# Possible to provide external file as input for loads?

**URL:** <https://calculix.discourse.group/t/possible-to-provide-external-file-as-input-for-loads/442>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [February 9, 2021, 11:24am UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/possible-to-provide-external-file-as-input-for-loads/442 "2021-02-09T11:24:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Titan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Titan](https://calculix.discourse.group/u/Titan)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 11:24am UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/possible-to-provide-external-file-as-input-for-loads/442/1 "2021-02-09T11:24:48Z")

</div>

Hi,

Is it possible to provide time varying loads as an input file to calculix?  
If yes, please do share how and an example will be very useful.

Thanks

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vicmw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@vicmw](https://calculix.discourse.group/u/vicmw)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 8:39pm UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/possible-to-provide-external-file-as-input-for-loads/442/2 "2021-02-11T20:39:16Z")

</div>

Use \*INCLUDE to insert another file in a .inp file. You can use it within a keyword card so instead of a single .inp file containing

```
*AMPLITUDE,NAME=MyAmplitude
0,0
0.1093,0.02727062618244
0.1511,0.03763142250748
*CLOAD,AMPLITUDE=MyAmplitude
3,1,1

```

use

```
*AMPLITUDE,NAME=MyAmplitude
*INCLUDE,INPUT="MyTimeFunction.txt"
*CLOAD,AMPLITUDE=MyAmplitude
3,1,1

```

and the file MyTimeFunction.txt which contains the (time, force) ordered pairs:

```
0,0
0.1093,0.02727062618244
0.1511,0.03763142250748
```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Titan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Titan](https://calculix.discourse.group/u/Titan)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 3:24am UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/possible-to-provide-external-file-as-input-for-loads/442/3 "2021-02-18T03:24:57Z")

</div>

Thanks very much for clarifying with good example.  
May I know if it’s possible to provide force instead of pressure, as force will have 3 components?  
Taking this one step further, is it possible to provide pressure or force as a function of time and space?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vicmw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@vicmw](https://calculix.discourse.group/u/vicmw)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://calculix.discourse.group/t/possible-to-provide-external-file-as-input-for-loads/442/4 "2021-02-18T21:32:37Z")

</div>

Use a separate \*CLOAD card and \*AMPLITUDE for each component if you want them to be different functions of time. Or, if they’re all proportional to each other (i.e. a force with a constant direction but changing magnitude), you could use the same \*CLOAD and \*AMPLITUDE but different scale factors on each DOF in the \*CLOAD card.

I don’t think CCX can do a function of position unless it’s one of the built-in ones like centrifugal force. It has a \*DISTRIBUTION card but only for orientations, as far as I know. You may have to use external software to generate individual \*CLOAD or \*DLOAD card/line for each node or face.