided that the beam element cross-section is comparatively small, or that the Young's Modulus of the material assigned to the beam elements is small, then the stiffness of the additional beam elements will also be small and the analysis results should not be significantly affected by their inclusion within the model definition. Note that the user may wish to confirm this by solving the model with differing beam element cross-section properties or differing values for Young's Modulus.
Notes