Two frame members in a line make a two-span chain of three nodes, fixed at the first. The tip is pushed by 10.0 N along x and 1.0 N along y. The middle node rests on a one-way support in x that starts active, and the tip faces a gap of 0.0002 mm in y that starts open. Can the solver track supports that sit on different nodes?

1.Inputs.

Illustrative values, taken from no standard and chosen so the arithmetic can be followed by hand. Most do not describe a real pipe; read them in any consistent set of units.

2.Method.

On the first iteration the one-way support at the middle node releases and the gap at the tip closes. On the second iteration neither changes, so the loop has converged.

The reference for this group records the expected support states, changed-support counts and final residuals. It does not work out displacements or reactions, so none are tabulated here.

3.Results.

The tests check that:

• The solve converges in exactly 2 iterations: 2 supports change state on the first iteration and none on the last.
• Final states match the reference: middle one-way support released, tip gap closed. No diagnostics are raised.
• At the final iteration the out-of-balance force, moment and work at the free degrees of freedom are all exactly 0.0.
• The changes in displacement, rotation and reaction over the last iteration stay inside the recorded envelope for this group.

What it shows. Checks the supports’ final states, the iteration count and the balance of forces. Movements and reactions are not compared with a hand calculation.

Path exercised. The benchmark calls the solver’s components directly: elements, loads, frame solver and stress recovery. It does not go through the program’s own model-to-solve path.

Agreement. The loop counts as converged only when no support changes state from one iteration to the next: the changed-support count must reach exactly 0, with no relative or absolute allowance, within at most 4 iterations. At the final iteration the out-of-balance force, moment and work at the free degrees of freedom must be 0.0, and the changes in displacement, rotation and reaction over the last iteration must stay inside a recorded envelope. Long values are shown here to seven significant figures; the tests compare the full values in the record.

4.Run it yourself.

cd projects/chirality-piping
cargo test --manifest-path validation/benchmarks/nonlinear/Cargo.toml multisupport_acceptance_inventory_uses_narrow_dec_046_policy

Hand calculation: validation/hand_calcs/nonlinear/assembled_multi_support_two_span_acceptance.md. Test record, with the recorded run of 2026-07-10: nl-assembled-multi-dof-two-span-accepted-original.md.