ME-380 Course Notes

ANSYS LESSON 4
Symmetry and Shell Elements
David Herrin, Ph.D. University of Kentucky

ME-380 Course Notes

Solution Time
Plane Stress/Plane Strain/Symmetry

Roughly proportional to the number of degrees of freedom in a model squared

g

Doubling the nodes implies a four fold increase

DOF = ( N d ) - c

ME-380 Course Notes

Symmetry
Plane Stress/Plane Strain/Symmetry
g

Many large structures possess some form of symmetry Symmetry in geometry Symmetry in loading
g

Easy way to reduce a model to a more manageable size Solution time can be reduced an order of magnitude

ME-380 Course Notes

Types of Symmetry
Plane Stress/Plane Strain/Symmetry
g

Axisymmetry typical cross-section of coffee cup

ME-380 Course Notes

Types of Symmetry
Plane Stress/Plane Strain/Symmetry
g

Reflective Symmetry
Y Simply supported plate X

Model only this section

ME-380 Course Notes

Reflective Symmetry
Plane Stress/Plane Strain/Symmetry
g

Symmetric boundary conditions

F 4
ux = y = z = 0

uz = x = y = 0

ux = uy = uz = x = y = 0

ux = uy = uz = y = z = 0

ME-380 Course Notes

Symmetric Boundary Conditons

Creating Areas and Using 2-D Elements

Degrees of Freedom
Plane X=0 Y=0 Z=0 X 0 F F Y F 0 F Z F F 0 RX F 0 0 RY 0 F 0 RZ 0 0 F

F = Free 0 = Zero Displacement

ME-380 Course Notes

Anti-Symmetric Boundary Conditons

Creating Areas and Using 2-D Elements

Degrees of Freedom
Plane X=0 Y=0 Z=0 X F 0 0 Y 0 F 0 Z 0 0 F RX 0 F F RY F 0 F RZ F F 0

F = Free 0 = Zero Displacement

ME-380 Course Notes

Example - Reflective Symmetry

Plane Stress/Plane Strain/Symmetry

Fixed Ring

ME-406 Course Notes

ME-380 Course Notes

In-Class Exercise
Checking Results

1 in. 3 in. 1 in.

6 in.

ME-406 Course Notes

ME-380 Course Notes

Determining Strain Energy in ANSYS

Checking Results
g

Add a Plane82 element type Option - with thickness

Set the thickness to be 0.25 inches Set the material properties to steel E = 30E6 Nu = 0.3

ME-406 Course Notes

ME-380 Course Notes

Boundary Conditions
Checking Results Symm B.C.

200 lb/in Symm B.C.

200 lb/in

ME-406 Course Notes

ME-380 Course Notes

Create a Mapped Mesh

Checking Results
g

Establish the density controls along lines Solve the load set

Setup an element table for strain energy and calculate the total strain energy

ME-380 Course Notes

Shell Elements
Shell Elements
g

Several shell element formulations Classical shell theory Isoparametric Hybrid

Each formulation gives slightly different results

Generally, triangular elements yield very good results

ME-380 Course Notes

SHELL63 - Four Node Quadrilateral

Shell Elements

Element supports both in-plane and normal loads 6 DOF per node 3 translations 3 rotations

ME-380 Course Notes

SHELL63 - Four Node Quadrilateral

Shell Elements

Thickness can vary across the element

Pressures applied to the element surfaces have units of Force/Area Pressures applied to edges have units of Force/Unit Length

ME-380 Course Notes

SHELL93 - Eight Node Quadrilateral

Shell Elements

Better suited for modeling curved shells 6 DOF per node 3 translations 3 rotations

ME-380 Course Notes

Modeling Guidlines
Shell Elements

Flat shells

Thickness to span ratios

t t and 0.1 a b

ME-380 Course Notes

Modeling Guidlines
Shell Elements

g g

Curved shells Thickness to radius ratio

h 0.1 r
g

Stress in the Z, or thickness, direction is zero

ME-380 Course Notes

Modeling Guidlines
Shell Elements
g

Stress averaging at nodes (as used in contour plotting) can be invalid if the unit normal vectors differ by more than 5 degrees Parabolic shells are more cost effective

ME-380 Course Notes

Shell Element Example

Y Shell Elements Fixed on Rim

Uniform 100 psi Pressure Load

t = 0.25 in E = 10E6 psi

X Symmetric about XZ and YZ Planes

= .3

ME-380 Course Notes

Add Shell Element Type and Constants

Shell Elements
g

Add the shell element type 8 node elastic SHELL93

Set the real constants for the element type TK(I) = 0.25

Set material constants for aluminum

ME-380 Course Notes

Create Keypoints for Geometry

Shell Elements
g

Enter the following Keypoint locations NPT = 1: x=0, y=0, z=0 NPT = 2: x=6, y=0, z=0 NPT = 3: x=0, y=6, z=0 NPT = 4: x=2, y=1, z=0 NPT = 5: x=4, y=1, z=0 NPT = 6: x=1, y=2, z=0 NPT = 7: x=1, y=4, z=0

ME-380 Course Notes

Create Lines and Arcs

Shell Elements
g

Create Lines between KP 1 and 2 KP 1 and 3 KP 4 and 5

KP 6 and 7 g Create arcs between KP 2 and 3 KP 4 and 6 KP 5 and 7

ME-380 Course Notes

Create and Mesh the Areas

Shell Elements
g

Create areas Area #1 is the outer area Area #2 is the inner hole area Perform Boolean subtraction subtracting Area #2 from Area #1 to form Area #3

Set the mesh controls to an edge length of 0.2 Map area #3 using a free mesh

ME-380 Course Notes

Apply Boundary Conditions

Shell Elements
g

Apply Boundary Conditions Symmetry displacement constraints on lines #1 and #2 All degrees of freedom fixed on outer arc Pressure of 100 psi applied to area #3

Solve the load set

ME-380 Course Notes

Postprocessing
Shell Elements

View the deformed shape View contour plots of the nodal displacements in all 6 DOF directions View contour plot of the stresses Normal stress in x and y directions Shear stresses - XY, YZ, and XZ Von Mises