Point masses

Mass elements:

  • allow the introduction of concentrated mass that is either isotropic or anisotropic at a point;

  • are associated with the three translational degrees of freedom at a node.

If rotary inertia is also required (for example, to represent a rigid body), use element type ROTARYI (Rotary inertia).

In addition to point masses, Abaqus provides a convenient nonstructural mass definition that can be used to smear mass from features that have negligible structural stiffness over a region that is typically adjacent to the nonstructural feature. The nonstructural mass can be specified in the form of a total mass value, a mass per unit volume, a mass per unit area, or a mass per unit length (see Nonstructural mass definition).

The following topics are discussed:

Related Topics
Mass element library
In Other Guides
*MASS
Defining point mass and rotary inertia

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