ErikLund:IntroductoryexampleofusingANSYSClassic

IntroductoryexampleofusingANSYSClassic
ErikLund,DepartmentofMechanicalandManufacturingEngineering,AalborgUniversity,
Email:el@mtech.aau.dk

Inthefiniteelementcoursewewillbeusingthecommercialfiniteelement(FE)programANSYS.For
mechanicalanalysisyoumayusetheolderANSYSClassicversion(TodaycalledANSYSMechanicalADPL)or
thenewerANSYSWorkbench.Inthecoursewehavedecidedtocontinueusingtheolderinterfaceto
ANSYS,asthisversiongivestheusermanymorecontrolfeaturesforagivenFEanalysis.Ifyouaredoing
mechanicaldesignandwantstochecktheperformanceofagivendesign,thenWorkbenchisamuchfaster
toolwithgoodintegrationwithCADsystems.However,inthecoursefocusisontheFEtheoryandits
implicationsforagivenanalysis,andthentheClassicinterfaceisbetterinordertodemonstratethetheory.

Thisintroductoryexampleshouldbestudiedbeforethefirstexercisesessionofthecourse.Theexample
consideredisstaticanalysisofaforklikestructure,anditisalsoExercise2ofthecourse.

Wewillperformalinearelasticstaticanalysisusing2Dsolidelements,andtheobjectiveistocomputethe
verticaldisplacementatthepointofloadintroduction.Normallypointloadsshouldbeavoided,butinthis
casewhereweareonlyinterestedinthedisplacementsofthemodel,apointloadisappliedforsimplicity.

StartANSYS:chooseMechanicalAPDLProductLauncherintheANSYSmenuanddefinejobnameas
beingEx2andchooseworkdirectory.MakesuretheANSYSsimulationenvironmentandANSYS
AcademicTeachingAdvancedlicensearechosen.

 ErikLund:IntroductoryexampleofusingANSYSClassic

InANSYSyouprimarilyusetheANSYSMainMenucontainingthethreemainmenusPreprocessor,
SolutionandGeneralPostproc.YoucansaveyourworkinadatabaseusingthemenuFile>Saveas,
andyoumayrestartbyreadingthedatabase:File>Resumefrom.
InthesessionthetextwindowANSYSOutputWindowisupdatedwithdocumentationaboutthe
commandsexecuted.AllcommandsarewrittentothefileEx2.logorcanbewrittentoanASCIItextfile
usingthemenuFile>WriteDBLogFile.Youmaylatereditthisfile,saveitusinganotherfilename(e.g.
Ex2.dat)andthenreadthecommandfileusingthemenuFile>ReadInputfrom....

Westartbydefiningelementgroups(Preprocessor>ElementType),realconstants(Preprocessor>Real
Constants)andmaterialproperties(Preprocessor>MaterialProps>MaterialModels).

Selectthe4nodeQuad182elementastheonlyelementusedinthemodel(Type1)andpressOK.We
willassumeaplanestressconditionofthemodel,butasthethicknessisdifferentfrom1,weneedtoselect

 ErikLund:IntroductoryexampleofusingANSYSClassic

Optionsfortheelementandchangekeyoption3tobeingPlanestrsw/thk,suchthatwecaninputthe
thicknessof10mm.

Keyoption1isusedforselectingtheelementtechnologyused,andthedifferentoptionsavailablewillbe
describedindetailinthefirstpartofthecourse.Wewilljustusethedefaultoptionrightnow.

Nextweinputtherealconstantsofthemodel,i.e.thethickness:

WewilluseSIunits,i.e.thethicknessis0.01m.Youmayusewhateverunitsyoulikebutbeawarethat
ANSYSClassicwillNOTcheckthemforconsistency,anditisverydifficulttochangetheunitslateron!In
ANSYSWorkbenchitiseasytochangetheunitsduringthemodelingphase

Finally,materialparametersareinputfortheisotropicmaterialused:

Nextwecreatethegeometryusinge.g.Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>Areas>Rectangle>By2
CornersorPreprocessor>Modeling>Create>Areas>Polygon>ByVertices).Thebackgroundmesh
canbesetusingWorkplane>WPSettings...andWorkplane>DisplayWorkingPlane.Viewpointetc.is
setusingPlotCtrls>Pan,Zoom,Rotate.UsethemenuPlot>MultiPlotsforplottingeverything.The
menuPlotCtrls>Numberingisusedforplotnumberingcontrols.

Wewillcreatethefirstareaofthedomainasapolygondefinedbythe4verticeswithcoordinates
(0,0.55,0),(0,0.5,0),(0.5,0,0),and(0.5,0.05,0).Thiscanbedoneindifferentways,forexampleby
activatingaworkingplanewithagrid,suchthatyoumaysnaptothegridpoints.WesetWorkplane>WP
Settingstoagridsizeof0.05andactivatesthedisplayoftheworkplaneusingWorkplane>Display
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 ErikLund:IntroductoryexampleofusingANSYSClassic

WorkingPlane.YoumayusetheZoomin/Zoomoutbottomstotherightinordertodisplaythegrid
planenicely.ThenusePreprocessor>Modeling>Create>Areas>Polygon>ByVerticesinordertopick
thekeypoints(the4vertices)used(pickgridpointsandfinishtheprocedurebyselectingthestartingpoint
asthelastpoint):

Nextdrawthesecondareaofthegeometryinasimilarway.Thecoordinatesoftheverticesare(0.5,0,0),
(0.6,0,0),(0.6,0.05,0),and(0.5,0.05,0):

ThereisNOUNDOcommandinANSYSClassic!Thus,ifyoumakeanyerrorwhenmakingyourmodel,then
youhavetoerasetheerroneouspartandredothecommand.Forexample,ifyoupickedwronggridpoints
whenyoumadetheareas,thenyouhavetoerasetheareausingPreprocessor>Modeling>Delete>.
Thus,fromtimetotimeitisagoodideatosavethecurrentmodeltoadatabase,suchthatyoumay
resumethesavedmodelincaseyoumakeanerrorlateron:

 ErikLund:IntroductoryexampleofusingANSYSClassic

PS:sometimesawindowinANSYSClassicmaylock.ThesolutionthenistopressCtrl,Shift,and
Deletesimultaneously...AnothertrickythingwiththeANSYSClassicinterfaceisthatitsometimeshides
someofthemenusifitthinksthatsomemenusshouldnotbeshown,takingthegivenscreenresolution
intoaccount.ThenyoucanpressUnabridgedmenuinordertoseeallmenus...

IfweselectList>Keypoint>CoordinatesOnly,weseethat8keypointshavebeengenerated,i.e.,the
twoareasarenotconnected.Wecaneithermergethekeypointswithinagiventolerance,suchthatthe4
keypointsatthesharedlinearereducedto2keypoints,orwecangluetheareastogetherusing
Preprocessor>Modeling>Operate>Booleans>Glue>Areas,wherewepickthetwoareasofthe
model.Usethegluingprocedurehere.IfyouafterwardslisttheareasusingList>Areas,yougetthe
followingresultshownbelowwhereline3nowispartofbothareas:

Lateronwewilluseamirroringfunctioninordertogeneratetheotherpartofthesymmetricmodel.

WenowdothemeshgenerationusingthemenuPreprocessor>Meshing>MeshTool.Inthemenu
MeshToolyoumay,forexample,setthenumberofelementsonaboundary,setthegeneralelement
size,createstructured(alsocalledmapped)andunstructuredmeshes,etc.

Wewilltrytocontrolourmeshasmuchaspossibleinthiscase,soweselectPreprocessor>Meshing>
MeshTool,picksizecontrolonlinesandpickthetwolonglinesonarea1(line2and4,ifyouhavedone
exactlyasdescribedabove).Wespecifythatwewant20elementsalongeachlineandweunpickKYNDIV
suchthatmeshcontrolcannotchangethisspecificationof20elementsevenincaseofgeneratinga
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 ErikLund:IntroductoryexampleofusingANSYSClassic

distortedmesh.Thespacingratiocommandisveryusefulforgeneratingameshwithvaryingsizealonga
line,butinthismodelwewantthesamemeshsizealongthelegoftheforklikestructure.

Nextwerepeattheprocedureandspecify4elementsinthethicknessdirection(forthethreelines1,3and
6),andwespecify5elementsalongthetwohorizontallines(lines9and10).
WemaynowgenerateastructuredmeshbyselectingMapped,thenMeshandselectingthetwoareas.
Ifwedontdisplaytheworkingplane,thefollowingmeshedmodelappears:

Thesequadrilateralelementsareratherdistortedwhichwillaffectthequalityoftheresults.Detailsabout
sensitivitytodistortedelementswillbedescribedinthecourse.YoumayusethecommandPreprocessor
>Meshing>CheckMesh>IndividualElm>PlotWarning/ErrorElementstoplotthemeshquality.Inthis
caseANSYSdoesnotgiveanywarningtothedistortedelements(interiorelementangleshavetobeless
than450orlargerthan1350beforewarningsanderrorsappearfor4nodesolidelements).
Wemaynowreflecttheupperpartaboutxzplaneinordertogeneratethefullmodel.Weselect
Preprocessor>Modeling>Reflect>Areaandreflectbothareasandmesh.WeselectPlot>MultiPlots
inordertoshowtheupdatedmodel.

 ErikLund:IntroductoryexampleofusingANSYSClassic

Theupperandlowerpartsofthemodelarenotconnectedusingthisreflectioncommand.Thus,wemerge
thetwopartstogetherusingPreprocessor>NumberingCtrls>MergeItems,selectAllinitemstobe
mergedandspecifyasufficientlylowtoleranceforrangeofcoincidenceoftheFEmodelandthesolid
model(inthiscase0.001issmallenough).IntheANSYSOutputWindowwecanseetheresultofthemerge
command:

Youmaycheckandmodifythemodel,e.g.usingcommandsinthemenuPreprocessor>Meshing.

NextweusethemenuPreprocessor>Loadsfordefiningloadsandboundaryconditions(e.g.
Preprocessor>Loads>DefineLoads>Apply>StructuralDisplacements>OnLines,...>Apply>
Pressure>OnLinesand...>Apply>Force/Moment>OnNodes.

ForourmodelwefixthetwoverticallinestotheleftusingPreprocessor>Loads>DefineLoads>Apply>
StructuralDisplacements>OnLinesandweaddthepointloadusing...>Apply>Force/Moment>On
Nodes.

 ErikLund:IntroductoryexampleofusingANSYSClassic

ANSYSwillproducethefollowingwarningduetotheuseofaboundaryconditionconnecteddirectlytothe
givenFEmesh:

Thus,ifweerasethemesh,thenthisnodalpointloaddisappearstogetherwiththeerasednode,andwe
shouldthereforetrytoassociateboundaryconditionswiththegeometryasmuchaspossible.Inthiscase
wecouldactuallyhaveselected...>Apply>Force/Moment>OnKeypointsandthenthepointloadwill
remaininthemodelincaseofremeshing.

YoumaycheckthemodelusingplottingandlistingfacilitiesinthemenusPlotandListtogetherwith
Preprocessor>CheckingCtrl,thatwritesresultstothefileEx2.err.

Wearenowreadytoperformthestaticanalysis.WecouldusethemenuSolution>AnalysisType>Soln
Controlforspecifyinganalysisoptions,butinthiscasewewilldirectlychooseSolution>Solve>Current
LSforsolvingtheproblem.LSreferstoloadsteps,i.e.,forlinearproblemswehaveoneLSfileforeach
loadcase.

NextusethemenuGeneralPostprocforpostprocessing.CommandslikeGeneralPostproc>PlotResults
>DeformedShape,GeneralPostproc>PlotResults>ContourPlot>NodalSolu,etc.,areusedfor
plottingsolutionitems.

Weareonlyinterestedintheverticaldisplacementsofthemodel,andweselectGeneralPostproc>Plot
Results>ContourPlot>NodalSolu,pickDOFSolution>YComponentofdisplacementandsetthe
undisplacedshapekeytoDeformedshapewithundeformedmodel.

 ErikLund:IntroductoryexampleofusingANSYSClassic

Themaximumdisplacementiscomputedto0.34mm.Isthisclosetothecorrectvalue?Hmmm

Wehavetodomeshrefinementinordertochecktheconvergenceofthediscretizedmodel,perhaps
changethemeshingsettings,suchthatthemeshqualityisimproved,orchangethissimpleelementtoa
betterelement.Wewillstartbychangingtheelementoptionfortheelement,suchthatwechangeitfrom
FullintegrationtotheSimpleEnhancedStrainformulation(Preprocessor>ElementType>Options):

Wethenreruntheanalysis(thesamemeshisused;onlytheelementtechnologyusedhasbeenchanged),
andweplottheverticaldisplacementsagain,obtainingtheresultsshownonthefollowingplot.

Themaximumverticaldisplacementisnow0.68mm,i.e.afactorof2higherthanwiththefullintegration
optionactivated.HmmmSothedefaultelementsettingisnotnecessarilythemostaccurateone?!!!
Soprobablyitisextremelyimportanttoselectthecorrectelementformulationifweshouldtrustresults
fromourdiscretizedmodel.Thisisthetopicoflecture2and3oftheFEcourse

 ErikLund:IntroductoryexampleofusingANSYSClassic

UsingthiselementwemaynowperformuniformmeshrefinementusingPreprocessor>Meshing>
MeshTool.Youhavetoremovethenodalpointloadbeforeremeshing,asthenodenumberswillchange
whengeneratingarefinedmodel.Asmentionedpreviously,ifyouinsteadspecifythepointloadata
keypoint,thenthemeshcanbechangedwithoutproblems.

Usingalevelofrefinementof4,12800elementsaregeneratedintotalandthemodelgivesavertical
displacementof0.69mm,i.e.thecoarsemeshmodelgaveaveryaccurateresultwiththeEnhancedStrain
Formulation.

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 ErikLund:IntroductoryexampleofusingANSYSClassic

AllcommandsusedduringthisANSYSsettingarewrittentothefileEx2.log(thisfileisnotupdatedafter
theexecutionofeachcommand).YoumayalsomanuallygeneratedanASCIItextfileusingthemenuFile>
WriteDBLogFile(e.g.tothefileEx2.dat).Youmaylatereditthisfile,forexampleusingtheANSYSAPDL
EditorPeDALwhichcanbeusedforeditingANSYSinputfiles,andthenreadthecommandfileusingthe
menuFile>ReadInputfrom...(afterexecutingFile>ClearandStartNew).

AllANSYSsolutionstoexercisesinthecourseareprovidedassuchASCIIinputfiles.

Ifyouwouldliketoinvestigatedifferentdesignconfigurations,youmaydefinevariables(calledparameters
inANSYS),suchthatyourmodelbecomesparameterized.Thiswillbeexplainedinmoredetailinlecture7.
QuiteoftenitisconvenienttoaddsuchparametersdirectlytotheASCIIfilebyeditingthefileandreplacing
inputnumbertothecommandswithgivenparameters.

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