Understanding ANSYS Workbench -> APDL

To use Solid65 in APDL

-

Pure hexa mesh must be used

o To ensure conformity, the dimensions of the top and bottom column
are restricted so that the mesh will perfectly follow the edges

ANSYS Workbench meshed section is transferred into APDL for analysis

Pre-processor in APDL
1. Define an element type
- Currently only using concrete without the addition of rebar,
therefore only solid65 should be used
2. Subject Solid65 to real constant
- Still unsure what it is (Ask Damith if possible)
- Seems to be related to the rebar therefore it is left empty for now
but defined
3. Material Property
- Before yielding (Therefore linear elastic) material property is defined
i. Assume High strength concrete (E ~ 30000MPa) (APDL Uses
SI units therefore 30000*1000^2=3e10 Pa)
ii. PRXY (Poissons ratio?) = 0.2
- After yielding (Non-linear elastic behaviour) (Model defined as
concrete was chosen)
i. Open Shear Transfer Coeff Coefficient defining the transfer
of shear through open cracks
1. Youtube example defined as 0.3

ii. Closed shear transfer coeff transfer of shear through closed

tracks
1. Youtube example defined as 1 (As expected)
iii. Uniaxial cracking stress Tensile stress for cracking
1. Youtube 520 (Pa??)
iv. Uniaxial crushing stress Stress for cracking under
compression?
1. Youtube -1 (???) (Does that mean it doesnt crush?)
4. Since the geometry and mesh has been imported from Workbench it
doesnt require the sections or meshing functions
5. The model has been defined by the element type MESH200, redefine it
as SOLID65
- Modtify attributes under Elements and change it all to SOLID65 and
respective material number and real constant.

Solutions in APDL
-

Define the boundary condition (Supports) and loading via this section
o Define load and define
Edges of slab and bottom of the column are defined as fixed
supports
Top column is a pinned support with freedom in the y
direction
Top column will also be loaded axially.
Attempt to compare the ANSYS Workbench and APDL
results will be done
Solution control is used to adjust the time step of analysis.
o To ensure the proper cracking is analysed
o (Results seem to be incorrect here need damith to overlook it)
o Then solve it under the solve tab
Problem: Results arent converging supposedly

General Post processing

-

Result file must be picked.

o I defined a load time of 10 with 10 substeps but the results only
produced 1 set of result
Unsure what is the meaning of this
o

Crack/crush plot are available under Concrete plots

Cracking of the concrete seem to follow the strut and tie model (the struts
following the diagonal path) (Any Idea how to plot undeformed shape +
cracking like 1st ss??)

Deformed shape is comparable to the one from Workbench

Von mises stress also similar to the ones from workbench with the corner
experiencing high stresses