Structural #1: Analysis of a power transmission tower Introduction: In this example you will learn to use the 2-D

Truss element in ANSYS. Physical Problem: A power transmission tower is a common example of a structure that is made
up of only truss members. These towers are actually 3-D structures, but for the sake of simplicity we will take a cross-sectional face of the tower. The tower is mainly subjected to loading in the vertical direction due to the weight of the cables. Also it is subjected to forces due to wind. In this example we will consider only loading due to the weight of the cables, which is in the vertical direction.

Problem Description:
The tower is made up of trusses. You may recall that a truss is a structural element that experiences loading only in the axial direction. Units: Use S.I. units ONLY Geometry: the cross sections of each of the truss members is 6.25e-3 sq. meter. Material: Assume the structure is made of steel with modulus of elasticity E=200 GPa. Boundary conditions: The tower is constrained along X and Y directions at the bottom left corner, and along Y direction at the bottom right corner. Loading: The tower is loaded at the top. The load is in horizontal direction only, and its magnitude is 5000 N. Objective: To determine deflection at each joint. To determine stress in each member. To determine reaction forces at the base. You are required to hand in print outs for the above. Figure: The five trusses at the top are each 3m in length.

IMPORTANT: Convert all dimensions and forces into SI units.

STARTING ANSYS
Click on ANSYS 6.1 in the programs menu. Select Interactive. The following menu that comes up. Enter the working directory. All your files will be stored in this directory. Also enter 64 for Total Workspace and 32 for Database. Give your file a jobname. Click on Run.

MODELING THE STRUCTURE

Go to the ANSYS Utility Menu Click Workplane>WP Settings The following window comes up

Check the Cartesian and Grid Only buttons Enter the values shown in the figure above. Go to the ANSYS Main Menu

Click Preprocessor>-Modeling->Create>Keypoints>On Working Plane The following window comes up

Now we will pick the end points of the trusses. Select the keypoints on the workplane grid. Your points should look like this. If you cannot see the complete workplane then go to Utility Menu>PlotCntrls>Pan Zoom Rotate and zoom out to see the entire workplane

Now create lines connecting the keypoints Click on Preprocessor>-Modeling->Create>-Lines->Lines>Straight Line Create lines by picking keypoints to make the figure shown below

MATERIAL PROPERTIES
Go to the ANSYS Main Menu Click Preprocessor>Material Props>Material Models. In the window that comes up which is shown below, for Material Model 1, chooseStructural>Linear>Elastic>Isotropic.

Enter 1 for the Material Property Number and click OK. The following window comes up.

Fill in 2e11 for the Young's modulus and 0.3 for minor Poisson's Ratio. Click OK. Now the material 1 has the properties defined in the above table. We will use this material for the transmission tower.

ELEMENT PROPERTIES
SELECTING ELEMENT TYPE: Click Preprocessor>Element Type>Add/Edit/Delete... In the 'Element Types' window that opens click on Add... The following window opens.

Type 1 in the Element type reference number Click on Structural Link and select 2D spar. Click OK. Close the 'Element types' window. So now we have selected Element type 1 to be a structural Link- 2D spar element. The trusses will be modeled as elements of type 1, i.e. structural link element. This finishes the selection of element type. Now we need to define the cross sectional area for this element. Go to Preprocessor>Real Constants In the "Real Constants" dialog box that comes up click on Add In the "Element Type for Real Constants" that comes up click OK. The following window comes up.

Type 6.25e-3 for cross sectional area and click on OK. We have now defined the cross sectional area of the link element.

MESHING:
DIVIDING THE TOWER INTO ELEMENTS: Go to Preprocessor>Meshing>Size Cntrls>ManualSize>Lines>All Lines. In the menu that comes up type 1 in the field for 'Number of element divisions'. This divides each of the lines in your figure into 1 element.

Click on OK. Now when you mesh the figure ANSYS will automatically divide each line into 1 element. Now go to Preprocessor>-Meshing->Mesh>lines Select all the lines and click on OK in the "Mesh Lines" dialog box. Now each line is a truss element (Element 1).

BOUNDARY CONDITIONS AND CONSTRAINTS

APPLYING BOUNDARY CONDITIONS The tower is constrained in the X and Y directions at the bottom left corner and in the Y direction at the bottom right corner. Go to Main Menu. Click on Preprocessor>Loads>Define Loads>Apply>Structural>Displacement>On Keypoints Select the keypoint on which you want to apply displacement constraints. The following window comes up.

Select UX and UY for the bottom left corner and UY for the bottom right corner and click OK. The default displacement value is taken to be zero. APPLYING FORCES Go to Main Menu. Click on Preprocessor>Loads>Define Loads>Apply>Structural>Forces/Moment>On Nodes. Select the top node. Click on OK in the 'Apply F/M on Nodes' window. The following window will appear.

Select FX and enter 5000 as the Force/Moment value. Click on OK. The figure on the ANSYS Graphics window will look like the following.

Now the Modeling of the problem is done.

SOLUTION
Go to ANSYS Main Menu>Solution>-Analysis Type->New Analysis. Select static and click on OK. Go to Solution>-Solve->Current LS. Wait for ANSYS to solve the problem. Click on OK and close the 'Information' window.

POST-PROCESSING
Listing the results. Go to ANSYS Main Menu. Click on General Postproc>List Results>Nodal Solution. The following window will come up.

Select DOF solution and All U's. Click on OK. The nodal displacements will be listed as follows.

Similarly you can list the stresses for each element by clicking Gen Postprcessing>List Results>Element Solution. Now select LineElem Results. The following table will be listed.

MODIFICATION
You can also plot the displacements and stress. Go to General Postproc>Plot Results>-Contour Plot->Element Solution. The following window will come up.

Select a stress to be plotted and click OK. The output will be like this.

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/24-ansys/htm/s1_tower.htm

Structural #2: Analysis 2-D Beam structure Introduction: In this example you will learn to use the 2-D Beam element in ANSYS. Physical Problem: Structural analysis of the frame shown below. Problem Description:
The structure is made up of beams. You may recall that a beam is a structural element whose length is very large compared to the other two dimensions. Units: Use S.I. units ONLY Geometry: The members have a annular cross-section. The cross sections (A) of each of the truss members is 5.5e-3 sq meter. The polar radius of gyration (R) is 5.5e-2 meter. (hint: Use the values of A and R to find Izz then find the value of the outer diameter (The beam height)) Material: Assume the structure is made of steel with modulus of elasticity E=210 GPa. Boundary conditions: All the DOFs are constrained at the bottom end, i.e. the bottom end is a built-in end. Loading: The structure is loaded at the ends of the two arms. The load is in the negative Y direction. The load value is 5000 N each. Objective: To determine deflections at the points of application of load. To determine the maximum stress in the structure. Also determine the maximum possible load the frame can take. Look up for the value of yield stress for steel. Assume a factor of safety of 1.25.

You are required to hand in print outs for the above. Figure:

IMPORTANT: Convert all dimensions and forces into SI units.

STARTING ANSYS
Click on ANSYS 6.1 in the programs menu. Select Interactive. The following menu that comes up. Enter the working directory. All your files will be stored in this directory. Also enter 64 for Total Workspace and 32 for Database. Click on Run.

MODELING THE STRUCTURE

Go to the ANSYS Utility Menu Click Workplane>WP Settings The following window comes up

Check the Cartesian and Grid Only buttons Enter the values shown in the above. Go to the ANSYS Main Menu Click Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>Keypoints>On Working Plane The following window comes up

Now we will pick the end points of the trusses. 5 meters is now 1 X 5 units, since each cell in the grid is 1 unit across, 5 meters is 5 cells wide. Using this conversion select the keypoints on the workplane grid. Your points should look like this.

If you cannot see the complete workplane then go to Utility Menu>PlotCntrls>Pan Zoom Rotateand zoom out to see the entire workplane. Now create lines connecting the keypoints Click on Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>Lines>Lines>Straight Line Create lines by picking keypoints to make the figure shown below.

MATERIAL PROPERTIES
Go to the ANSYS Main Menu Click Preprocessor>Material Props>Material Models. In the window that comes up chooseStructural>Linear>Elastic>Isotropic. The following window will appear.

Double Click Isotropic. The following window comes up.

Fill in 2.1e11 for the Young's modulus and 0.3 for Poisson's Ratio. Click OK Now the material 1 has the properties defined in the above table. We will use this material for the structure.

ELEMENT PROPERTIES:
SELECTING ELEMENT TYPE: Click Preprocessor>Element Type>Add/Edit/Delete... In the 'Element Types' window that opens click on Add... The following window opens.

Type 1 in the Element type reference number. Click on Structural Beam and select 2D elastic. Click OK. Close the 'Element types' window. So now we have selected Element type 1 to be a structural Beam- 2D elastic element. The trusses will be modeled as elements of type 1, i.e. structural beam element. This finishes the selection of element type. Now we need to define the cross sectional area, the second moment of inertia etc. for this element. Go to Preprocessor>Real Constants.

In the "Real Constants" dialog box that comes up click on Add In the "Element Type for Real Constants" that comes up click OK. The following window comes up

Type in 5.5e-3 for cross sectional area, calculate Izz from the value of the cross-sectional area and polar radius of gyration and enter it. Also calculate and enter the height and click on OK. The height of the beam is required to calculate the maximum stress, which will be at the top surface of the beam. We have now defined the geometric properties of the beam element.

MESHING:
DIVIDING THE STRUCTURE INTO ELEMENTS: Go to Preprocessor>Meshing>Size Controls>Manual Size>Lines>All Lines. In the menu that comes up type 1 in the field for 'Number of element divisions'.

Click on OK. Now go to Preprocessor>Meshing>Mesh>Lines Select all the lines and click on OK in the "Mesh Lines" dialog box. Now each line is a truss element (Element 1).

BOUNDARY CONDITIONS AND CONSTRAINTS:

APPLYING BOUNDARY CONDITIONS The tower is constrained in the DOFs at the bottom node. Go to Main Menu Click on Preprocessor>Loads>Define Loads>Apply>Structural>Displacement>OnKeypoints. Select the keypoint on which you want to apply displacement constraints. The following window comes up.

Select All DOF and click OK. APPLYING FORCES Go to Main Menu Click on Preprocessor>Loads>Define Loads>Apply>Forces/Moment>On Nodes. Select the top right node and the top left node. Click on OK in the 'Apply F/M on Nodes' window. The following window will appear. Enter the value of the force.

The figure looks like this now.

Now the Modeling of the problem is done

SOLUTION:
Go to ANSYS Main Menu>Solution>Analysis Type>New Analysis. Select static and click on OK. Go to Solution>Solve>Current LS Wait for ANSYS to solve the problem. Click on OK and close the 'Information' window

POST-PROCESSING:

Listing the results Go to ANSYS Main Menu Click on General Postprocessing>List Results>Nodal Solution. The following window will come up.

Select DOF solution and All U's. Click on OK. The nodal displacements will be listed as follows.

Similarly you can list the stresses for each element by clicking Gen Postprocessing>List Results>Element Solution. Now select LineElem Results. The following table will be listed.

MODIFICATIONS:
You can also plot the displacements and stress. Go to General Postprocessing>Plot Results>Contour Plot>Element Solution. The following window will come up.

Select a stress to be plotted and click OK. The output will be like this.

Structural #4: Analysis of a 3-D truss structure Introduction: In this example you will learn to use the 3-D Truss element in ANSYS. Physical Problem: Analysis of the 3D truss structure shown in the figure below. Problem Description:
The tower is made up of trusses. You may recall that a truss is a structural element that experiences loading only in the axial direction. Units: Use S.I. units ONLY Geometry: the cross sections of each of the truss members is 1.56e-3 sq meter. Material: Assume the structure is made of aluminum with modulus of elasticity E=75 GPa. Boundary conditions: The structure is constrained in the X, Y and Z directions at the bottom three corners. Loading: The tower is loaded at the top tip. The load is in the YZ plane and makes an angle of 75 with the negative Y axis direction. The load value is 2500 N. Objective: To determine deflection at each joint. To determine stress in each member. To determine reaction forces at the base. Give three examples where similar 3D trusses are used in practice. Model one of them (with reasonable assumptions of dimensions, material properties and loading) using ANSYS. You don't have to solve it. You can do so to check whether your assumptions were reasonable!! You are required to hand in print outs for the above. Figure:

IMPORTANT: Convert all dimensions and forces into SI units.

STARTING ANSYS
Click on ANSYS 6.1 in the programs menu. Select Interactive. The following menu that comes up. Enter the working directory. All your files will be stored in this directory. Also enter 64 for Total Workspace and 32 for Database. Give your file an appropriate job name. Click on Run.

MODELING THE STRUCTURE

Go to ANSYS Utility Menu. Click on Workplane>Change Active CS to..>Global Cartesian. Go to the ANSYS Main Menu. Click Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>Keypoints>In active CS The following window comes up

Fill in the keypoint number (1,2,3...) and the coordinates. Make sure you get the correct coordinates from the figure. Create all the 10 keypoints. Make sure the numbering of your keypoints matches the numbering of the joints in the figure. If you cannot see the grid then go to Utility Menu>Display Working Plane If you cannot see the complete figure then go to Utility Menu>PlotCntrls>Pan Zoom Rotate and zoom out to see the entire figure. Now create lines connecting the keypoints Click on Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>Lines>Lines>In Active Coord. Pick the endpoints of each element to create the lines. Rotate the figure for more accessible views. You can use the Utility Menu>PlotCtrls>Pan Zoom Rotate window to rotate the model and see its 3D nature.

MATERIAL PROPERTIES
Go to the ANSYS Main Menu Click Preprocessor>Material Props>Material Models. In the window that comes up which is shown below, for Material Model 1, chooseStructural>Linear>Elastic>Isotropic.

Double click Isotropic for Material Model 1.

Fill in 7.5e10 for the Young's modulus and 0.3 for minor Poisson's Ratio. Click OK Now the material 1 has the properties defined in the above table. We will use this material for the elements of the structure.

ELEMENT PROPERTIES:
SELECTING ELEMENT TYPE: Click Preprocessor>Element Type>Add/Edit/Delete... In the 'Element Types' window that opens click on Add... The following window opens.

Type 1 in the Element type reference number. Click on Structural Link and select 3D spar. Click OK. Close the 'Element types' window. So now we have selected Element type 1 to be a structural Link- 3D spar (cable) element. The trusses will be modeled as elements of type 1, i.e. structural link element. This finishes the selection of element type. Now we need to define the cross sectional area for this element. Go to Preprocessor>Real Constants. In the "Real Constants" dialog box that comes up click on Add In the "Element Type for Real Constants" that comes up click OK. The following window comes up.

Type 1.56e-3 for cross sectional area and click on OK. We have now defined the cross sectional area of the link element.

MESHING:
DIVIDING THE TOWER INTO ELEMENTS: Go to Preprocessor>Meshing>Size Controls>Manual Size>Lines>All Lines. In the menu that comes up type 1 in the field for 'Number of element divisions'.

Click on OK. Now go to Preprocessor>Meshing>Mesh>Lines. Select all the lines and click on OK in the "Mesh Lines" dialog box. Now each line is a truss element (Element 1).

BOUNDARY CONDITIONS AND CONSTRAINTS

APPLYING BOUNDARY CONDITIONS The tower is constrained in the X, Y and Z directions at the four bottom corners. Go to Main Menu Click on Preprocessor>Loads>Define Loads>Apply>Structural>Displacement>On Keypoints

Select the keypoint on which you want to apply displacement constraints. The following window comes up.

Select UX, UY, UZ and click OK. APPLYING FORCES First find the components of the force along the Y and Z directions Go to Main Menu Click on Preprocessor>Loads>Define Loads>Apply>Structural>Forces/Moment>On Nodes. Select the top node. Click on OK in the 'Apply F/M on Nodes' window. The following window will appear. Enter the value of the Z-component of the force. Repeat the procedure to apply the Y-component of force.

Now the Modeling of the problem is done

SOLUTION
Go to ANSYS Main Menu>Solution>Analysis Type>New Analysis. Select static and click on OK. Go to Solution>Solve>Current LS. Wait for ANSYS to solve the problem. Click on OK and close the 'Information' window

POST-PROCESSING
Listing the results Go to ANSYS Main Menu Click on General Postprocessing>List Results>Nodal Solution. The following window will come up:

Select DOF solution and All U's. Click on OK. The nodal displacements will be listed as follows.

Similarly you can list the stresses for each element by clicking General Postprocessing>List Results>Element Solution. Now select LineElem Results.

MODIFICATIONS:
You can also plot the displacements and stress. Go to General Postprocessing>Plot Results>Contour Plot>Element Solution. The following window will come up.

Select a stress to be plotted and click OK. The output will be like this.