Batch Mesh Solid Structural Tutorial

Tutorial
BATCH SOLID MESH

MESHING AND ASSEMBLY
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 2
1.1 Prerequisites ........................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Data files ................................................................................................................................. 2
2. Read and prepare the geometry ................................................................................................... 3
2.1 Read geometry........................................................................................................................ 3
2.2 Check and clean geometry...................................................................................................... 4
3. Creation of the surface Mesh ........................................................................................................ 5
3.1 Create the Scenario ................................................................................................................ 5
3.2 Set the Mesh Parameters using wizard ................................................................................... 6
3.2.1 Defeaturing ...................................................................................................................... 8
3.2.2 Feature recognition ......................................................................................................... 8
3.2.2.1 Fillets settings and treatment...................................................................................... 10
3.2.2.2 Flanges treatment ...................................................................................................... 14
3.2.2.3 Tubes treatment ......................................................................................................... 15
3.3 Set the Quality Criteria .......................................................................................................... 15
3.4 Run of surface Batch Meshing Scenario ............................................................................... 16
4. Surface Mesh Improvement ........................................................................................................ 16
5. Create Volume Batch Meshing Scenario .................................................................................... 19
5.1 Create the Scenario .............................................................................................................. 19
5.2 Set the Volume mesh Parameters ......................................................................................... 20
5.3 Set the Volume Quality Criteria ............................................................................................. 20
5.4 Run of the Volume Mesh Scenario ........................................................................................ 21
6. Volume Mesh Improvement ........................................................................................................ 22
7. Sessioning for assembly ............................................................................................................. 23
7.1 Connecting parts with Bolt tool ............................................................................................. 23
7.2 Connecting parts with BOLT ON SOLID ............................................................................... 26
7.3 Creating Solid Bolts.............................................................................................................. 30
7.4 Creating contacts ................................................................................................................. 33
BETA CAE Systems S.A. 1 ANSA Tutorials

Batch Meshing Solid Structural tutorial
1. Introduction
The scope of this tutorial is to guide the user through the basic functionality of the Batch Mesh
Manager, in order to automatically create volume mesh of a model by specifying the necessary
meshing parameters and quality criteria. The tutorial firstly focuses in understanding why and how
the meshing parameters must be set, according to the size and shape of features in the model, to
get the best possible result. Once the solid elements are created several ways of connecting the
model are presented.
The steps described in this tutorial are:
- Reading and checking of the geometry

- Creation of the surface Batch Meshing scenario
- Checking of surface meshing and improvement
- Creation of the volume Batch Meshing scenario
- Checking of volume meshing and improvement
- Connecting the parts with the Bolt tool
- Creating the parts realizing a Bolt type connection as Bolt on solid and give pre-tension
- Creating the parts realizing a Bolt type connection as SOLID Bolt and give pre-tension
- Creating Contacts using Contact Flanges
! Note that the results that will be produced by the Batch Meshing may have some small variations
compared with those presented in the pictures of this tutorial.
1.1 Prerequisites
It is highly recommended to have read the “Introduction & getting started” document as well as to
have performed the “BATCH MESHING SHELL MESHING” tutorial or to have basic meshing
background.
The after_batch_mesh_practices.pdf document explains how the mesh can be improved after
running the Batch Meshing.
1.2 Data files

The files required for this tutorial are located in the directory
./tutorials/ANSA_tutorials/TOPO_MESH/batch_solid_mesh/tutorial_files.

2. Read and prepare the geometry
2.1 Read geometry
Start ANSA and open the initial tutorial database

from File>Open (Ctrl+O).
Navigate and select the file cyclinder-piston-

assembly_initial.ansa
Click on Open.
After opening the file, the user needs to check

the geometry for errors.

2.2 Check and clean geometry
In this step, the assembly will be checked for

geometric errors. It is very important to make
sure that no geometric errors exist as this can
lead to bad result of the batch meshing.
Having all entities of the
database visible, activate the
Check>Geometry function.
Select all checks except the
Unmeshed Macros and press
Execute.
It is important to have the Single Cons check
active, as this will ensure that no small gaps
exist in our component and that it's a closed
volume.
The check shows with a green tick that no

geometrical errors exist.
In case geometrical errors exist, right click on

top of the errors list and select Fix to fix them.
NOTE: In case geometrical errors remain after fix, inspect

them individually and fix them manually. To inspect each
geometric error, isolate it by right clicking on it, and then
selecting Show Only. Please refer also to the BASIC ANSA
GEOMETRY CLEANUP AND SHELL MESHING tutorial.

3. Creation of the surface Mesh
The creation of the surface mesh consists of the following steps.

 Create Scenario – Assign parts
 Set/Load Mesh Parameters
 Set/Load Quality Criteria
 Run Batch Mesh
3.1 Create the Scenario
Open Batch Meshing Manager by clicking on its

shortcut icon. (Ctrl+B)
Create the meshing scenario by pressing

New>Meshing Scenario. The default session is
automatically created.
The next step is to load the parts into the

meshing scenario.
x2 Double click on “0” in the contents column or

press right mouse button and from the context
menu select Edit>Contents. The Contents
window opens.
Select the parts from the “Pending Items” list

and press the green arrow in order to add them
in the “Meshing Scenario” items list.

As the parts appear in the “Meshing Scenario”

items list, press OK to close the window.
3.2 Set the Mesh Parameters using wizard
In order to edit the Mesh Parameters, double

click on the Mesh Parameters of the Default'
session that initially have the name 'Untitled'.
Alternatively, you can right click on the
x2
Default_Session and select Edit > Meshing
Parameters.
The Mesh Parameters window opens. Here the

user can start setting the desired options. In
order to set up Mesh Parameters from scratch,
the Mesh Parameters generator will be used. To
do so, click on the respective button (magic
wand).
NOTE: Beginner users are recommended to use Mesh

Parameters generator with the suggested values in order to
get a mesh of high quality without having to set all the
parameters manually.

The Mesh Parameters Generator window

appears. At first, choose to generate Mesh
Parameters and Quality criteria as well.
Optionally, the user can also choose to generate
only Mesh Parameters or Quality Criteria.
Type the desired name for the Mesh

Parameters (e.g 3mm_parameters) and the
Quality Criteria (e.g 3mm_qual).
The Mesh Type to be chosen depends on the

type of analysis. As a Mesh Type select
st
Structural Tria with 1 order Elements.
! Keep in mind that quality criteria that will be
automatically generated are affected from the
Mesh Type that is selected. Each type will give
different quality criteria values to our Meshing
Scenario.
Additionally, a minimum element length and a
shell aspect ratio should be defined. Input
respectively values of 1.2 and 5.
Specify a target element of 3mm.

One of the most important parameters to define
is the Distortion angle. It is the maximum
allowed angle, measured in degrees, between
the tangents of a Perimeter Segment at two
consecutive nodes. This parameter greatly
affects the quality of the mesh, especially on
fillets. Define a value of 35. As the picture
shows, in a fillet between 2 perpendicular faces
(90° fillet), at least 3 rows of elements will be
created.
Finally, the activation of the 'Create Tetra Mesh'
option will create a Volume Mesh to the part of
our Scenario right after it is surface meshed
upon Batch Meshing execution. The volume
mesh will be executed only if the volume entity
has been added in the batch mesh session in
3.1. Leave this option deactivated.
This is the first way to create Volume Mesh with
Batch Meshing.
The second way to create Volume Mesh is by

creating a separate Volume Meshing Scenario
and defining as contents the Volumes that
should be meshed.
This Volume Mesh Scenario will be created in a
later step.
NOTE: The quality of Tetra elements depend on the quality of
the surface mesh that they come from. So, it is recommended
to create Tetra elements with a separate Volume Mesh
Scenario that can be run after the surface Batch Meshing
Scenario separately at a later time. This gives us time to
inspect and apply after-Surface Batch Meshing treatment if
needed, thus getting the best possible surface mesh results.

Press OK to confirm and close the Mesh

Parameters Generator window.
3.2.1 Defeaturing
The Mesh Parameters window opens containing

the default values that were created
automatically through the Mesh Parameters
wizard. Some more additions have to be made.
An important option under Perimeters tab is the

Join Perimeters option. This controls the
automatic defeaturing of the part setting the
minimum distance between two perimeters.
Perimeters with a distance to each other,
smaller than a predefined value (or expression)
are joined in order to prevent the creation of
elements with very small element length.
Using an expression of the minimum length (i.e.
2/3 Lmin) allows us flexibility in changing the
quality criteria without having to change the rest
of the values.
Leave the default value for this option.
3.2.2 Feature recognition
While in the Features tab of the

Mesh Parameters press Identify.
ANSA will search for all the features that are

active and comply with the rules.

The list will then be updated with the number of

features and with a color list.
Select all the entries of the list (Ctrl+A).

This will result in ANSA coloring the features in
the screen with the appropriate color.
Once the features have been identified, select
only the Tubes entry and press the Contents list
button.
This gives the user access to the complete list

of those entities.
This list contains the complete information of

each tube (in this case) identified to be treated.
There are columns for the Diameter 1 and
Diameter 2. The number of Nodes that will be
assigned in each opening are found under the
Nodes number 1 and Nodes number 2 and
about the 2 zones that will be created if any. The
two values could have a different value since a
tube’s width can change over the length.
Press on Diameter header to sort the list

according to the tube’s diameter.

Select the two smaller tubes.
Right-click and from the Context menu select

Show Only to isolate these tubes on the screen
Press Fill to remove the selected tubes.
An information window pops up asking whether

a new identification is needed after the “Show
Only” operation.
In this case we can Procced without Identify.
! Note: From the Improve pull down menu the

user can select one or more entries and then
improve them via Reconstruct, Reshape,
Smooth or Fix Quality.
Once one of the improve functions is activated
ANSA automatically switches to selection mode
in order to continue with the improvement.
3.2.2.1 Fillets settings and treatment
Activate the Fillets option.
Leave the default option as it is with the auto

treatment enabled, that will place the needed
rows of elements along the fillets using the
target element length. At the same time ANSA
will assign nodal distribution on the fillet taking
also into account distortion distance and angle
as well as the quality criteria.
If the number of rows calculated by the
distortion angle will produce violating elements
(min length) then ansa will create fewer rows to
meet the min length quality.

Also, activate the Chamfer treatment and input

the values as the window beside shows.
We choose the Sharpen treatment in order to

eliminate chamfers and thus avoid small
elements inside the chamfer area.
How settings can affect results on fillets (Example)
If after Batch Meshing, the

results on fillets are the desired,
it is possible to locally improve
them with the Reconstr.
function.
Changing options in Reconstr. will change the
treatment behavior on fillets.
Alter set the value of Distortion Angle to 50
through the Mesh Parameters that are
accessible from the Options List of the
Reconstr. function. This will reduce the number
of rows of the selected fillet to two.

Select any fillet and press middle mouse button.
In the Selection window choose the type of

entities you might wish and select from screen
those entities that should not be modified by the
Reconstr. function.
Press middle mouse button to confirm.
The results of Reconstr. after changing the

Distortion Angle are previewed.
Press OK in order to confirm.
Changing some of the quality criteria types, can

also lead to different results on fillets.
Start again from a fillet with 3 rows.
From the Options List of Reconstr. function,

open the Mesh parameters window and change
the fillet treatment under the Feature tab from
auto to 4.
Select the fillet to reconstruct it with 4 rows of

elements.

From the Options List of Reconstr. function,

open the Quality Criteria window and change
the value for Aspect Ratio criterion to 2.
Select the fillet and its neighboring Macro areas

and press middle mouse button.
In the Selection window choose the type of

entities you might wish and select from screen
those entities that should not be modified by the
Reconstr. function.
The results of Reconstr. after changing the

Aspect Ratio criterion value are previewed. The
element length inside the fillet has been
decreased in order to comply with the Aspect
Ratio value that we provided.
Press OK in order to confirm.
! Note: The local length on the fillets can also be

defined by activating the Length option under
the Features >Fillets tab of the Mesh
parameters.

3.2.2.2 Flanges treatment
Activate the Flanges option.
By default when using the Mesh Parameters

Generator wizard, the solid flanges treatment is
enabled.
For information purposes, it is worth to mention

that potential flanges areas can be recognized
either by the faces shape, by faces shape and
proximity, or by SETs that contain flanges areas.
For all those areas that are recognized as

flanges, Batch Meshing can apply a different
element length according to the specified value
or expression.
Finally, the Refine perimeters proximity option

ensures that a refinement of the meshing in
critical areas will apply.
The important advantage for the flanges areas

is that the nodes that belong on those areas are
not allowed to move out of the surface, in order
to prevent penetration in contacts.

3.2.2.3 Tubes treatment
Activate the Tubes option.
Apart from the existing default treatment that will

automatically assign nodal distribution around
the tubes, one more treatment case is added.
This extra treatment is referring to tubes of

diameter up to 4mm. For this case, tubes of
diameter up to 4mm will be filled in order to
avoid elements with small length.
For all the other tubes with a diameter greater

than 4mm, the default treatment will be applied.
The setup of the Mesh Parameters is now
completed. Press OK to confirm.
3.3 Set the Quality Criteria
At this step, the desired quality criteria are set. It is important to activate the criteria with the
appropriate definition type and threshold value as these are taken into account from the
improvement algorithms of Batch Meshing. Thus, the quality of the elements that Batch Meshing
will create depends on the criteria and its values that we define.
In order to edit the Quality Criteria, double click
on the Quality Criteria of the Default_Session
that has the name '3mm_criteria'. Alternatively,
you can right click on the Default_Session and
select Edit > Quality Criteria.
The Quality Criteria window opens.
Shells and Solids criteria are categorized in two

different tabs.
It is clearly seen that some Quality Criteria are
already activated with a threshold value.
These criteria were automatically created during

the setup of Mesh Parameters according to the
values that were input in Mesh Parameters
Wizard.

3.4 Run of surface Batch Meshing Scenario
Finally, after the setup of the surface Batch

Meshing Scenario, the Scenario is ready to run.
To do so, press the Run button.
After the surface Batch Meshing has run, the

first mesh results are about to be viewed.
At first, the Mesh Parameters and Quality

Criteria of the Batch Meshing Scenario should
be copied to the global settings.
To do this, right click on the Default_Session

and select Copy to Global Settings>Mesh
Parameters and Quality Criteria.
Switch to the Hidden view mode.
In this view mode, the number of elements that

do not satisfy the defined quality criteria
threshold values, are displayed as Off elements.
The surface Batch Meshing Scenario left 72 Off

shell elements.
4. Surface Mesh Improvement
At this step, a closer look is made to the problematic areas where violating elements are found.
The goal is to eliminate those elements that are identified as Off elements in the Hidden view
mode. It is important to make sure that after the surface mesh improvement, no violating (Off)
element exists at all, as the volume mesh will grow from the surface elements and therefore the
quality of the shell elements, will affect the quality of the solids.
Generally, functions that are recommended to be used for the automatic improvement of mesh are
the Fix Quality, Reconstruct and Reshape with the aforementioned order. For more detailed
information of these functions, please refer to the ANSA User's Guide.
Additionally, the model must also be checked for the existence of sharp edges between elements.

Activate
Check>Mesh
>Sharp
Edges
function.
In the Check
Sharp Edges
Manager window input an angle value of 170
and press Execute.
ANSA did not find any sharp edges in the

model.
For information, sharp edges should always be

avoided as they could cause failure during the
creation of Volume Meshing. A typical example
of Sharp edges can be seen in the picture
beside.
To identify them, ANSA takes the normals of the

two elements that form a sharp edge, and if the
angle between the normals is bigger than a
predefined value (the value that we input during
Check for Sharp Edges), then they are identified
as problematic elements.

Initially, apply the Fix Quality>
Visible function. This function
fixes bad quality elements by
nodal movement.
While the function is activated, ANSA identifies
and highlights the areas with the problematic
elements. The function will apply on elements of
those areas and not on the whole visible model.

The function runs and when finished, the

Preview window appears. If the result is not too
satisfactory, press the Run Again button and the
algorithm will run again.
After pressing a couple of times the Run Again
button, OFF elements are reduced to 12. The
remaining 12 elements cannot be improved by a
nodal movement only that Fix Quality function
applies.
Press OK to confirm results.
Next, right click on the Off field and press Show

only. That will isolate the elements that are
described as Off.
According to their color, the 12 Off elements

violate the criterion of Min Length and Angle.
On elements whose quality

could not be fixed, the
Reconstr.> Visible function is
applied. Upon activation the
visible elements become
highlighted.

The function runs and when finished, the

Preview window appears. If the result is not
st
satisfactory, press the Focus> Neighbor [1
level] and use Reconstruct again.
Press OK to confirm the results.
Finally, all the Off elements are fixed.
The model's surface mesh is now free of

violating quality elements and thus, ready to be
volume meshed.
5. Create Volume Batch Meshing Scenario
5.1 Create the Scenario
Open Batch Meshing Manager by clicking on its

shortcut icon.
Create the meshing scenario by pressing

New>Volume Scenario. The default session is
automatically created
The next step is to load the part into the

meshing scenario.
Double click on “0” in the contents column. The

Contents of Volumes Scenario window opens.
In the Contents window, make sure that the Run

auto-detect to fill contents flag is active.
With this flag enabled, ANSA will automatically

detects any volumes and add them to the
Volume Scenario before it is executed.
Press OK to confirm.

5.2 Set the Volume mesh Parameters
In order to edit the Volume Mesh Parameters,

double click on the Mesh Parameters of the
Default' session. Alternatively, you can right click
on the Default_Session and select Edit >
Meshing Parameters.
The Volume Mesh Parameters window opens.

Here the user can start setting the desired
options.
Select the Tetra Rapid algorithm. Tetra Rapid is

recommended to be used instead of Tetra Fem,
as it appears to be much faster.
As growth rate input a value of 1.2 while for the

Maximum element length of the solids input a
value of 6mm.
For this tutorial, the NASTRAN max. aspect

ratio will be selected and the maximum value to
input is 3.
Finally enable the Fix violating solid elements

option and in the External bounds movement
select the Constrained option. This means that
during the creation of the volume mesh, the
algorithm will apply nodal movements in order to
achieve the lowest possible number of violating
elements according to the quality criteria. The
Constrained option with Maximum distance from
external bounds: 0.1*local will constrain the
nodal movements of the external boundary
areas of the model to a movement of less than
10% of the local element length.
Press OK to confirm.
5.3 Set the Volume Quality Criteria
In order to edit the Quality Criteria, double click

on the Quality Criteria of the Default_Session in
the Volume Scenario. Alternatively, you can right
click on the Default_Session and select Edit >
Quality Criteria.

The Quality Criteria window opens.
It is obvious that in the Volume Scenario criteria

exist only for solids.
Make sure to input the same values as the

picture show.
To confirm, press OK.
5.4 Run of the Volume Mesh Scenario
Finally, after the setup of the Volume Scenario,

the Scenario is ready to be run. Ensure that only
the Volume Scenario is checked to run.
Press the Run button.
After the Volume Scenario has run, the first

mesh results are about to be viewed.
At first, the Mesh Parameters and Quality
Criteria of the Volume Mesh Scenario should be
copied to the global settings.
To do this, right click on the Default_Session of
the Volume Scenario and select Copy to
Global Settings>Mesh Parameters and
Quality Criteria.
In the Hidden view mode, the solid elements

that do not satisfy the defined quality criteria
threshold values, are displayed as Off elements.
The Volume Mesh Scenario left about 141 Off

solid elements.

6. Volume Mesh Improvement
Similarly as with the Surface Mesh Improvement, the goal here is to eliminate the violating solid
elements, which are identified as Off elements in the Hidden view mode.
Functions that are mostly used for the automatic improvement of volume mesh are the Fix Quality
and Reconstruct. Also, in some individual cases with few off elements manual improvement can
be applied with Move function. For more detailed information of these functions, please refer to
the ANSA User's Guide.
Switch to the Hidden view
mode. The current number of
Off elements is 26. Earlier, in
the Mesh Parameters of the
Volume Scenario, the Fix
Violating elements option was enabled.
However, the algorithm could not fix all the
violating solid elements because the strictest
option External Bounds Movement=Freeze was
selected. For the remaining 26 Off elements the
Fix Quality. function of the VMESH menu will be
executed, but this time a very small movement
on external bounds will be allowed. Therefore,
activate the Improve>Fix Quality> Select
function and in the options list input External
bounds: Constrained and Maximum distance:
0.01*local. With ANSA now being in selection
mode, box select the part and press middle
mouse button to confirm.
NOTE: It is worth mentioning that in case External bounds

option is set to Constrained, if the Maximum distance is set to
0, which means that nodes are allowed to be moved only on
the surface.
The algorithm managed to fix all Off solid

elements. However, because of the small
movements that were allowed in the external
bounds of the model, the shell elements were
affected which resulted in 23 Off shell elements.
The model is finally free of violating elements

with shells and solids that meet the mesh quality
requirements that have been set.

7. Sessioning for assembly
Once the volume mesh is created and improved the parts have to be connected. In this section
several ways of creating a Bolt connection automatically are presented.
7.1 Connecting parts with Bolt tool
In this section the parts will be connected with a Bolt created using the Bolt tool.
Open file cyclinder-piston-assembly_solids.ansa
Deactivate the Geometry from the Visibility

group of buttons and isolate the two pids of the
piston illustrated on the picture.
Activate the Bolt from the Assembly toolbar.
In the Bolts window a number of options for

body–head-nut are available. For this tutorial
select CBEAM for body and RBE2 for Head.
Leave the other options with their default
values.
With Loop selection mode select an edge that

forms the boundary of the tube and middle
click to confirm.

RBE2 element are created for the head.
Without exiting the function, turn to the other

side and repeate the same procedure.
Upon middle click the Bolt Properties window

appeas.
Here the user can define which PBEAM will be
used, which degrees of freedom will be
constrained, the number of CBEAMS that will
form the body etc.
Leave the default settings and press OK.

The Part Manager appears prompting the user

to assign the newly created elements to a part.
Right click and select New>Part to create a

new one.
Double click on the New_part_1 to assign the

elements to it.
The bolt is now created.
Repeat the same procedure for the other side

of the piston.
The parts are now connected.
Deactivate the Shadow from the Drawing

Styles toolbar to inspect the created bolt.
The result can be found in cyclinder-piston-assembly_solids_Bolt_tool.ansa.

7.2 Connecting parts with BOLT ON SOLID

In this section the parts will be connected with an FE spider. A Bolt_Type connection will be created
with the aid of the Define Connection functions. Upon realization the connection will obtain BOLT
ON SOLID FE representation. Pretention will be also applied, as a second step.
Use the Measure from

the Utilities toolbar to
find the diameter of the
tubes.
Use the Edges

Selection mode and
select the hole's
CONS.
From the available

Results select
Equivalent circle.
Use the Define Connection [Holes] from the

Assembly toolbar.
In the Bolt Connection Parameters window

which appears use the settings, illustrated in
the picture on the left.
Press OK.

Two bold_type connection points have been

created, one for each tube.
Double click on the

Bolt_Type from the
Database to access the
Bolt_Type list.
Providing that the Pick
is activated in the
Bolt_Type list, the
whole model, apart
from the Bold_Type
connection points,
becomes transparent.
Activate the Connection Manager from the

Assembly toolbar.
Click on the Connection selection assistant,

and press Select.
The two Bold_Type connection points have

been selected in the Connection Manager.
In the clipboard tab use the following settings:
FE Rep Type: BOLT ON SOLID

All Tubes Attached to:Top Ring
Activate the Specialize Last Tube option and
use:
Last Tube Attached to: All Rings
Body Type:CBEAM
All Tubes Body Type:CBEAM

values as displayed on the picture and press
Realize.
The connection entity obtained upon

Realization its FE Representation.

The two parts are now connected, with the

desired FE.
As a next step, Pre-Tension will be applied on

the bolts.
Activate
NASTRAN>AUXILIARIES>PRTENS[Assistant]
The Pre-Tension Wizard appears.
In the Entities tab leave the default option in

order to select the Beam elements of the bolts
body.
Select the CBeams illustrated in the picture on

the left and press Next or middle click to
continue.
In the Definition tab leave the default option in
order to assign each Beam to a different BOLT.
Press Next to contunue.

In the Parameters Tab, activate the option

Create BOLTFOR and type in the LOAD field
magnitude of 100.
Press Next to proceed.
Inspect the result and press Finish to accept it.
The result can be found in cyclinder-piston-assembly_solids_bolt_on_solid.ansa

7.3 Creating Solid Bolts

In this section the parts will be connected with a solid bolt. A Bolt_Type connection will be created
with the aid of the Define Connection functions. Upon realization the connection will obtain SOLID
BOLT FE representation. Pretention will be also applied.

As a first step Bold_Type connections have to be created. Repeat the procedure described in
paragraph 7.3.
Once the connection entities are created

activate the Connection Manager from the
Assembly toolbar.
Click on the Connection selection assistant,

and press Select.
The two Bold_Type connection points have

been selected in the Connection Manager.
In the clipboard tab use the following settings:
FE Rep Type: SOLID BOLT

Head Height: 5

values and press Realize.
The Status has changed to OK and the Error

Class is SOLID BOLD.
A bolt of solid elements has been created.

The node of the Bolt can be optionally pasted

to the last tube.
To do this, activate the Connection Manager

and select the bolt_type connections from the
screen. Middle click to confirm. The bolt
connections are loaded in the connection
manager.
Enable the Thread pasted on geometry option
and press Realize.
The thread mesh is compatible to the last

tube’s mesh and the corresponding nodes are
pasted.
Preforming And operations around the Bolt

brings the neighboring elements.
As a next step pre-tension will be applied to

the created bolts.
Activate the function
DECKS>AUXILIARIES> PRTENS[Assistant]
In the Entities tab choose the option

Surface-Solid Property.
Choose the solid bolts property and press Next

to proceed.

In the Section tab select the two nodes

illustrated on the picture. On the first selected
node the bolt intersection will lie.
The second node will define the normal vectors
2
direction.
1
Press Next to continue.
In the Definition tab choose the Create BOLT

option.

In the Parameters tab activate the

Create FORCE option.
In the F field type in 100 for magnitude and in

the N3 field type in 1.
The force will be applied along the local z

direction.
Press Next.
Inspect the result and press Finish.
The result can be found in cyclinder-piston-assembly_solids_solid_bolt.ansa

7.4 Creating contacts
We can create contacts either on shells or
solid facets. For this tutorial we will use the
solids. For this reason, leave only the Volume
visibility enabled and isolate on the screen the
two solid properties illustrated in the picture on
the left.
Activate the function

DECKS>AUXILIARIES>CONTACT[FLANGES]
Since the Entities flag is disabled, the function

will be applied on all visible elements.
In the Contact Flanges Data window which

appears, leave the default settings and press
OK.

ANSA isolates on the screen all the elements

that satisfy the search criteria of the
Proximity Search Parameters section.
The Contact Pairs Autodetection window

opens, listing the identified contact pairs.
!Note: In case that particular elements are

already participating in a contact, they will not
be considered as a candidate pair for a new
contact definition.
Among the identified pairs only those that have

the Accept checkbox enabled will result to
contact definitions.
Press OK.
The contacts have been created.
The result can be found in cyclinder-piston-assembly_solids_contact_flanges.ansa

Batch Mesh Solid Structural Tutorial

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Título original

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Batch Mesh Solid Structural Tutorial

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Tutorial

BATCH SOLID MESH

BETA CAE Systems S.A. 1 ANSA Tutorials

The steps described in this tutorial are:

- Reading and checking of the geometry

1.2 Data files

BETA CAE Systems S.A. 2 ANSA Tutorials

2. Read and prepare the geometry

2.1 Read geometry

Start ANSA and open the initial tutorial database

Navigate and select the file cyclinder-piston-

After opening the file, the user needs to check

BETA CAE Systems S.A. 3 ANSA Tutorials

2.2 Check and clean geometry

In this step, the assembly will be checked for

The check shows with a green tick that no

In case geometrical errors exist, right click on

NOTE: In case geometrical errors remain after fix, inspect

BETA CAE Systems S.A. 4 ANSA Tutorials

3. Creation of the surface Mesh

The creation of the surface mesh consists of the following steps.

Open Batch Meshing Manager by clicking on its

Create the meshing scenario by pressing

The next step is to load the parts into the

x2 Double click on “0” in the contents column or

Select the parts from the “Pending Items” list

BETA CAE Systems S.A. 5 ANSA Tutorials

As the parts appear in the “Meshing Scenario”

3.2 Set the Mesh Parameters using wizard

In order to edit the Mesh Parameters, double

The Mesh Parameters window opens. Here the

NOTE: Beginner users are recommended to use Mesh

BETA CAE Systems S.A. 6 ANSA Tutorials

The Mesh Parameters Generator window

Type the desired name for the Mesh

The Mesh Type to be chosen depends on the

Specify a target element of 3mm.

The second way to create Volume Mesh is by

BETA CAE Systems S.A. 7 ANSA Tutorials

Press OK to confirm and close the Mesh

The Mesh Parameters window opens containing

An important option under Perimeters tab is the

Leave the default value for this option.

3.2.2 Feature recognition

While in the Features tab of the

ANSA will search for all the features that are

BETA CAE Systems S.A. 8 ANSA Tutorials

The list will then be updated with the number of

Select all the entries of the list (Ctrl+A).

This gives the user access to the complete list

This list contains the complete information of

Press on Diameter header to sort the list

BETA CAE Systems S.A. 9 ANSA Tutorials

Select the two smaller tubes.

Right-click and from the Context menu select

Press Fill to remove the selected tubes.

An information window pops up asking whether

In this case we can Procced without Identify.

! Note: From the Improve pull down menu the

3.2.2.1 Fillets settings and treatment

Activate the Fillets option.

Leave the default option as it is with the auto

BETA CAE Systems S.A. 10 ANSA Tutorials