StructuralAnalysisII SettinguptheMechanicaSolverLecture SettingUptheMechanicaSolver.

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Setting Up the Mechanica Solver

In this topic, you will explore the Mechanica solver settings necessary to accomplish a successful analysis run.
Solver Choices:

Direct (default) Iterative

Run Settings:

Directory for Output Files Directory for Temporary Files Elements Output File Format

Run Settings: cont'd

Solver Settings o Memory Allocation (MB) o Use Iterative Solver Defaults

Accessing the Run Settings

The Run Settings dialog box

LectureNotes

Setting Up the Solver Mechanica uses one of two solvers for an analysis or design study. You can use either the Direct Solver or the Iterative Solver. These solvers are different methods by which Mechanica solves systems of simultaneous equations that arise from the geometric element model. By default, Mechanica uses the Direct Solver because it usually requires less time, disk space, and/or memory than the Iterative Solver. All the options for setting or adjusting the solver are found in the Run Settings dialog box and can be adjusted for each of the analyses defined in a model. The Run Settings dialog box includes the following options:

Directory for Output Files - Select the directory for the output files generated by the run. Typically, this can be a local or a mapped network drive where sufficient disk space exists. You are limited to 64 characters for the actual path name.

Directory for Temporary Files - Select the directory for the temporary files generated by the run. This directory gets deleted upon a successful analysis run but, during the analysis run and for larger count finite element models, it can balloon to considerable sizes. Therefore, set it to a location that has sufficient disk space to accommodate it. You are limited to 64 characters for the actual path name. Elements - Select the Override Default check box to change the default source of elements. Select the source of the elements Mechanica uses during a run: create the elements as initial step during the analysis, use the elements from a saved mesh file or from an existent analysis directory. Output File Format - Select an output format for the output file. The default is Binary (in other words, the generated content cannot be read using standard text editors) or can be exported to ASCII (text only format). Solver Settings - Use this area to specify settings for the solver: o Memory Allocation (MB) - Select the check box and enter the appropriate number of megabytes to allocate for the memory. The value you enter sets the amount of RAM reserved for solving equations and for storing element data created by the Iterative Solver. The engine dynamically allocates the rest of the memory it needs for the run. Depending on the amount of RAM installed in your machine, you might be able to improve the engine solver performance by changing this setting. o Use Iterative Solver - Select the check box to use the Iterative Solver and enter the maximum number of iterations and at which P-loop pass the iterative solver should take over from the direct solver. Defaults - Select this button to return the settings on the dialog box to the default values. Important note: There is no special setting to use the Direct Solver. However, the Iterative Solver has to explicitly be defined.

Best Practices

You should use the Direct Solver in the following situations: if the model has thin features and does not converge using the Iterative Solver, or if the design study contains any analyses other than linear Static, such as Contact, Modal, or Transient Thermal. You can use the default Memory Allocation for any run. But, if you have a lot of RAM on your machine, you may want to enter a higher RAM allocation number so large models will run faster. You can also slow the run if you do not specify sufficient memory, especially if you specify less than the default. The default Memory Allocation is 128 MB. The recommended RAM Allocation is from 25% to 50% of the existent physical RAM (it is recommended to stay on the lower recommended range for larger finite element count models). You can slow the run substantially if you specify an allocation that is too large to fit in available RAM.

 SettinguptheMechanicaSolverDemonstration SettingUptheMechanicaSolver_demo.mp4 SettinguptheMechanicaSolverProcedure

Procedure: Setting Up the Mechanica Solver

Scenario
In this procedure, you set up the Mechanica solver for a Static Analysis. The same procedure applies (with minor changes) to any other Mechanica studies or analyses. SetupSolver lever1.prt

Task 1. Open the Mechanica application and specify Mechanica Solver Run Settings for a Static Analysis.
1. Click Applications > Mechanica. 2. Explore and examine the model. From the top of the model tree, click Show Expand All. Note the existing Mechanica simulation features including:

>

A Material and Material Assignments Simulation Features (Points) Constraints Loads

3. Click Mechanica Analyses/Studies

from the main toolbar.

4. Select Initial from the list of Analyses and Design Studies. 5. In the Analyses and Design Studies dialog box, click Run > Settings... to open the Run Settings dialog box.

The Directory for Output Files and the Directory for Temporary Files default to the current working directory. You can change this default if desired with

the sim_run_out_dir config.pro option.

The Elements option defaults to Create Elements during Run. When this setting is used Mechanica will mesh the model before the solver proceeds with the calculations of the equations. If you wish to use a saved mesh for the analysis, you can select the Override Defaults check box and select the Use Elements from Existing Mesh File radio button.

6. Verify that Binary is selected in the Output File Format area of the dialog box. 7. Type 1000 in the Memory Allocation (MB) field. The allocation of 1000 MB of memory assumes that the machine has 2000 MB of RAM and we are allocating 50% of it for the analysis.

8. The dialog box should appear as shown in the figure. Click OK to complete the Run Settings and close the dialog box.

Note: It is difficult to state a precise RAM Allocation that should be allocated for all models. This is because there are different types of analyses, model types, and finite element count, that vary; this greatly impacts the decision of how much the RAM Allocation should be. Generally speaking, allocating between 25%-50% of the available physical memory for that specific workstation is a good place to start. However, you should try to stay on the lower range (or use even the default, 128 MB) for analysis models with a large number of finite elements.

Task 2. Save the model and erase it from memory.

1. Return to the Standard Pro/ENGINEER mode by clicking Applications > Standard. 2. Click Save from the main toolbar and click OK to save the model. 3. Click File > Erase > Current > Yes to erase the model from memory. This completes the procedure.